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Supernatural Curiosities.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it. ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Moses is out doing his thing, taking his father-in-laws flock far out into the wilderness. A dry, desolate desert. Moses had left the modern lifestyle of the big city, to now live as a nomadic. The desert has some unique advantages to focus and settle the soul. It’s quiet. Blissfully, deafeningly quiet. The other one is that you can see for miles.

An angel of the Lord, a theophany (Jesus showing up in the Old Testament). showed up in a blazing fire. Fires in the desert are not unusual, but this one was unique. This fire burned in a bush but did not consume it. I like to think that fire was an excellent way to get the attention of a man because there’s a little bit of a pyro in all of us! I love what happened next. Moses thought this strange phenomenon was amazing. But more than that, it made him talk to himself saying, “WHY?” Why isn’t the bush being consumed? It was more than amazement, it was CURIOSITY! Oh the things we see but don’t understand. Many are peaked by curiosity but don’t pursue it. Moses wanted to investigate it further – he had to get a closer look.

We learn that as Moses approached the bush, a voice comes out of it, calling his name along with a warning. The voice says, STOP, take off your sandals because you’re on holy ground. What follows is a one-of-a-kind interaction between God and Moses. The day had come when God would reveal Moses’s purpose in life. Moses would never be the same. This reminds me that God is always at work, always looking for someone who will see, be curious and investigate. God is always looking to share His purposes with us and for us. Moses wasn’t unique in this, but it’s encouraging to know that he came from a slave family, foster-cared and raised by Pharaoh’s daughter. He was educated and learned from the most advanced culture of its time. Moses also had major anger/justice issues that caught up with him when he murdered an Egyptian officer for mistreating an Israelite. All this ended by getting him exiled out of Egypt. He was 40 years old when he fled from Egypt and spent another 40 years in Midian before encountering God at the burning bush. The number 40 appears frequently throughout the Bible, often associated with periods of trial, testing, and preparation.

This major turning point in the desert started with God getting his attention and letting his curiosity drive him to discover what this supernatural moment would mean. I more strongly believe in providence and no longer see anything as coincidence. I also more quickly realize when God has something for me in everyday amazing moments.

Prayer

​Dad,
I see you working in so many ways that used to escape me. I was too busy, too self absorbed or just too stressed. I am thankful you still amaze us. And, I am so thankful you created us to be curious and open to learning from you.

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Real forgiveness and freedom.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The author of Hebrews writes about the mystery of the Old Testament Law and its inability to fulfill our salvation or fix our standing with God. Yet, the Law did have a purpose. To show us, “to remind us of our sins.” This whole understanding of the Law teaching us, giving us a perspective of perfection and our intent to rid ourselves of our rebellious ways is most difficult to understand as a Gentile, a non-Jew.

Yet, even though the weight of the law escapes most of us, Hebrews tells us its value and purpose. It was a preview of the good things to come. What were those good things? They were the perfect sacrifice and freedoms that Jesus brought all of us with his death and resurrection! If observing and keeping every aspect of the law, had worked, Hebrews says, the sacrifices would have ceased. For all those who love the law and struggled to perfectly keep it, this was hard to understand and incorporate this fulfillment, this perfection through Jesus.

Hebrews highlights it twice – “IF” keeping the law could have pulled it off – worshippers would have been permanently purified! And “IF” it had worked their guilt would have disappeared. We don’t sacrifice, as an identification with an innocent animal, which gave its life, its blood for a payment for sin. We don’t kill an animal to rid ourselves of guilt either. Because of Jesus, we do get to live free under the, “once and for all” of His perfect sacrifice. This was God himself, providing the permanent forgiveness and release from guilt.

Even though, Gentiles (non-Jews) may not fully comprehend the legal aspects of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament Law, we can completely understand what forgiveness and freedom feels like today – every day. We know what our own sin, our selfishness does to our hearts. We know the weight of guilt we feel for trying to live with horrible decisions we’ve made that hurt ourselves and others.

Folks still do struggle with these truths!
How can a perfect God really forgive me?
How can the death and resurrection of Jesus really give me freedom from things I’ve done and give me another chance to live without guilt?

