Streams of Generosity in the New Decade
Author: Joseph Jagde
Author: Joseph Jagde
From the NIV version of the Bible, Isaiah Chapter 32 reads as follows: 1 See, a king will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice. 2 Each man will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. 3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The mind of the rash will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. 5 No longer will the fool be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected. 6 For the fool speaks folly,
his mind is busy with evil:
He practices ungodliness
and spreads error concerning the LORD;
the hungry he leaves empty
and from the thirsty he withholds water. 7 The scoundrel's methods are wicked,
he makes up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just. 8 But the noble man makes noble plans,
and by noble deeds he stands. The Women of Jerusalem 9 You women who are so complacent,
rise up and listen to me;
you daughters who feel secure,
hear what I have to say! 10 In little more than a year
you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,
and the harvest of fruit will not come. 11 Tremble, you complacent women;
shudder, you daughters who feel secure!
Strip off your clothes,
put sackcloth around your waists. 12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vines 13 and for the land of my people,
a land overgrown with thorns and briers
yes, mourn for all houses of merriment
and for this city of revelry. 14 The fortress will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever,
the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, 15 till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest. 16 Justice will dwell in the desert
and righteousness live in the fertile field. 17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace;
the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. 18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
in secure homes,
in undisturbed places of rest. 19 Though hail flattens the forest
and the city is leveled completely, 20 how blessed you will be,
sowing your seed by every stream,
and letting your cattle and donkeys range fre These verses talk about a stance relative to what is going on out there and spiritual truths that will stand no matter what else happens. Two sets of people are viewed as wrongly positioned, those who are scheming to take advantage of the poor, and groups of women who are commplacent with their enlarged good situation, PERHAPS TAKING IT FOR GRANTED AND JUST RIDING IT OUT WITHOUT MUCH INPUT TOWARDS ANYTHING ELSE. THOSE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE POOR, MIGHT BE leveraging THEIR ABILITY TO DO THIS, BUT JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN DO THIS, AND SEEMINGLY GET AWAY WITH IT POTENTIALLY ON THE NATURAL REALM, AT LEAST AT FIRST, doesn't mean this route will hold for them. THESE VERSES DO TAKE A LONG RANGING VIEW, FOR EXAMPLE IT TALKS ABOUT THE NEXT YEAR AS CONTAINING CHANGING CHIRCUMSTANCES FOR THE WOMEN, WHO WILL BE FINDING THE WAVES THAT THEY HAD BEEN RIDING ARE NO LONGER EMANANTE, THAT THEIR HORIZON IS SHIFTING. WHILE THERE ARE STRONG CONTRASTS IN THESE VERSES, TO A DEGREE THEY CAN BE TAKEN AS HOLDING POSITIVE POSSIBILITIES. THE WOMEN, WHO WERE COMPLACENT, WERE IN FACT CALLED TO MOVEMENT IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM, POSSIBILITY A CALLING OF POWER AND PRAYER, WHERE THEY COULD HAVE HAD A LARGE INFLUENCE FOR THE GOOD. HISTORICALLY, IN CERTAIN TIMES AND PLACES, WOMEN HAVE BEEN TREATED AS SECOND CLASS CITIZENS, BUT HERE IN THESE VERSES IT IS SHOWING THAT THEY HAD A FIRST CLASS CALLING TO MATTERS OF THE SPIRIT, and REALMS OF PRAYER, POWER AND PRACTICAL HELP IN CONJUCTION WITH THE CREATIVE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MENTIONED IN VERSE 15. The women arent excused from the call even if there are outer realms of discrimination against them in some segments of society as has been the case at times throughout history. In reality, they are called to positions of power and sowing by the Holy Spirit. The call was upon them, but they did not heed the call, as great as this call was. The others, probably more so men, who were scheming upon others including the poor, who are according to other passages in the Bible, are particularly watched by the Lord that they are not exploited, could have gone another route, as they had the wisdom to use in more appropriate directions that would correspond with the works of the Holy Spirit. The overall theme of this chapter is to be proactive with wisdom towards good works and the sowing of good works; these good works could more so be of a spiritual nature corresponding to natural realms but also spiritual realms both of which could include the accompaniment of angels, gathering by the stream The gifts of intelligence, imagination and creativity could be bent towards the good sowing by the all streams, rather than miscreant uses. The call for widespread sowing is also showing that these gifts can be more than one, and the capabilities are there that might more so go across the board of good possibilities. The gifts will be flowing with the goodness of the streams in a harmony of hope. The image of the streams is symbolic, there will be streams to catapult towards, places of existence in the natural and spiritual realms upon where goodness can be sown, and thrive. No matter what bad news is that is being sold to us, there is the eminence of these streams on the horizon of the near future, if they are sought