Mulligan

 

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Year of Jubilee
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 25:8-13; Luke 4:14-30 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

Golf was never a game that I played very much. But when I did, there was a loophole that I often took advantage of. It was called a mulligan. The Google definition of a mulligan is “an informal second shot taken without penalty; most famously used as a ‘do-over’ shot in casual golf”.

 

That was exactly what I needed. For me, a mulligan meant getting another shot when my initial one hooked to the left into the rough or sliced to the right into a pond. I needed lots of mulligans! It was a way for me to reset my game.

 

Israel had been immersed in the Egyptian culture for 430 years. Of those, 400 were as slaves oppressed by the ruling class. After the Lord freed Israel from Egypt, they spent almost a year at Mount Sinai.

 

During that time, the Lord gave Moses the law and commandments for the new nation of Israel. Included in this was the Sabbath which set aside the seventh day as holy; the Sabbath Year which set aside the seventh year for rest; and the Year of Jubilee.

 

This was to be observed after seven Sabbath Years. In other words, seven times seven, or forty-nine years. Then in the fiftieth year, the Year of Jubilee was to be announced when a rams’ horn was blown on the Day of Atonement.

 

¹⁰ Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan.                                       NLT   Leviticus 25

 

During the Year of Jubilee, liberty was proclaimed across the land as Israelite slaves were to be freed; land was to be returned to the original ancestral owners; debts were to be canceled; and the land was to rest during the whole year.

 

The Year of Jubilee was a year of redemption. It was a god-designed reset intended to restore Israel’s economic, social and spiritual life. In effect, it was a mulligan. And even though there is no Biblical or other historical record that the Year of Jubilee was practiced in full, Israel had very high expectations of it.

 

Keeping in mind that Israel was living under Roman rule and oppression, they believed that when the Messiah came that he would put an end to Roman rule, restore their land and install their own government. It would be the Year of Jubilee.

 

When Jesus spoke in the synagogue in Nazareth, he read from Isaiah 61. For him, it was an announcement of his ministry as the Messiah, as well as the “ram’s horn announcement” of the Year of Jubilee.

 

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”                            NIV            Luke 4

 

Jesus’ interpretation of Isaiah 61 was significantly different than that of most Jews. His was a spiritual reset. It was a spiritual mulligan. It’s a mulligan that he still offers us today. And in turn, we are to offer it to others.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Spoiled

 A Series on Spiritual Turning Points
Moments in Time: Revelatory
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Isaiah 6:1-13 

[God is always at work in our life – drawing us to him, helping us to become the person he created us to be and leading us to opportunities to serve him. In this series we will look at spiritual turning points in the lives of real people and the moments in time that it happened. Applying this to our own life, sometimes this happens suddenly, sometimes gradually, but always with purpose.]

  

Growing up, I was really, really, really spoiled. I was the youngest of four kids and my next oldest sibling was six years older. In effect, it was like growing up as an only child. The weird thing is that I didn’t realize that I was so self-centered. At least, not until college.

 

My revelation came when I read a book titled, “The Taste of New Wine”. The marketing overview on the inside flap reads: “Its message is a breakthrough for honesty, integrity, and openness in our relations with God and with each other”. This was one time when the marketing material of a book was true.

 

Uzziah reigned as the king of Judah for fifty-two years. In the beginning, he was described as “doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord”. He built up Jerusalem, improved the infrastructure, kept large herds of livestock and maintained a standing army. In a word, Judah prospered under Uzziah’s steadfast leadership.

 

As long as he sought the Lord’s guidance, God gave him success. However, with success and power came pride which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord and because of that, he was afflicted with leprosy, banned from the Temple and lived out his days in isolated shame.

 

The year that King Uzziah died was tumultuous due to the change in leadership and a rising threat from the Assyrian empire. In addition, the people of Judah were still worshipping foreign gods because Uzziah never removed their high places.

 

During this same year the Lord called Isaiah to be his prophet. It was a dramatic calling, as well as a revelatory moment. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on his throne and the train of his robe filled the Temple. There were seraphim flying above him and their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, which was filled with smoke.

 

³ And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."        NIV

    

 

Because he had seen how holy the Lord was, Isaiah realized how sinful he was.

 

⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King the Lord Almighty.”                NIV

 

One of the seraphim picked up a burning coal from the fire on the altar and touched Isaiah’s lips with it saying, “Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven”.

 

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”                      NIV

 

As we draw closer to the Lord, it becomes apparent how “holy, holy, holy” he is, and how sinful we are. That’s what happened to me when reading “The Taste of New Wine”. For the first time, I could see just how really, really, really spoiled I was.

 

One of my favorite hymns is taken from this passage in Isaiah. Here is one verse that summarizes what it means to recognize the holiness of God, and how much we need his love and forgiveness.

 

Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in pow'r, in love, and purity.

 

Apparently, there is hope… even for a spoiled kid.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

Keep Going and Going and Going

A series on Isaiah 9:6 – The Child of Prophecy
 – Everlasting Father
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Isaiah 40:1-11; 28-31 

[Jesus was a child of prophecy. The Christmas story in the Bible was predicted in many Old Testament prophecies but the centerpiece of these is Isaiah 9:6. It was written nearly six hundred years before Jesus’ birth. In this series we’re going to look at the meaning and implications of this amazing prophecy.]

 

The Energizer Bunny has been around since 1989. You know the commercials! The ones with the toy bunny that runs on an Energizer battery and is beating a drum. Then the narrator says: “Nothing outlasts the Energizer battery. It keeps going and going and going.”

 

In a world where nothing seems to last – marriages and jobs for instance – it would be nice to have something that you could count on. Something that would last forever.

 

Isaiah lived in a time when the world was unstable. Nothing lasted! The people that God had called as His own, had divided into two nations – Israel and Judah. Unable to reconcile, there was bad blood between the two.

