The Seven Streams Method

Romans 13-16 We are finishing the letter from the Apostle Paul to the Romans today. We are in the Living Bible translation this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Rom. 13  is being written by a man who is going to be executed by the pathological government's Caesar in a little over a decade.  If he can take this with an upstanding attitude, we can too. Paul does not want Christians to be known as the "rebels of the nations" everywhere they go. . . . We are a growing movement that is blessed so to redeem [not start skirmishes] everywhere we go. Cheerful obedience and civil behavior are powerful tools in starting a wave that has Christians being perceived, "gee, they are awfully nice and friendly and giving.people!" We are urged anew by Paul to be content people, our main trait is that we are loving, and our heart is to be eagerly awaiting the Return of Our Lord.  This will be the trademark of a vast charitable "army" of people who will embody the largest movement the world has ever seen. 14 - Paul knew that as people came to Christ Jesus and joined in the Kingdom and joined church fellowships, and worshiped together, and dined together (Paul knew) that these people would be coming from numerous backgrounds and the natural tendency to unify would be jilted by prior habits and vows and commitments from former beliefs.  People dining together would encounter either the commitment to or revulsion of certain foods. People of Jewish descent had the kosher laws that were superseded once Peter had his vision in Acts 10:9-16.  Others had secular backgrounds and were oblivious to religions that were either sacred or profane. Others had cultic backgrounds and, now being a redeemed Believer, they would be sickened by how they once lived and did not want to eat anything that reminds them of their past. Well here they were together at "church potlucks" and some brought kosher "manna/matzoh" [ok, ok!], others brought pickled shrimp, others - vegan bread and/or (unkosher!)--> cheeseburgers, and ... you could see the squabbles that erupted over diet rules to which there was no resolution except to love eachother more than their former laws, or vows, or regrets of the past. The Jewish Sabbath v.s. new Believers honoring Sunday as more important was another needless argument that needed to be put to rest too.. It was vital that they all NOT insist that everyone else adhere to / or live by their own personal preferences, hankerings, or idiosyncrasies. Christian community was more important.  That meant they were not to be criticizing others. 15 - The onus was upon the more mature Christians to be accepting and welcoming, nurturing and even to be gently tutoring younger/newer/less mature Christians.  They were to be exceedingly welcoming and warm to one another.  Paul also wants Jews and Gentiles to get along.  From 15:20, through chapter 16; to the end of the book, Paul is talking of preparations, further journeys and travels and his desire to keep the gospel spreading. He'll be taking a trip through Jerusalem first before coming to see his Roman friends and Believers. Remember that being held back in Israel by the Sanhedrin and the Herod-family only caused the three years of anticipation to see Paul only become more pronounced. You can hear Paul's impassioned concern that the church grow and grow in all ways everywhere. 16 - is a great listing of the people Paul wanted to remember. A case study dedicated to each of the names in this chapter is as entrancing as poring over the 58,000 names upon the Vietnam memorial wall. We should not become fickle and skip these over. Each one shined like a reflection of Christ in the first century church. Some of the names of these people can still be seen upon the homes and structures they occupied back when Paul came through ca. 1,965 years ago. Paul revered each of these.  We ought also revere and welcome and honor each who visit our fellowships today ... as Paul has been urging us to do for a few chapters now. The week has been a colorful one going through each of the seven streams of Scripture. The thread throughout we'll call, "Be Attentive. God is Moving. Move With Him, and Let Yourself Be Instructed."   After the Exodus, there was water-as-medicine that needed to be ingested, a new diet pattern (failproof food from the sky for 40 years!), Sabbath rules, battles to uphold, a "no whining" law and these would remain for the rest of YOUR lives - catch this!           In II Sam. we are going to regroup in Jerusalem with the Ark for the first time (don't get too close Uzzah!), it's time to worship (Michal!) and David would have done better to keep his mind on the war v.s. the girl next door, eh?!  Everyone would have been better off if they had moved with God wouldn't they??           In Psalms, David is in pain from his sin and the results of it. God is moving him through it however and David learns from it. Come Psalm 40-41 he is finding relief in his God. David does right by his faith again.     Jeremiah laments that Israel/Judahs' love for God has grown cold. She has become a "queen" of prostitutes in many ways. God moves over them with an offering of repentance. They should move with God's offer . . . but sadly they don't let themselves be instructed.  .         Hosea brings a second antithetical story in a row as Israel is vapid/stupid and idolatrous, wretched to the core and refuses to be attentive and learn from God. So God is going to move a vicious army in their direction.        Everything Jesus taught them in Mark this week were very moving and dramatic lessons loaded with vital instruction. Jesus used each "teachable moment" to the full and the disciples caught it eventually.          Paul's instruction to the Roman church was straight from the Holy Spirit.  God was moving people from all ~walks of life and ~regions and ~refined faith and ~pagan faiths ---> right into His Kingdom and the teaching he gave this week was a perfect application to help them understand the moving of God anew .  Let's let ourselves be instructed by God's Spirit also so we do not miss what He has for us.

