Advent

I have always enjoyed the season of Advent; those four weeks set apart to meditate on the first coming of Jesus. Advent means 'a coming into place, view or being,' so it is the perfect time to remember Jesus' arrival in human history as a helpless infant. Everyone loves babies; they are cute and cuddly. They are also non-threatening; they write no manifestos and make no speeches. They don't march or do causes. Examine any manger scene, the baby Jesus just lies there limply, without so much as a Pampers on—pretty harmless stuff. It is easy to reflect on and sing the praises of baby Jesus, asleep on the hay. Even the world—except those allergic to even the most innocuous religious expressions of Christmas—mostly tolerates baby Jesus. 

But Jesus hasn't been a baby for a long, long time. 

The man Jesus makes conclusive, polarizing statements about His identity. He directs how we should live—meddles even. He tips our sacred cows. His statements about Himself demand a response. He's politically incorrect and intolerant, with His claim of being 'the only way'. His promise that He will return, destroy all that hinders love, and rule this planet as absolute, undisputed King places Him squarely at odds with the world and its systems. It's much less controversial to stay focused on His humble birth, to keep Him in that manger.

Of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with spending this season reflecting on Jesus' first advent—we should express love and gratitude that He came, lived among us and died to save us. Without His first advent, there would be no resurrection, and no reason for our faith, no expectation of anything higher or better than this world. But low-born Jesus is also our coming King. He asks His disciples to remember not just that he came, but that He is coming again. He asks that we be ready. Like a watchman vigilantly guarding his house against burglars. Like a pregnant woman, excitedly awaiting the day her baby arrives. Like a Jewish bride in ancient times, eagerly waiting for the day her bridegroom completes his preparations and comes to take her from her father's house, into his own.

So it's good to remember that He's coming again, especially at this time of the year when everything around me insists that celebrating Christmas is okay, as long as I keep it about gifts and parties and baby Jesus. Baby Jesus only. But King Jesus is the One returning, with fiery eyes and an implacable determination to return the world to what God intended from the beginning. A place where God may walk among us; where we will see Him face to face. A place of unhindered love and intimacy, where we creatures may finally and forever live with our Creator. A place of eternal glory. 

As 2019 draws to a close, I want every manger scene to be a reminder, not just that Jesus humbly came as a weak, human infant, but that He's coming again as all-powerful King. As I remember and honor Jesus' appearing, I am asking God to refresh my desire to watch for His re-appearing. This beautiful, terrible, broken world is passing and will pass away. Soon and very soon we will see our King, our glorious Jesus, high and lifted up, His train filling all the earth. Every eye will see Him, recognizing Him as King and God. What a privilege it is to see and know Him now. 

May this Advent reaffirm your trust that what He has promised He will do; renew your resistance to the pull of this world; and refocus your life on Jesus. May He shorten the time and strengthen the saints to walk out His love to others.  Merry Christmas. Maranatha! (Oh Lord, Come!) 

“[Jesus] who testifies to these things says,

‘Yes, I am coming soon.’

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Revelation 21:20-21

Family Reunion

A summer event gathering family from across the country has had me thinking about God's upcoming family reunion. Ours was a mini-family reunion, but the one that happens in the book of Revelation will be on a scale no one has ever seen. You have to search for it in the midst of the trumpets, earthquakes, angels, battles and all, but Father God will also be gathering His family during that turbulent time before Yeshua returns for His Bride. That's what the Bride is--a family of believers drawn from every tribe and nation. We use a wealth of language to identify the body of believers: chosen, Bride, children, joint heirs, commonwealth of Israel, people of God, grafted in, adopted--all terms that enrich and expand God's original idea of a family living together with Him in paradise.

It is through Jesus the Jewish Messiah we are adopted into the family of God. We Gentiles are Ruth to the Jewish Boaz, invited into the salvation story written by Israel's God. Our savior is Jewish, our Scriptures were given through Jewish authors, our apostles were Jesus' Jewish disciples. In the earliest decades, believers were overwhelmingly Jewish. The thousands saved at Pentecost were Jews who'd come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Shavuot. So it's pretty clear our adopted family is Jewish, yet most of that people group is missing from our midst. Our family is incomplete and the final family reunion won't happen until the whole family is ready. Jesus will not return for an incomplete Bride, so He waits patiently for His house to fill.

