The Water Cycle. Isaiah 55:10-11.

Following college I spent one year working as a substitute teacher. I never turned down a job—I taught all grades, all levels, and all subjects in all the schools of Alief I.S.D.  One of the things that surprised me was how often I found myself talking about “the Water Cycle.” I had never heard that pithy phrase, although I understood the cycle: water covers the earth, bringing life wherever it goes.  Rain falls—cleansing the air of dust and pollen.  On the ground, rain nourishes farms and fields and flows into lakes and rivers, supporting entire ecosystems of fish and plant life.  The rivers grow deeper and wider as they flow to the sea, supporting larger and larger marine life, not to mention a worldwide shipping network.  When freshwater reaches the oceans the waters nourish the life that thrives in a briny mix of fresh and saltwater.  Then the water evaporates from the sea into clouds, blows across the country bringing rain and cooler temperatures, and the cycle repeats itself. 

God says His word is like the water cycle. It brings life wherever it goes. 

“For just as the rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making seeds germinate and sprout, and providing food to eat and seed to sow, so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I sent it to do” Isaiah 55:10-11.

Many of us learned this verse as “My word will not return void,” but there are some other great translations.  The word will not return “empty-handed,” or “without results,” or “without doing what I have planned.” Instead, God’s word will always “achieve its purpose,” and “succeed in the matter for which I sent it.” God word will always get results.

This is true in your life: EVERY TIME you read the word, God will bless that time and His word will bless YOU.  Similarly, EVERY TIME you share the word with others, or teach the word, or listen to the word being taught, God’s word will make a difference.  Just as rain cannot fail to soak into the earth, so God’s word cannot fail to get into you and change you and bless you and make you better.  And when you talk about God’s word with others, it “will not return void,” but will do the same for them. 

God’s word ALWAYS makes a difference, ALWAYS blesses others, and will ALWAYS bless you.  The time you spend reading, studying, teaching, or talking about God’s word may be the most efficient, most productive time in your entire day.  Don’t miss it!

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MAN OF SORROWS (Jesus was not fearful but sorrowful). Matthew 26:38.

How do we know Jesus sweat blood (Luke 22:44)?  The disciples fell asleep. The only way Peter, James, and John could have known it (and reported it to Luke) was if they saw it later. When Jesus came to them, He must have been wiping the watery red sheen from His forehead. Between “falling facedown” to pray and all the wiping, His cloak was probably red with blood.

But what emotion was it that made Him sweat blood?  Fear? If I were going to be crucified, I would be nauseated with fear. I’ll never forget the day my dentist drilled into a nerve that was not responding to anesthesia. Over and over. she drilled and poked and I squirmed and complained. But nails? Pounded through wrists and ankles? Scary.

Mark 14:33 mentions “horror,” and Luke 22:44 mentions “anguish,” but Gospel accounts of the Garden speak mainly of SORROW. “Then He said to them, ‘My soul is swallowed up in SORROW’” Mark 14:34. “My soul is swallowed up in SORROW to the point of death” Matthew 26:38.

Wondering at this choice of words, I looked at over 60 English translations of Matthew 26:38 on biblegateway.com. Every translation uses the words ‘SORROW,’ ‘GRIEF,’ ‘sadness,’ ‘anguish,’ or the phrase “My soul is heavy.” 

Consider these translations:  “My soul is EXCEEDINGLY SORROWFUL,” “I AM NEARLY CRUSHED WITH GRIEF,” “My soul is deeply grieved, EVEN TO THE POINT OF DEATH,” “My heart is so heavy with grief, I FEEL AS IF I AM DYING,” “The sorrow in my heart crushes Me.”

Jesus was sweating blood over SORROW because He knew His heart would be carrying the burden of mankind’s sins. We know sin causes death, but what does death cause if not sorrow?  Thus, sin leads to sorrow. First, sorrow over mortal deaths, but then sorrow over the death of a relationship with the God Who loves you so infinitely, so passionately. Add to that the smaller deaths of hope, deaths of opportunities, deaths of better options and a blessed future. Sin steals, kills, and destroys, and the result is such great sorrow. Centuries of overwhelming sorrow and grief.

Bearing the sins of history means feeling the GRIEF of history. And facing a death on the cross, it was that black pit of anguish and grief that burdened Jesus with overwhelming sorrow. The prophecy in Isaiah 53:3 gives Jesus one of His names— “He was a MAN OF SORROWS, and acquainted with GRIEF.” 

Do you face grief, devastating losses you can’t comprehend?  Jesus understands SORROW. The Man of Sorrows knows your grief. Take it to Him. Let Him comfort you.

Man of Sorrows, thank You for understanding our deepest hurts—and bearing them with us.

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*Copyright to the picture of Bruce Marchiano as Jesus held by THE VISUAL BIBLE.