Mark 6:45-8:26 We are in the Christ Stream reading more about the miracles of Jesus. We are reading from The Living Bible this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Jesus - you certainly show your wonderful deeds for us.  You feed and heal and instruct and love and welcome all who will come.  Thank you for being so marvelous and so loving. We wholeheartedly thank you. Amen. Jesus is now into his second full year of ministry.  From the feeding of the 5,000 (last story we read last week), to the final story today, (the healing of the blind man) this is an 8-month period. It is spent much in Galilee, Herod's jurisdiction, and the wonders of Jesus are making an eternal impression on many Greeks and Greek-speaking people as well.  6:45ff The theme of Mark is "Jesus the Wonderful" and we certainly read of this today.  His walking on water is universal proof that this is God's message bearer to us even to those who can't bring themselves to surrender to Him as of yet. Walking on water is deity in action. He enters the boat and the storm calms immediately. Remember, that Jesus sent them on ahead and they are caught in contrary winds that have them basically rowing in place through most of the night.  Jesus comes, all is calm and they proceed. Perhaps this is a good place to make a devotional point --> in evaluation of this story, "if we try to go on ahead without Jesus, we will likely find ourselves in a storm that we cannot deal with, and wasting our energy." We don't want to parse that illustration in a myriad of ways but it seems to be a helpful dab of wisdom.  They soon land on shore and Jesus is healing EVERYONE he touches. Imagine the joy that was raging through the countryside like a wind of happiness! Perhaps the day ended and the disciples -part elated, part in shock- and by nightfall they're thinking, "uh, let's stay with Jesus, avoid the storms, and watch all the wonders, eh?" 7 -  The Pharisees confront Jesus about how his disciples weren't washing their hands properly before eating. The full explanation of this tradition could easily be a half day lecture /discussion so we'll just ask this: "if you ran into Jesus personally do you ask Him to touch your life too or do you ask him about the sanitary status of His disciples hands?" Really! Jesus lets 'em have it over this one. He points out the real issue - the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and he details the matter. It's a lesson that angered them to the point of no return.  Jesus does two more prominent healings in this chapter. [Remember there were thousands of other healings that we are not told of.] He heals a young girl of demon possession out west near the coast. The area was Phoenician. The area was cultic - thus the encounter, the mother's reasoning and persistence, Jesus agreement and the blessing is all quite a story.  We can take away from this that we are to encourage people of any background that if they can't get through to Jesus, keep pressing until you do - because you will.         Next he heals a deaf/mute man. Last story the request for healing came from the mother. This time it comes from everyone who knew him. What a great way to have the witness of Jesus' power explode.  And everyone marveled. 8 - Jesus does another huge and miraculous feeding. The numbers are slightly different than the last time, but the lessons again are manifold and are to be taken to heart.  The disciples are worried about food when they should be ingesting the deeper lessons that were unfolding in front of them. The power that Jesus has is because of His deity. Notice that seven loaves becomes enough for everyone. The bread was broken in Jesus hands but it multiplied in the disciples' hands. Seven = The Holy Spirit at work, and it happened in the hands of the disciples.  Memo to the Disciples is a memo to us today: "let the Holy Spirit use YOUR hands to do His work. Get in the Holy Spirit and stop worrying so to take part in the wonders of God." Next the Pharisees arrive and demand a sign and Jesus just walks away from them. I mean who's got time for these jokers who have no intention of following Him?  He then heals a blind man from Bethsaida. This is a town that Jesus cursed for their unbelief. [Mt. 11:21 -It's now a deserted archaeological dig with a sun god carving that's visible even today, btw!] So Jesus takes him outside Bethsaida to heal him. Jesus heals him in his second "attempt" [2nd demonstration, actually]. The first gesture to heal has a comical result. Memo to the disciples and to us: "when you endeavor to minister healing and the immediate result is not the desired result - persist. Pray again. Reach out again. Be like the Syro-Phoenician woman and plead. With the deaf man, the whole town showed up to ask.  Get more people involved in healing ministry. Don't go it alone. P.U.S.H. [Pray UntilSomething Happens] I mean, do you like to pray with quitters? Why would God ever want us to be quitters?