 

In addition, Assyria was aggressively invading the nations of the known world. They were a very real threat to Judah and Jerusalem. Many Jews would be captured and others forcibly exiled to a foreign land. Nothing seemed to last forever.

 

However, during this time of uncertainty, Isaiah spoke these words about an Everlasting Father.

 

⁶ For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.             NIV    Isaiah 9

 

Later, in Isaiah 40, he spoke about the comfort that God would bring to his people. He painted a picture of “preparing the way” for a king who would return to Jerusalem! He described how people are like grass which will wither, but that “the word of our God endures forever”! Finally, he declared how the people of Jerusalem would shout, “Your God is coming!”

 

The Energizer bunny keeps going and going and going. If only life were so simple. But life can be hectic, if not chaotic. Life can be out of control, despite our best efforts to control it. Life can be painful, even though we try to avoid pain.

 

Thankfully, our God, is a God who comforts us in those chaotic, out of control and painful times. To make this point, Isaiah used a shepherd as an example.

 

¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
    He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
    He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.  NLT

 

Jesus embraced the imagery of being a shepherd. But for him, it wasn’t just imagery, it was who he was and what he came to accomplish. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”. 

 

When we experience the comfort of the “good shepherd”, he gives us hope and strength to keep going and going and going.

³¹ 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. NIV

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

It’s Complicated

A series on Isaiah 9:6 – The Child of Prophecy
 – Son of God
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Isaiah 7:1-17; Matthew 1:18-25 

[Jesus was a child of prophecy. The Christmas story in the Bible was predicted in many Old Testament prophecies but the centerpiece of these is Isaiah 9:6. It was written nearly six hundred years before Jesus’ birth. In this series we’re going to look at the meaning and implications of this amazing prophecy.]

 

“The Night Before Christmas” is a classic poem/book about Santa Claus being discovered by a dad on Christmas Eve. It paints an idyllic picture of the children snug in their beds when Dad hears a noise and springs from his bed. To his surprise he discovers that it’s Santa and his eight tiny reindeer.

 

Another image of Christmas is the surreal picture of the baby Jesus lying in a manger with Joseph and Mary gazing at him. A bright star shines overhead. Close by are some shepherds. Three wise men are kneeling and a few barn animals graze nearby. It all looks so very peaceful.

 

However, life was anything but peaceful or idyllic during Isaiah’s ministry as the Lord’s prophet. Assyria was on a murderous rampage moving westward and conquering any nation that dared to get in their way… including Israel and Aram.

 

To protect themselves, King Rezin of Aram and King Remaliah of Israel, formed an alliance. Then they devised a plan to coerce King Ahaz of Judah to join with them. But their real plan was to dismantle Judah and put their own puppet king in place of Ahaz.

 

Despite Isaiah telling him that the Sovereign Lord had promised that their plan would fail, Ahaz trembled in fear. He didn’t have faith in the Lord. Because of this, he decided to take things into his own hands by making an alliance with Assyria against Israel and Aram. It’s complicated!

 

But the Lord gave Ahaz a sign to confirm his promise of protection.

 

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.                NIV

 

Fast forward over 700 years later. Mary, a teenage girl was engaged to Joseph. But he learned that she was pregnant so he planned to divorce her quietly. However, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him that the baby was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit. Also, that she would have a son who was to be named Jesus because he would “save his people from their sins”.

 

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).       NIV

 

Truth be known, it wasn’t peaceful or idyllic for Joseph or Mary. In fact, it must have been very stressful! After all, Mary eventually went to her cousin Elizabeth’s to avoid the rumors and shame of being pregnant. And Joseph’s carpentry business could very easily have been hurt by the apparent illicit affair. It’s complicated!

 

In an effort to make it less complicated, John explained it like this.

 

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.         NIV

 

Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of God doesn’t promise peace, but he does give us peace in the midst of chaos. Life is complicated, but the Sovereign Lord is always with us.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

A Mountaintop Experience

A series on the story of redemption
The story of Isaiah
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Isaiah 6:1-13; Matthew 17:1-13 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.]

  

Have you ever had a mountaintop experience where you felt closer to God? 

The summer before my junior year of high school, I went to church camp. It turned out to be a weeklong mountaintop experience. I came home fired up about my faith. I wanted to pray and tell others about it. But my excitement slowly evaporated. 

 

Ironically, it was the summer before my junior year of college when a friend shared with me about a personal relationship with Christ. It made a lot of sense, and resulted in a summer long mountaintop experience that literally changed the rest of my life.

 

Isaiah had a mountaintop experience that also changed his life. His was in the temple in the presence of the Lord. It was a scene like you’d find at a rock concert with billowing smoke, flashing lights and sounds that would vibrate in your chest. There were heavenly beings with six wings that called out:

 

^3b “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”    NIV

 

Realizing that he was in the presence of a holy God and that he was a sinful man, Isaiah called out:

 

⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”     NIV

 

Then one of the heavenly beings touched his lips with a live coal from the altar and declared, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Here’s what followed.

 

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”                       NIV

 

Isaiah’s mountaintop experience was a calling that led to sixty years of prophetic ministry. He shared the same message that he heard in his vision of the Lord. It was a message to the people of Judah and Israel for them to repent; to turn back to the Lord.

 

There are other mountaintop experiences mentioned in the Bible that were literally on a mountain. Moses on Mount Horeb and Elijah on Mount Carmel. But none is more dramatic than when Peter, James and John followed Jesus to the mount of transfiguration.

 

⁵ While he (Peter) was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”   NIV

 

To be in the presence of your Heavenly Father and to hear his words of love and pride, would be life changing. Truthfully, it would be a mountaintop experience.

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com