The Scarlet Thread. Psalm 65:3; Isaiah 53.

What did Abraham, Moses, and David put their faith in—sacrifices? The blood of sheep? Did they believe their good deeds got them into Heaven, or did they believe that God required faith? Does the Old Testament speak of Jesus?

Yes. The Old Testament looks forward to Jesus, just as the New Testament looks back. He is the center of it all. The blood of Christ is the “Scarlet Thread” that runs through all 66 books of the Bible, beginning in Genesis when God sacrificed an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve, a sign that one day Jesus would die to cover our sin.

One simple rendering of the Gospel is called the Four Spiritual Laws, and each of these truths is supported by the Old Testament:

  1. God loves you and created you to know Him. (Read about Adam and Eve in Genesis 2-4, not to mention all the other stories.)
  2. Man is sinful and separated from God, so we are unable to know Him. (“All we like sheep have gone astray, every one of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord God laid on HIM the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. –Can you believe THAT is in the Old Testament?)
  3. The only way to know God is through the death of Jesus, which paid for our sins. (See Isaiah 53:6 above; see also Psalm 65:3 “Only YOU can atone for our rebellions.” –David KNEW that good deeds and sacrificial lambs would never be enough. Only GOD could atone for sin.)
  4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. (Genesis 15:6 says “Abraham believed God would save him, thus he was credited with righteousness.”)

Thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice. Help me understand and explain the gospel to others. Thank you that our Old Testament heroes looked forward to the coming of Christ and put their faith in Him the same way we do. Thank you that salvation never changes because You never change. You are “the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

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GOD IS A FRIEND WHO STICKS CLOSER THAN A … MOTHER. Isaiah 49:14-16.

We love the verse that says “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” Proverbs 18:24. Most consider Jesus the ultimate fulfilment of that statement. He sticks closer than any brother. But what about a mother? Could Jesus be closer than even your own mother?

Yes. Not only is it possible, but God makes a promise about it. With Mother’s Day on everyone’s mind, it’s hard to imagine anyone closer to children—even grown children—than their own mother. What a strong, important bond. A woman’s children define her and shape her entire life, her memories, her sense of purpose, her sense of self—children are everything to their moms. Moms love them with all of who they are. But God is even closer to the children than their own mother. I remember my parents trying to explain that to me, that God loved me even more than they did. When I was little, I could not understand that. How could an invisible God who never gave me a hug or spoke to me love me more than my own parents?  Yet He promises exactly that.

“If you say, ‘The Lord has abandoned me. The Lord has forgotten me!’ Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Yet even if mothers forget, I WILL NOT FORGET YOU. Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” Isaiah 49:14-16.

God, thank you that your love for us eclipses even that of our own mothers. Thank you for moms and all the love and compassion that they give us—and help us to understand that You love us EVEN MORE THAN OUR OWN MOMS.

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GOD CAN USE YOU IN YOUR FINAL DAYS. Isaiah 46:3-4.

In 2021, we moved my father into a memory care center because of Alzheimer’s disease. I found it difficult to watch him leave his home and his wife and move alone into the equivalent of a college dormitory—where he knew no one and, as independent as he was, would certainly be confused at first.

But God’s got this, right? God is still on His throne. And my dad would always be one of the strongest men I ever met. He suffered through hepatitis alone in a 3rd-world country (6’4” and 120 pounds!). He could handle it. And he was never “mine” to protect and care for, or my mom’s. He belonged to God, first, and God would not give him too much. God also knew how strong a man he was, and even with dementia, he would be okay.

That night, I opened my Bible and God brought scripture to my attention:

“Know that the Lord, He is God. It is HE who has made us and not we ourselves. We are HIS people and the sheep of HIS pasture.” Psalm 100:3-4.

My dad belonged to God, and walking with God can be a tough calling—because God calls us to be men of courage and faith, facing hard things with our eyes fixed on Jesus. And Daddy was strong. After a lifetime with Jesus, his faith was so ingrained that even in dementia he would not feel abandoned by God.

“Listen to Me … you who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. I will be the same in your old age. I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and save you.” Isaiah 46:3-4

God cares for us—and even uses us—as we age. He always has an encouraging word if you are reading His word every day. My father read the Bible every day for at least 30 years. I knew God would bless him even at the end, using those last tough days like an athlete working the hardest at the end of a marathon. Great rewards were coming, and I know Daddy earned more with each day. And God was with him every minute, even when we could not be. Blessing him and using him. But how—how does God use a man in his condition? Is that even possible?

Ephesians 3:10 says God uses even the sick to remind the devil that only God has the power of life and death—so in dementia, an old, faithful saint may do his life’s greatest work as proof of God’s great sovereignty over life and death and all things. (Read the passage above from Joni’s incredible book, HEAVEN: YOUR REAL HOME.)