It can because it was God’s plan of mercy and grace all along. It can because God himself bore the cost and responsibility to make the payment of death for our sin! Even if it seems impossible, it is very true and very real. The much bigger question is this; why would anyone reject that offer? I guess they don’t believe it’s true, or they stubbornly believe there are no consequences, now or in eternity, for their sins. Of course, the most common belief is that somehow our good deeds balance out or wipe away our bad deeds! No one knows how that all works or who is the final judge making that decision. And, this is offered, “I am a good person,” or “I’m not as bad as the next person.” Basically, we lie to ourselves and pretend it will all work out for us, so that we avoid the truth as long as possible.

Prayer

​Dad,
I understand what Hebrews is talking about when it comes to the law, but because I had no context or discipline from childhood and beyond about the Old Testament law, it doesn’t have the same affect on me. However, I completely understand your holiness, my own sin and failings of perfection. And, I have learned how beautifully critical it is to understand Jesus death, giving his life for my sin. I am so very thankful for forgiveness and freedom that have been granted me!

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Battle of “if’s.”

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.” Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

As mentioned before, this is first battle Jesus, as the son of God, faces with the adversary (a descriptor more than a title). Every mention of this evil character never gives this supernatural being the honor of a title. It is a specific insult to remind us, this creature is not worthy of anything! It has many descriptors, all of which designates a single, personal, supernatural being who stands in absolute opposition to God and His redemptive purposes. He is neither a mere force nor an impersonal principle but is consistently portrayed as a conscious, strategic adversary with intellect, emotion, and will. Its bag of title-tricks include, slanderer, tempter, accuser, schemer, murderer, prince of the power of the air & beelzebub (ruler over all other demons, some of which are fallen angels, but also include other spiritual beings, even mythological figures, and malevolent creatures that exist in our world.)

In this first physical, spiritual standoff, Jesus, at what will be his weakest moment, is led by the Holy Spirit to go out into the Judean wilderness. Jesus’ task; to be tempted, tested! This battle had no physical weapons, no swords, spears or slings – just words. It was all a verbal, mental battle of specific questions to be asked by a liar and refuted by absolute truth. All the training and preparation from birth until the pre-launch of His ministry, Jesus would have his moment with the one cast out of heaven and given dominion over this dark planet.

It was only a three question examine, but it would both reveal the patterns and plans of the accuser that had been used since its first conversation with the woman in the garden – undermining the will of God. These three questions did not directly confront God, nor His will or ways. What questions would you ask God’s own son to get him to betray his father and please himself, rather than doing the hard job of fulfilling God’s will? The deceiver didn’t just go after Jesus’ hopes and dreams, his aspirations and future accomplishments. It went after Jesus’ identity!

Three temptations all started with, “If you are the Son of God.” If, if, if… then prove it by: Taking care of your own physical needs. Challenging the true nature of care, love and safety of your Father, by choosing self-harm. And, taking the shortcut to power by accepting a path that does not require suffering. It might seem simple. It might seem silly.

To authenticate his own self perception and purpose, all he to do was make some bread out of stones, leap off the 450 foot, 30 story building to the desert floor below. And, to quickly secure his inheritance in the future, all he had to do was accept the seemingly “generous,” “no-strings attached offer,” from the temporary governor of the planet. Three questions that start with identity, then the attempts at subverting God’s will taking shortcuts to self fulfillment. Sound familiar?

Even in Jesus’ exhausted state of mind and body, he saw through the lies and was not fooled by the veiled threats of God’s ability to keep his promises. The enemy of God and of our soul has not changed its primary motives or methods. The liar still lies, the supplanter still schemes and slanders. And, not surprisingly, we still fall for it all the time.

The tricks of temptation still attack our identity first. “If you are a child of God.” Then the same ol’ process to get us to take shortcuts in our own disordered desires. To buy now, pay later. To click and receive immediate results. To have our physical, emotional and soul’s needs cared for expediently.

We’ve all got our battles of “ifs.” No desert, or forty-day fasts are necessary to reveal the schemer’s real motives. The murderer cannot kill God, nor win THE battle. So the tempter comes after us, to take as many as it can, to ultimately be separated from God forever. Know this; WE choose the lie over truth, we desire the shortcuts of sin – to fulfill the now, forgetting the later. Even though we (all of us) are a created child of God, God still gives us choice, the autonomy of will to walk away from his love instead of living in it.

Prayer

​Dad,
The battle is very real today as it was since the beginning. Even when we see truth, and know truth, we still choose the lie. We can still question who we really are and struggle with what we really desire! But your love, your grace and mercy is stronger, especially when we hide Your Word in our heart and use it as a powerful weapon against the “ifs” and the shortcuts. Help us O’ Lord! Help us to know you, walk with you, trusting you over our own delusions and delights. To resist the lie and the liar so it will flee!