and found in freedom. There is a resounding hope presented here, that no matter what the troubles might be that are out there, there will be the existence of these streams, which can be searched and found by those who are pursuing the presence of the Lord, and that this vision of hope can become a reality. With this, what a given horizon will look like in the future depends on current courses of action and depends upon whether these streams are found and followed. The turn towards this vision, is not made by being content and sitting upon luxury and riches as in the case of those women depicted in these verses, nor by those who are using natural gifts of intelligence and wisdom to scheme upon others who might be disadvantaged in some way, particularly those who are disadvantaged by being poor. The hidden cost of this is that the Holy Spirit is the defender of the poor and there is an unseen dangerous ground towards offending the Holy Spirit and the potential repercussions for doing that also may be imminent. Also, the final verse of this chapter, is talking about sowing right by the streams, and freely dispersing your gifts, and this indicates the close horizon of the streams, that this possibility lies at hand, not somewhere in the far away and unknown distances of time and place, so the excuse is not there, that the call was unknown and unseen and unheard. The streams of generosity could be found and could be followed, it is a matter of free choice as to the way to go, and when it states that you would freely disperse your ox at the end of this chapter, this is symbolic of the freedom involved to follow the courses outlined in this chapter, that is to follow and sow besides the streams of blessings ordained by the Holy Spirit. The gifts and abilities to do this are there in some measure, and there needs to be the exercise of freedom upon them towards active sowing. There is the tendency to be complacent, selfish and self serving in everybody, and if luxury and riches are found in this place there is more so a tendency to just stay with it. But selfish pursuits are not limited to the haves, but those in the position of not having might also be putting excessive time and effort and application towards gain at the expense of realizing the importance of sowing at all points on the spectrum of time and place as these places of sowing are found even from places of poverty. But this is the erroneous course, as there is a continual call to the spiritual sowing, and this sowing doesnt preclude riches that you may have, but it does preclude standing still and only luxuriating in these riches and losing the eye for sowing by the streams. By giving the riches to much preeminence, the hold upon them becomes to strong and there is a loss of freedom towards letting your gifts flow and sow with the streams of blessings. In the gospels, it talks of riches choking off the presence of the Holy Spirit and this is a danger if the sowing stops once the riches reach a certain point and real stagnation will result soon enough. There needs to be some outward dispersing of the gifts, which are not to be horded for exclusive use. You can be included in on your own gifts as one of the participants of them, and be inclusive in them, but they are not exclusive to you or to be used by you for aims that are only inclusive for you and your own benefit. The key is to be on stream rather than off stream Consult with the Holy Spirit in prayer and meditation as to what the streams are for you, what streams you are as of right now being called to sow upon and flow with. Getting out of the flow of these streams may result in the upcoming horizons of a dry preserve presence like the desert, where things that had been working will dry up for you and become desert like and desolate. This is why it is important to continue with careful care to heed the call of the creative presence of the Holy Spirit, to stay on the course, and the known outline of this it to find and sow in some fashion by the streams, even if your current good success and position doesnt prompt an urgent need for you to do this, everything can change on the dime and losing sight of the streams is not the way to go in looking upward towards the horizon of the future in the new decade An example for illustration might be praying for the peace of the land. This is one form of sowing by the streams, and if the peace does hold, this will be a shared good with others, not something enjoyed exclusively by you. Therefore immediate consideration should be given towards that which is causing you to shift your attentions away from the streams and the matter sowing by them by neglecting the ways and winds of the Spirit and these verses are a wake up call to steady the course, to get on it and stay on it and set your sails to it, so that there is a remaining hope that the emanate horizons for you will contain the good and with these principles others will also be participating with this found good with you.About the Author:
Aerosmith Tickets - New Direction After Four Decades WiFi and Digital Cameras- It's a Whole New World Digital Cameras with Wi-Fi are the New Thing new hot toys ~ A New Beginning ~ Building a New Home? Go Green! Building a New Home? Knockdown and Rebuild! Benjamin Moore Paints To Install 1.9 Megawatt Solar Farm San Ramon School District Chooses Solar Power Some Good "News" Wisconsin Has the Most Certified Solar Installers Massachusetts Solar Energy Rebate Program Hits a Wall Manabu Kurita New World Record Largemouth Bass