The Seven Streams Method

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Luke 10:25-11:54 We are in the Christ Stream reading from the New Living Translation. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord, we want to hear and know, hear and obey, hear and practice what you have to laid out for us.  May our lives and deeds and words be pleasing in your sight.   Amen

10:25 ff - The question they ask of Jesus is jaded because they don't really want answers.  Maybe this is too harsh but they give themselves away in  their reply to Jesus' assertion "love your neighbor..." And who is my neighbor?  Hmmm... My husband and I have many children and we've heard some doozy questions, let me tell you. We could always ALWAYS tell whether it was a real question or they were stalling to create more dawdle-time.  Well this question of Jesus was a staller-for-time.  The story Jesus replies with; The Good Samaritan, has created more charities and ministries since he told it, than can be counted. Some extranneous "Bible Scholars" have created a pile of parallels in hopes to symbolize the story to death. But the moral of the story is simple: care, meet needs, act like Christ, reach out, help people 'get home', be loving.

The Mary/Martha debate is easily settled by a sermon given years ago: "The Joy of Cooking [together]". People need to eat. And cooks/mothers aren't carnal and shallow and worldly for fixing meals. But when Jesus is talking --> stop and listen. Martha should have done that. Then after Jesus declares he needs a bite, then they can all go fix something together. Sit together, go cook together, then eat together.  That was easy, huh? 11 - Notice that this version of Jesus teaching them to pray is abbreviated from the Matthew version. Reverence for God / provision / protection covered matters sufficiently for Luke.  Jesus teaching them persistence in prayer was very necessary. Prayer like anything in life requires practice. It's frustrating and befuddling the way so many quit in prayer and in their prayer life because what they thought they were asking for and wanting didn't happen like a genie-poof-magic-carpet routine. God wants to give us so much more than silly wishes on a whim. We learn what we really want by being with God as a life commitment v.s. blurting out drive-thru-requests. God is telling us "sit down, stay awhile, be transformed..."!         Next Jesus tackles the jealousy from those who were frustrated by Jesus' casting out demons so readily and effortlessly. It proved who He was. But they attribute His ability as to being in alliance with Satan.  Talk about foolishly walking into a "mine-field"! Jesus' reply sets things straight as an arrow. This is powerful ministry training from Jesus that anyone who wishes to minister in this way must ingest. The removing of evil and immediately replacing it with good is life and death material. Jesus left them in awe - again! The sign of Jonah is appropriate beings we read the first half of that amazing event yesterday. The wanting of a sign, while in fact many were doubting Jesus person and power, is sinful in that Jesus called people to follow Him and be transformed for service.  Too many wanted some amusement, and to leave when they were bored, or hungry, or distracted, or didn't like the teaching anymore. Jesus wanted people to live according to the Light, walk in the Light, let the Light guide them, fill them, permeate everything about them. Jesus, in John 8, asserts that He is the Light of the World.  Interesting that "Light" is the first noun that God ever said [in our galaxy]. Next Jesus lets loose a host of accusations upon the religious leaders of the day who were so critical and selfish and sinful.  They spent their whole lives securing a luxuries for themselves instead of guiding people to God.  Jesus was disgusted with the whole lot of them.  He called them filthy and hypocritical, wicked, unjust, greedy, phony, arrogant, self-important, murderers (dead-men who acted alive!) AND accomplice' to murder(s), and ones who blocked others from finding God,  ... it's a bad day when the Son of God, whom you claim to represent, tells you "a thing or two" about what God thinks of your terrible soul and villainous character!