Imagine that: disease may leave a man blind and mute, but his every breath preaches a sermon to the spiritual forces all around us. Isn’t that amazing? Praise God.

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GOD HAS FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME. Isaiah 49:14-16.

Have you seen the recent film based on the book from 1970, ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT’S ME, MARGARET? Controversy surrounds the books of Judy Blume. One writer says she is “perniciously wrong about all the social issues that matter” yet even Blume’s critics are calling this a “perfect” film. It tells the story of a girl moving to a new town, making new friends, and confronting adolescence. Her parents, one Jewish, the other Catholic, have chosen to raise Margaret without religion. But she talks to God anyway. I wish more kids would.

“Despite all the talk about its treatment of puberty, the movie is essentially about a young girl’s yearning for connection with God.”[1]

When I was a kid, I saw Judy Blume’s books everywhere—particularly ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT’S ME, MARGARET.  I never read the book, but the title is one of those lines that is in my head every day; it’s such a casual, easy prayer.  It may not convey all that we know of God’s power and holiness, but I know God welcomes prayers like this one. Just talk to Him, you know? You have to begin somewhere. 

I like the line, “it’s me, Margaret.”  I love the way she reminds God of her name, as though He may have forgotten.  

Do you ever feel like God has forgotten you?  Have you found yourself surrounded by so many disasters you feel like God is not paying attention? Do you have doubts—Maybe He loves so-and-so, but does He really love me?  Here’s what God has to say about that: when Israel charged God with forgetting them, He answered with a pair of rhetorical questions—

“Can a woman forget her nursing child?  Or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if she could, yet I will not forget you.  Look! I have tattooed your face on the palms of My hands! Not only your face and name, but your broken down walls.” Isaiah 49:14-16.

God is reminding us how much He loves us!

He loves you so much it’s as though He tattooed your name, your face, AND your problems on the palms of His hands.  He knows you, He LOVES you, and He is completely up-to-date on every problem that you are facing!  Don’t be discouraged. 

Take some time to talk to God and thank Him for His incredible, infinite love for you and the answers that He is going to provide for ALL your problems.

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[1] Barbara Nicolosi, PhD, “Are You There, Beauty? It’s That ‘Margaret’ Movie,” The National Catholic Register. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/are-you-there-god-judy-blume

COPING SKILLS. Isaiah 45:6,21-23.

When you face your greatest disappointment, your deepest grief and loss, will you be prepared?

THE BIBLE TEACHES COPING SKILLS: Number one—pray. Sounds obvious, but it is too critical not to mention. See, for example, Philippians 4:6-7.

Number two—PRAISE GOD. This coping skill is not well known. But it makes such a difference. To praise is to tell God all about His own greatness. Of course, He knows—but it is a critical reminder for you. When you are ravaged by grief, or a broken relationship, or a broken dream, or when your plans appear hopeless or you are terrified because of imminent disaster, STOP what you are doing and spend time praising God. If that means choking out a list of His qualities through your own tears, do it, because “He inhabits the praise of His people” Psalm 22:3. God comes so near when you praise Him. Not only that, but praise takes your mind off of your problems, and helps you focus on the God who is the Lord over your problems—the God who can change it, or give you the hope you need to get through it.

Do you have problems today? If not, you will have them tomorrow, right? When I was a college student, I memorized all the verses I could about coping with problems—because problems are the most difficult, but also the most common part of every life. Rich, poor, young, or old—we ALL have to cope, and PRAYER and PRAISE are the keys. Read these verses from Isaiah and tell them to God—use these verses to praise Him:

“I am [say “You are”] Yahweh, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness. I make success and create disaster…. There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is no one except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other…. Every knee will bow to Me, every tongue swear allegiance.” Isaiah 45:6,21-23.

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PEACE IN OUR TIME. Psalm 46:9-10.

In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from negotiations with Adolf Hitler and announced to the British people that he had secured “Peace in Our Time.” Chamberlain and others had agreed to give Hitler the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia populated by many Germans. Everyone seemed to think if they gave Hitler that one little thing, the angry little man would go away quietly. 

But Hitler did not go away and Chamberlain’s triumphant phrase became famous for its irony: there was no peace. Hitler immediately invaded Czechoslovakia, then coordinated the nationwide anti-Jewish pogrom now known as Kristallnacht (“Crystal Night,” i.e., the “Night of the Broken Glass”),  in which Nazis destroyed 7,500 Jewish shops and 400 synagogues and arrested—for the first time—some 30,000 Jewish men. Then Germany invaded and occupied Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France.  Instead of peace, England suddenly found itself in the worst war the world has ever seen. Within months, Chamberlain was forced to resign, his efforts to appease the enemy gone up in flames. “Peace in Our Time,” became an ironic complaint among the British people as they endured nightly bombing raids and spent their days picking up the pieces: “Oh, well.  At least we have ‘peace in our time.’ Ha ha ha.”

