Tag: hope

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When your mentor is missing.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River. He struck the water with Elijah’s cloak and cried out, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.” ‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Just moments before these verses, the agreement for Elisha to succeed Elijah had just barely made the deadline of God whisking Elijah off to heaven in spectacular style – fire driven horses and chariot, flaming from the sky scooping up Elijah in a whirlwind. Elijah’s cloak comes floating down to the ground at Elisha’s feet! Elisha had just asked Elijah for a double portion of the power God entrusted in His prophet. Elijah kinda shrugged it off – yeah, we’ll see.

Then we find Elisha standing alone in the field. Elisha had just witnessed a most unexpected, extraordinary miracle, but as he stands there, he realizes, “I have no idea what to do now!” Elijah’s last order was to stay in Jericho, but Elisha refused, not wanting to let Elijah out of his sight.

What does one do when your mentor has moved on? Now, Elisha would be self directed, depending completely on the Lord to lead him. And in that awkward silence, Elisha picks up Elijah’s cloak and walks back to the edge of the Jordan river, where he and Elijah had previously seen God miraculously part the water to walk across on dry land. As Elisha stood there, the Bible reveals his anxious heart when it says, he struck the water and cried out. It reminds me of Moses and his hit-the-rock moment!

Oftentimes, I’ve noticed, the Old Testament prophets had shown a wide variety of real emotions, mostly angsty, deeply dark and moody. Sure, the miracles are amazing, but prophets obviously carried the difficult weight of delivering God’s word often to leaders who did not want to listen and definitely did not want to obey God. After the water parting, Elisha did go on to perform twice as many miracles as his mentor, Elijah – https://bit.ly/ElishaMiracles. The Talmud records that Elisha struggled with this anger his whole life, eventually becoming the cause of his own death, “The Talmud teaches, Sotah 47a, that Elisha had been sick with the same sickness twice before and he recovered. His sicknesses were a punishment for his having behaved in a harsh way twice. Once, when he cursed the youths who had behaved in such an insolent fashion towards him. The second time was when he excommunicated Gechazi and cursed him with Tzara’at (a form of spiritual leprosy).” Even though God used Elisha in extraordinary ways, Elisha could not get free from his own issues. Even after Elisha’s death, it’s recorded that his own bones had the power to bring a dead man back to life! According to 2 Kings 13:21, a corpse touched Elisha’s bones and was restored to life!

Elisha’s life and calling from God tells a story as well. Was Elisha too young? He was probably in his twenties when Elijah met him in his family’s field. Was his time with Elijah too short? He served under Elijah for six years. Was Elisha influenced by Elijah’s own self esteem and even depression towards the end of his own ministry?

Sometimes, with folks that have “seen it all” in ministry have a darker reality of what ministry really looks like. Personally, I watched the effects of longtime ministry on my own mentors. It changed them, it seemed to have sucked some of the joy and faith out of them. Whatever it was, I often said, “I had no interest of sitting in that seat of leadership.” I wonder how much of all that Elijah faced impacted Elisha?

Prayer

​Dad,
As I read about Elijah’s life and ministry calling and compared it to Elisha’s, I realized – everyone has issues they have to deal with from within. Ministry calling, although fulfilling in so many ways, is also an exposure to the full gamma of human expression from the people we serve. The highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows! I’ve seen people behaving at their best, as well as at their worst. I’m privy to the most private behaviors in families and relationships. It is a lot to carry. At this season of life, I understand far better of how the world works, the church works and how hard it is to keep our souls in shape before you. Thank you for your long suffering grace as we do life over the long haul.

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We’ve all got big debts.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. ‭‭Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭41‬-‭43‬ ‭NLT‬‬

While sitting with the upper echelons of society, those so squeaky clean, so raucously righteous, that it would intimidate anyone that couldn’t match or surpass their religious reputations – Jesus has a meal with some Pharisees! Have you ever been around folks that “out-classed” you? I have!

I went to a nonprofit meetup with a friend and told a story to a group of folks there. It was about young boy in foster care who had never had a birthday party. I shared that his foster siblings, overhearing his claim, challenged their brother’s memory about not having a birthday party. “Yes, you’ve had one,” one of them said. The boy protested, “nuh uh.” The older sister said, “Remember the time they (foster parents) took us to Jack in the box.” Trying to remember, but unable to do so, his sister said, “Remember they bought you a hamburger.” Still puzzled, the boy shrugged his shoulders, reluctantly agreeing. His then sister said, “that was your birthday party.”

One time, one Jack in the box burger – no wonder at 8 years old he couldn’t remember ever being celebrated for being born.