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Jonah 1-2 We are in the Exile Stream reading from the New Living Translation. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord, don't let us even think of running away from our calling.  You have joyous things planned for us, regardless of what we think.  Amen. This book is far beyond a fish story about a rebel who has a grumpiness problem.  It is a true story that parallels Christ arriving. It is kingdom operatives in full force.  There is evangelism, transformation, and triumph that is truly found in biblical proportions. 1 - Jonah was raised in a small village very near to where Jesus OF NAZARETH was raised.  Had they been contemporaries as young boys, they would have been able to trot to each-others' homes in a manner of minutes.  Nonetheless, the king during Jonah's life was Jeroboam II, whose time was 793-753 B.C. that we read of in The Kings.  Israel is late in its time during Jonah - remember they were in a 190 year long death spiral of ungodliness 920 - 722 B.C.  They lost territory to Assyria decade after decade. However during Jonah&Jeroboam II 's time they were 'on a brief rise' and gained some of the territory back. God calls him to go and to preach to Nineveh and ...... "God are you serious?!" Jonah is livid at the assignment. Nineveh was a city in the middle of its 300-year prominence that ran from 900-605 B.C. They were ghoulishly diabolical. Their practices and tactics were fiendish and grisly to put it mildly. Assyria's invasion and decimation of Israel in 722 B.C. just a generation later, is a scenario that Hollywood, even today with all its tendency to "push the envelope", wouldn't dare touch. If they did they'd be sued into bankruptcy for going way past 'over the top'. Assyria was that horrible, and Nineveh was its capital. Nineveh's tenants would stack the skulls of their subjects [who fought them] in high heaps, on both sides of all gates entering Nineveh. The memo: you fight us, you end up on the pile! Jonah ran from his calling as would most any person given such an assignment today.  He hated Nineveh. Any of us would hate Nineveh too. You can almost picture "Indiana Jones" entering the city wide-eyed and sneering with anger toward the place and all its inhabitants.  They had been killing people for centuries and loving everydeath along the way. What would any of us wish for this city?  Pardon all the assertions, we just want you to really feel what Jonah was feeling at the time of his calling. The name "Nineveh" conjured sheer terror in the hearts of anyone who was not committed to that city --> So God called Jonah to Nineveh and ... he high-tailed it for Tarshish.  "Tar-TESS-oos" (as it was called in the 700's B.C.) was a mining colony that Phoenicians were digging in a region that today includes "Gibraltar" in SW Spain.  It is not possible to be more geographically disobedient to one's orders to "go to Nineveh".  It's equal to being in Kansas City, Kansas USA, God calling you to Miami, so you head for Anchorage Alaska. Or being called to San Diego, CA, so you head to Bar Harbor, Maine.  We remember and know about the storm, the panic, the throwing of freight overboard, then finally finding Jonah and bringing him up on deck for a frantic inquisition. Please catch what happens.  He simply told his story and the whole boat crew converts!  Pastors dream of 100% success rates!  Jonah just tells his story - that's it - and they sacrifice and believe in the God of Abraham instantly. Jonah still had a "go ahead and kill me" attitude but do take note: evangelizing isn't some grandly calculated labyrinth of "insight required" gobbledy.  Just tell your story and watch the souls be touched by God. 2 - The Lord's graciousness abounds again.   Where the ocean would have killed him, the whale saved Jonah's life. God could not have been kinder. Whales are warm blooded, they breath oxygen. The ride is about 3-5 mph and gentle. Jonah could breath, there's no hypothermia, and the whale let's him out close enough so Jonah can bodysurf to shore.  The first thing he probably heard was "will ya'obey me now?" But about the prayer, Jonah sounds very much like David in the Psalms.  He covers every pertinent topic current to the situation, he recalls his faith, states his vows and affirms salvation is from the Lord. Imagine him going to Nineveh having not prayed this prayer, nor been through this trauma, been frightened to death in a storm, sat inside a 40 foot beast for a historical submarine ride ...? All this made him an authentic evangelistic v.s. being a cynical believer who only hated Assyrians and wanted them to go to hell where he formerly felt they belonged.  We'll see where all this takes him when we read Jonah 3-4 next week.  Strangely enough, Jonah's story hearkens us forward to Jesus.  Jesus even refers to Jonah as a factual sign.  Ah, this Bible is good stuff  

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Jeremiah 42-45 We are in the Prophetic Stream reading from the New Living Translation. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord you are true to your servants.  Help us remember this and remain your servants.

42 - The remaining Hebrews in Judah after Jerusalem was burned were frightened because the person that Babylon had put in charge; Gedaliah had been killed. WE read this last week.  These Hebrews that were concerned didn't do it but they were skeptical that Babylonians would specifically confuse them with the assassins and they'd get a misplaced 'spankin' they'd rather not get.  While planning to escape for Egypt they sought a prophetic word from Jeremiah. He got word from the Lord that they should not go to Egypt...--> It would mean extinction for sure.  And Jeremiah made it abundantly clear to forget going to Egypt in search of safety.