The unbreakable promises God gave His original covenant people can only be completely fulfilled when they take their place in the family of faith, releasing greater riches when they do (Romans 11:12). God will certainly restore them--He has said He will. We who enjoy the benefit and richness of the new covenant have a vital part to play in welcoming them back. Our part is to live so in love with the Jewish Messiah that we make the Jewish people jealous and curious, drawing them back.  "And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again." Romans 11:23. That is what our Father does, takes what the devil has broken and makes it new again. He finds what's been lost, restores the damaged, heals the wounded, revives the dead. Israel's calling was to invite the nations to worship Israel's God. Now we who believe are called to invite Israel, through their Messiah, back into full family relationship.

As Pastor Don Finto says, "Your elder brother has fallen, will you help him get up?"  How do we do that? We can ask Father to fill us with love for Jewish prodigals. We can prepare for the upcoming family reunion by investigating God's olive tree. We can ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light on attitudes toward the Jewish people that may not reflect the love of Christ. We can pray, become informed, assist and stand with the Jewish people. We can acknowledge and grieve the wounds the church has inflicted on the Jewish people, making it difficult for them to 'see' their own Messiah.

All Israel shall be saved is a promise that seems impossible, but don't we serve the God of the impossible? I want to be part of His plan to show the Jewish people the loveliness of Messiah. I want to say ‘thank you’ for the grace I've received via the Jewish people. The gospel is the power of God, "first to the Jew." (Acts 13, Romans 1:16 and 2:10). So I want to financially support Messianic ministries in the Land which daily bring the gospel to the Jewish people. We have an elder brother who has become estranged from his spiritual family--I want a part in God's plan to entreat him to return!

The reunion invitation has been given. We've been asked to save the date even though we don't know the date exactly (definitely a God thing). In what time remains, God help us prepare for the best, biggest and most amazing family reunion ever! 

“And now the Lord says...

It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:5-6

Amen!

Olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, Israel

...and in this way all Israel will be saved." Romans 11:26

A Plague of Tupperware

Do you suspect you may be suffering from a plague of Tupperware? When you open your plastics cupboard, does an avalanche of random containers fall out?  Do you keep lunch meat packaging and margarine tubs, "just in case?"  Do you still have the Tupperware you got for a wedding present from Aunt Tippy in 1979? Are you an empty nester yet still have a cupboard devoted entirely to containers? If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, then you are likely experiencing a plague of Tupperware. 

Don't panic, the Lord is with you. No one has died from this disorder (that we know of) and there are things you can do to extricate yourself before you begin collecting cats and take out containers. The God who led the Israelites from slavery in Egypt can free you from bondage to Tupperware. First, breathe deeply.  Ask the Lord, "Have I perhaps sinned that you have visited this plague upon me?" If not, remember that God only allows such tests to make us stronger. Next gather the containers into one place so that you can see how bad the infestation has become. Keep breathing, God is good. Do you really need two cake takers? Tell the truth. How many teeny tiny containers for salad dressing are enough? Do you still need to keep the cute mustard squirt bottles you bought for the church picnic in 1985? 

Gently remove any and all foreign containers from amongst the ones you know are yours. As you place them in the trash, say these words of release, "Deli meat containers are not keep-worthy." If you feel anxious, these phrases may be helpful, "I can get more containers at the store. They make more containers every day. God is my provider, He will ensure I have ample containers." Take several cleansing breaths.  

Now separate the bottoms from the tops, less like the sheep and goats and more like swim suit separates. Count the bottoms. Make sure you have a top for every, single one.  Refuse to engage in philosophical speculations, like why do I have ten lids for three containers? Where do the missing containers go? Why do I have no life?

Now, keeping your mind firmly anchored in your happy place, remove the tops for which there are no bottoms. Be firm...no waffling or arguing. Tell yourself firmly that you will not find the bottoms later.  For this exercise, the bottoms no longer exist. Put the orphan tops to the side for later donation to Salvation Army. Do the same for the bottoms for which there are no tops. Release any shame that rises up. There is nothing wrong with you, this happens to everyone. God loves you. Imagine the joy a Salvation Army shopper will experience upon finding just the lids she needs. If you don't trust yourself, put them in the trash, perhaps pouring rancid bacon grease over them to prevent a later rescue attempt in a weak moment. It's going to be okay, Aunt Tippy will never know.

