Grains of Sand

Pixabay I have a news app on  my iPad. This morning, like many other mornings, I took a peek at the headlines and shut-down the app. I don’t want to know. The world is too ugly a place for this bright sunny morning with its fresh fall of brilliant white snow on the ground. Evil is overwhelming. Whether it happens on the streets of Rainbow Village, in the remote regions of the Far North, in the back halls of power, in the quiet backyards of suburbia, or in some third-world rocked by perpetual conflict, it’s just too much. Enough, already. How do you stand firm when the ground underneath is shaking? I remember a few nasty tremors of the earthquake variety. Their arrival was a reminder of just how insecure our hold on anything is, no matter what the venue may be. Psalm 11 is made up of only seven verses, but they powerfully address the issue of rocking foundations. " In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: 'flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicke...

I just received a box of business cards. I know, what does a retired person who has no business need with business cards? I might be a victim of good advertising—or at least persistent advertising—but I did it anyway. I didn’t order 500 as was suggested—I’m not quite that foolish—I’ll be dead and gone before I ever gave away that many! But while I was designed my card, I had the option of putting something on the back side of it. Three words came to mind and here they appear again in my verse for today. “ Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always .” (1 Chronicles 16:11) In the context in which this verse was recorded, David is celebrating the arrival of the ark in Jerusalem. The verse is part of a song of praise (16:8-36) written to remind the people of God just Who this God is, and all that He has blessed them with as a nation. It is well worth the reading, and the singing—you can make up the music as you go along—I’m sure David won’t mind if you change his melody a li...

Pixabay One of my reading plans for this year is entitled 365 Popular Bible Quotations for Memorization and Meditation . At first reading of this verse I wasn’t sure why this particular quote would fall into that category, but here it is: “ But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me .” (2 Kings 19:27) The context is yet another of those moments in Israel’s history when she is facing overwhelming odds against her. The king of Assyria and his forces are threatening Jerusalem. Hezekiah goes before the Lord to plead his cause and that of his people. Isaiah, the prophet, appears before the king with this message to deliver to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, a message that also serves to reassure Hezekiah that they have not been abandoned by the God of Israel. The message to God’s people in Jerusalem is this: “ Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before...

Pixabay It was the moment of truth. The nation had to decide who it would follow—Baal or the Lord God. Elijah climbed Mount Carmel to be confronted by a bevy of four hundred and fifty prophets who have come to prove that Baal was God, backed by another four hundred and fifty prophets of Asherah, Queen Jezebel’s preferred. He stands alone, but doesn’t hesitate to turn to the people and challenge them with this: “ How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him. ” (1 Kings 18:21) Did he hope they would make the choice without the test that was to follow? The telling statement follows: “ But the people said nothing .” Silence. I suppose the good thing was that they didn’t cheer for Baal either. They were waiting for proof and when God delivered they would fall on their faces and declare, “ The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God! ” (vs. 39) One of the criticisms often leveled at believers is that they practice “blind” faith. ...

Pixabay It was inevitable I suppose. A recent article in Christianity Today ( http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/january/bolivia-makes-evangelism-crime.html ) reported that the government of Bolivia has fortified its penal code with provisions to persecute any person or group that, “ …recruits, transports, deprives of freedom, or hosts people with the aim of recruiting them to take part in armed conflicts or religious or worship organizations will be penalized 5 to 12 years of imprisonment. ” President Evo Morales, an admirer of the late Hugo Chavez, former president of Venezuela, has beaten the Venezuelan government to the punch by this latest endeavour to still any voices in opposition to the abuses and oppression of the regime. Interesting that, “ armed conflicts ” and “ religious or worship ” would be mentioned in the same statement as if they were related in some way. Just a couple of weeks ago a friend traveled to Bolivia to do some ministry in an orphanage in that c...

Pixabay A cosmetics company announced yesterday that they would no longer be photoshopping the pictures of their models. They are going to allow the flaws to be seen. The reason? Well, someone has finally figured out how damaging the unrealistic portrayal of what constitutes “beauty” really is. Good move, but perhaps a little late to help those already programmed to believe that beauty really is “skin deep.” I recently had some head shots done for the back cover of an upcoming book. Only one of the five that I ultimately chose would be photoshopped—the flaws and wrinkles swept away and other things enhanced. When I got the results back I discover that my eyes were bluer than they had ever been in my life—someone is going to be disappointed if they expect to see those brilliant orbs for real! Looks good—but doesn't exist. Samuel ran into the same problem—and the Lord reminded him of something that the “beauty experts” of our age are just figuring out now—beauty is more than...

Pixabay “Hitch your wagon to a star” they say. The expression means to: try to succeed by forming a relationship with someone who is already successful. From a very human perspective, Ruth picked the wrong “star” if she intended to be successful. Her husband was dead. Her mother-in-law was a widow without prospects, bitter and alone, heading back to a situation that was less than promising. Naomi encouraged both of her daughters-in-law to hitch their stars to a more-or-less sure thing—stay in Moab and find new husbands who could care for them and give them children. But Ruth chose to hitch herself to a fading star. Ruth 1:16 gives us her words on the subject: “ Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God ”. These words are sometimes used as a new bride’s response to her husband-to-be during wedding ceremonies. However, to my knowledge, they are never addressed to her m...