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Wisdom is LOUD!

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. She calls to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate: “How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge? Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Solomon & others nail this truth all through the book of proverbs. Wisdom is way louder than we think.

It’s just that we are DEAF to it or have highly selective hearing. God is not quiet about being known and telling us how to live the life we were intended to live – our best life is to follow the pattern, the path God designed for us.

Wisdom personified, shouts in the streets and cries out in the places where societal decisions are made… in public. Wisdom does not hide, nor make backroom, secretive deals to benefit those who have God-given authority and power to lead us. Wisdom does not do double-speak, it does not serve word-salads. It’s prevalent not private. It’s forthright not fake. It’s determined not dodgy. Wisdom has nothing to hide, but openly declares its availability to all; even the (“pthiy,” naive) simple, the (“luts,” scoffer, turning truth into rebellion) mocker, and the (“kesil,” morally disrespectful) fool.

Wisdom asks the soul-splitting question, “why do we hate knowledge?” I would ask, “why do we deafen our ears to drown out wisdom’s cry?”

When God says He is always right, true and just, we want to challenge it. Or worse, we want to disprove it with our own foolishness. We say, “I know better,” “I can do better,” than God himself. Even though wisdom is loud and clear, we want to challenge it by being defiantly louder. Come on, you see it in yourself, just like I see it in me! Solomon lived his life as a warning; he had it all, lost it all and became the dumbest man on the planet – consumed by idolatry and unfaithfulness. Wisdom (God) plain-speaks, “I will share my heart with you and make you wise…” IF we’ll listen and obey.

Prayer

​Dad,
I seriously lacked wisdom as a young man. I was happily content playing the fool! When you changed my life, you also challenged me to discipline and wisdom. Learning it was hard, but it yielded so many benefits. Most of it was learned from this book of Proverbs. Reading and memorizing it as a young man, I knew it was working in me. I pray that wisdom continues to be loud in my life and that I don’t tone it down to lean on my own ways and understanding.

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Communion – January 4, 2026

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Moving from betrayal to blessing.

Communion through Mark’s perspective. 

Mark’s gospel describes Jesus meeting with his disciples for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Eating the yeast-less for seven days gives us a glimpse of both the speed and of a spiritual purification of how the Jewish people left Egypt. 

All four gospels mention Judas betrayal, Matthew, Mark & John mentions it right away. Of course, John goes on to give us the foot washing with no mention of the communion moment. Luke puts the betrayal after the Lord’s blessing. 

Mark writes, 

“In the evening Jesus arrived with the Twelve. As they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me.” Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This all happened in this close, intimate meal, celebrating the oldest celebrations Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with family and friends. 

It’s like sitting down for the family Christmas meal and announcing the worse possible news involving someone at the table – before the blessing! 

This timing emphasizes the contrast between Judas’ treachery and the love and community celebrated during the meal.

This abruptness lets us know two things about communion:

1. We live in a world filled with conflict between light and darkness, loyalty and betrayal.

2. By placing the betrayal before the blessings, we see the contrast; first Judas’ then Jesus’ behavior. Jesus comes with themes of love, sacrifice, and even unity within communion. 

Family and friend betrayal is the worst, but it doesn’t have to be the final word, leaving years of bitterness, anger and resentment. We can follow Jesus’ lead to get over and beyond betrayal to reconcile, love and stick together. You’ll notice that Judas was the only one who left the room to do the deed. The rest stayed and experienced Jesus’ promise to gather in the future newness of the Kingdom of God!

“As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.” Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭22‬-‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Can we move from betrayal to blessing as we take communion together in this new year? Will you join me in forgiving those who hurt us. Will you join me in reconciling, even to bless those who have betrayed us?

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God goes for the rejected.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Luke gives us the story we were all so curious about. What happens when a kid comes back home, as an adult? Wow! Themes of familiarity, knowing someone when they were little, but now they are all grown up. Mothers who speak of feeding, burping and changing your diapers. Fathers who use phrases like, “knee high to a grasshopper.” Older friends talking about very stale stories when you were a child or teen, laughing about your “awkward” stage. Jesus went home, but he had changed even though Nazareth had not! It’s gets me.