43 - Yet Jeremiah and Baruch are forceably taken to Egypt by the the military leaders who objected to Jeremiah's prophecy and God's Word to stay put in Judah.  In Egypt God gave another prophecy to Jeremiah that didn't paint a rosy picture for the area in Egypt where the Judeans were hiding.  Interesting that they don't want to and will not listen to Jeremiah who has spoken for God all these years. So they resent him, and yet they pack him down to Egypt with them as if he were a knap-sack of some sort.  Strange people he is trying to share God with aren't they?  They have lacked legitimate leadership. 44 - Then Jeremiah and the people had a heated dialogue back and forth as Jeremiah pleads with them to cease the idolatry.  They were engaging in offerings to Babylonian gods and incense and sacrifices. The main god they were honoring was "Ishtar" a Babylonian queen/god who endorsed immorality.  Judean families living in Egypt were in collusion and approving of the wrong-doing.  Not for nothing, Ishtar is the title of a 1987 movie filmed in Morocco and it seems to be oddly dubbed "worst movie of all time" by consensus.  The Babylonian god Ishtar was no better than this foolish movie!  Jeremiah is warning them for what seems like the last time that there will be horrible punishment for worshipping Ishtar; called Queen of Heaven in this version of the Bible.  The Judeans are ebullient and will not yield from their sinful resolve. 45 - The passage here is not within timeline.  Jeremiah {written by Baruch; his scribe) has a style for writing this way.  Baruch was a prominent character and he is being encouraged by Jeremiah to not be overwhelmed by the attitude of the people, for they are/will be removed from God's sight. Baruch is assured that he is to simply keep eyes and ears to God - no one else.  For God is going to remain true to Baruch.  

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Psalm 106-107 We are in the Wisdom Stream reading in the New Living Translation. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord, we hear you.  Your words and blessings to us ARE our lives.  They are also why we are alive.  Amen.

106 - is a continuation of 105 that gave a mindful  rundown of God's true nature in bringing Abraham to Canaan clear to (600 years later) bringing Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt.  This Psalm continues the tale yet it has a dissonant twist in that it tells of God's faithfulness amid the Hebrews unfaithfulness.  It didn't take them long to forget about God's miracles preserving them through the 10 Plagues, the rescue at the Red Sea, He gave the 10 Commandments to preserve them - and they are busy playing party animal (Exo. 32).  They don't want to walk with God and yet are jealous that Moses is walking closely with God. [they're nuts!]  They make a golden calf, they won't enter the Promised Land, they complain like whiney brats, they worship Baal, fail to drive out the pagans, they follow Molech; and other idols.   43ff sums up: "again and again He rescued them, and yet they chose to rebel against the Him ... even so He pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries ... because of His unfailing love." Psalm 106 tells of another slant on God's unfailing love. To step back and meditate on this, the observant is led to ask, "why would anyone leave this God and walk away from Him?"

107 - This is the initial Psalm of the fifth division of Psalms; Book V.  It runs from 107 to Psalm 150; the last one.  107 deals with God's wonderful dealings with people: He redeems, gathers exiles, rescues the destitute, satisfies the hungry/thirsty,    Even the imprisoned and rebellious who cry out to Him are wonderfully helped, as are those near death. God works the seas, the winds, the waves. He can make a place fruitful or deserted [duh-ZER-ted] based on the character of the inhabitants. He blesses all those who are hungry for Him and for life. We would do well to take special note of the working of the hand of God in our world and in our lives and the interplay noted therein.  The secondary and obvious implication of all this is that God wants a relationship with us; His children and He will use extensive means to make this happen.