After you have put away the now streamlined collection of containers, revel a bit in the new roominess in your cupboard. Reject the thought that now you have room for more containers...this is from the devil. Keep telling yourself that you are just a sinner, saved by grace.  Ask for the Lord to strengthen you, giving you wisdom as well as restraint. Going forward, ask for a hedge of protection to surround you if you come across cute novelty food containers--the ones whose lid only fits the one container. Avoid the plastics aisle at Walmart. 

Remember, in this world you will have tribulation. 

Next I'm tackling the sock drawer.

Smiling, as I cleanse myself of the evil amongst us...

When I grow up...

I have long observed them...those Christians who appear to move consistently from glory to glory, always praising Jesus and having the victory. Their Christianity, as graceful as a dance, usually gets them noticed, promoted to leadership or launched into ministry. Then there's me with my two left feet—stumbling, fearful and tentative—making more mistakes than not. For a long time I thought there must be something terribly wrong with me, as I never could get my act together let alone take it on the road. No matter what classes I took, conferences I attended, books I read, Bible studies I mastered, I never quite attained the level of Christian maturity I desired. Half the time I was afraid I was likely not saved and the rest of the time I was convinced I wasn't. 

In my mind I've known a long time that my hope doesn't lay in 'getting it right,' but don't really believe it. I know I don't believe it because I am surprised and disgusted when I mess up. Old as I am, I've believed that eventually I'd consistently get it right. I really expected to grow up and walk on my own--a functioning, Christian grown-up. But technically there are no grown-up Christians…we are children all, every single day of our sojourn in this life. 

A mature Christian is one who stops saying, "I can do it myself," and humbly waits until God takes his hand before he tries to walk. One who understands that God the Father will always need to hold his hand. My security rests not in my strength or native abilities. It’s not dependent on my talent or intelligence or maturity or spirituality or education. My theology doesn’t have to be completely sussed-out, polished, with no holes or contradictions. Jesus isn't averting His eyes from my childish Christianity. He's not waiting for me to figure Him out. He is gazing intently at me, because He loves me and wants me to grow into what He intended. 

I am so grateful that my access to Him isn't restricted until my anger issues are resolved or my fears relieved. God's not withholding fellowship until I get a grip on my flapping tongue. He sees my bumbling attempts to love and serve Him with the fondness one has when watching a toddler gain life skills. He does not reject me for my failures, but urges me, again and again to get up and try once more. He longs for my company as a bridegroom longs for His bride. He finds me beautiful and takes no notice of that which mars my beauty. The fact that I do not understand this makes it no less true.

His faithful supervision doesn't mean I'm a failure...it means I am never alone; never abandoned; never left to figure stuff out on my own. My part is to resist looking at my ugly, imperfect attempts to follow Him and keep my eyes fixed on Him. I am to believe, to trust, to rest in my expectation that God is good and intends good for those who are His. So I am learning to let go of my unrealistic, unfounded and disappointing expectation that I am someday going to 'arrive' and follow Jesus error-free. That expectation leads me to shame when I fail and pride when I succeed. The old hymn has it right,

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

Every hour, every minute, every breath...not just in emergency and loss, but in joyful times as well. I dare not take the smallest step until (and unless) my Father takes my hand. Selah

Reset

Last spring I prepared a testimony to share with our church small group. I was reluctant because I've always considered my life uneventful and ordinary. But I began to feel differently as I examined my walk of faith from childhood until now. A pattern emerged of loving oversight, protection, correction and favor. I saw that what at first appeared random has instead been a slow but steady progression as God has drawn me further into His ways. As I wrote my faith journey, His watchful care over my faltering steps became evident, as well as my woeful tendency to wander off the path, into life by habit.

At the beginning of 2019 a prophetic word for the Body was "reset." Reset has the connotation that correction is needed--kind of a do-over. Such a word could feel negative, as if we've messed everything up and must begin again. This might be true of an earthly endeavor, but this is God we're talking about. When God beckons, when He gets our attention and whispers, "remember how you began?" Then a reset becomes an invitation with a promise.

