Soaring

 

“They will soar on wings like eagles …”

—from Isaiah 40:31

The Australian ministry, Hillsong, has a praise song, “Lift You Higher,” ¹ that can really hype up a contemporary worship service. Here are some of the words:

You came to save the world:
To rescue me; To rescue me.
You came to give us hope:
You’re all I need; You’re all I need.

You set our hearts on fire:
It burns in me; It burns in me.
Now You awaken us:
For all to see; For all to see.

Because Your love has set me free;
Because Your love will never leave;
Because You live and die for me;
I live for You alone.

We lift You higher, Our God!
Your name be lifted higher
In everything.

The heights always have an allure for us. As human beings, we look to the high places and long to soar high above everything. We envy the birds. That’s why the invention of flight has become so important to us. We want to rise above on wings that fly. The Prophet Isaiah understood this desire and penned these words found in Isaiah 40:30-31:

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

As another new day begins, do we intend to soar with the eagles? It’s a choice we can make right now. If we put all of our hope in the Lord, He will renew our strength. He will enable us to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint. Let’s choose to soar!

 

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1 Hillsong Worship. “Life You Higher.” Castle Hill, Australia: Hillsong Church T/A Hillsong Music Australia, 2013. In each case, citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

We Live By Faith

 

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

—Galatians 2:20

We who follow the Lord Jesus Christ recognize that no matter how diligently we may plan out each new day, the direction of our lives rests in God’s loving hands. At any time, God may change our course along the pathway He has laid out before us. The only genuine way to live as a Christian is to recognize that we are servants of God and must remain at His disposal at all times. This is what prompted the Apostle Paul to write these words found in Galatians 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

As we begin this new day, let’s recognize that the life we live, we live by faith. We have been crucified with our Savior. Our life is in His hands and every aspect of who we are is at His disposal at all times. This may sound like an enormous challenge. But actually, it is an enormous privilege. It’s a privilege that should produce in us great joy and great comfort.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Keep In Step

 

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

—Galatians 5:25

Nothing stirs my patriotic heart quite as much as seeing United States Marines on parade. The precision of their formations, the synchronicity of their march, the brilliance of their uniforms, the ruggedness of their countenance—all remind me of a photo of my dad, who served in the U. S. Marine Corps during World War II. One thing about Marines: they are always in step with one another. Whether on the parade ground, or on the battle field, Marines work together as one. That is exactly the instruction that the Apostle Paul gave to the Christians gathered in the church at Galatia, when he wrote these words found in Galatians 5:25:

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

We who follow Jesus need to acknowledge, with great joy, that we are not alone in our quest to serve the King of Kings. God has given us His Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us, protect us, and enable us in our service to Christ and His Kingdom. Therefore, we need to keep in step with the Holy Spirit, as He leads us along the pathway that He has laid out before us.

This new day, let’s determine to do everything within our frail human power to keep in step with the Holy Spirit. This is the road to victory. Let’s stay on this road.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Speak Up! Or, Stay Silent!

 

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

—Proverbs 31:8

In life, there is a time to be silent and a time to speak. Sometimes, it’s hard to know which is which. I know that I especially have a great deal of difficulty remaining silent, especially when I hear someone state something that I know is not fully accurate, or completely true. Please let me offer this illustation:

Some time ago, I read a public statement from a security official regarding the automatic fire sprinkler protection in the hotel buildings that he oversaw. He stated that whenever an automatic sprinkler actuated in a fire, it would discharge more than 80 to 100 gallons of water per minute. As a fire protection engineer, who has the honor of having been awarded the designation of Fellow with the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, I was startled by his assertion.

Over the course of my career, I have designed many automatic fire sprinkler systems, and reviewed the plans for many hundreds more. I know that the mathematical formula for determining the discharge from an automatic fire sprinkler head specifies that the flow of water from a sprinkler head measured in gallons per minute is equal to the discharge coefficient of the sprinkler head (nominally 5.6) multiplied by the square root of the pressure. Even if the pressure at a sprinkler head was as high as 100 psi—a most unlikely situation in the vast majority of buildings, except those equipped with an automatic fire pump—the maximum flow of water from a single sprinkler head would normally equal no more than 56 gallons per minute. With each sprinkler head covering between 100 to 120 square feet, that gives a discharge density per square foot of between 0.56 gallons-per-minute to 0.46 gallons-per-minute—that is about one-half a gallon of water each minute.

Since the vast majority of the public water systems have far less pressure available than 100 psi, including the water system serving the particular buildings to which the individual was referring, I knew that the security official’s statement was significantly in error. And, I just couldn’t keep this information to myself. So, I told someone in the management of the complex about this mistatement.

Should I have done that? Probably not. What difference did it really make? Most people wouldn’t have known or cared about this mistaken information. I most likely should have kept my analysis to myself.