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II Kings 15-18 We are in the Nation Stream reading from the New Living Translation. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Chart of the Kings of Israel and Judah 15 - The reading in II Kings today commenced with Uzziah being crowned King of Judah in the south. He had a successful reign - it was among the best eras since the secession of the north (between 930 B.C. and 586 B.C.. The military campaigns were successful against the Philistines &Arabs &Ammonites. Uzziah could have done a better job to cleanup up the miscellaneous false religions around nation but he didn't. He also became arrogant so God afflicted him with "leprosy". II Chron. 26 has more on Uzziah and his reign. When there is about a decade plus left for Uzziah to rule in the south, the north had an especially chaotic season. All in a one year span [minus]; in 748 b.c. Zechariah [NOT the prophet!] was made king and assassinated in less than six months by Shallum who assumed the throne. Shallum and was killed within a month by Menahem who seized rulership and was able to hold control of Israel by cold-blooded brutality and conniving. Assyria invaded from the north, but Menahem bought them off using a "semi-truck-load" of silver {forgive the modern phrase-ology}. It worked for a time and the Assyrians turned back. Though there was hardly 20 years until Assyria would pour in and take no bribes or payoffs; they would simply butcher and pillage and burn. But for Menahem's reign, a payoff bought a little time. His son Pekahiah took over, was evil, was assassinated in two years, Pekah, commander of Pekahiah's army, schemed and assassinated Pekahiah. He was co-regent for ca. 20 years with others that have been listed. His stance was valiant but he still lost more land and cities to the Assyrians; including Galilee in 734 B.C. During Pekah's reign in the north, Uzziah died in the south and his son; Jotham became king. He did well - his father's leprosy due to disobedience served as effective warning to him. II Chron. 27 is a helpful cross-reference for all who want a greater picture. and BTW, this is the year of Isaiah's vision in Isa. 6. Remember "he saw the Lord, the year that King Uzziah died..." !?! 16 - Ahaz became king. He reigned 16 years until around 726 B.C. He was Judean; Jotham's son and Uzziah's grandson. Uzziah did great but he was not entirely good and he was punished for straying. Jotham did better but he did not clean up the land the way he could have. Ahaz was a political, religious, civic, and personal "warthog" of a character. My apologies to anyone who has a pet warthog - we don't mean to insult this "thing of beauty" when compared to Ahaz. Ahaz is told of in II Ki. 16 and II Chron. 28. He co-reigned with his father, but when his father was out of the picture he completely flipped against Judaism and the God of Abraham. He brought back Baal worship with a vengeance and also reinstituted Molech; the Satanic god who wanted children sacrificed live in the fires of Judah. He even burnt his own children to death in a religious ritual. For his Satanic behavior Judah was attacked from all sides by Philistines, Edomites, Israelites, and Syrians; from King Rezin from Aram. Judah lost hundreds of thousands! Ahaz then took gold and silver and valuables from the Temple and gave them to the King of Assyria to get him to attack those who were attacking Judah. It worked, though some of the time Assyria accidentally attacked Judeans during the sheer momentum of his thirst for gore. Ahaz went even further and closed the Temple for worship as he altered the altar and the Hebrew's courtyard to accommodate the Assyrians and their pagan practices. Simply put, Ahaz was an utter psychopath. Hezekiah; a good king, Ahaz' son, followed Ahaz as king (tryyyy to figure it out if you want to - go ahead!) 17 - Hoshea came to rule in Israel 730 B.C. and he was the king who saw the northern country of Israel fall for the last and final time. Captors had chipped away at the north for a few decades but there was no recovering from the smashing of 722 B.C. Hoshea was paying tribute to Assyria to keep them at bay, but he was also working a deal with Egypt in hopes that Egypt would push back the Assyrians and those two countries would become preoccupied with wiping each other out and Israel would be in the clear.... At any rate, Assyria caught wind of this, Hoshea was imprisoned, and Israel was leveled! Only Samaria was left of it and Samaria got plundered. It's short 200 year history came to a close. All 19 of its kings were apostate. It's religion was false and rebellious. It's behavior was lecherous. It's practices and negotiations were faithless and diabolical - so they were gone. God had no more remedy nor effort nor intention to be so. God removed Israel from the land. 18 - Hezekiah came to power in Judah; the south about 5-6 years before the northern kingdom fell to Assyria. Hezekiah knew what the lynchpin of reform and protection was. He returned the Judean culture to God. He removed all the idols from the land, reopened the Temple, honored and sacrificed to God. Hezekiah refused to pay the Assyrians from the Judeans accounts. Hezekiah is in II Chron. 29-32 also. Come II Kings, Hezekiah's faith is tested as Assyria invaded Judah and absorbed much of it until he had Jerusalem surrounded. The Assyrians described Hezekiah as "a bird trapped in a cage". Hezekiah swiftly built a tunnel to secure Jerusalem's water supply - that can still be walked through today - if you don't have trouble with claustrophobia or skotophobia (fear of darkness) or ... hydrophobia as parts of it don't have much airspace. Sennacherib, leader of the Assyrian army, taunted Hezekiah and threatened him - even played mind games religiously claiming that the Lord had tolllllld Assyria to attack Jerusalem. The memo was shared with Hezekiah. Stress could not have been higher. What is going to happen? We'll read it to you next week.