Reset can actually mean many different things. A reset is to set in place again those things I knew when I was first saved that I have begun to forget. Things that have worn away or become commonplace by the wear and tear of daily life. A reset could be a reboot to fully complete a download of necessary updates for my operating system. It could be a sharpening of my gaze to bring the lovely One back into focus, a re-ignition of dwindling fire in my heart, warming me again to passion for Jesus. A reset is a reminder of why I am on this journey in the first place. A re-start of those things I did at first. All that could be overwhelming if it were a challenge to try harder to do all the things. But don't forget the promise... God doesn't invite us into anything He doesn't intend to empower us to do.

The reset is a call to return to first love, to remember 'the things I did at first,' not because God's all about His worker bees, but because He longs for relationship. He knows how easily I slide into habit and calls me back so I may return to love. Yeshua is worthy...full of worth. His heart towards His Bride has never wavered and His intention to complete His plan for the earth has not changed. He is beautiful, loving, fearless, and powerful. This is a season to recommit--to return to first love, to pledge our allegiance to Jesus, to wait for His guidance, provision and protection, to reaffirm that we belong to Him. 

And of course as soon as my heart is moved to agree, the tiny voice in my head immediately chimes in with, "easy to say, harder to do. You'll just mess it up...again."  And of course I will and God knows I will, but that's the beauty of the thing. My weak, wavering will was never going to get me down the highway. My only hope of making it to the end of my journey has always been Yeshua. Just Him alone and nothing else. His intention is so much better than my promise to act. What He says, He will do. My job is to believe and hold on. God knows me better than I know myself, and the miracle is that He loves and wants me anyway. How amazing is the love of Jesus, friend of sinners! As I look at my history of highs and lows with God, I find it consoling in the extreme that I can count on His unfailing love and His faithful determination to bring me to the finish line. 

My testimony is the ongoing story of an ordinary, faithless human, elevated not by any native virtue of my own but by the amazing, unmerited favor of the God of the universe. He loves me, because He loves me. Period. That is as unfathomable to me today as it was the day He first called me. I am under no illusion that He wanted me because I'd make a nice addition to the kingdom. Oh, the wonderful, immeasurable, inexhaustible mercy of God! He takes the weak, foolish things of this world and makes them royal, sits them at His table, and feeds them from His plate.  I want to remember, again and again Whose I am; I want to return to first love.

^"...I have this against you: you have abandoned the passionate

love you had for me at the beginning. Think about how far

you have fallen! Repent and do the works of love you did at first.

I will come to you and remove your lampstand from

its place of influence if you do not repent."

Revelation 2:4-5

The Passion translation (TPT) 

Flashpoint

I have a framed photograph my husband and I picked up long ago on one of our travels. Recently I unwrapped this picture so I could hang it. Yes, four years after our move and I still don't have everything hung up...don't judge! It's a photo of a massive lightning strike over a sandstone formation somewhere in Arizona, entitled "Flashpoint." I was intrigued by the title and looked up the definition. A flash-point is the point at which eruption into significant action, creation or violence occurs.

Interesting. Then I researched how lightning grows from nothing into a massive spark. Without getting into a lot of technical, sciencey jargon: air is normally filled with evenly distributed positive and negative charges. During a storm these charges become separated--mostly positive charges concentrate in the top of the clouds and mostly negative in the bottom. The earth carries a positive charge. Opposites attract, so at some point critical mass is achieved and an invisible 'stepped leader' of negative charge rushes toward the earth. Once it connects, a positive electrical charge rushes back up that 'stepped leader,' releasing a burst of electrical light and power which we see as lightning. The stepped leader naturally moves toward the highest object in the area, which is why we don't stand outside in an electrical storm. Sometimes as the initial stepped leader is descending, the opposing charge rises from earth to meet it.

Soooo, lightning is essentially Earth's visible response to an invisible touch from Heaven. Obviously I can't take the analogy too far, but that speaks. That so clearly and loudly speaks. God is always prior. He is the initiator. He is the source. What I see as my choice, my love, my seeking after God is actually the natural response of a created being to her Creator. He is before and above and in all things primary. When He reaches to me, my spirit leaps to Him along a path He had already made. When His love touches me, closing the circuit, my heart is pulled inexorably to His. 