Hosea 8:1-9:9 We are in the Exile Stream reading from The Living Bible. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Lord Jesus, make our lives significant like yours and the prophets were meaningful and still are as what was spoken still speaks today.  None of us want to come to the end of our lives only to hear that we have inherited a whirlwind. Help us live lives that count for the kingdom and for good for your Kingdom. Amen. 8 - We are back in the north and Hosea is speaking to a nation that is going to fall in 722 B.C. It's about 130-135 years earlier than what was read yesterday in Jeremiah.  Hosea reminds them that they have set up their entire government apart from God's leading. These are the people who erected a golden calf exactly like in Exodus 32 (500 years prior) just to make sure the people were deliberately disobedient and not going to Jerusalem to worship properly. This establishing of this idol is described as it happened in I Kings 12-13.  And Hosea is hitting the issue right between the eyes almost two centuries later.  They have been worshiping this calf so long that they may not even be hearing Hosea as he rebukes them.  The reference, "... sown to the wind and reap a whirlwind" is a motif in literature.  Well  Hosea said it first!  Israel has "boxed herself in". She thinks Assyria is a friend.  But they'll be the ones who "turn them into mince meat!".  The reference of "returning to Egypt", Hos. 8:13 is a metaphor for returning to slavery.  The nation is on the verge of being burnt to the ground and any survivors hauled away. 9 - For running from God and sacrificing to others, their idolatry will even affect the land and their crops.  At this point, every offering they bring to God is a stench to him; it's polluted. The bondage and poverty they have "earned" is upon them.  Hosea has been speaking to them, trying to avert 'judgment day' but he is labeled a crazy man.  Israel is NOT listening. The "depraved as in Gibeah..." verse is in reference to the horrid rape situation in Judges 19 and the hideous aftermath of it all.  Hosea reminds them that Israel is just as bad as this now.  For this, their children will be hauled away, their sons are doomed, pregnant women will be treated in ways that are too disturbing to describe.  Why is all this going to happen? because Israel will not listen or obey.  I would say "God help them" but they don't want his help.