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Leviticus 24-26 We are in the World Stream reading from the New Living Translation. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

God make us like You.  Sanctify us through and through.  Life in you is so good.  Bless us with yourself in our lives. Amen. 24 - there are many comments that could be made about the bread and the oil and the frankincense on the gold altar but I will say this - Jesus called Himself The Bread (of life!).  The Holy Spirit is referred to as "oil" (along with four other elements).  Imagine the scene of 12 gigantic loaves of bread made of a gallon of flour each.  That, the gold, the aroma in the room, flames flickering, orange glow on the walls,  this isn't boring stuff, people. It would have been a marvel to be there.  Inspiring. The incident of the half Israeli/half Egyptian who cursed and broke the 4th Commandment and was executed sends quite a message that still speaks 3400 years later.  George Washington came back to his troops once after his morning prayer session and heard a man swear and curse, mocking God to another man.  GW ordered him whipped in front of the whole army.  It sent a message to all soldiers -  that they were on a divine assignment to found a new country, under God, and the 10 commandments WILL be obeyed in this land.  Other laws are laid forth in the latter of this chapter.  They aren't harsh/cold/ archaic/outdated.  It's merciful - for the purpose of ending disputes and disagreements as quickly as possible.  People talk about getting even, but the truth is no one ever does get even. An accidental slip or bump is followed by a slap of retaliation for a misfortune that is perceived to be deliberate. Then comes a punch, then out comes the sticks, then the clubs, then the blades, then the guns, then the ...   There's a true story about a gang rival that has gone on the over 40 years. Thousands have been killed in hundreds upon hundreds of skirmishes.  How/why/what/where did it all start? It began over a pair of stolen tennis shoes/sneakers.  That's it! true story. The Bible says [e.g.] a stolen pair of shoes needs to be returned with a fresh pair of new socks as compensation plus a second pair.  The human heart says, "uh, uh, grab weapons, sharpen the tips, lock and load, he's going to payyyy BIG TIME!"               The biblical way is better. Always. 25 - The Sabbath Laws were a shock to the world. No one ever thought of anything like this, much less operated this way.  Land was worked until it was stripped - the term is "desertization".  Slaves and workers were worked to death the world over prior to hearing of this - the Sabbath Laws.  The seven-day-week comes from this literature.  Life could now then have a pattern to it. There was a cycle, a schedule that bio-rhythmically worked with us and it was humane. Productivity resulted from this new schedule. Life expectancy rose again because of this.  It was very typical for the Egyptian river boat slaves (especially them) along with most slave laborers to die in their 30s. Many of these men died in their late 20s.  God made this SAbbath rule because He loves us.  The dustbowl of the 1930s resulted from the ignoring of the sabbath laws for agriculture. Who was rejoicing over this geological tragedy? No one.  The Year of Jubilee: imagine that being applied today?  People would cry "fiscal irresponsibility!"  Do you wonder what the government would wail about? They are the regents of irresponsibility. It's the way back for a new start.  Relax, the rich will get rich again.  It will take a decade at most.  The poor will get poor again.  It will take a decade ... at the most.  The Jubilee Year makes 100% sense.  There are pagan organizations that lend out loans in Asia.  The quickest they can be paid back is a century!  This shackles at least four generations of extended families.  It's just wrong. God's way is better <--  Have y'heard that before? 26 - This is a chapter of tremendous promises for everything wonderful that most everyone wants ... unless they are a sadistically depressed Satanist.  It also contains a list of horridly frightful warnings against all the calamity no one really wants ... unless they are a, uh, let's see, oh yes, unless they are a sadistically depressed Satanist.  It's very similar to Deuteronomy 28.  When God finished telling this list to Moses in Deuteronomy 28, He told Moses essentially, "btw, Moses, they are going to disobey."  Believe it. It's pathetically true.  The fact of life is that without the Holy Spirit assisting those who are yielded to God, it is not possible for a person, a family, a church, a group, a community, a state, a country, a people to do right start to finish.  God's help is needed.  To do right by God requires God's help.  He has a better way.  He always does.

