“’Here am I,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 58:9). “Here am I”, says Isaiah (Isaiah 6:8).
Our “Here am I” only has meaning within the context of God’s “Here am
I.” It is because He is ‘the God who is there’ (Francis Schaeffer) that
we can draw near to Him - “You did not wait for me to draw near to You
...” (Mission Praise, 969). When we come to Him with the prayer, “Here
am I”, we come with a commitment to service: “Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).
We are sent into the battle, but we have this encouraging Word from
the Lord - He has gone ahead of us to prepare the way for us. “He put
on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His
head” (Isaiah 59:17). Through this encouraging Word, we are “strengthened in the inner being” (Ephesians 3:16). - “His power ... is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). “He has shown His people the power of His works, giving them the lands of other nations” (Psalm 111:6). This is the victory of the Lord.
There is to be prayer from “every one who lives in the land” (Joel 1:14). It is to be personal prayer - “O Lord, I cry to You for help!” (Joel 1:19). These two belong together - prayer for the nation and personal prayer. This is expressed so well in the words: “O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee. Send a revival. Start the work in me.” We hear the words, “Return to the Lord, your God” (Joel 2:13). They are followed by some wonderful words about the character of God - “He is merciful and compassionate, patient and always ready to forgive and to change His plans about disaster” (Joel 2:13). How do we know that God is like this? We look at what He has done for us - “Be glad and rejoice. The Lord has done great things!” (Joel 2:21). Looking at all that the Lord has done for us, we trust His promise: “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32). This salvation is more than forgiveness for past sins. It’s more than the future glory of being in God’s ev...
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