Jeremiah 2-4 We are in the Prophetic Stream as we read from The Living Bible this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Dear Lord: The prospects of the ungodly are oh so grim. The end of the disobedient is certain. I pray we are ready and alert souls who will have ministry in mind as we encounter those who have come the the end of themselves and are therefore ready to hear of The Savior. Amen. Here are some statistics: Jeremiah spent 20 years warning Judah to repent, 20 years amid the sabres of war as Babylon was sacking the southern Kingdom, and 20 years in retrospect lamenting the destruction of the land of God; Judah and Israel. 2 - The nation has fallen so far. God wants to know, and Jeremiah is assigned to tell them: "you once loved me so much. I defended you and fed you. Anyone who threatened you paid severely.  Now you will worship anything as long as it isn't Me. There is a national attitude of "whatever buddy!" toward God.  Even the priests and leaders are given to Baal and Molech."  God is going to continue pursuing Judah and will be trying to love them, but things do not look good.  They were so free and prosperous and strong but have turned themselves into slaves. They rebel at every turn.  They have become more proficient at sinning than those who have had no training in goodness (and vice versa!) It's as if those who were lost all along come to the Israelites to learn about 'how to be better sinners.'  It is so utterly pathetic what these people have turned themselves into.  They are dirty dirty dirty, lusting 24/7, anyone who comes to minister to them gets murdered, ...and they think that a foreign government is going to be of aid to them! 3 - Israel, called out to be God's bride, has turned itself into a trolling whore that will expend herself on anyone but her husband, and she doesn't come home.  God is willing to forgive and reunite with them but their sinfulness is a bit more appealing to them at the time.  Judah held onto God a bit longer (the southern Kingdom) but they have slouched in their pursuit of God too.  Manasseh is king at present.  He's the one who had Isaiah killed and he is turning out to be the darkest leader the Semitic world has ever seen.  His Satanic wretchedness far outdid Ahab. Manasseh was throwing live babies and young children into fires at evening rituals as a sacrifice to Molech.  Here was Jerusalem - no city had been so blessed, yet no place or people on earth had descended so far down from so far up. They had even become more wicked than their relatives in Israel; the northern kingdom. Judah was disaffectionately dubbed, "the adulterous wife". And that was just the tip of the matter as for how bad they had become. 4 -  The opening of ch. 4 sounds like, "this is your final chance to exit from the highway to destruction..."  God wants to see total transformation of His people, yet they are bent on wickedness.  and the enemy army is on the march to come flatten them!  The sword is raised, a lion is at the gate, their chariots and horses are coming, war and death and crushing will engulf Judah. It is going to be awful - and Jeremiah can see it prophetically. It will happen.  The first influx of Babylonian soldiers enter Judah in 605 B.C. - 21 years after Jeremiah is called into ministry. The siege is progressively moving across Judah until 586 B.C. when Jerusalem is sacked and the Temple is destroyed.  Jeremiah is warning them for two decades to turn but God's people are stubborn, dull to truth, skilled at deviance, and moronic about righteousness. It's amusing that, as the enemy is closing in on them, some of the Judeans are pausing to put on mascara and "doll up" themselves.  That's as dopey as the town being on fire, and stopping the work of dousing the fire so you can have time to wash and paint your house ... before it burns to an ash heap!  Something is really wrong with these people. The sad thing is that it is an illustration of all of us.

Psalm 38-41 We are in the Wisdom Stream reading from the The Living Bible today. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Lord God, we can learn from David today. May we, like David, when in anguish and pain turn to you and not turn on you.  Amen.

Things are not looking too good for David and that is the tone for most of what we find in the Psalms today.

38 - David is pleading to God for the punishment he is feeling to relent.  David has sinned and God is angry.  David is near complete despair with pain and inflammation, disease and exhaustion. Loved ones and friends have departed. His enemies are still coming at him. David calls out to God in this state - it's quite a lesson for all of us. 39 - David's sin and punishment because of it is dragging on and it has him longing for happier days. It has him musing about the frailty and emptiness of life.  His final verse here sums things up: "spare me Lord, let me recover and be filled with happiness again before my death." He simply longs to fellowship sweetly again like he did with his God when he was tending sheep and playing harp and singing to Him in better days. 40 - is one of the most popular Psalms of deliverance, recovery and relief. It's been a favorite for 3,000 years.  The presence and loving hand of the Lord is what the heart really longs for. And God longs to be with us - 'ever think about that? Sacrifices are ... well yeah, ... they are good but God wants us and we want God.  The fellowship is what is most sought for. God delivers, just keep calling for him until the relationship is restored.   It's very interesting about how U2; the band from Ireland made a song out of Psalm 40 and it has been among the most popular songs ever performed.  All opinions and personal impressions aside, the world longs to be with it's Savior - even though we seem to forget this more than we seem to remember it. 41 - David has a lovely piece about God's ability to nurse us back to health. He then quickly launches into his word against those who have turned on him.  This Psalm best coordinates with what is found in II Samuel 15 when Absalom has turned and is now trying to wrestle the kingdom from David; his own dad. Absalom has recruited Ahithophel to join in the rebellion. Athithophel was once very close to David (they were the best of friends) but has now become the "Judas" of the Old Testament if y'know what is being said here.  Still David remains in prayer and is turning to God in his distress, isolation, and pain. Amid this anguish he ends the Psalm exclaiming about his eternal God who is from everlasting to everlasting.  What a heart for God David had!

