Author: Jon Harris

What comes to mind with the phrase “waters that flow gently”? I think of peace, a pure stream in the wilderness, tranquility, something natural not made by man, something to observe and take in, reflection, a source for the sustainment of life. Contrasting this, a raging river is harsh, it erodes, it destroys.

⁶ “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷ therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, (Isaiah 8:6-7)

Referring to Isaiah 8:6: “The waters of Siloam denote the reign of Yahweh, as manifesting itself in the administration of the family of David – a mild, gentle, and munificent reign, beautifully represented by the unfailing and gently flowing waters on which the happiness of Jerusalem so much depended.” (Albert Barnes Notes on the Whole Bible)

For us this can be represented in our choices. We trust and obey or we refuse our God. We remain in the bondage of sin or freedom in Christ. We live in the darkness of anger and bitterness, or in the light through forgiveness. Living in fear or living joyfully, boldly going where God is calling us. Leaving hurtful past behind, moving forward with the eternal hope we have in Christ Jesus.

Let us take rest in the gentle waters. Let us choose Him as Master. Let us hand him our burdens. Let us take his yoke, his gentle guidance. Let us see him as the humble one who calls us like the gentle flowing waters.

I could use some of this rest and gentle flowing water today and over the weekend, how about you?

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

When you’re thirsty, which beverage sounds the most quenching? Is it situational?

For me: First thing in the morning, cold tap water, then sparkling water. After working in the yard, beer (and when I was very young my grandma always had Orange Fanta ready after I cut her lawn). Throughout the day, flavored sparkling water. When I was a youngster playing golf, I loved lemonade or Vernors (ginger ale) with ice and a lemon. Fitness, a sport bottle that quickly launches a steady stream of cool water down my throat. Ahh….

Typing this brings back some great memories, quenching thirst with friends and family.

What do you thirst in life? Peace, balance, fun, joy, laughter, friendship, love, success, healing, wealth, rest, sleep?

One prayer on my heart, “my thirst” has been to find another brother in Christ in/near the city where we live. Perhaps there was some doubt that this would happen anytime soon because when it did happen I admit to being shocked. What other prayers do we pray with seemingly full faith but as time passes we begin to doubt? Keep on praying and trusting!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding; (Proverbs 3:5)

My new friend Francesco is already a great blessing as we discuss and give praise to God; this is true living water. When I think about all of the earthly things that I seek, none are greater than being in alignment with my creator and seeing him work and move in my life and in those around me. All of that wonderful sparkling water in the world will never compare to the thirst quenching of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He promises it; may our words, thoughts and actions reflect our belief in his promises.

¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

Based on a quick internet search, it is estimated that adult humans make approximately 35,000 decisions per day. If 74% of the 7.8 billion humans on Earth are adults, it means that globally there are over 200 trillion decisions made per day. I wonder how many of those relate to pizza toppings.

Why do we make the choices that we make? What factors lead us to the numerous decisions we make on a daily basis? How do we know we are making the right choices for ourselves, in our jobs, for our families, friends, and others whom we care about? Just a quick glance at our checking accounts and credit card statements reveal much truth as to our choices and where our hearts are.

Today’s perfect attribute of God is “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding“. With this, a recurring thought I have about God and his ways is that every attribute of him is perfect and complete. I sometimes love, God is love. I’m a sinner, he is perfect. I seek wisdom and understanding, he is the source of these things. Ultimately: I give some, Jesus gave ALL.

  And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2)

In our 35,000 decisions today, let us draw nearer to our God through his free gift of the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is ask for wisdom and understanding and he gives it.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)

Your testimonies are righteous forever;
   give me understanding that I may live. (Psalm 119:144)

Father God, forgive me for not asking you for wisdom and understanding and for trying to do so much on my own. Please grant me wisdom and understanding in the problems I’m facing, with the resources available to me, in relationships, as I lead and as I follow, as we seek to share your truth so that others may be saved. Thank you Jesus for loving and forgiving us. Amen.

Cover photo by Maya Ly, source: Flickr

One of the attributes of successful organizations is granting autonomy to its people. In the playing field of personal life and in the workplace, I’ve learned far more from being allowed to fail than from reading books or from specific instruction. Leaders have granted me opportunities with curbs in place to help minimize the negative impacts of failure.