Now, with a group of people leaning in to hear the rest of the story, I said, “can you believe it, the only thing he received was a crummy burger from Jack in the box.” There was a visible gasp from everyone except for one woman who said, “well, I think a Jack in the box burger is a pretty good gift.” The friend who invited me to the upscale mixer then said, “Glenn I’d like you to meet the wife of the CEO of Jack in the box.” I was mortified… and out-classed.

Was Jesus comfortable being in a room full of highly educated, wealthy and powerful men, He felt more accepted among the poor and needy. But there was no way that Jesus was out-classed! I am amazed at Jesus’ ability to NOT be shocked by someone’s behavior, social status, nor their past. Jesus was Mr. Cool, vibing or grounded around common humanity.

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus told a story about indebtedness? I don’t know how many of the Pharisees experienced debt while they were clawing their way up the religious ladders of success. Debt is a crushing but normal experience among people. No one likes to be in debt! Ah, but there are plenty of money lenders who love debt – especially when money is owed to them. It’s power over desperation – right? I believe the Pharisees around the table knew more about loaning money and collecting debts than they knew about the pressures of paying it back. Or, maybe Jesus knew that some in the room were dealing with debt.

But the story Jesus tells isn’t about sin and forgiveness or status, it was about debt and gratitude. Jesus gets their mind off their judgmental attitude, “Jesus doesn’t know who this woman is,” to thinking about the posture of being forgiven from massive debt. So Jesus could get them thinking about a mixture of social and spiritual awareness, about humility and gratitude. They could see the splinters of sin in the woman’s life, yet could not see the logs of sin in their own eyes.

They did not recognize God in the room and did appropriately act in reverence by washing Jesus feet (cleansing) and anointing his head (holiness). But the woman, so scorned and low in status, both washed and anointed Jesus’ feet, both acts of pure, grateful humility. How could such a woman of the streets read the room and recognize God more than the guys that worked for God? Because, even though religions and the world celebrates pride, the Bible says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:34, 1 Peter 5:5 & James 4:6).

The Pharisees did not understand that their own hearts were deeply in debt. The woman, knowing her own heart, did. The woman left the dinner party FREE – “Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees on the other had sunk deeper into debt saying, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” What will it take for us to understand our own indebtedness and come to Jesus in humble gratitude, instead of comparing to the sins of those around us there by leaving with bitterness instead of forgiveness?

Prayer

​Dad,
I see my past and present sins! I am completely aware that I wasn’t just a sinner in the past, I am a sinner still today. Your grace and forgiveness feel more powerful in forgiving my debts now – this absolutely helps me forgive others and see them through mercy rather than judgement. I’m so busy ejecting logs out of my eyes that I rarely have time to examine the specs in other’s eyes. But, you know what really bothers me? Being around others with little spiritual awareness to see their own debt while questioning the sinfulness of others. We’ve got to daily die to our pharisaical observations, and see people through your eyes! Help us in this O Lord.

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Modern Politicians

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Hide me from the plots of this evil mob, from this gang of wrongdoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent, attacking suddenly and fearlessly. They encourage each other to do evil and plan how to set their traps in secret. “Who will ever notice?” they ask. As they plot their crimes, they say, “We have devised the perfect plan!” Yes, the human heart and mind are cunning.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭64‬:‭2‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Is it just me, or does David’s enemies sound a lot like today’s politicians?

We know that David wrote this under severe persecution by king Saul. We also know that God withdrew His Spirit from Saul and gave him a tormenting spirit because Saul had willfully disobeyed God and refused to come clean about it 1 Samuel 15:26 & 16:14. Plus, God had already chosen and anointed David as the future king of Israel, but allowed Saul to continue as king for 22 more years. Saul spent the rest of his miserable, neutered life chasing down David to kill him. He was unable to do so because God was protecting David.

These words, in this psalm, were oddly given to the choir director to turn into a song (what a weird song). A song about the frustrating moments that David experienced. These evil issues often come with leaders and politicians when they’ve lost their ability to see, speak or lead with integrity. David records the mindset of these kinds of leaders.

They plot! They spend all their energy on conniving, convincing and controlling rather than leading to a positive future. They fight invisible enemies with worthless words that do not inspire greatness, they only instill fear and divisiveness. They aim their bitter words at all that oppose them. They conspire with others, those magnetized by the promise of power and position. They shrewdly scheme to set traps in hopes that no one will ever find out they are buried in bitterness with no hope of fixing the problems of their people. Their hearts are too perverse to solve humanity’s problems. True leaders don’t attack people, they attack the problems! They don’t blame others, they rise to solve the issue, injecting hope and confidence in others.