II Samuel 6-11 We are in the Nation Stream continuing the story of King David. We are reading from The Living Bible this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis 6 - the stunning drama continues:  30,000 troops are in procession to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem where it belongs.  The man standing right by the Ark catches the Ark so to keep it from falling. The young man, Uzzah who touched the Ark falls dead instantly. Quick reminder: the Ark is nothing to be trifle with or light-hearted about. It is the most sacred item ever constructed on earth. No one was to touch it ... so why was Uzzah less than an arm's length away from it?  The Ark is then kept at a home nearby and that home is truly and deeply blessed. David, realizing this anew realizes it must be taken to Jerusalem so the whole city and nation can be blessed! David enters the city and the worship he triggers is most vigorous. His first wife, Saul's daughter, resents all this excitement centering around God. So she is struck for her attitude and never has children.  Memo: when worship commences, it is better to join in than to sit on the sidelines and analyze it. 7 - David pauses to exclaim that a Temple be built to honor God. David had a good heart in stating this, but God has a better idea and tells him of it via Nathan the prophet. God is going to establish a throne for David that will make him among the most prominent men in history. David is going to shine above the rest for all time and indeed the Savior comes to the world by way of David's line of descendants.  His response to God is most gracious and grateful and humble.  It reminds us of why God's heart is after and upon David. 8 -10 - This starts David's campaign of expanding the borders to the largest they had ever been. He is king, and operating 400 years after Moses he is taking the property lines to places no one ever thought they would be. God gave David success at every turn. He subdued the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, Ammonites, Amalekites, and all neighboring nations. He brought home great wealth and his sons assisted him. The whole family has covering. [ 9 ]- This is a touching chapter in that David pauses amid 'endless' battels to inquire of Saul's relatives. David seeks out Mephibosheth, Jonathan's crippled son, who was dropped as a child.  And he takes him in and takes care of him for life.  Mephibosheth dines with the king from then on.  The marvel of this is that it tells of David's kind heart amid the conquests. The common practice of many in this region was to find any possible dissenters of a prior ruler who might in any way be disloyal to [you] the current king, and to wipe them all out. David does the opposite and honors this grandson of Saul [who hated him] and son of Jonathan [whom he was close to]. 11 - This is the chapter that creates a great turn in David's life. He had trouble all his earlier day but there was blessing and protection and provision for him.  This is where David procures wife #8 and he does so in an illicit manner. He already has 7 wives! The problem is that a set up like this trains a man deep in his soul [albeit even doing so unconsciously] that he can have whomever and whatever he wants whenever he wants it.  This is not good.  It also (multiple wives) merely proves to the heart of any man that "enough" is never enough. He sees BATHsheba taking a bath and wants her...now! It was all over, babe. He takes her, gets her pregnant, and in an effort to cover himself, arranges for her husband to be killed. Her husband, [you remember in the story] Uriah shows more ethics when he is inebriated than David shows when he is sober, btw! David did what he did and seemed to get away with it, legally.  But God was not pleased with him. He thought he had troubles before! ... They worsen now and never let up the rest of the days of his life.  David ruined his own plight here. His penchant for women [polygamy] is what weakened him and brought this on however.  It reminds of the warning in Proverbs 31:2-3, "my son, listen...do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings."  And remember this is not chauvanism - the warning comes to all men for all time - from a woman!