I like that idea of spiritual flash-point, that moment when love and longing attain critical mass and Abba's gaze and presence reach down. So I want to make myself a likely target for His presence by being intentional in my relationship with Him. It's not that I make anything happen; it's not dependent on my knowledge or my maturity, but my need. My felt need for more of Him drives me to actively present myself before the Lord, worshipping, praying, fasting, musing on the loveliness of God in Scripture. That builds my hunger for Him and sets me in an atmosphere in which my Father is likely to draw near. Like standing on top a tall building in a thunderstorm, I simply present myself as the most likely target when His presence touches down.

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord

And to meditate in His temple.

Psalm 27:4 NASB

The Just Shall Live by Faith

But that no man is justified by the law
in the sight of God, it is evident;
for the just shall live by faith.
Galatians 3:11

Sometimes when I read the accounts of the ancient Israelite people, I get to feeling a little exasperated. I mean, how thick do you have to be to see what they saw and hear what they heard and still not believe that God is God, that He should be trusted and obeyed? But when the sun of reality burns away the fog of fantasy faith, I know that I am so very much like my spiritual ancestors. Stubborn, just like them. Hard-hearted and stiff-necked and rebellious...just like them. If I had been there, I would have worshiped the golden calf. If I had been there, I would have griped about the lack of water and the bland, 'what is that?'  manna. If I had been there, I would have complained about God's leadership choice of Moses. If I had been there, I would have cheered for Jesus when he entered Jerusalem and I would have jeered at Jesus during His trial. When God crafted a people to teach us about Himself, He knew their example would speak to us, because humanity--Jew and Gentile alike--is uniformly broken and sinful.

I am thankful we serve a God of loving mercy and steadfast grace--a God requiring faith, not works in order to save and keep us. Everyone knows this; it's a basic tenet of Christianity. What seems less well known is that Israel knew that God too. No one--whether from Old Testament times or New--has gone to heaven except by the grace of God. If you're not sure I'm right, do a quick Bible review and name one person who was justified by keeping the Law. Take your time. Consult your pastor. Use Google if you want. Name one person--besides Jesus--who never broke any of the commandments...never sinned, never slipped up. Adam? Nope. Abraham? Nope. Moses? Nope. David? Are you kidding me? Every single one of our Old Testament heroes of the faith were men and women of clay who followed the God of Israel as best they could, trusting that a loving and merciful God would extend His salvation to them in the end. 

The just shall live by faith is in the New Testament because Paul was quoting Habakkuk 2:4 (which is definitely in the Old Testament). Somehow between that time and today, we've come to the conclusion that God moved from salvation through the law to salvation despite the law. But God does not have a split personality; He is the same God all through the Scriptures. The Old Testament showcases His plan to create a people and teach them how He was different than the pagan gods. Through the Law* God taught His chosen people His unapproachable perfection and holiness so they would not be tempted to try for their own righteousness. Through the Law they (and we) could see the absolute impossibility of attaining rightness with God on our own. They, just like us, had to trust in the character of God...to trust His plan for salvation. They had to access God through faith.

Many Christian ministries characterize Jesus' earthly ministry as flouting the Law, teaching it was irrelevant...even offensive to God. But He would have had few Jewish followers if that had been the case. The Jews of Jesus' day were well aware that Moses (their revered Law-giver) had given them a test for a false prophet. Anyone one who taught the people to reject and disobey God's commands was immediately identified as a false prophet (Deut. 13:1). That is why the Pharisees and scribes kept trying to catch Jesus saying and doing things that broke a commandment. They were applying Moses' false-prophet test, looking for a valid reason to reject Jesus' teachings and stop His growing ministry. The fact that the religious authorities finally had to rely on false witnesses to condemn Him is a good indication that Jesus nowhere told them to disobey God's commands. Instead He taught them how to follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter. He took the Law and fleshed it out, making it a way of life that was full of life. 

Jesus fulfilled the law....not as in completed and cancelled but as in filling it full. He routinely taught "you have heard it said, but I say to you." Rather than erasing the commandments, He filled them full of the meaning God intended. Jesus tweaked the Pharisees about their traditions, but told His disciples to be even more scrupulous than the Law required (Matthew 5:20). The Law was given for Man's benefit, but God knew men would turn it into a heavy religious burden. Jesus showed how to keep the Law the right way...a way filled with grace and spirit that brings life...life the way God had always intended it to be. Jesus showed the people that the way of God could be lived out in a joyful, abundant way that both pleased God and blessed people. His sacrifice ended the necessity of animal sacrifice to cover sin, but never ended God's plan for how we should live.