Coming clean

Some of my greatest failures in the last year and what I learned from them:

• Allowed a disruptive and negative team member to remain on the team too long. Even though he was one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, he spread frustration and distrust wherever he went. Since his departure we are in a far better place and I’m now much more proactive when it comes to managing negativity and making quick decisions to consider the good of the whole.
• Countless times speaking too quickly when believing I have the right answer to a problem, only to realize not all of the facts were clear. Listening more, speaking less.
• Bringing on a team member without first meeting in person. We had great video calls, he had a fantastic resume, and he passed the test while interviewing online with my peers. However, from his first day onsite it was clear that I’d made an error. While I strongly advocate for remote work, there is no replacement for critical assessments in person, even if just for a very short period of time.

With each of these mistakes there were warning signs; subtle and obvious. Worse, far too many failures can directly be correlated to a lack of prayer and patience, trying to do it my own way.

What does Jesus have to say?

“For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter‬ ‭2:25‬ ‭ESV)

Our Heavenly Father grants us free will, the ability to make our own choices, to make mistakes, and most important – to either choose him or reject him. As our Shepherd, he is the gentle voice giving us warnings or curbs to stay along a path of righteousness. Shepherds look after their whole flock and they also care about each sheep individually.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  (John 10:27 NLT)

The next words from Jesus are the best part. He makes it crystal clear how much he cares for us, following him results in mercy and the gift of eternal life.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,  (John 10:28 NLT)

Sheep also very well know the voice of their shepherd based on a lifetime of following. The further we are from God, the less clear his voice may seem to be when we prioritize our selfish desires over those of our Creator, our Shepherd, the Overseer of our souls.

Father God, forgive us for straying, for ignoring your voice, for ignoring your commands, for putting ourselves first. Thank you for giving us your living word through the Bible. May we seek your truth in a world full of lies, may we choose you to be our Shepherd and Overseer today. Thank you for loving us, for dying for us, for proving you are God of all through your death, burial and resurrection. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Prior to the Coronavirus lockdown I was always in a hurry. Career, social activities, exercise, dining out, planning the next adventure, etc. Then it all came to a screeching halt. Is this true for you as well?

To make matters worse (but ultimately better), I injured my knee, so my cardiovascular exercise became very limited. Then for the first time in my life, I began to exercise-walk. As a person with admitted pride in seeing just how far I can push myself, or just how sweaty my clothing could get, I didn’t respect “walking” as real exercise (sorry mom). I also assumed fitness walking would be boring.

I was wrong.

Amy and I started walking together, hitting the hills and going for ~1 hour to start. Then we began to walk further and further, faster and faster. At first I assumed I could literally walk all day but walking long distances is tiring!

Not only did the walking provide a new perspective, it brought me closer to my wife. We had a lot of fun “just being” outside with little to no distractions from electronics. As spring began to bloom, it was as though I was witnessing flowers and nature for the very first time. There were colorful floral and green explosions in many places that I’d passed hundreds of times before, but had failed to notice.

I soon fell in love with walking, with slowing down, with observing, and using the time to pray, to be thankful, and to listen to audio-books. Sometimes I’d even stop to smell the flowers, and the crazy thing was that there was something in my brain that said “stopping means failure, don’t slow down”. Where does this come from?

Slowing down became more difficult yet more rewarding than going faster.

Today’s name for Jesus: “Rose of Sharon” (Song of Songs 2:1)

I shared the walking story because this reminds me of the beautiful rose that is Jesus Christ. Going too fast and taking too much on was a joy killer and worse it distracted me from fulfillment in Jesus, from seeing him clearly.

• What lies do you tell yourself about your own worth?
• What good things do you need to “say no” to in order to “say yes” to the great things?
• Is there anything in your life where you believe “more” is better? Spend some time considering, “what if” less is best.

The thorns meant to mock him became part of his beauty. Blood red was his sacrifice. Sweet is the aroma of his forgiveness. Set apart, perfect, and vibrant: Jesus, Rose of Sharon.

Tooth decay is caused by bacteria which produces acid that attacks the enamel of a tooth. The decay can cause holes in the teeth (cavities).