Exodus 15-18 We are in the World Stream trudging through the desert with the Israelites. We are using The Living Bible this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis.com | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Lord God of Heaven, you rescue in the mightiest of ways. Each salvation you grant is a rescue. The drama of this rescue is marvelous. May we too remain enamored with your power to save and let that spur us [also] to not be a complainer. Let us keep our eye and mind on your wonderful deeds and provision for us.  Amen. 15 - the song had to be overwhelming.  2Million singing immediately after being saved in the most fantastic way imaginable was over the top.  We've seen a congregation burst into cheering after a baptism or salvation announcement or a miraculous breakthrough. But here is 2Million singing, exultant after 600,000 soldiers in pursuit are stopped right behind them. God is marvelous indeed. The next three days was spent walking in the wilderness and water was not to be found. It's easy to ridicule them as forgetful whiners, but take it easy on'em. A few hours without water in the wilderness will make one frantic. A full day or two will make one delirious. There is a nation of them and it's been three days now! The water is bitter and God needed them to drink it for there was a remedial element in the water that God needed them to ingest to heal the intestinal problem that over 80% of all Egyptiank residences had. If they were not in a panic of thirst they would have not drunk it at all.  This set of incidences had them follow through with "taking their medicine". 16 - The journey is in full and the Red Sea behind them is well out of sight. The manna begins and everyone has all that they need and the supply is going to last for 40 years. No one starved in the desert - not one. The food they had was good, nutritious, and sweet to eat. The Lord used this food issue to keep the Sabbath matter before them. On the sixth day each week, God sent double supply so they would not be sent out to gather on the seventh. They were to keep and remember the Sabbath. Those who hoarded, thinking God might stop feeding them, had rot and odor in their places. They wanted more food; meat, so God sent quail.  He sent quail here and again about a year later.  We'll read that in the coming chapter later in Exodus.  God did not send manna on the seventh day. The people finally caught on to this pattern. 17 - The two great events of this chapter are water coming from the rock and the initial battle against Amalek.  The water situation is not a perplexing matter to the locals even today. The porous rocks of this area become infused with water during the infrequent flashfloods. Shepherds then tap on rocks and are able to determine whether there is water inside it. Moses had done this during his shepherding years here [Exodus 2]. It must have been simpler for Moses to do this for bleating sheep than for quizzical and cantankerous people. The army of Amalek shows up and this calls the nation of Israel to battle. The progress toward victory happens when Moses held up his staff and Aaron and Hur supported him.  And the opposite happened when Moses did not uphold his staff. This is symbolic for us today that we need to be upholding our leaders in His Kingdom that God has brought forth. Prayer and support is needed in this area. Complaining is not! 18 - It was a rich and warm reunion when Moses met up with Jethro his father-in-law. They brought his wife and two sons to him as well. Word of the Exodus and the miracles in Egypt had reached Jethro (as it did everyone else for hundreds of miles).  Soon Jethro noticed Moses expending entires days - day after day - settling disputes like a judge before the people. Moses felt it was his duty to do so. Jethro knew better and could see that it was taking Moses to exhaustion. Jethro advised him to set up a delegation of assistants to handle these judgments and disputes. This spread the work to thousands of others who were honest, willing and able.  This landmark chapter has affected the discipline of administration and management the world over.

Romans 10-12 We are in the Church Stream today reading with the International Standard Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Lord, the issue today is salvation. We are grateful that you are mighty to save. Amen.

10 - Paul is continuing on the same thread of salvation and his longing for the Jews to understand the greater picture; that the salvation they have been hoping and "working" for for 1400 years and more is now here ... and they are fighting it tooth and nail!  The middle of chapter 10 spells it out. We believe in our heart, and confess with our mouth and therein salvation is granted. This is what Abraham did and was counted righteous for. And Abraham (whom they revere) was "saved" 600 years before the Law was given to follow. This is proof positive that salvation comes by faith.  It's strange, but this is all so obvious to the "old guard" within Judaism that it is staring them in the face - thus they can't see it.  Paul's quoting of Isaiah, and Moses, and David in Psalms, and the Prophet Joel is proof positive that what was going on now is what God has been planning for salvation to become and that be accessible to all nations. --> and It's happening now - but the old school Jewish leadership is disturbed by it and vehemently against it.