At this point in David’s life, his faith was in God who would deal with Saul directly, “But God himself will shoot them with his arrows, suddenly striking them down. Their own tongues will ruin them, and all who see them will shake their heads in scorn,” Psalms‬ ‭64‬:‭7‬-‭8‬.

Prayer

​Dad,
Things haven’t changed much, have they? We are still the broken, selfishly driven people that got booted out of the garden! Oh, and when we get a little power and get a little cash – it quickly goes to our head and chills our heart. You are still the same though – yesterday, today and forever. You still see us, know us and grieve over the dumb, unjust ways we live, rule and reign. And, even though I know David was a man after your own heart, he didn’t fare that well either. When he was at the top of his game and his rooftop he lost it all by lusting after the neighbor. The wife of one of his best warriors. Uriah had no idea what was coming. I am so grateful that your long suffering has put up with us for so long. Yet, I know all this will come to the end and then there’s the judgement. Even though my sin is covered by Jesus’ sacrifice, I will still be held accountable for every gift, every moment I squandered; every decision I’ve made as a Pastor. But… at least I’m not a king nor politician 😬.

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I’m in.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Apostle Paul makes a bold and unpopular statement for some in the first century Church (Judaizers). He writes to the Ephesians about their previous status among the Jewish community – they were outsiders. The Jewish males were the “cut ones” as in “cutting a contract.”

Starting with Abraham, God covenanted with him by having him remove the foreskin on his baby-maker. Each and every Jewish male thereafter would do the same. If a non-Jew were to convert to Judaism, the first thing they would do is be circumcised. It was a physical sign of keeping the contract with God. From very far back in history the Jewish people only saw two kinds of humans, those covenanted with God (circumcised) and those outside of His kingdom and His promises (uncircumcised). The uncircumcised were considered to be heathens or pagans (worshipping other gods).

Contracts back in ancient times were often “cut” with some kind of blood involved. Men would often place their hand on the inside of the other’s thigh and recite the promise, but it was sealed or certified by the blood sacrifice of a living animal. God made this kind of contract/covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. Abraham, at 99 years old was circumcised and also told to make sure that every male from then on would also be circumcised. ”This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant” Genesis‬ ‭17‬:‭10‬-‭14‬.

We can clearly see how the Jewish people would come to understand only two groups of people – God’s covenanted and those not! What the New Testament Jewish people could not understand, because of their lack of belief in Jesus as the Messiah, is that Jesus’ death was the final and forever blood covering of sin and fulfillment of the contractual obligations for anyone who believes in Him, turning from sin and having faith in God.

Paul is simply reminding the Jews and Gentiles that Jesus has performed a completely different kind of circumcision – one of the heart! Now, as a non-Jewish person I am all in! A heathen, a sinner, saved by grace through faith alone, adopted into the family of God and grafted into the “root of Jesse.”

Prayer

​Dad,
Feeling like an outsider for the early part of my life, I am thrilled to be an insider as a part of Your family. Plus, I get to be TWICE adopted! Once at four years old and then at fifteen years old when was born again 🙌🏼. I love to see your covenant promises made and even more so to see you being faithful to keeping them from then and still today. Your love and faithfulness endure forever!

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God puts out a hit on Ahab.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“When he arrived there, he found Jehu sitting around with the other army officers. “I have a message for you, Commander,” he said. “For which one of us?” Jehu asked. “For you, Commander,” he replied. So Jehu left the others and went into the house. Then the young prophet poured the oil over Jehu’s head and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. You are to destroy the family of Ahab, your master. In this way, I will avenge the murder of my prophets and all the Lord’s servants who were killed by Jezebel. The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out. I will destroy every one of his male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel.”2 Kings‬ ‭9‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God spoke to Elisha and gave him instructions to send out his student prophet to a difficult assignment- the assassination of Ahab, the wicked king of Israel. But before doing that, the young prophet must anoint and install a new king.

Elisha was VERY specific. He told him to take the olive oil, go to Ramoth-gliead, find Jehu, get him alone in a room and pour the oil over his head. Then, to tell him the Lord has anointed him to be the king of Israel. Last step – run for your life! The prophet did as Elisha instructed, but either added the following or we are not privy to what Elisha told him to say.