A couple years ago I had a nasty cavity that needed a significant amount of drilling to be removed. I remember the dentist saying “whoa, we really had to go deep on that one”. Of my many goals in life, surprising a dentist with my extreme ability to generate tooth decay is not one of them.

Three weeks ago I felt something very strange in that same tooth and noticed that it felt loose so I scheduled a quick visit to the dentist. It turned out that the prior drilling was so vast, the tooth became weak, and eventually crumbled. Roughly 70% of the tooth dislodged and was removed at that time (fortunately the base/roots were not impacted). What was left was a jagged, useless, painful, ugly mess. Another appointment was then scheduled for more invasive action. It was not a good situation at all, trust me.

Andiamo! The big appointment.

As I was sitting in the chair on the day of the big appointment, the dentist looked at me and said “andiamo” (“let’s go” in Italian). Then came numbing, lots of drilling and grinding generating smoke and horrendous sounds, removal of the old filling, spraying, and fluids flying everywhere. During a two hour procedure, the dentist and assistant carefully rebuilt and restored my tooth, then with great detail they refined by smoothing and right-sizing to ensure a proper fit and bite.

The end result was really quite incredible as initially they thought a root canal would be necessary. Observing the detailed (and disgusting) photo of the “before”, I was absolutely amazed at what was done in a relatively short amount of time.

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. (Malachi 3:3)

Just like the bad habits and choices in my life resulting in bacteria and acid infiltrating my tooth ultimately causing it to crumble, so it is with sin. Sin in our lives and sin in this world is causing everything to crumble. Turn off the television news and trust THE only good news: Jesus saves.

While a new tooth, new leader, new vaccine, new… book, diet, innovation, partner, house, car, gym, etc. “may be just around the corner” – a few days, weeks or years from now we’ll see those things were just moments in time and not the end solution. Jesus is the only one who can rebuild, restore and ultimately refine through his cleansing power, so let us draw nearer to him today.

I’m back to interviewing people again and it is continuously humbling to meet so many humans who are more experienced and smarter than me. Each candidate has his or her own super strengths, and usually if they’ve made it through the resume filters they’re likely qualified and capable of doing the job. The end result though is that only one will be chosen and receive the job title, a specific authority in the organization where I work.

While the title is necessary to reflect the role, within our organization titles are really not that important. We’re a USA-based manufacturing company where people roll up their sleeves and get the job done. My favorite leaders are the ones who humbly and generously invest in others to become better leaders, listen, guide and ultimately influence (rather than “boss”). They’re the kind of people who you lead in the same way regardless of their title or the situation.

Just like Jesus

One of my favorite scriptures is Matthew 7:28-29. Jesus just finished the greatest sermon of all time and the response was chilling. I want to be this kind of leader, no apparent title, but cutting to the heart through words and action.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:28-29)

On Earth, Jesus didn’t walk around showing off some fancy title. He led. Greater than any leader before or after him, he led by example. Loving, building relationships, healing, giving, spending time with the dirtiest and most shameful humans so that we may be saved.

This man Jesus volunteered his life for us and then was raised from the dead. There is proof of his existence and regardless of what anyone says, it is undeniable that 2000 years ago, something happened that ignited a fire that still burns today.

The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. (Acts 5:30)

In addition to teaching as one who had authority, he had (has) all authority, he has a title. The very next verse articulates Jesus’ title as relevant to our lives: Prince and Savior

God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. (Acts 5:31)

While God gave him the title and put him at his right hand, we must also choose. Note the 2nd half of Acts 5:31. We learn the title, but he has this authority for a reason. We have free will to choose; the things of this world that we allow to control us, consumption, power, or wealth – or we choose to put Jesus in his rightful place today, for the sake of our eternity. As we make him the Prince (leader) of our lives, as we repent, he in turn forgives and becomes our Savior.

This week marks the milestone of a major company project we’ve been working on for nearly two years. The result is transformational for our manufacturing facilities in Europe and it is both relieving and satisfying to witness the solution in motion, running the business.

Early on, I made the mistake of introducing the project without clearly sharing why it was necessary. Without “why”, people only bought in to the project because they were forced. They committed verbally but not in their hearts, and this kind of commitment typically doesn’t last long, especially when the going gets tough.