I’m guilty of and surrounded by the stories of “back in the day.” Unfortunately, it’s one of the things you have to face when you’ve kept life-long friendships and relatives that are more sentimental than ever. Jesus went home and home only had memories of his past and a few stories of what had happened since he left. What a moment to capture! Thank you Dr. Luke for giving us such a dramatic, transitional moment in Jesus’ life, but also an amazing insight into how we tend to keep people locked in our memories, not allowing them to grow into God’s design.

To get the best possible picture of what these short moments in the local Nazareth synagogue looked like, you have to watch The Chosen, Season 3, Episode 3, called, “Physician, Heal Yourself.” To summarize: At the synagogue, Jesus reads a scroll from the Prophet Isaiah and declares its fulfillment on that day. Jesus uses the examples of Elijah with the widow of Zarephath and Elisha with Naaman to prove His pronouncement of salvation in the Year of Jubilee. Jesus then proclaims Himself as the Messiah, enraging and upsetting the hearers. The people of Nazareth reject and condemn Jesus for His proclamation as the Law of Moses, driving Him out of the town to throw Him down a cliff, but Jesus passes through their midst.

Wow! Jesus, comes home and literally causes a violent riot, with the local religious activists fully intending to kill him. Luke tells us, “When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious,” Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭28‬. What exactly were they furious about? Because right after Jesus said the prophetic promise was fulfilled that day. Luke tells us they spoke well of him and they were even amazed by his grace with authority. It was most likely the next thing Jesus told his own community leaders that ruffled their defensive feathers.

Jesus, led by the Spirit and reading the room, simply spoke what they were all thinking. What were they thinking? They were thinking about an ancient proverb that says, “Physician, heal yourself”— meaning, “Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.” Then Jesus presents the pharisaical elephant in the synagogue. “Your legalistic, religious zeal has blinded you because that same selfish spirit is what killed the prophets that brought God’s truth!” Jesus said, “no prophet is accepted in his own hometown,” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭24‬.

Bringing light and salt to their fake facades Jesus quickly summarizes two stories about two of the most favored, famous prophets; Elijah and Elisha. Elijah with the widow and Elisha with the Syrian general. Instead of God sending these two prophets to their own people, the Jews, God sent them to Gentiles – despised foreigners! Hard truth: God has passed you by because you’ve rejected truth, and God has moved on to invite all people – namely, the Gentiles, the Samaritans, the rejected and lost. This is what caused them to pick up their proverbial pitch forks and torches! They didn’t like what Jesus inferred, so they dealt with it exactly how our modern mobs deal with truth – let’s just kill the truth teller! Of course it was not Jesus’ time, it would come later. But, we all know you can’t kill truth, it will endure beyond individuals.

God still goes after the rejected. Paul even says God goes after His enemies – even while we were yet sinners… Christ died for us. Apparently that really makes self righteous folks really mad. The good news for the poor is the understanding that we know we’re broken, but God comes not to condemn us but to save us. If we can’t figure out how broken we are, then when we see God’s mercy given to someone not so good, it makes us angry not grateful.

Prayer

​Dad,
Sinners, know thyself! I know who I was and who I am now. I was not just lost, I was miserable. I knew without you, I would not have anything, no life, no future. You changed my life and I must see others through the same eyes that recognized just how broken I was. Thank you.

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Future-casting.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Paul, in writing to the churches in Corinth, lays down the most vulnerable, transparent teachings ever. His second letter, likely out of three of them, just gets so real.

In this portion of the letter is one of the most powerfully encouraging truths about life as a believer – even more so as one who is sold out to Jesus. Paul admits, bad stuff happens! “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed” ‭‭2 Cor.‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬-‭9‬.

Paul does not ignore present circumstances coming at us all-the-time, yet he always reframes these events as temporary, but inevitable, expected but completely conquerable! God will raise us just as he did Christ, a benefit package for believers. Plus, all this means that God’s grace reaches more and more people! And, God will receive more and more glory (‭‭2 Cor.‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬). In Christ, there is no way to lose!

With all this confident conviction Paul can say, “that’s why we never give up!” I don’t know what the secret “spiritual” mix is, but I wonder if it’s not 10% faith and 90% gritty-grace. I have found that determination, or stubbornness submitted to the Holy Spirit works wonders in helping us have the life that Paul lived. He doesn’t deny the reality of “thlipsis” – high pressured affliction (the word picture is being trapped, constricted in a narrow place). Paul just says, it won’t last long. And, the momentary “light” squeeze produces an excessive amount of what Paul called “weighted glory.”