Either way, the rest of the message was an order for Jehu to elliminate Ahab’s entire family lineage. God said He would avenge the murders of his prophets and servants killed by Jezebel’s orders. And, in a very NSFW moment, the prophet tells Jehu what to do with Jezebel’s dead body! He says, “Dogs will eat Ahab’s wife Jezebel at the plot of land in Jezreel, and no one will bury her.” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran just like Elisha told him to do. If you want to read about Jezebel’s gruesome end, you’ll find it in ‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭9‬:‭32‬-‭37‬.

God says he owns and operates vengeance because He is the only one who can handle it properly. God is always true, just and right – Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, He says in Deuteronomy 32:35. Not only does God properly handle vengeance and retribution, He knows it is toxic poison for us to handle even the smallest amount of it. Humans feel that holding onto revenge makes us powerful- it does not. It makes us weak! Holding onto anger, grudges and thoughts of revenge not only tears holes in our soul but it also hardens our heart. It gives the deceiver, the liar and thief, a foothold to enter into our mind causing havoc and irreparable damage.

The only way to escape the devastating fires of rage and fury is to give our grievances to God and let forgiveness flow freely. Forgiveness does not mean the perpetrator goes free, it means that we are set free of the self afflicted prison that revenge will bring. Let God be our champion of justice and not our own seething and planning our enemy’s demise!

Prayer

​Dad,
One of the greatest and hardest lessons as a young believer was the time you told me to forgive my third father – my stepfather, Ben. He was viscously evil, with a super hard heart and burned out conscience. I knew he had a hard life himself, but he turned bitter and took it out on those closest to him. When you told me to forgive him, I had no understanding of why I or anyone should forgive him. But I was learning obedience and did what you asked. I told him to his face, “I forgive you for what you have done to my mother and sister!” His response was to laugh at me in most wicked voice. But as I walked away, I knew I was FREE of him! Free of his damaging words and free of the fear he brought into our family. I learned that forgiveness is powerful to the victim and shocking to the offender. Thank you for teaching me while I was so young. Learning forgiveness instead of revenge has kept my enemy list down to zero!

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Snag a sober deal!

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul packs a lot of practical theology in these punchy thoughts. Starting with an admonition about how to live – not like fools, but like those who are wise. Paul follows it up with an interesting choice of words, communicating the urgency of a moment. He uses a popular business word, even more specific, he uses a SHOPPING word. Where most Bible translations say, “opportunity,” “use of time,” KJV uses the word, “redeem.” The Greek word Paul uses is, “exagorazó.” The word literally means, “buy-up at the marketplace” – properly, take full advantage of, seizing a buying-opportunity.” This word was popular and often used in the open-air, outdoor swap-meet style shopping experiences in most of the big cities. Paul equates the times of seeing evil everywhere as the perfect occasion to snag a moment with a hurting soul – more evil = more opportunities.

Paul then seems to understand that when times get crazy and everything feels chaotic, people tend to turn to ways that attempt to deaden or avoid their pain with alcohol. The common idea is wine solves lots of problems, not just of pain but of giving euphoric feelings as well. He comes out strong with the truth – drunkenness will destroy a life, not make it better.

But wait there’s more! Not only can the Holy Spirit lead us to amazing deals to broker love with a broken soul, He also brings life when we drink Him up, being filled! The amazing play on words, don’t be “methuó,” drunk with wine, but be “pléroó,” soaked in the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit brings life, not pain. The Holy Spirit brings freedom, not addiction!

Prayer

​Dad,
You work your wonders in spectacularly mysterious ways! I love Paul’s observation of opportunities. Among the normal ways we go about life, there are these micro-moments to share and shine the light of Jesus. This constantly challenges me to rethink the way I spend my time and how I look at people as I go about my day. I love deals and discounts, but rarely thought of these same concepts as a way of seeing needs around me. And, Paul’s bonus thought to be soaked in the Spirit verses soaked in booze is genius! Thank you for your Word working in us and through us at any and every moment we give you.

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Faith found outside the faithful.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

While preparing a sermon, I researched the miracles Jesus performed and focused on two areas. One: how many were intentional? Two: how many were the results of interruptions? I was most interested in the interruptions. Nine of the “interruptions” occurred among Jewish individuals. Two of them among Gentiles individuals.

This story of the Roman Centurion is one of those miracles. And, amazingly, both this one and the other Gentile miracle (Canaanite Woman in Mark 7:24–30; Matthew 15:21–28), Jesus complimented the individuals for their extraordinary faith. While on the way to the Centurion’s house, friends of the soldier meet Jesus and tell him just to send his word! Jesus said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” And similarly with the Gentile woman, who responded to Jesus with a sassy, snappy answer. Jesus kicked out a demon from her little girl and complimented the woman, “Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great.” What I love about these two miracles picks up the thread of God’s love and grace for the whole world. Some of the healings in the Old Testament were among Gentiles as well – remembered Naaman and his seven river-dip? The message of freedom and forgiveness came through Israel, but was always extended to all people, all nations.

