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- Written by: Don Goulding
… have mercy on others, coupled with a fear of God, hating even the clothes stained by the flesh. (Jude 1:23)
Dani and I hunkered over a tea candle as another blast shook the house. Our eyes widened in awe of the wind’s power. Cyclone Winston was the largest in South Pacific history. The eye passed between the islands but we felt the wrath of radiating bands of horizontal rain. Every tree was shredded, many buildings collapsed, even brave hearts trembled.
Sin is like a cyclone. It shreds life. No one escapes the devastating consequences. Sometimes we are caught in the eye, where the source of our suffering is clear. A drunk driver runs over a toddler. The sin of drunkenness destroyed a child.
Other times, bands radiate from sin to cause general misery. A father is addicted to alcohol, and his children inherit the curse down to the third generation. Abuse, codependency, and addictions haunt the extended family. The source of the pain goes undiagnosed, and is absorbed into the morass of a dysfunctional planet. It’s the radiating bands of hardship, and we’re not sure of the exact epicenter.
Whether it’s the natural consequences of a specific sin, or the general trials of life in a cursed world, every sin results in suffering. Even my petty gossip and callous indifference cause anguish for myself and others.
It’s time for me to weep over the devastation around me. To weep for the suffering souls I know, to weep for my own hurts, and most of all, to weep because I’m part of the problem. I have to recognize the terrible results of sin and hate rebellion even as God hates it.
A spiritual cyclone is destroying those I love, and this life is my only chance to do something about it.
Prayer: Mighty Christ, let me stand against the cyclone of sin.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. (John 17:11)
Denise stood behind the counter of her Bible bookstore in Auburn, California, while a woman hurled curses. Denise distributed as many prayers as she did books, and this customer was in sore need of intercession. In fact, the Holy Spirit made it known the crazed woman carried a demon that hated God, his children, and the literature of the Way.
Denise thrust an arm into the air. “In the name of Jesus, be silent.”
The woman went mute, fell to her knees, then stumbled out the door.
This event is reminiscent of when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. In response to their inquiries he proclaimed, "I am He." He invoked the name God had given to himself, “I Am that I Am.” The soldiers drew back and fell to the ground.
There is awesome power in the names shared among the Trinity. Generally, an entity contains all its life and strength, while the name is merely an external label. But God is so mighty that power sparks from his name when it’s invoked.
As the passage above informs us, when we wear the name of Jesus, we join the unity he shares with Jehovah. His supernatural protection surrounds us. Our decaying flesh isn’t always preserved, but the real person inside can’t be touched by destruction, demons, or death.
Jews don’t pronounce the name Jehovah because it’s too holy. They’re right. Those who speak the name as an expletive or in casual speech don’t fathom the depth of their folly. Nevertheless, once I slip the garment of Jesus’s holiness over my head, I’m entitled to reverently speak, own, and hide in the name of God.
Prayer: Holy, awesome, mighty Jehovah, I bear your name.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
And of this gospel I was appointed a herald… (2 Timothy 1:11) (NIV)
It was the official first day of spring in the northern hemisphere, but nature was a bit negligent about observing the human calendar. While the oaks, deer, and flowers didn’t get out of bed for the scheduled date, the breezes, grass, and creeks were early by several weeks. Only three animal families reveled on cue.
Frogs released months of pent up joy, belting out their croaks. Robins chirped about their jackpot of worms. Brown and white goats bleated staccato exaltations into the warming day. Thus was spring heralded to my ears.
I can’t detect spring in the air as the animals do, but, there’s another springtime swirling about that I can grasp. It’s the divine spring of new life carried by the Holy Spirit. The space about us sizzles with hope. Reach out with your spirit, sniff the heavenly realms, and sense the coming excitement. The Spirit of Jesus surrounds and enters us, ready to spark a holy passion for real life.
My species is the only one in the animal kingdom with the spiritual organs necessary to sense the eternal spring and herald its coming. So what is my part in the divine spring?
If the animals tried to announce the physical spring by pushing birds out of nests, or pawing the earth to expose sleeping frogs, we would conclude they’d gone bonkers. In the same way, if I thump heads with my Bible and shove others toward Christ, they’ll shun me as insane.
I must follow the animals who know the correct way to proclaim spring. They pull it into themselves until it bursts out of their lives with croaks, twirls, and bleats. In the same way, I must inhale the spiritual spring and let it strike the vocal cords of my choices, to reverberate in loud acts of mercy and kindness. I’m the herald of eternal springtime—not only by my lungs, but more importantly, with my lifestyle.
Prayer: Lord, may your life burst out of me.