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Ephesians 1-3 We are in the Church Stream reading from the New King James Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord, you met Abraham, you met Moses, you met with David - and you meet us just as quickly as we call your Name.  Amen 1 - Paul is so extremely excited to send greetings and instruction to the great Ephesian church and tell about the redemption we have in Christ Jesus that he is near the bursting point.  He is that joyful!  He writes most of this first chapter as a single sentence (sort of can't even pause to take a breath) - he's elated to share Jesus.  And get this - he is writing this letter from a prison in Rome.  My husband and I saw this prison a couple years ago. Paul's love for Jesus is his "food" in life.  It's very evident that Paul wants the Ephesian church to be elated with Christ the way he is.  The Ephesian church was the most spiritually mature church in the new testament era, yet Paul wants them to "fly" higher still.  His prayer for the Eph. church is beautiful like his prayer for the Colossians and the Philippians  2 -  Here Paul lays out the plan for unity - for reversing the curse since Adam/Eve left the Garden.  The "salvation through grace" truth is pivotal for realizing and receiving salvation.  (BTW, remember that EVERY false cult botches this concept of grace and fails to understand it nor do they teach it properly).  We are saved by embracing God's goodness not trusting in our own "goodness" <---> goodness that doesn't really exist. Christ is our reconciler, our peace, our unifier.  Gentiles were not 2nd class believers. In Christ, all were unified. The Holy Spirit gave access to all.  The title of stranger/alien/foreigner was over with. Newly converted Gentiles were as cherished as Abraham and all his relatives. 3 - The mystery of God, which was once revealed to very few, was now open to all who would receive it. The mystery revealed was Christ Himself. Christ embodies who God is and this Christ is known through the Holy Spirit - all this was not the property of a private, exclusive club anymore.  The mystery and endless riches found in Christ, His power in and over all Creation, the marvelous testimony of a unified worldwide Body of Christ, the fellowship in Christ - all this is a heavenly testimony.  The wonder of it all merely drove Paul to pray for the church in Ephesus and us here today all the more.  Let's join Paul in praying for the endless, unshakeable, growing Church that Jesus Christ our Savior founded on Himself.  Don't let the 19+ century time lapse bother you!   The impression that the wild terrain of the scriptures left us with this week is more or less, "wow, God will meet you anywhere."  He met the priests in the stringent duties they were performing and more joyfully so in all the feasts they were to maintain.  He is with Jehu during the gory task of ridding the country of Baal - whether Jehu acknowledged it or not. The ridding of Athaliah's darkness, Joash repairing the Temple (klutzy as he was!) - God was in the midst of it all even if to merely reveal to us today the grief it is to let a country slouch into paganism.    The pure joy of the Psalms; God is certainly and clearly in the middle of such praise.  The Lord is powerfully (though painfully) with Jeremiah as he is being tormented, then protected during the siege of Jerusalem, then guarded though the city is in ashes, then during the aftermath of a very sad stage of Jewish history.  Obadiah tells of God's work for His people and the crumbling of her enemy Esau. God's prophecy is active and guarding even still. The Luke narrative showed Christ operating and meeting and revealing and sending and empowering and exhilarating and and and - that was a run of stories whose implications are endless; God met all types of people in all places.  Ephesians told of the mystery of redemption. The moral of the narrative is that God wanted to meet and gather souls of all nations just because of love; a God who is love.  It's so good isn't it?!

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Luke 9:18-10:24 We are in the Christ Stream reading from the New King James Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Luke 9:18ff - Today is a goldmine of lessons.  Here they are, itemized:

Peter's landmark statement is basically, "God sent you".  Anointed One = Christ Peter was following Jesus because He knew God sent Him - He wasn't following Him because Jesus was going to be crucified. But the reminder of te crucifixion comes right on the heels of Peter's confession. The Transfiguration; also in Mark 9, is an overwhelming memo to the "inside-3"; Peter/James/John that those who follow God never die and they never leave God The next day when Jesus encounters a boy who gets seizures from a bad spirit that is harassing him, we get a statement from Jesus that many find troubling. "Oh faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you...?" It hits y'sideways but there is triple motivation in Jesus' words if we let them sink in.  1] do not fool around with darkness for it won't let go of you. 2] Learn how to expel darkness and their powers - take authority v.s being a victim (btw, I am teaching on this all the time!) 3] Learn from me while I am here, so pay attention NOW.  Next, Jesus doubles down and tells of His Passion week again. The tussle of the disciples arguing about who would be greatest was not their last such juvenile discussion. Boys will be boys, eh? (my husband told me to say that!)  It's a worldwide phenomenon to joust for first place.  Jesus makes a perfect teaching moment reminding them to serve all v.s. compete with all. The point that the disciples bring up when a man is casting out demons is as silly as being perplexed that the whole world doesn't attend YOUR church with YOU. Hey, when someone is following Jesus quit fussing that their socks aren't perfect enough to walk in your parade - or any myriad of other inane concerns that accomplish nothing except waste brain cells and time. The lesson Jesus taught after the Samaritan Village shunned them is worth taking to heart... along with everything else: better learn to handle rejection, folks! Jesus' teaching about the cost of discipleship comes next. Some may have looked at Jesus operating and thought, "free food, free healthcare, sign me up!" He lets the one man know that it isn't always free housing too... Make what you will of that.  The others demonstrate the difference between them and when Jesus called the 12 who all dropped what they were doing and followed.  When someone is going to follow Jesus, all other priorities come below, after, later, many need to be eradicated permanently.  When Jesus calls, NEVER say "in a minute / wait until I... ? / just as soon as ... / I can't until after I download a few more, etc.  When Jesus says "come now", gee, what should be done? If that has to be explained again, no amount of explanation is going to be enough. 10 - Jesus sending out the 72 is a historical move with historical results.  They were given orders, with no back out or back up plan. They were to heal and proclaim, not to fret rejection, and know that their acceptance or rejection of Jesus' was a tremendous decision each would be making.  Those who turned away Jesus may as well prepare to be treated like the city of Sodom/Gomorrah - not good! The 72 return and are as excited as school kids with ice cream at recess.  Jesus reminds them to keep a proper attitude among all the successful ministry.  What excitement there is in following Jesus!!

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Obadiah We are in the Exile Stream reading the entire book of Obadiah from the New King James Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord, may we learn from these illustrations today - there is no hope for those who fight your Word, your Way, your Chosen Path and People.  Teach us to be a blessing as we follow you.  Amen. This is a judgment prophecy against Edom.  The Edomites were descendants of Esau; brother of Jacob who sold off his birthright for a bowl of soup, lost the blessing and was bitter toward Esau the remainder of his days.  Whenever Esaus' descendants have a clear shot and can be of trouble to Jacob's family, it happens, and we hear about it usually live from Jerusalem. The Edomite people that Obadiah is addressing occupied about a 2,000 square mile region south of the Dead Sea; 100 mi X 20 mi. It is a rocky range of mountains. It was well watered in biblical days. The capital then is an area today known as Petra.  You have seen this rock face city as a befabled place used in modern movies. The famous final city entered in Indiana Jones /The Last Crusade 1989 was filmed in Petra...and can still be visited today. This was home to the Edomites.  The conflict between Esau and Jacob is explained in Genesis 25:23 & 27:41  The hatred was still in full operation 1300 years or so later. Edomites made a habit of raiding caravans passing through and upon cities they could reach.  They would then escape back to their homes in the treacherous terrain they were familiar with. They were obstreperous in their denying passage to Moses in Numbers 20. Edom raided Jerusalem over the centuries so there were not warm feelings for them among the Jews. Between 850 and 586 B.C. the Edomites notably raided Jerusalem four times: II Chr. 21 / 25 / 28 / 36.  The one during II Chr. 36 was when Zedekiah was king and for several other reasons, Obadiah's prophecy likely follows this fourth raid. In Obadiah we hear of Edom being destroyed forever - and of Judah's remnant being saved. The end of their kingdom proper was after 550 B.C. when the Neo-Babylonians stormed through. The Nabateans took over this territory and their prominent centuries were 200 B.C. - 200 A.D.  It was the Nabateans who were prolific traders.  They welcomed commerce and visitors and prominent souls. Three who came through were Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior; learned men who counseled Kings and revered the Hebrew scriptures. They were enroute to see a newborn baby in Bethlehem that was prophesied to be God's Son, found under a star. ... 'do you wish YOU were in on that journey?!  This is all what became of the Edomite Kingdom.  Flushed out by Babylonians, kept out by Nabateans, some Edomites remained and were basically quarantined in the south of Judea.  They were rabble that remained hostile to Jews and Jewish culture. In 126 B.C. one of the Maccabean Rulers beat them down for rebellion.  They were absorbed into the Jewish state as what remained of these "cousins" of 17-18 centuries could be overlooked - though they weren't altogether accepted.  The Herods were direct descendants of these Edomites and thus they were particularly assigned to rule over Jews after Rome assumed control in 63 B.C.  We all know of the tension that existed between authentic Jews and the Herods (all four of them).  This was the finale~ of the Edomite people and their lording/harassing of the Jews.  In A.D. 70 Rome destroyed Jerusalem and there was nothing for any Herod to exercise control over. They died out. The last of the Edomites and they were then swept onto the dustbin of history.  Vv. 10,16,18 came true: "you shall be cut off forever / they shall be as though they had never been / no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau.         Just like God said,  "poof" they are gone.

