The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out My Spirit” - Joel 2:28-29 NLT.

While God’s Spirit seems available for kings and prophet in the past, Joel envisioned a time when the Spirit would be available to every believer all the time. Ezekiel also spoke of the outpouring of the Spirit. God willingly pours out His Spirit now to anyone who calls on Him. No one is excluded. This applies to men and women, young and old and people of any status in life. The wonderful promises that God made to His people, will come into full effect at the end of the Tribulation; that future time of Jacob's trouble. For in that day, God will truly pour out His Spirit on all flesh and they will exercise many prophetic gifts, and God will replace their hardened hearts of stone with softened hearts of flesh.

Israel’s heart had turned away; rebellious, hardened, and chasing after idols. Yet even in their failure, God’s Mercy broke through. Though the first covenant was shattered by disobedience, the Lord, in His unfailing love, promised something greater: a New Covenant. This covenant was not built on human effort or fragile conditions, but on God’s Grace alone. No laws to fail, no requirements to break…only His promise to transform. He vowed to take hearts of stone and make them hearts of flesh, tender and alive to Him. He pledged to pour out His Spirit, filling His people with Grace, Life, and Love.

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My Statutes and be careful to obey My rules" (Ezekiel 36:26-27). In this verse, God promised to restore Israel not only physically but also spiritually. To accomplish this, He would give them a new heart for following Him and put His Spirit within them to do His will. Again, the new covenant was promised, ultimately to be fulfilled in the coming of Yeshua and the Holy Spirit.

No matter how messed up your life feels right now, God offers you a fresh start. By accepting His promises and acting upon them, you can have your sins washed away, receive a new heart for God and have His Spirit within you. Have you stubbornly resisted His Love and leading? The Holy Spirit can make you tender and receptive to Him. Why try to patch up your old life when you can have a new one?