Conservative Americans tend to believe the secret to peace is a strong military. Liberal Americans tend to prefer diplomacy, believing the secret to peace is to stop the aggressive “saber rattling” and sit down at the negotiation table.  Both are right.  And both are wrong. We must use common sense and work hard to avoid war.  But lasting peace comes from God.

“He makes wars cease throughout the earth. He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces. He burns up chariots. ‘Stop your fighting and know that I AM GOD.  I will be exalted among the nations and I will be exalted on the earth’” Psalm 46:9-10.

Pray for the peace of Israel.  Pray for the Ukraine. Pray about the wars in Myanmar, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the warring drug cartels in Mexico. But as you pray, remember who ends wars and brings peace: “HE MAKES WARS TO CEASE THROUGHOUT THE EARTH.”

God is the source for “PEACE IN OUR TIME.”

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EXPRESSIONS FROM THE BIBLE. John 19:30.

You probably know what it means if I say, “I wash my hands of this matter.” It means I’m not involved or responsible. It comes from Pilate attempting to wash away his own responsibility for the kangaroo-court “conviction” of Jesus.

And you probably know the context in which Jesus made famous the phrase, “He who lives by the sword will die by the sword.”

An interesting expression or euphemism for death is “gave up the ghost.” This comes from John 19:30—after several hours on the cross, “Jesus bowed His head and gave up the ghost.” 

We don’t talk often about it, but Bible knowledge is a big part of an education.

The Bible is the most important and influential book in English. Learn it and you will be educated. 

Here are more common expressions from the Bible. Do you know the context? Quiz yourself:

  • The blind leading the blind. Matt.15:13-14.
  • In the twinkling of an eye. I Cor. 15:52.
  • Cast your pearls before swine. Matt. 7:6.
  • Forbidden fruit. Gen.3:3
  • Wolf in sheep’s clothing. Matt. 7:15.
  • Handwriting on the wall. Daniel 5.
  • At your wit’s end. Psalm 107:27.
  • Nothing new under the sun. Eccl. 1:9.
  • There is a time for everything. Eccl. 3:1-8.
  • Sign of the times. Matt. 16:3.
  • Scapegoat. Lev. 16:9-10.
  • Rise and shine. Isaiah 60:1.
  • Pride goes before destruction. Prov. 16:18.
  • How the mighty have fallen. 2 Sam. 1:19.
  • Skin and bones. Job 19:19-20.
  • Go the extra mile. Matt. 5:41.
  • Fly in the ointment. Eccl. 10:1.
  • Fall from grace. Gal. 5:4.
  • Eye for an eye. Matt. 5:38.
  • Eat, drink, and be merry. Eccl. 8:15.
  • Drop in the bucket. Isaiah 40:15.
  • Cast the first stone. John 8:7.
  • Skin of your teeth. Job 19:20.
  • Broken heart. Ps. 34:18.
  • God is my witness. Romans 1:9.
  • I am with you in spirit. Colossians 2:5.

God, help us love Your word and study it like never before!

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WHY ARE WE HERE? Isaiah 40-43.

What is the point of our short little lives?

“All humanity is grass… the grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God remains forever.” Isaiah 40:6,8.

“The nations are a drop in a bucket, a speck of dust on the scales… all the nations [6,000,000,000 people!] are as nothing to Him, nothingness and emptiness…. Do you not know? Have you not heard? God is enthroned above the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers in His sight… He reduces kings to nothing and makes judges lose their minds. He blows on them and they wither.” Is. 40:21-24.

But it is not so with believers like you….

“Do not fear for I have saved you. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and the rivers will not drown you. You will not be scorched when you walk through fire, and the flame will not burn you. For I am your God and your Savior. You are precious in my sight and I love you. Do not fear, for I AM WITH YOU.” 43:1-5.

So what is God’s purpose? Sure, these verses say He will defeat our enemies and protect and save us. But why? So we can glorify Him. Not only by saying it but by our actions. God is honored and glorified when His people share His love, light, hope, truth, and yes, His holiness. When you live a holy life, you are giving God glory—and THAT is why you are here: to give God glory by living your life HIS WAY. That is your purpose, and the more you live out THAT purpose, the happier and more fulfilled you will be—because God created you with needs that only holy, Godly living can satisfy.

“Everyone called by My Name and created for My Glory.” Is. 43:7.

You see that? God Himself describes us as having been CREATED FOR HIS GLORY. Ask Him to show you how to give Him glory every day, in every decision, and with every word you speak. The people around you need to see God’s glory!

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