I think sometimes as church folk, we start seeing our world as Israel saw themselves, God’s people. It’s hard for us to think or see non-churched, not yet believers as having faith. Jesus not only saw non-Jewish people in their pain, he also saw them in their capacity of faith! Where there is fear, there is need. Where there is grief, there is need. Where there is compassion for another, there is need. And, with fear, grief, compassion or pain, there is opportunity for great faith in God.

When we see others struggling we can either say, “Oh, I don’t know how they do life without God.” Or, we can say, “There may be a possibility of Jesus showing up through me to show love, grace, kindness and compassion.” We might be surprised to see faith rise to not just let Jesus in to help, but to let him be their savior as well.

Prayer

​Dad,
I know that are still seeking and saving the lost. You are still going beyond just Your people, Israel and those who believe Jesus is the Messiah into the hearts and lives of Gentiles – Non Jewish, non believers. Your grace and mercy knows no bounds and can touch the hardest of hearts, the extreme of prodigals. And, I know, It won’t always be so. You told us that you would not contend with humans forever, for there is a time where death comes to all. But while there is still time, still light – there is still possibility for those we love and those we pray will know you and love you.

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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!

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Power over ourselves.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Earlier in this chapter, the Apostle Paul writes about freedom. Freedom from, but just as important, freedom to. When Paul teaches the Church about sin, he digs deeply into the causes, the origins of our sin. Paul uses words like satisfy, nature and desires. These are evidences of urges and cravings from within!

Paul then moves from talking about freedoms from sin to having power over our sin. The key; the power of the Holy Spirit! Not just letting the Holy Spirit take control, but gaining the edge over disordered desires that plague our lives. Paul also gives us the results of these bent desires. Think about this, these are desires that drag us down, yet we not only want to see them as helpful, but we actually believe they will give us a better life, tricking us into thinking they can fulfill us! The summary – that’s all a lie!

Paul writes the truth of where our own cravings and desires take us. Paul writes, “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these” (Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭19‬-‭21‬). Some might say, “well that sounds like a regular weekend experience for me!”When we feel these intense influences coming from within our heart, we blindly hope that we can avoid the effects of our decisions – hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, and envy! Our lives, as well as our relationships get WORSE, not better. And, the more we feed our flesh or old-man/old-ways, with these disordered cravings and desires, the more these stubborn cycles and traps of addiction turn us into mental-health pretzels, taking over our life! God warns us against giving into sin, not just because it’s wrong, but also because it is absolutely destructive to us and those around us.

Here’s the craziest part of all – our conscience tells us we’re wrong. This God-given early warning system starts screaming in our head, and we just override it! Continually and consistently ignoring the siren in our soul leads to coldness and lack of sensitivity in our heart. At first we want to act out these desire in secret, hiding and ducking any chance of attracting the attention of a spotlight shining the truth. But at some point the light no longer bothers us! Guilt becomes ineffective and eventually we want to join with others of likeminded, bent and broken desires to completely dull any possibility of stopping our pursuit of doing whatever it is we want. It is quite easy to justify anything at this point.

We’ve joined a tribe of those who have not only chosen similar desires, but for the sake of solidarity, they celebrate them! No matter how innocent the beginning, no matter how one found themselves opening the door to these deadly sins, there is no way to stop them until they have destroyed our entire life. The choice becomes put them to death by the power of the Holy Spirit, burying them with Christ’s mercy and grace OR let them drag our soul through the living hell of consequences that are inescapable. Even with the forgiveness and power to kill our disordered desires, God never promises that we can sneak away from the consequences. Continuing in bad behavior and continuing to do so with a bad company of friends will 100% yield horrible results – it is just a matter of time. You know this is true! We all know this is true.

Prayer

Dad,
There is regular suffering that everyone eventually goes through. Then there is godly suffering, endured because of living Your truth, which is hard, but brings such amazing fruit. But finally, there is suffering because of sin, and selfishly making bad decisions that yield awful consequences and results. All are painful. But our own actions, weakly justified, leaves us with unimaginable pain because we actually thought we could get away with it. But oh what joy and freedom in confession, repentance and acceptance as well as the consequences when the Holy Spirit moves in with power to resist, heal and overcome! Help us drag our sins and desires out into the light and allow you to both free us and give us power to live like Jesus.