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!

Habakkuk 1:5-7 – “Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.  ⁶ You have sown much, and harvested little.  You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill.  You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm.  And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.  ⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.”

As I read, prayed, and contemplated the Word of God today, I was reminded of the impending judgment on the world and the unshakable love and mercy of God.

Habakkuk was instructed to write the vision he received in plain language to make it easy to understand.  (Habakkuk 2:2).  Zephaniah heard a word in his heart to stand in awe of God, for the day of judgment was at hand.  (Zephaniah 1:7).

Haggai was warned of walking in disobedience, “You have sown much and saved little; you are never satisfied; you drink, but your thirst is not quenched; you put on clothes but can’t keep warm; and you put your money in bags with holes.”  (Haggai 1:6.)  Then the plea of God came, “Consider your ways.”   Do a self-examination.   The call was to repentance in order to be restored.

Zechariah saw the end times and the destruction to come.  Then, in Zechariah 10:1, we see God’s incredible long-suffering and love.  “Ask from the LORD rain in the season of the latter rain; and the LORD will make gentle showers, and give you the early rain which causes the grass to grow in the field.”

The field, Jesus said, is the world.  The rain is the Holy Spirit and the anointing.  The grass is the fruit of life.  There is a harvest at the end of the age, and to be a harvester, enjoy God’s bountiful blessings, and enter our reward, we must consider our Ways—repent of our wrongness.  Return to Him totally and BE His representatives in the earth.  We have a mission and a commission.

Do not stress over stuff, people, or politics.  Focus on Jesus and His commission.  Nothing else matters.

LORD, help us to ‘Consider our Ways.’   Please help us to surrender to you entirely!

John 13:34-35  – “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, several things clamped on my mind like a bear trap.   One of them was becoming one with God.  We talk about it, confess and profess it, but do we possess it? 

Why do I ask that?   Jesus said in John 13:34-35 that His “New” commandment was for us to love each other.    New?   He had said that before, and it was an integral part of the Old Testament teaching that we are to love God with our all and our neighbor as ourselves.    So, how was this “New?”

It is in the words, “Just as I have.”   That shifts it from the “philo” human brotherly love to “agape” God kind of love.     Just as is the key, and it is humanly impossible, without total unity or oneness with Jesus.  It requires total death to the flesh and transformation into Him.   Christ in us, through us, with us, and by us.

It is vine life!    It is surrendering total control of Everything to Him.  It is to have no desire that is self-focused.  It is full evidence of the new birth.

That’s why Jesus could say in John 15:7, “IF you remain IN ME, and My Words remain with you, whatever you ask shall be done for you.”   Your oneness with God and total death to the flesh eliminates wrong motives and desires, so your asking is God-centered and flows from God’s heart. 

Our part is obedience.   John 15:10. “IF you keep my commandments,  you will abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”   That’s the key, “Loving Just as…”

Are we totally surrendered to Him and totally dead to the flesh?    That’s easy to check.   Examine your thoughts, words, and actions.   Our Walk in His Word determines our Wind Up.  

My prayer is Psalm 51:10-12.  I desire a clean heart, right spirit, and life in His presence continuously.  Psalm 19:14 – “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my helper and my Savior.”

To be a friend of Jesus is my ambition.   John 15:14 – “You are My friends IF you do everything that I command you.”   We cannot do that unless we are dead to self and one with Him.  For then He lives in us and through us.  

Are we one with Him?   The evidence is in Love.

Lord help us to manifest our oneness with You!

John 8:36 – “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”

As I prayed, read, and mused on the Word of God today, the danger and damage of pride gripped my heart.   Obadiah 3 warned of pride. Jonah, a prophet of God, was miraculously saved but allowed pride to consume him.

He prophesied destruction and judgment on Nineveh, and they repented.   Think about it.   If his heart had been right, repentance and restoration would have caused him to rejoice.   He saw the mercy of God through the eyes of pride.   His Word did not come to pass, so he was embarrassed.  His pride was more concerned with his prophecy being fulfilled than with people being saved.   Pride is ugly and mean.

Pride elevates religious tradition above God and people. The Pharisees took pride in their religious rigidity and were heartless.

Pride prevents repentance.  Repentance requires humbling ourselves and admitting not only that we have done wrong, but also that we are wrong and insufficient in ourselves to redeem ourselves.   It requires surrender. Pride must be placed on the altar.   Pride produces shame.   Shame is the embarrassment that comes with exposure and admission of inadequacy and being flawed in our own eyes and the eyes of others.

To overcome pride, we must see Jesus!   In Jesus is true freedom, for in Him, we are no longer dependent upon ourselves.   In Him, we are free from the three deadly, consuming, destructive traits.  Lust of the flesh. Lust of the eyes. Pride of life.   We die to ourselves to live in Him.   Pride dies in His presence.

God’s promise and provision is freedom.   Are we willing to die, truly and completely die?

John 8:36 – “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”   Receive it and live with no residue of destructive pride!

May today be a day free of the ravages of pride and filled with the peace and presence of the LORD!

Joel 2:12-13 – “Therefore, NOW, says the LORD, return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning; AND rend your hearts and not your garments, AND turn to the LORD your God; FOR He is gracious and merciful, patient and of great kindness, AND He averts disaster.”

As 2025 began to unfold months ago, I heard in my spirit, “This is the Year of Unveiling.”   I have not said a lot about that because I did not feel a release in my spirit to do so.   Now, I do!   I kept hearing in my spirit that 2025 would be a year of unveiling (good and bad).    That 2025 would be a portal into the next dimension of God’s purposes.   That 2025 would be a day of harvest and a day of famine.   What we have depends on us.    It depends on our focus!

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I saw those things.   Joel spoke of the darkness of God’s judgment and, in the midst of the sweeping destruction, hope!

Joel 2:12-13 is powerfully revelatory and pertinent!  What was happening was in the midst of the events of Joel 1:4 – “What the palmerworm has left, the locust has eaten; AND what the swarming locust has left, the crawling locust has eaten; AND what crawling locust has left, the cankerworm has eaten.”   They were facing total destruction with wave after wave of disasters.  It was going from bad to worse.

Joel 2:28 is the promise of God’s purposes as the judgment turns hearts to or away from God. It is the promise for those who return.  Amos also shows a progression of judgment as God seeks to bring His people back.

• Amos 4:6 – shortage of food.
• Amos 4:7 – drought.
• Amos 4:9 – Blight, mildew, hail.
• Amos 4:10 – pestilence.
• Amos 4:14 – Overthrown.
• Amos 5:4-6 – God’s call to national and personal repentance.
• Amos 5:14-15 gives God’s desire with the promise of deliverance.

Restoration is like a rose in the desert.   We are facing dire times, but have the promise of hope if we turn to Him with our whole hearts.  I did announce that 2025 was the year of Thrive or Strive to survive. Which year are you experiencing now?   You still have time left to get on the track!

LORD, unveil to us that which You desire and enable us to Thrive, not just Survive!