And Can It Be?

Highways (1)

A highway will be there, a roadway,
And it will be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for him who walks that way,
And fools will not wander on it.

Isaiah 35:8

Have a very blessed day. ❤️

Slow Anger

“So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.” (Joel 2:13)

“Slow television” is the term used to describe marathon coverage of an event, typically shown in real time. The genre gained popularity in 2009 after the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast a seven-hour train journey. Yes, seven hours, on a train. Sounds . . . boring. But it’s gained an audience that finds the scenic ride mesmerizing.

The concept behind slow TV is to show something at the rate it’s experienced instead of the speed with which a narrative drama is told. It’s built around transition and movement instead of tension and plot. Slow TV is a step toward savoring life’s minutes as opposed to counting them.

The poet Francis Thompson wrote of God’s “unperturbed pace.” Thompson meant that God moves methodically, patiently, with steps measured and intentional. We see this slowness even with God’s emotions. In Scripture, the prophet Joel’s call for the people of Judah to repent is grounded in the reality that our God is “slow to anger” (Joel 2:13). Unlike our dramatic narratives, often fueled by tempers and flying-off-the-handle selfishness, God takes a different approach. His anger arrives slowly. To a people who had rebelled against Him, God says, “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God” (v. 13).

God’s anger isn’t like ours. He’s slow to anger, a reality that allows us to return to Him with all our hearts.

By: John Blase

Reflect & Pray;
When and how has God seemed to move slowly in your life? Why is He slow to anger and quick to be compassionate?

Dear God, You’re slow to anger, and I’m ever thankful.

Scriptural Insight;
The prophet Joel warns Judah of the coming “day of the Lord,” a dreadful, fearful time of judgment upon God’s people for their unfaithfulness (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14, 18). But for those who “[call] on the name of the Lord” (2:32), this day will be a day of salvation and deliverance. God invites Judah, “return to me with all your heart” (v. 12). Joel says that sincere repentance may change God’s mind about sending such discipline (v. 14) because He’s “merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish” (v. 13 nlt). Earlier in their history, against the backdrop of the great sin of idolatry (Exodus 32), God had similarly revealed Himself as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness . . . forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (34:6-7). God invites everyone to “rend your heart and . . . return to the Lord” (Joel 2:13).

By: John Blase

https://odbm.org/

The Gospel of Jesus Christ;
“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,” - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

“”Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces." For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, "Peace be within you." Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good””. - Psalm 122:6-9

Bless Israel in ALL Things;
“I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." - Genesis 12:3

In Ezekiel’s calling, there is a moment that feels unusual, even symbolic in a way that is difficult to miss.

He is told to eat something.

“Son of man, eat whatever you find here.
Eat this scroll, and go, speak
to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:1).

The instruction is direct.

Not to read it.
Not to carry it.
To eat it.

That raises the question.
Why would a prophet be told
to consume the message
he was meant to deliver?

The scroll itself is described.

“When I looked, behold,
a hand was stretched out to me,
and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.
And he spread it before me.
And it had writing on the
front and on the back,
and there were written on it
words of lamentation and mourning
and woe” (Ezekiel 2:9–10).

The content is not light.

It is not encouragement
in the usual sense.

It is judgment.

Lamentation.
Mourning.
Woe.

This is what Ezekiel is being given.
And this is what he is told to eat.

That is where the detail begins to press further.
The act is not about information.

Ezekiel is not being prepared
to repeat words he has heard.

He is being drawn into them.
“To eat” is to take something in.

To receive it
not only at the level of speech,
but at the level of being.

The message is not external.

It becomes internal.
It is no longer something
he carries in his hand.

It is something
he carries within.

The text then adds something unexpected.

“So I opened my mouth,
and he gave me this scroll to eat.
And he said to me,
‘Son of man, feed your
belly with this scroll…’
Then I ate it,
and it was in my mouth
as sweet as honey”
(Ezekiel 3:2–3).

The content was heavy.

But the taste was sweet.

That contrast matters.

What Ezekiel received
was not pleasant in message,
but it was right in source.

It came from God.

And what comes from God,
even when it carries judgment,
is not empty.

