John 7:37-39

In seasons of drought, there are strict limits on the use of water. Even then, extreme scarcity of water in affluent countries is non-existent. This is not the case for the Middle East in ancient times. For the Hebrew people, water was a blessing from God, especially manifest during the years of wandering in the desert when miracle-water from the rock flowed.

The great autumn festival of Tabernacles celebrates all these years of wandering. On the last day of this feast, the priest would walk about the altar with water freshly drawn. Today rabbis pray for rain at the close of this
festival.

Picture the Temple with Jesus standing amid the crowd as the ritual of water takes place. He has overturned
the money tables in chapter 2 at the Passover Festival. Now he breaks in upon the singing crowd with the ear-piercing cry of verse 38. “Let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

The above Firestarter is for Pentecost Sunday,  Year A. For the Firestarters and readings for every day over the three-year cycle, see “Ebook and Paperback” in the menu options.   The ebook costs only $6.00.  I have it on my phone and can go right to the Firestarter for the day.  It’s a marvelous daily devotional and resource for Bible Study groups.  –Nick

Jeremiah 1—3

“Return, O backsliding children,”
says the LORD, “for I am married to you.” 3:14

Of all the feats that skiers do in the Olympics, no one has ever attempted to ski backwards. Yet this catches the essence of the Biblical concept of meshubah “backsliding.” Of the twelve times that the noun is used in the Bible, nine of them are found in Jeremiah.

When we turn our eyes away from the Lord, it is impossible not to fall—literally sliding down on one’s back, feet sprawled in mid-air. To repent means to turn back again, with eyes and life totally focused upon God.

The Lord will pound away at your heart through Jeremiah these Mondays of Lent, until you stop, pick yourself up, and turn back again, face to face with the Lord, the spouse of your soul. Listen with the same energy as Jeremiah speaking.

The above Firestarter is from Monday of The First Week in Lent, Year A. For the Firestarters and readings for every day over the three-year cycle, see “Ebook and Paperback” in the menu options.   The ebook costs only $6.00.  I have it on my phone and can go right to the Firestarter for the day.  It’s a marvelous daily devotional and resource for Bible Study groups.  –Nick

Joshua 6—8

Do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout.
Then shout. 6:10

Jericho is taken, not by worldly strategies, but in the Lord’s unique way. It is time for what is “Jericho” in you to fall. Do some walking today in silence. Do not talk. It is Advent. Wait upon the Lord. Allow God to tell you when to make a move with your mouth. The decisive moment will come when God prompts you to speak
or shout, breaking in upon any lying spirit that may lurk within your heart behind walls that need to fall. Like the shout when a karate chop breaks wood, let the Spirit break open the stuck and stubborn stuff in your spirit.

The Israelites hoarded enemy treasures intended only for the Lord. They were powerless before their enemies until they repented and released these treasures. Is there anything that you are clinging to or hoarding that belongs to the Lord?

For the Firestarters and readings for everyday over the three-year cycle, see “Ebook and Paperback” in the menu options.   The ebook costs only $6.00.  I have it on my phone and can go right to the Firestarter for the day.  It’s a marvelous daily devotional and resource for Bible Study groups. –Nick

Micah 1—2
I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob, I will gather the survivors of Israel;
I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture. 2:12

Waves of judgment and compassion clash against each other throughout Micah’s prophecy. His poetry and personal gestures are as shock treatments. He walks through the streets naked to awaken people from the evil of idolatry. The English translation misses the impact of Micah’s word-plays on the names of cities. For example, Achzib means “Town of Deceit.”

The ultimate intent of God is that there be repentance and not punishment for the evils against the First Commandment. There is the promise intimated here and prophesied later more fully, of a Shepherd King that will come to redeem. With this image, God dismisses the charges against the people and instead, comes to their aid.

Is there anything that you are doing that you need to be shocked into undoing?

For the Firestarters and readings for everyday over the three-year cycle, see “Ebook and Paperback” in the menu options.   The ebook costs only $6.00.  I have it on my phone and can go right to the Firestarter for the day.  It’s a marvelous daily devotional and resource for Bible Study groups. –Nick

Jonah 1—2

I called to the LORD out of my distress, and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 2:2

God’s heart is warm and tender to Nineveh—Jonah’s is not. God singles out for salvation, this pagan capital of the empire that wreaked havoc on the Israelites from the ninth to the seventh centuries B.C. Jonah flees to Spain—the ends of the earth—refusing to be involved with God’s mercy on a city Jonah hates. However, wherever he goes, Jonah brings faith in the God of the Hebrews. The Phoenician sailors cry out to God whom they have come to know by someone avoiding doing God’s will. Even the great fish obeys and throws up!

God’s patience with the prophet rivals God’s patience with Nineveh. Is there something that you know way down in your own belly that you are called to do and are avoiding? Even greater than flight away from God’s
will is God’s pursuit of you until you complete what God wants.

A masterpiece of the great sixteenth century artist, Michelangelo, stretches across the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. At the center, God and Adam lovingly and longingly stretch out their hands and fingers to each other. The feeling of being freshly created is awesomely captured by the artist, as their fingers are separate, yet connected. In a similar sense is the visit with Mary and Elizabeth. John in his mother’s womb leaps for joy in the presence of Jesus, the new Adam inside Mary.

Clear away the debris in your heart that clutters the space between your heart and the heart of God in Christ. Then you will leap for joy at the desperate nearness of your Savior who is re-creating you right now.

Like Daniel, be total in your trust in the Lord; it will give you a serenity that no one can take from you. Daniel 2