Month: June 2025

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When God speaks.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

”The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty sea. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning. The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭29‬:‭3‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David writes this Psalm highlighting the voice of God. It is believed to have been written when God told David that he would not be building the temple because of his bloody war hands. So David gives his son the detailed plans and instructions to build the magnificent structure, including the surrounding courtyard, 1 Chronicles 28. It is in these celebratory moments that David writes about the power and majesty of the Lord’s voice. This Psalm was inserted towards the end of David’s life.

Yesterday, we had a sudden storm race through Southern California, but with this quick burst of rain also came massive thunder and lightning. Thunder that rattles windows and scares little children! This timeless reminder is what David uses to highlight the power of God. When God speaks in power the earth itself shakes in response!

It reminds me of the moment God told Elijah to go out on the face of mount Horeb in 1 Kings 19:11-13. Elijah experienced hurricane force winds, an earthquake, and fire. But God was not in those destructive experiences. After all that Elijah heard the sound of a low whisper, he covered his face and went out to listen to God. Yes, God’s voice cannot only come in power, enough to split cedars, make mountains skip and leap and strip forests bare. God can also come in a whisper, drawing the human ear and heart close to himself. God, as creator of all things, has both the power to wreak havoc as well as the power to save and heal our hearts.

Prayer

​Dad,
When I stop and think about Your power over all things in everything that exists everywhere, it humbles me to realize that You love us – You love me! We are uniquely created in Your image and You breathed life into our soul. It reminds me that all that power has been leveraged into the physical might to save us, not destroy us. Your power is for us not against us. You oppose the proud but give grace to the humble. I am thankful for Your power working in me.

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Water & Spirit poured out.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one. The Lord who made you and helps you says: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, O dear Israel, my chosen one. For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭44‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The two powerful themes that thread through Israel’s history in the Old Testament, become a reality for all people in the New Testament. God’s prophetic promises are all fulfilled through Jesus!

The imagery explodes when Jesus begins announcing that He is the river of life! In John, Jesus tells the woman at the well that He is living water that pours out with no end. He also says in John 7: 37-39 “‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” The “living water” ties together a long history of Israel being cleaned and purified by fresh, running water and what will become the permanent illustration that is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit being poured out after Jesus returned to heaven. Tyler Staton writes, “The Spirit of God is described through the imagery of water in the poetry of Psalms and Proverbs; the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Joel; and by the Gospel writer John. But the promise comes alive most clearly in the prophet Ezekiel, who saw a vision of a river that originated in a trickle running down the temple. It grew from a trickle on the steps to a flowing river as he followed the current east.”

Everywhere the river flows, it brings life. Everyone the river touches, brings new life. God promised to pour out His Spirit on Isaiah’s descendants, blessing the children. But the promise extends much further than just the Israelites, beyond Isaiah’s, Jeremiah’s, Joel’s and Ezekiel’s children. It extends to all who will come and freely drink and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out in abundance today and on our children as well!

Prayer

​Dad,
I am not Jewish and have no ancestry connecting me to the promises you made to your people and the prophets. Neither am I a son of Abraham. However, because of Jesus I have been grafted into the tree of life, adopted into the family of God and have all the rights and privileges of being your son. Thank you for giving me life abundantly. Thank you for pouring out your Spirit on me! I am forever grateful for this life I now lead and look forward to the grand adventures yet to come in the Kingdom that has arrived, yet is still to come!