Is this how and why he can speak to us about our focus? Are we staring too long at the pinch of pressure overlooking the overwhelming power of God’s glory in eternity? Yes, we are still temporally fixated beings, but with faith we can lift our eyes to see what God sees. Future casting is not making so much out of these seasonal, even transient moments of struggle, but looking up and forward to what God is doing and will continue to do in us and through us.

Paul didn’t just theoretically know about these brief blips of being bound, he experienced them. Through the power of the Holy Spirit he gives us this wisdom, his own experienced knowledge to help us when we face our own very real and present troubles. Jesus said it like this, “these things I have told you, in the world you will have tribulation, but take courage because I have overcome the world” John 16:33.

Prayer

​Dad,
I cannot say that I like being squeezed or trapped by situations that completely overwhelm me! In fact, more often than not, I freeze in those moments, getting stuck! I feel such a loss of control. Yet, I also admit those times were are far more temporary than I realized. And, I am learning to not resist, react or freeze up as much as I used to. Your wisdom through Paul’s experiences has helped me realize that I too quickly, and far too often, focus on only what I see instead of what you are up to. Thank you for your patience and gritty-grace to get me to lift my eyes and see where my help really comes from.

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Seeing what seems impossible.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals. You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure. It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut and whose stakes are firmly fixed. The Lord will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no enemy ship can sail upon. For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭33‬:‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Our eyes may not deceive us when we look around and see chaos and its cousins mayhem and misery. Yet, our eyes do not have the ability to see what is beyond their physical realties. How do we see what seems to be impossible? How do we direct our soul, mind and strength towards a future that currently projects itself as futile? This is faith which becomes reality, solid and secure enough to exchange a hellish existence for hope.

Faith believes, hope follows.

Earlier in this passage, Isaiah recorded the precision of which the Assyrians gained and gloated in their plunderous victories. The Assyrian officers took the time to record how many towers they destroyed and their bookkeepers followed up with scrooge-like glee recording each item in their piles of plunder!

Isaiah reminds the leaders and the people of God how far they have strayed that God would discipline them with these “fierce, violent people with their strange, unknown language.” He promises that the people of God would remember that “time of terror!” Isaiah tells them the truth of the days ahead before the truth was even a reality. Is God’s Word truth even before it’s experienced or even believed? Clearly that’s what history teaches us.

One of Isaiah’s famous phrases is “lift your eyes.” And, he’s not talking about physically looking up, but through faith, he encourages us to see with eyes of faith (Isaiah 40:26, 51:6, 60:4). Seeing the truth before us, means that we can, we must, see and understand what is happening around us. Discerning whether it is something of our own doing (sin and disordered desires), an attack from a very real enemy, who actively pursues our destruction, or from God as he lovingly corrects us, leading us to repent and move towards him rather than away from him. Then, the eyes of faith can look beyond current circumstances to see that God is faithful and forgiving.

Isaiah wrote that they “will see Zion,” in a completely new future. Jerusalem filled once again with feasts and festivals. To see it filled with peace and quiet because of the security with its gates, walls and towers!

This passage crescendos with, “The Lord will be our Mighty One” – Our “Yahweh addir.” Where Yahweh is our lawgiver, judge and King! He will “yasha” save us (where the name Joshua/Jesus comes from).

Within the context of what is happening in and around our life, we may only physically see that everything looks like it’s going wrong. My hope is that Isaiah’s words to Israel are a confrontational comfort to us – that things will not always be this way. For us to “lift our eyes,” to Yahweh with faith, like in Psalm 121:1; from where our help comes from!

Prayer

Dad,
So often I only see what is happening around me or to me, forgetting to lift my eyes to you! It always seems to be a challenge to pause and look up FIRST, before fear and anxiety sets in to steal faith, peace and even joy. Help me to prioritize my pause, remember your faithfulness and yield to your ways rather than my own.

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Small but significant.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.” He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭13‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus, in speaking of the Kingdom of God, uses two words in his object lesson illustrations – tiny and little. Well, really he says it’s like a “kokkos” a grain and “zumé” yeast. The New Living Translation inserts the word “little,” but it’s not in the original language. Apparently yeast is so powerfully pervasive that it needs no modifier word.

Is Jesus saying that the Kingdom starts out small, but grows and expands to something much bigger and more powerful? That’s what it looks like. I don’t want to read too much into Jesus’ word-play here, but it’s interesting to think of God’s plans or His ways being anything but gigantic!