Jeremiah 38-41 We are in the Prophetic Stream today as we read with the New King James Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord, may we find YOUR peace in our hearts even though we may be in troubling times. Amen.

38 - Jeremiah was giving advice and prophecies that sounded backward to the leaders in Jerusalem. Thinking he was a traitor, they debated whether to kill him or not, then they put him in a mucky cistern/tank underground, then others had pity on him and they pulled him out of it again. Hey, the Babylonians were attacking soon, Jeremiah knew it and he wasn't going to lie to people. Jeremiah then gives advice to the last King of Jerusalem in this era of their history. The advice is prophetic, sage, brilliant, and accurate as ever. Zedekiah then makes it quite clear that he didn't know how to lead nor stand, nor flee, nor negotiate. His weakness led to foolishness as he did not yield to Jeremiah's words as he should have. It was his last chance of surviving..but scizophrenia seemed to take over. 39 - Then The Day finally came as Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon with all his army broke into Jerusalem, broke down the wall, burned the king's home, and the other homes, killed King Zedekiah's sons, blinded him and took him to Babylon. Jeremiah, however, is given special protection at Nebuchadnezzar's orders. This day of Jerusalem's doom factors so large in history and for the Hebrews, that it is further commented on in Jeremiah 52, The parallel tale is told in II Kings 25, and in II Chronicles 36. It's such a disaster - and God knows how many times they were told that this nightmare could have been avoided had they honored God . . . 40 - Gedaliah was put in charge of the poor and non-influential in Judah/Israel; those of whom were no threat to the Babylonians. Jeremiah was then offered a glorious invitation to come to Babylon and he would be given a fine life there. Even the captain of the guard in Babylon would tend to him. Jeremiah prefers [defers?] and stays in his home country. Gedaliah does a yeoman's job of calming fears and assuring those left in the land that they would be well and do well. Others Jews who had been away to avoid the onslaught began to trickle back into The Promised Land (that had now been spiritually mismanaged for much of it's 850 year history). It wasn't long until Gedaliah was warned about a plot to rid him. Some of those returning had perceived that Gedaliah had sold out to the Babylonians. It was some dicey days they were living through. 41 - A certain "Ishmael" came and led a murder plot against Gedaliah. He schemed his treachery that would follow a modest feast Ishmael's malcontent further drove him to kill all the Jews who were with Gedaliah plus the Chaldeans/Babylonians who were in the area. Soon after, a group of misguided worshipers arrived who were ignorant that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah. Ishmael lured them, pretended to guide and join them before he killed all of them too. Ishmael was a first rate skallywag/pirate type! He took the rest of Gedaliah's associates captive and headed for Ammon far to the south and east. A man, Johanan, gathered a group to counter Ishmael. He did and liberated those that Ishmael was taking to the Ammonites. Johanan took these Jewish people -who had been harassed enough- and led them to an area down past Bethlehem. They wanted to be far from the departed Babylonians for fear that they might be confused with the deeds of Ishmael who killed the leader Gedaliah that Nebuchadnezzar had put in charge. It was a dissettling time in what was once enjoyed as the Promised Land.