he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:8 NIV https://isaiah.bible/isaiah-25-8
Scripture
So John was beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl who took it to her mother.
Observation
Herod had had John the Baptist imprisoned because john had told Herod that his marriage to Herodias was against God’s law. At a feast for Herod’s birthday, Herodias’s daughter performed a dance that please Herod. Herod promised the girl anything she wanted. The girl demanded the head of John the Baptist on a platter.
The king regretted his vow, but he had no choice. So John was beheaded and the head was given to the girl.
Application
How evil are the hearts of people when they are not surrendered to the Lord! The ways of God bring life, but the ways of people lead to death.
Since God controls even the most evil of tyrants, it is clear that John’s days were ordained by the Lord and it was time for John to go to heaven.
John represents the old covenant, the covenant of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus said that John was the greatest of the old covenant prophets, but even the least person in God’s kingdom was greater than John.
The kingdom of God is here. The kingdom of King Jesus has been established.
We need to understand that God works in seasons and ages. The death of John signalled that an age had passed, and so in our own lives we can be sure that different seasons are appointed for us.
We always need to be ready to discern when God is ordaining a new season. We have to be ready to move on when God says move, and not clinging to the activities and expectations of an old season.
Prayer
Father please help me to see when a season in your Spirit changes. Amen.
Because Jesus took care of everything at Calvary, I owe Him my trust when things do not look good or according to what I felt was promised to me. Bill Johnson
This week at Kids’ Cell we remembered the story of Jesus at the Beach (John 21:1-14).
After we heard the story and saw some videos, we went to the house next door, where Tim had a fire ready, and we had some good quality beach food.
Scripture
“A prophet is honoured everywhere except in his home town and among his own people.”
Observation
Jesus tells more parables. The parables of the buried treasure and the precious pearl show us that the kingdom of heaven is worth giving up everything in this life for.
The parable of the fishing net teaches us that there will be a great judgement at the end of the age.
Jesus then goes to his home town of Nazareth. People there refuse to accept Him. They refuse to believe in Him, so He can only do a few miracles.
Application
Jesus was respected as a teacher and miracle worker everywhere except in Nazareth. There, for some reason, they decided that the proverb was true that “nothing good comes from Nazareth.” They knew His family, so He couldn’t be anything special.
This quest for novelty goes on today. People are still more impressed by a visiting preacher than by their own pastor, even when they say the same things.
Frustrating as it may be for the local pastors, it it is an unfortunate trait of many people.
We must not fail to honour our leaders who put in years of faithful service. We must not have more faith in the anointing on a visiting preacher than the anointing on a young person who grew up in our church.
If we fail to see the Holy Spirit at work in a person, regardless of where they come from, Jesus will not be able to do many miracles among us.
Prayer
Father, please overcome my prejudices. Help me to see your Spirit working on everyone who seeks to serve you. Amen.
Ann Voskamp writes about work and worship.
He was 22 and I was 21 when we bought the farm. It was April 26th — 25 years ago this week.
When one of the travelling feed salesman pulled into the farmyard that first spring, he rolled down his pick-up truck window, and hollered to the Farmer: “Hey, your dad around?”“How someone sees you doesn’t get to change how you see your dream.”
“I’m sure he is — over at his farm,” the Farmer grinned and it took that sales guy more than a beat or two to realize that the baby-faced boy, not looking a day over 16, was the man of this land, trying to make a go of this dirt on his own. How someone sees you doesn’t get to change how you see your dream.
We worked 18 hours day and scrounged to buy flats of Kraft Dinner when it was on sale and I picked rocks with a baby strapped on my back and on our second wedding anniversary we got out of the barn in time to see the sunset across the fields and I told the Farmer that’s all I’d ever need: If we walked into the barn before sun-up, if, now and then, we could finish up evening chores and walk out of the barn before sun down.
This is the part of the story where the hustlers tell you that this is the dream that hard work built — but this is not that story, because this world doesn’t work like that.
Read the rest here
When I truly believe nothing is impossible for God and nothing is impossible for those who believe, I will respond to that inward conviction of the heart by recognizing I carry solutions for the death, loss, and destruction that plagues humanity. When I find them, I must take the risks necessary to see the situation changed for the glory of God. Bill Johnson