It is true.
It is fitting.

That is what Ezekiel tastes.

Not the weight of the message alone,
but the goodness of the One
who gave it.

After this,
he is told to go and speak.

But now,
he does not speak
as someone repeating a message.

He speaks as someone
who has received it.

Who has taken it in.

Who has been shaped by it.

Reading the passage carefully,
the command to eat the scroll
is not an isolated act.

It defines the kind of prophet Ezekiel will be.

He will not stand at a distance
from the word he speaks.

He will embody it.

Carry it.
Feel its weight.

Theologically, the moment shows
that God’s word
is not meant to remain external.

It is not only to be delivered.
It is to be received.

To the point
that it becomes part
of the one who speaks it.

And that is where the passage
quietly points forward.

Because later,
the Word of God
would not only be written
on a scroll.

It would take on flesh.

Not consumed by a prophet,
but dwelling among people.

And those who would follow Him
would not be told
to eat a scroll,

but they would still be called
to receive His word
in a way that goes beyond hearing.

Not just spoken.
Not just known.

But taken in.

So that what is spoken
is no longer separate
from the one who speaks it.

And in that way,
Ezekiel’s act did not stand alone.

It revealed something
about how God’s word works.

Not around a person.
But within them.

~Undaunted Disciple

“Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet” (Luke 15:22).

Three things were given.

A robe.
A ring.
Sandals.

At first, they could be read
as random simple gestures of welcome.

But the detail was not random.

Each item carried meaning
within that setting.

The robe came first.
And not just any robe.

“The best robe.”

In a household,
this would not have belonged
to a servant, it represented honor.
To clothe the son in it
was not merely to cover him.
It was to restore dignity.

He had returned
planning to be treated
as hired help, but before
he could complete that request,
he was clothed as a son again.

The robe answered his condition.
Not with negotiation,
but with restoration.

Then came the ring.

In that context, a ring
was not only decorative.
It often functioned as a sign of authority.
In their time, it serves as a family seal.
Something that could represent the household.

So to place a ring on his hand
was to give him back
a place within the family.
Not at the edge.
Not under probation.
But within the structure
of belonging.

The son who had taken his inheritance
and left was not reintroduced
as a servant, he was reinstated.
And the ring marked that.

Then the sandals.

This detail is easy to pass over.
But in that setting, servants
often went barefoot.
Sons did not, so to put sandals
on his feet was to draw a visible distinction.
He would not stand in the house
as one who labored under it.
He would stand in it
as one who belonged to it.

So the sequence mattered.

The son returned
with a reduced identity.

He spoke in terms of unworthiness.
He expected distance.
But the father responded
with visible restoration.

Robe.
Ring.
Sandals.

Each one answered
what the son believed
he had lost.

Reading the passage carefully,
these were not rewards
for repentance.

They were expressions
of relationship.
They were given
before anything was proven.

Before time had passed.
Before change could be demonstrated.

The father did not rebuild
the son’s place gradually.
He restored it immediately.

Theologically, the moment
did not merely describe
how a son earns his way back.

It showed how the father received him.
Not by lowering the standard,
but by reestablishing the relationship.

And that is where the passage
quietly pointed forward.

Because later, restoration
would again be given
not in parts, but as a whole.

Not earned over time,
but granted through grace.

What the son received outwardly,
covering, belonging, standing,
would later be spoken of
in terms that went deeper.

Clothed.
Received.
Brought near.

So the details remained.
Not as decoration.
But as explanation.

The robe did not only cover him.
The ring did not only adorn him.
The sandals did not only prepare him.

They reminded him of who he was.
Not based on where he had been,
but based on whose he was.

And that was what the father
restored before anything else.

Because more than the precious wealth he lost in the faraway country because of lavish and sinful living, there was something far more precious that he lost grip of, his identity as his father's son.

~Undaunted Disciple

Hey friends! Reply to this message with any music requests. I am interested to see what your favorites are. I will try to find them and post them! ❤️

4HIM with Jon Anderson - The Only Thing I Need

Hank Williams, The Drifting Cowboys - Jesus Remembered Me