11 -  Despite the Jews' open rejection of the salvation that is now found in Jesus, God still loves his Chosen Ones. Granted, the Jewish rejection of Jesus was not universal. The original believers and converts were mostly Jews. The growing young church was majority Jewish is culture and its overtone.  It was the Jewish leadership that had rancor for the Christians, and their proselytes turned agitators were the ones who brought the most harassment to the burgeoning Church. But in this chapter [11], Paul talks of salvation for all the Jews.  The interplay of the Jewish and Gentile relationship has a tone of sibling rivalry as Paul describes it. The symbolism and illustrations of yeast and bread and the affect each has upon the other and the tree metaphor of the trunk and the branch gives such clarity to what Paul is so impassioned about. He REALLY wants these spiritual concepts to be understood. Paul closes by exclaiming the wonders of God's processes by working out our salvation in a myriad of ways. It's a marvelous and endless topic, isn't it? 12 - This is a banner chapter about our life that is dedicated to God and transformed for living unto God and honoring Him with our service. This life is filled with grace and gifts and productive activity that blesses, spreads cheer, and love, and hope, and serves others so to spread that love.  The finale~ is exhortation that is vital for dealing with tension, deviance and deviant people. It is a paragraph that is unique to Christianity.  Interesting that the pagans and the other religions of the world refer to Christians as "the nice ones", the "happy ones", the "ones who share".  My husband and I have been in over 70 countries and we've seen this first hand.  It is a marvel how Christians are everywhere and spreading Good News, even to those who currently despise Jesus and His followers.  And it is this ministry in the Holy Spirit that is resulting in millions of new Christians coming into the Kingdom of God each week! The week walked us through much Preparation for Big Changes ~Moses relayed the plans for Passover, for leaving Egypt so to institute a new faith and how it would be lived. ~David is now king - this is a big change: he "farewells" Saul/Jonathan, though he is in Hebron, he names Jerusalem the new capitol and national worship will be instituted there. Worship will be done according to what David says - vibrant and energetic. ~In Psalms DAvid prays for deliverance [35] and then revels in his relationship with God. What better way to prepare for deliverance than to pray for deliverance? ~Isaiah is basically telling us to prepare for a whole new world and Jeremiah is told to prepare to follow the Call of God. ~in Hosea, we all wish he had something more pleasant to say but he, because of Israel's behavior, he is saying, "you better prepare yourselves to be destroyed - the way you are carrying on..." ~Mark teaches, "here comes Jesus, prepare yourselves to be blessed." ~Paul in Romans 10-12 is saying, "prepare to be saved. Jews first then Gentiles.  Wait, no Gentiles are more readily receiving him, so Gentiles more for now, then Jews will follow in because of envy.  Oh well, all of you are going to be saved!"

Mark 5:1-6:44 We are in the Christ Stream learning more about Jesus' earthly ministry as we read from the International Standard Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Jesus, you expel what is wicked, you raise up deceased children, you feed hungry, YOU are everything that is needed. Thank you for being everything that we need too. And help us to share the great news about you.  Amen. My Heavens! There's so much to learn from Jesus - so many ways to be like Jesus - so many reasons to do like Jesus.

5 - The reading today begins with the most eerie and grotesque of settings. This is demon possession at its worst that can be witnessed in the Bible.  The ultimate point is to demonstrate for us that Christ in us enables even us to remedy these horrid problems. Jesus does this openly because he wants us to exercise this gift globally. He cleanses this man of countless demons and does so in front of the disciples. THIS is teaching, and Jesus does so perfectly.  His style is very straightforward, remedial (it seeks a solution, not a fancy show), and transformational.  The man was a wild-wolf and worse. And when Jesus is finished the man is following Jesus, grateful to him, and he is an evangelist.  What a marvel.