Pixabay Some of my American friends are wrestling with how they voted in the last presidential election. Believing that Hilary wasn’t a good choice they voted for Donald. Now they are rethinking that. The latest scandal to hit the White House has sent ripples throughout the world. Donald was caught disparaging people from African nations and from Haiti even while he is signing some kind of document to honour Martin Luther King Jr. He claims that what he said was taken out of context. Even if it was, calling African nations “s—hole” countries is not appropriate no matter what the context. But that is the mouth of man. And the Scriptures (Matthew 15:18, 19) are clear that what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart—deny it all you want! Meanwhile, our own Prime Minister is pushing his marijuana agenda in town halls across the country. A young Muslim girl was attacked in Toronto because of her hijab. The PM expressed concern, and rightly so, but then made the statement that, “T...

Pixabay Complaining was one of the many negative character qualities of the children of Israel. They weren’t that long out of Egypt—accompanied by many HUGE miracles that attested to God’s provision for them—when they were grumbling about the “room service”. Several times food and water were the issues. But though God could have avoided the conflict, He didn’t, preferring to test the faith of His people and to teach them valuable lessons about that faith. He let them go hungry for a reason. In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses speaks these words to the people: “ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord ”. So important was this lesson that Jesus used the latter part of the verse in His contest with Satan in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:4) The children of Israel must have wondered about the application of the les...

Pixabay I spent most of yesterday afternoon reading through page after page of notes I had taken last summer in preparation for a ladies’ retreat scheduled for early March. My jumping-off point for the three sessions I am bringing to the ladies are Jesus’ words from Matthew 22:37-39. The theme of the retreat is Indescribable and Glorious Joy . It might seem odd that the Law, summarized in the two great commandments that Jesus gave, should have much to do with the subject of joy. But it has everything to do with deep and fulfilling joy. We used to define joy this way: J = Jesus O = Others y = You And that is basically what the two great commandments are all about. Love the Lord your God = Jesus Love your neighbour = Others Love yourself = You It sounds simple—it isn’t. We are simply not “programmed” to put anything first in our lives but ourselves and what we think will bring satisfaction to our lives. That makes the first part of the command, Love the Lord your God so hard for us....

Pixabay Should I, or shouldn’t I? Have you ever had a thought pop into your head, a suggestion about something that might be interesting or valuable to do, and then wondered if it was just a thought that wasn’t worthy of being considered at all? We have lots of those—in the dead of winter a vacation in a warmer climate might come to mind, but practicality soon puts that to rest. Other ideas linger. You chew over them, working out the possibilities in your mind. Everything feels good. Everything feels possible, but you still aren’t sure whether your own desires have overruled the voice of the Spirit of God telling you to put this one to bed too. Many years ago, when I was considering what to do with my life, there were some measuring sticks that we had been advised to used when determining whether or not the Spirit of God was leading us in a specific direction. The first of these was the counsel of the Word of God. Certainly God never leads us to do something that defies the instruc...

Pixabay Pharaoh and his army are in hot pursuit of the children of Israel. Despite all the suffering caused by the plagues that God had to send on Egypt to persuade the King of Egypt that it was in his best interests to let Israel go, he’s had a change of heart—or head. Who is going to build all his monuments to himself if his slave labour is allowed to escape? The children of Israel have been led to a spot on the map which seems illogical for a people looking for the best way, and the fastest, to “get out of Dodge.” They are now surrounded, facing the sea, and about to be closed in by Pharaoh’s army. God had informed Moses that He had a plan to use the situation to bring glory to Himself (Exodus 14:4). However, the thunder of the horses’ hooves, the rumble of chariot wheels, and the sight of a vast parade of armed and angry soldiers, drove any reasonable thought out of the heads and hearts of Israel. “ They were terrified ” (14:10). Sounds right. Reasonable thought says that the G...

Pixabay Everyone, well, probably almost everyone, complains about having to work too hard. That is, in part, one of the consequences of sin according to those first few verses of the Bible. The curse that was placed on Adam because of the rebellion of the first family against their Creator includes the note: “ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return ” (Genesis 3:19). In Eden the first family had everything provided for them. All they had to do was to take care of what God so generously gave them. But what God gave wasn’t enough for them and the rest, as they say, is history. But the more ominous part of the verse follows. Hard work will be man’s portion until he dies and returns to the dust from which he came. Psalm 104 echoes this statement: “ These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open ...

Pixabay “ In the beginning…. ” Today marks the beginning of a new year. What expectations are there for 2018? What hopes are there for this new year as it dawns? Fresh pages…but from the same old book? Or will a new story be written? If it were not because of the word that comes after “ In the beginning… ” we might despair. We know that resolutions made on this day will likely fade into distant memories within a few short days or weeks. We know ourselves…or prefer not to delve too deeply into that muddy pool of self-knowledge in case we should find something we do not like and do not know how to deal with. But then there is that word: “ In the beginning, God…. ” Just as in that first beginning He, the Master Creator, made everything new, so can He do the same in us as 2018 dawns. With Him, nothing needs to ever be the same as it was last night, last week, last month, last summer, last year. Just a few short verses after Genesis 1:1 comes this: “ So God created man in his own image,...