Our God never changes. The God of Israel extends hope to the world that does not rest on perfect rules-following but on His character...on His plan for salvation...on His lovingkindness. That makes my heart sing.

...the righteous shall live by his faith." Habakkuk 2:4b

*Torah is usually interpreted with the generic English word "law," but it literally means Teaching...essentially, the way God means us to live. As Paul exclaims in Romans 7, "Am I suggesting that these laws of God are evil? Of course not!"  

Whose Report Will We Believe?

When Moses sent spies to the Promised Land they brought back a good report. The land was fertile and productive. God had indeed directed them to a land where they could flourish. But Numbers 13 says when ten of the men saw the defenses they were overcome with fear. What they saw with their natural eyes carried more weight than what God had told them. Despite the pleading of Caleb and Joshua, the report of the ten spies won out. You know the rest of the story; it was 40 years and a lot of funerals before the Chosen entered the Land.  When I read through Numbers 13 and 14 I noticed two things. The first was that God told Moses to send the men...leaders from each of the tribes. So He didn't have a problem with the people knowing there were giants in the land. If you frame the theme of the entire Bible as “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible,” this makes perfect sense. God didn’t want to give the infant nation a false sense of their own abilities. He wanted them to know without a doubt that they needed to rely on Him. He had already trashed the mightiest empire on the planet, rescued the people from slavery (carrying gold, silver, livestock and other goodies) and brought them through a sea walking on dry land. He miraculously gave them food and water and physically showed them where and when to travel. None of that was possible in the natural. None of that depended on human wisdom or strength or ability. God did it all. Here then was another chance to see God work miracles for them. All they had to do was do what He said, but we all know that is often easier said than done.  Today is much the same--God has made promises of a victorious church, yet everywhere we turn the report is bad--the dark is rising and gaining strength. The world is giving itself to any and everything as it loses hope that there is anything worth living for. Things have tilted badly off-center and appear headed over a cliff. Whether the crisis is global, national or personal, it is difficult to look on giants without fear. It is only natural to consider all this with the eyes of the ten spies. This brings me to the second thing I noticed:  the good report came “from a different spirit.” Caleb and Joshua saw the same things the other spies saw--walled cities, giants, and the impossibility of the task before them. Were they naturally brave? In denial? Terminally optimistic? I think not. I also don’t believe they were somehow supernaturally immune from fear. I think the answer lies in Exodus 33. On their travels, Moses had pitched a tent for seeking the Lord. This Tent of Meeting was outside the camp so folks could come to a place separate from daily life, to seek God and worship. Moses went there regularly to be with the Lord. It is where God spoke to Moses, "face to face as a man speaks to his friend."  The closing verse in that section is almost a throw-away but holds the key to Joshua's different spirit. "When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent." Joshua was present when the Presence descended on the Tent of Meeting. There he too met the Lord. He learned to love God's presence, to hear God's voice, to fear His name. The relationship he built during those times of worship and encounter was a place of shelter from which he could view giants with calm confidence. Joshua knew Israel couldn’t take the Land. He also knew that God could and had told them that He would. That is the report Joshua and Caleb chose to believe. In times of crisis, information about God is too flimsy a support, we must lean on God Himself. This is possible if we spend time knowing Him, learning to press into His loving kindness, rest in His peace. Then even in confusion and pain we can focus on Him, trusting that He will bring us through...whether it’s winning the Promised Land, American politics, or personal turmoil. We can expect reports of persecution, violence and lost hope to continue, but there is another report. As we face our own giants we can turn our eyes to God, believing His word just as Joshua and Caleb did. Jesus told us that the darkness will increase, but the light will increase also. While acknowledging the one we must look to the other. Caleb and Joshua were able to give a good report because they knew that it is not the bigness of our challenges but the bigness of our God that matters. Let's encourage one another with the good things that God is doing in His ever advancing Kingdom. Let's lean on God and wait for His salvation, which is surely coming. Maranatha!

Numbers 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said,

“Let us go up at once and take possession of it; for we will certainly conquer.” 

Numbers 14:7b-9 [Caleb and Joshua] spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we passed as spies is an exceedingly good  land.

If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us,

a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord;

and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us.  Do not fear them.”