Are God’s ways subtle? I can see how they would be hidden, mysterious, even secretive in the way that would peek our curiosity. It’s hard for my brain to understand words like omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent by descriptions like a mustard seed or a smallest smidgen of yeast!

God does love to start small; creating humans from dust, choosing one unknown nomadic (Abram) to become a nation, a people that would become more populous than the sands of the sea or stars in the sky. And the most famous small to significant example, a chromosome supernaturally implanted into Mary’s ovum, where God takes on flesh and becomes a man. Yeah, this is how God has always approached us and world in which we experience life.

God comes like a grain, a smidgen of greatness, so small, so understated, that it can be easily dismissed or even entirely missed. But it does not remain small, nor nearly invisible. It grows exponentially larger than we can even imagine. Yeah, that sounds exactly like God, like Jesus’ birth, life and death, like what the Kingdom of God will become. It starts small, but hardly insignificant. To find it, to discover it, to live it, we must look for it, like a young child, so curious to touch everything, to exploring their environment constantly. God is not hidden, and neither is His Kingdom. He’s just waiting for us to find Him.

Prayer

​Dad,
It is an absolute wonder to know that, in all your magnanimity, you are still subtle when it comes to us! You still whisper to us. You still want us to come, taking a second look. You still wait to be big in our life and still patiently approach everything that exists in our world and beyond. Small enough, gentle enough for a child to see you and know you. Yet, big enough to be just, right and true above and beyond all other gods. You are enough.

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Global Justice Justified.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth and make it a vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the earth and scatters the people. Priests and laypeople, servants and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared. The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The Lord has spoken!” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Isaiah writes that things were not looking to good for the planet and its inhabitants. God was about to devastate and scatter. Wipe out the surface of the earth and scatter the people. Sounds apocalyptic and final doesn’t it!

What is Isaiah writing about?
Did it happen?
Is it still yet to happen?

Most scholars agree, this is a future evert known as the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22). This chapter is known as the “Isaiah Apocalypse.” Isaiah writes this in the 8th Century BC, almost 3000 years ago!

It is interesting that so many predictions by a man named Nostradamus pop up every so often, but virtually nothing is mentioned about the prophetic promises all through the Old Testament. Nostradamus, a 16th-century French astrologer and physician, is famous for his cryptic predictions, many of which have made their way into mainstream media. It’s estimated that hundreds of references exist across various media platforms. While Nostradamus wrote around 942 prophecies, the interpretations of these predictions are highly subjective, and few if any became a reality.

If we tracked Isaiah’s prophecies, around 20-30 percent of Isaiah’s prophecies are cited as having been clearly fulfilled historically. The remainder, roughly 70-80 percent, is seen as potential future fulfillments, especially regarding eschatological themes. Isaiah’s end-of-planet, is a massive doom-n-gloom prophecy, yet there are virtually no stories, no mad-max style scripts, no CGI/A.I. effects making to the theaters. The promise of the end of all ends, and there’s barely a peep about it out of Hollywood. There have been hundreds of apocalyptic films released in theaters since the dawn of cinema. Only four of them draw from the Isaiah style theme, The Book of Eli (2010), Knowing (2009), The Omega Code (1999) and the Left Behind Series (2000).

The point is this, God’s track record to fulfill His will, His way, His promises is flawlessly perfect, yet many still don’t take it seriously. Paul in the Book of Romans, uses the phrase, “without excuse” in Romans 1:20. Paul writes about how the invisible attributes of God are evident in creation, making humanity accountable for their disbelief. This implies that the evidence of God’s existence is clear in the world around us, leaving no justification for rejection of Him. So, just as clearly of creation leaving evidence for every human being to see and ask, we also have these prophesies tell of past events that have already happened and that yet unfulfilled ones that will absolutely take place. God’s mercy and love is absolutely long suffering and future events hold the finality of His justice which is also 100% love – evil cannot run rampant forever.

Prayer

​Dad,
I did not come to faith through the loud proclamation of creation nor the proof of promises fulfilled. I came to Jesus through the crushing reality of how my parents lived, knowing it would become my own life if I did not have help and make completely different choices. I came through faith! But, through Your Word, I learned about Your prophetic promises and the perfection of Your plans. I have come to believe there are no excuses, and there will be no excuses, as Paul said. Thank you for your patience and grace towards us.