Jesus next does a double deed of healing a 12-year old girl and a woman who was ill with internal bleeding for 12 years. Mathew, Mark and Luke all tell the sequencing of this story identically. He's called to heal the young girl, he is intercepted by the older girl (heals her), then he proceeds to go and heal/raise up the young girl to life again. The most endearing thing that anyone can give as a gift and a blessing is to give a family their young child back. The deepest pain a heart can pilgrimage through is the death of their child. How do YOU think this family felt about Jesus come sunset on this day - the day that they got their daughter back.  The whole world would feel exactly the same way about Jesus provided they could just meet Him. 6 - His visit to Nazareth had several reasons.  The Bible records him passing through here about a year prior. One thing that can be noted is that prophets do not exactly receive a hero's welcome in their hometowns.  (Shepherding types do, but not prophetic types). If they people do this to Jesus, they'll do this to anyone. Do not be surprised. A prophet is supposed to have an itinerant/mobile life anyway.  Also the protracted list of Jesus' family of origin is listed. It's an intriguing thought that Jesus was the eldest son of a family of at least nine.  He had five brothers, at least two sisters, more likely about four sisters. Some branches of Christendom like to tell themselves that Mary was the "Virgin Mary" forever.  That Song/Solomon 4:12 is about Mary - a "fountain sealed". Well, read Mark 6:3 and realize that Joseph and Mary parented a fruitful family. ~When he sent out the 12 disciples, he told them to go empty-handed basically. With no back-up (meaning no backpack too!) this would make them determined to connect with people. The gospel requires connection or it is not spread. ~John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin and Herod had him killed.  Herod set it up so that it looked like he was trapped and needed to kill John do that he could continue feigning that he was a man of is word. Yea right. Herod worked it like a politician. How does this sit with Jesus? Now we do not find Jesus suspending his ministry and starting a "prophets' rights" coalition. No. Nothing distracts Him from His ministry. But notice how Jesus later treats Herod one or two dozen months later in Jerusalem: Luke 23:9.  Jesus won't say a word to him. Yer'pretty bad off when God won't even talk to you! ~The reading ends today with a display of Jesus' mastery over the matter of food; specifically the quantity of food. Jesus effortless feeds 5,000 men.  There were wives. There were children. He probably fed 25,000 total that day. Only the men are numbered in the process because a ready count of able-bodied men was always noted for these are biblical times and an enemy could arrive at any time and a census of the men needed to be known. The others were significant too but that is just the reality of the day: number the men.

Hosea 6-7 We are sailing through choppy water in the Exile Stream. We are using the International Standard Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Dear Lord God: we live in times like this.  We ask for your wisdom as our culture is going headlong into wrong doing and ignoring you.  We want to hear from you Lord so we may understand the times, understand your mind and respond accordingly.  Amen.

The opening of this passage has a hint of Christ in there that certainly people perceived a variety of ways since it was spoken 700+ plus years before Christ arrived.  Hosea does give a pleading invitation to the people of Israel. I guess it warrants a comment at this point: it must be making Hosea crazy somewhere along the line to be among these people; so wretched, and yet God is so patient in waiting - giving chances for them to return to Him and they simply keep "daring God" if we can use the phrase.  It's as if they were as twisted as possible....like the rascal kid in school that is practically begging to be punished.  Israel has willfully lost her mind and soul at this point in her history. Yes, they were bringing their sacrifices to the Lord, but plenty of the earnings were via prostitution! Disgusting scenario. Gilead and Shechem are mentioned by name.  These two cities made Las Vegas look tame and proper by comparison.

7 - Israel is embroiled in wrong doing and is guilty and dark as ever.  Adultery is as normal as a trip to the market. The "oven" motif is interesting. It is a mis-managed oven - that is for certain.  Four of Israel's kings are assassinated after very short reigns.  Life is that cheap in Israel because love is that cheap and God a thing to mock for these people. Interesting illustration of a half baked cake.  One translation articulates Israel to be a pancake that is raw goo on one side and burnt on the other; something that no one will eat/want/enjoy anymore.  The gray hair comment is meaning that Israel is getting old and time is running out.  They are a senseless nation, due for a whipping and correction, they are runaways headed for ruin, they talk senselessly and murder awaits them.  It's not a pretty sight! This is Israel in the 700's B.C.   Hosea is talking to them, encouraging them, warning them and they are ebullient in their zany sinning.