On the other hand, there are definitely times when we should speak up with no hesitation. King Solomon addresses one of those situations, as recorded in Proverbs 31:8:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

When we see someone being abused, mistreated, or greatly in need, we must speak up. All the more so, we must do this because we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot turn a blind eye to the genuine needs of the people around us.

Is someone hurting? Then we must speak up for that one and offer comfort. Is someone hungry? We must speak up for him or her and offer food. Is someone in fear? We must speak up for such a person and offer protection. Whatever genuine needs we observe, we must speak up and act as instruments of God’s mercy, grace, and love.

As Christ’s ambassadors, let’s keep an eye out, this new day, for people who need help. Then, let’s lovingly and joyfully speak up for them and offer aid to them, in the name of Jesus. After all, God knew we needed salvation from our sins and He willingly sent His one and only Son to die in our place. Speaking up and helping others in genuine need is the very least that we can do to honor this magnificent God who loves us so very much.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Do You Not Know?

 

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

—Isaiah 40:28-29

Some say that rumors have wings like a butterfly. They flit from one possible landing source to another, blown ever onward by people’s insatiable curiosity for inside information. “Have you heard about …” is the starting point of far too many conversations. Illustrating the foolishness of trafficing in gossip, Patrick Rothfuss in his book, The Wise Man’s Fears, records this conversation: ¹

“I’d heard you were dead,” he declared.

“I heard you wear a red lace corset,” I said matter-of-factly. “But I don’t believe every bit of nonsense that gets rumored about.”

The Prophet Isaiah startled the people of Judah by responding with the following words to their criticisms that God seemed far away and did not hear their cries for help. Note what Isaiah said, as recorded in Isaiah 40:28-29:

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

As opposed to a rumor, here is a word of truth that is totally worth sharing: the Lord is the everlasting God. He will not grow tired or weary. No one can understand what He understands. Most of all, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Those words should cheer us onward, as we begin a new day. And, they are not a rumor, or a bit of gossip. They represent truth that we should gladly share with someone today.

 

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1 Rothfuss, Patrick. The Wise Man’s Fears.. New York, NY: DAW Books/Astra Publishing House, Ltd, 2013. In each case, the citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Unsearchable Things

 

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

—Jeremiah 33:3

Have you ever embarked on a database search and received a “File not found” message? In my early personal computer days, I worked using a software called dBase II. The most dreaded message any dBase II programmer could ever receive was “End of file found unexpectedly.” This message indicated that the database has become corrupted, and whatever the user was searching for could not now be found.

In our spiritual lives, we will never receive a “File not found” message from God. In fact, quite the opposite is true. The Prophet Jeremiah records these words of God in Jeremiah 33:3:

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

When we call on God in prayer, He promises to tell us “great and unsearchable things” that we do not know. No matter what prompts our prayer of searching, God has all the answers—even for those things that others may consider “unsearchable.”

Yes, there are times when we ask something of God in prayer and we don’t receive an immediate answer that we can discern. In those times, God is asking us to remain patient while He works out the situation for our benefit. No matter what may happen, we have the confidence to know that, in God’s great plan for us, He will never allow something to happen that is not somehow for our benefit. This is especially true when we cannot conceive of how what is happening could possibly benefit us.

God is the One who reveals the “unsearchable.” Let’s keep that in mind, as we begin a new day. Knowing that God’s magnificent power is always pointed at making our lives better and more in tune with the people He wants us to become should quell our fears and doubts and give us freedom to follow His leading wherever it might take us.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

All-Heart Seeking

 

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

—Jeremiah 29:13

How much energy and persistence we put into meeting a goal often determines whether or not we achieve that goal. That’s why motivational speakers often emphasize the importance of “full engagement” in any worthwhile activity.

If we want to devote ourselves to exercise and fitness, in order to overcome obesity or other physical issues that might threaten our health, we must exercise with energy and persistence. It will not do to simply stop by the gym once or twice a month. If we want to improve our understanding of some new concept or idea, we must make every effort to read and study about that subject. We must do much more than simply scanning an article or two in the waiting room of the barbershop or hair salon.

Likewise, in pursuing, with significant devotion, our relationship with God, we must make a heartfelt effort to seek to understand, as much as we possibly can, who God is and what He expects of us. That’s what motivated the Prophet Jeremiah to record these words of God Himself, as found in Jeremiah 29:13:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

The term “all-heart seeking” smacks of a devotion, determination, persistence, and energy that drives us forward in our walk with God. It means we take time to read, study, and meditate on His written Word, the Bible. It means we will take time to talk with Him in prayer—not only presenting our needs, but praising Him for who He is and thanking Him for what He has done for us.

As a new day begins, let’s make a conscious choice to seek God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. As we apply our four human modalities to the task of following the pathway God lays out before us, we will discover that He lovingly waits to be found by us.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}