Zechariah 11:7-14 – “So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders.  And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union.  And I tended the sheep.  ⁸ In one month, I destroyed the three shepherds.  But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me.  ⁹ So I said, “I will not be your shepherd.  What is to die, let it die.  What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed.  And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” ¹⁰ And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.  ¹¹ So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.  ¹² Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.  ¹³ Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them.  So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.  ¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was stirred by a profound reality and reminder: God is long-suffering and merciful, but there is a limit beyond which He will not go.

In Zechariah 11:7-14, we see God’s desire and patience growing thin with shepherds who were either system followers or self-serving.  God declared He would destroy or remove them in one day.   In Malachi, God expresses His desire for our whole hearts, not just our possessions or performance.

His promise for obedience out of love and surrender was an open heaven.   Blessing and protection.  God’s blessings are always purposed for kingdom purposes.   We are blessed to be blessings.  We are equipped to equip.

In Acts, we find the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.   The purpose was not to make them have spiritual goosebumps but to ground them, open revelation and understanding, and empower them to be witnesses for Him and of Him.

The infilling of the Holy Spirit was transformational.  They moved from hiding in fear of man to boldly facing death.  They tapped into and entered another realm that experientially lifted them into the realized presence of God continuously.  They lived without fear and with confidence that no weapon could prevail and no obstacle or enemy could stop them.

They lived with a sense of supernatural power, divine favor, and open heaven provision.   Being saturated with God through the Holy Spirit transforms!  It enabled them to make Jesus real to others.  We need to realize that Jesus is only visible in the world through believers.  What they see and believe about Jesus is what they see and believe about us.  Christ in us, with us, and through us.

What do they see in us?

LORD help us to give you our hearts, not just our passion and performance!