As we all matured together, the reasons why became more transparent, and now as the solution is in place the reasons why are crystal clear. What started out as mysterious, vague, daunting, and perhaps seemingly unnecessary is becoming something we cannot do without.

For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7b)

Today’s name for Jesus is the “Passover lamb”. The Passover also ties back to “why” in my own faith journey, and perhaps yours as well. Hearing that story as a child and even into adulthood, until fully opening my heart and soul to Jesus Christ, the story was someone else’s story. It was merely something scary that God did a long time ago for some people I didn’t know. Standing on its own it is still significant, but the deeper meaning, the why has eternal consequences.

The Passover as described in Exodus 12 is a spiritual allegory leading us to Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, our savior. God gave us this story in order to more clearly see Jesus woven throughout the entire Old Testament. The Passover required a spotless lamb to be sacrificed and the blood from the sacrifice to be placed on the doors of those who followed God. Without the blood, there was death to all firstborn people and animals. Similarly, the why in this story, the blood of Jesus as the passover lamb is the only thing that can save us from eternal death and separation.

Is his blood on the door to your heart? Ask him to reveal himself in a new way today. Seek him with all your heart and he will show you, it is a promise that only he can keep. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

We spend much of our lives anticipating and making plans for tomorrow. Tomorrow I plan to lose weight, learn something new, go somewhere, do better, be nicer and get stronger. The musical “Annie” had it right when it comes to dealing with our problems (cobwebs and sorrow), “the sun’ll come out tomorrow”… What does tomorrow look like for you?

We dream of tomorrow because today all too often is either underwhelming or painful; we know there is more. On a greater scale, we hope tomorrow brings peace and love, disease to be cured, pain and loneliness to be gone, financial independence, healed relationships and a long list of other things.

Fear not. Tomorrow is at hand!

There is a bright morning star signifying the dawn of a new day, both literally and metaphorically. The morning star brings hope, love, forgiveness and an eternity with our loving creator. Jesus refers to himself as the “bright morning star” as he is the foretold messiah in the lineage of King David.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (Revelation 22:16)

The beauty is that we need not, nor should we wait for tomorrow to embrace Jesus as the Morning Star. As we enter into a relationship with him today, he can and will bring his light to the darkness of our hearts, and in turn we can bring His light to this world so desperately needing Jesus.

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, (2 Peter 1:19)

Thank you Jesus for being the light in the darkness, for being the Morning Star. Forgive us for any doubts, for selfishness, for putting our will above yours. Cleanse us. Fill us with your light. You are a perfect and loving God. We praise you today and we thank you for tomorrow, whether here on this Earth or in eternity with you. Amen.

Last week I purchased an electric fly swatter and wow is it effective… Mosquitos are literally smoked upon contact and the “pop” sound is so satisfying! With a rechargeable battery, ~3000 volts of bug-zapping power and a low cost of $11, this device is a must. I am often hoping that some fly or mosquito will enter our home just so I can have the pleasure of destroying it.

I envision God with all his power and the ability to zap anything at any time. Fortunately God is not like me. He is Holy and perfect. I am not. I would zap the bad guys, but then realize I’m a sinner therefore “a bad guy” and deserve to be zapped. God makes perfect choices with the use of his infinite power.

Glorious in power, majestic in holiness

The people of Israel faced an unimaginable situation as they were being chased by Pharaoh and his mighty army. God led them out of slavery but to them it appeared that they would be overtaken. They panicked with fear as it seemed death was imminent.

We all know the story. Through the mighty power of our undefeated God, the sea was parted, the Israelites walked to freedom, and the enemy was destroyed. Awe struck, the people worshipped and praised God in their hearts and through a Song of Deliverance (Exodus 15).

⁶ Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
    your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

¹¹ “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
    Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
    awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? (Exodus 15:6, 11)

The power that parted the sea is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, and is the same power that resurrects and saves us from our sin if we put our faith in Jesus Christ. His holiness sets him apart; in his perfection and infinite wisdom he knows what we need, when we need it. He is glorious in power and majestic in holiness.

Father God, seek my heart, cleanse me from unrighteousness. Forgive me for any lack of faith in you alone. You are with me in each Red Sea, in every trial. You are love. You go before us, you are with us and you will never leave us. I choose you Jesus. Amen.