Milk and Wine

My sister in Christ asked me to join her in praying Isaiah 55 over our church.  I thought it was a wonderful idea!  So, I sat with my bible, each day, read a verse and then journaled what I heard the Lord saying to me.

For the next 13 weeks I'll be sharing the insights I was blessed with.

Maybe they're for your church too.

I hope they bless you.

Isaiah 55:1

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the water; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

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Lord, we, as a church are situated in a place surrounded by poverty.  Not just poverty of goods but also poverty of Spirit. We open our doors on Food Pantry morning and hundreds of people are fed.  But it’s not just food they receive.  They come and are bathed in kindness.  Joy, Brenda, now Dara Lee, Jack, Eddie, Don, so many others, make sure that the people who come see you.  Your shalom flows out of them to embrace each person.  So, it’s not just bread and water.  It’s not just mac and cheese and beans.  They begin to see that there are riches at Shore Vineyard that are available to them.

You want for them the milk and wine, the best of the land.  They come and some see that so much more is available!

Your peace and safety reside in each one of us.  They surround us like a protective bubble.  But we can expand that bubble to capture others.

Thank you for the privilege of serving others.  Thank you for the knowledge that we can offer the shalom you have given us to others.

Sweet and Sour

Revelation 10:10,11

I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it.  It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.  Then I was told, “You must prophesy again but about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

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There is an incredible sweetness and a rush that comes from knowing that God is talking to me, just to me, that he is trusting me with important things that need to be spoken and accomplished.  Nothing, so far, takes me higher than hearing him speak to me and to know that he trusts me to understand and act.  He trusts me!  He trusts me?

He is not a human, that he would be disappointed in me if I fail.  If the Master of the Universe gives me a specific task, and thereby makes it known that he trusts me, I cannot fail!  It means he has picked out specific tasks directly related to who I am and how I function best.  I may not recognize it, but he obviously does.

So, the fear of the unknown is vanquished!  

But the sour stomach?  

People won’t believe.  They’ll turn their backs and walk away.  What God reveals through his prophet will be misrepresented, written down and used to deceive.  Wars will be fought in God’s name because people will pick it apart and use only what they want.  Innocents will die and evil men will flourish.

I would think that would turn anyone’s stomach.  Poor John!  From such highs to such lows!