Grains of Sand

Pixabay On the cusp of a new decade and a new year who isn't thinking about loving life and seeing good days. I wonder if the pilgrims that Peter was writing to thought much about the possibility, however remote, that life would get better for them, that soon being a follower of Jesus wouldn't be so dangerous, that they would be able to settle down and enjoy peace and prosperity once more without wondering when they might have to pack up and run again.  Sometimes I spend more time thinking about what might be coming than what  IS  at this moment. Dwelling too much on the uncertainties of the future can be paralyzing and counter-productive. Truth be told, I only have this moment—one that hopefully will stretch into a new year of other moments to be lived, but only God knows what tomorrow might bring. Peter has told his readers not to get caught up in the problems of today and lose sight of the promise of tomorrow. But at the same time, he knows that these beli...

I recently searched local church websites looking for Christmas Eve services. Feeling a little like I was playing the role of the Grinch, I wanted to find services that didn't involve some kind of performance with children, or for them. An odd thing to do when all the world knows that Christmas is for kids, right? Please don't misunderstand. I was the little girl in the red velvet dress who recited her parts in every Christmas pageant. I loved it—and I still enjoy seeing the kids participate in their Christmas programs. But, if memory serves, our Kids' Christmas programs were never on Christmas Eve. That moment was dedicated to THE Kid—the Holy Child. That was my goal in my website search—find a traditional Christmas Eve service whose focus is strictly on one Child rather than on the cuteness of other children. Because Christmas is about one Child. " The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and on...

Pixabay They are referred to, and not always very kindly, as "ambulance-chasers"—you know, the lawyers who offer to get you a big payout when you  feel you have been mistreated, or misrepresented, in some way.  "Sue" is a three-letter word that lights up the eyes of lawyers, raises the hopes of victims, real or imaginary, and is a thorn in the flesh to those on its receiving end. Peter weighs in on victimology, specifically in the case of those who work for others, in 1 Peter 2:18-23. In his day that meant "slaves"—those who were obligated to work without compensation and often under harsh conditions. Many modern-day employees, rightly or wrongly, think of themselves in the same terms as the real slaves of Peter's day would have thought of themselves.—underpaid, overworked, abused, unappreciated, overlooked. For the believers to whom Peter is addressing his letter there might have been another item added to that list—persecuted for the...

Pixabay Submission is one of those thorny aspects in Scripture that prompt, "But you don't know what I'm dealing with!" In 1 Peter 2:13-17 Peter addresses the issue of submission to authorities. He is writing to those who have been, and are being, persecuted for their faith and who may have wondered why Peter was asking them to respect and honour those who nursed hate in their hearts for all those who followed Jesus and who demanded that they recant or suffer the consequences.  " Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority: whether it be to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will  you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, h...

Pixabay Since the beginning of this year I have been reading through the Bible with a group of friends from my church. This morning I read through a few chapters from John, including the passage containing Jesus' prayer for His disciples in John 17. Part of that prayer is this: " I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world ". This last bit is repeated a couple of verses later. When I came to today's verses from Peter's letter to the pilgrims scattered throughout the Roman world, I read: " Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us ". (1 Peter 2:11, 12) As I read John's words I wondered if, at the time, they had registered on the discip...

Pixabay " Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion ." (Psalm 84:5-7) The story broke earlier this week on national television. Veterans in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, would be denied the traditional prayer normally included in their Remembrance Day ceremonies. The school board felt that the absence of the prayer would make the ceremony more inclusive. Veterans were devastated. The decision was eventually reversed and called a "misunderstanding". ( https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/cape-breton-school-reverses-decision-to-ban-veterans-prayer-1.4665405 ) My initial thought at hearing the news report was this: "Funny, when other groups in the community celebrate their traditions no one would ever think of demanding that they cut out s...

Pixabay It's not the milk's fault! I don't know when it happened but somewhere along the line the "perfect food" became imperfect. Milk used to be considered that "perfect food". I remember one choir tour that took us to a farming community in Eastern Ontario. The ladies of the congregation prepared and served lunch for us in the church basement after the morning service. It was a full meal, a banquet in fact. Part of any meal is a beverage, and milk was one of the items offered that day. I took the milk and I seriously doubt that what I drank was ever touched by anyone but the farmer from whose cows it came. It was the real deal. It was sooooo good! What appears in our stores today is not that. And while what we drink might be so altered as to no longer be "perfect" perhaps the problem is not the milk so much as it is the drinker. We are an altered people, contaminated by the world we have contaminated—tit for tat. But thi...

Pixabay The recent political brouhaha here in Canada swirling around honesty, integrity, hypocrisy among the leaders of the major party leaders highlights the importance of Peter's instructions to the pilgrims of his day. He writes: " Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind ". (1 Peter 2:1) Whenever we see a " therefore " in Scripture we know that something was said earlier that is important. The previous section of Peter's letter had to do with being holy as God is holy. This call to holiness is based on what Christ did in giving His life to provide salvation for these pilgrims, these exiles now scattered throughout the Roman world. They were to love one another deeply as Christ had loved them. And love, being more than "a warm fuzzy" has characteristics. Peter is about to describe what those are. If these pilgrims, and by extension, if we, want to live out our journey in k...

Pixabay " Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For 'all people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.' And this is the word that was preached to you. " When I posted my thoughts on 1 Peter 1:17-19, someone commented that love without justice and righteousness was just an empty word. That observation fits so well into these verses from 1 Peter 1:22-25. The pilgrimage that produces springs in the desert, that gives life where there is no evidence of it, as is suggested in Psalm 84, cannot be simply a "warm fuzzy". Here, in Peter's words as recorded in 1 Peter 1:22-25, we read his challenge to these pilgrims,...

Pixabay As is always true, there so many diamonds to dig out of every passage of Scripture. A lifetime is not enough to find them all and expose every one of their glorious facets. We look briefly at a couple from 1 Peter 1:17-19 as we consider our pilgrimage or journey through this death valley of life and we look toward home.  Earlier this morning I was reading through the book of Amos. It's a book of judgment sprinkled with a little hope. But two words stuck out: justice and righteousness. The absence, or perversion, of these two in the lives of God's people, Israel, brought judgment down on their heads. God's judgment fell equally both on the enemies of His people as well as on His people. He will not be mocked by either. Peter alludes to that as he writes: " Since you call on a Father who judges each other's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or...

Pixabay To understand what the divine design is for the pilgrimage that God has set before all believers we need to go back briefly to the very beginning of Peter's letter. We need to look at what we are called to be. He writes, in part: " To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered…who have been chosen…for obedience to Jesus Christ…"  There is a lot to unpack in Peter's introduction but we want to look at this last phrase: Obedience to Jesus Christ.  Mark it down because what follows in the letter describes what that obedience looks like, beginning with 1 Peter 1:13-16. That love, that faith, that joy that Peter commends his readers for, that he urges them to continue in despite the circumstances, exhibits itself as these pilgrims travel along the journey of life like this: " Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children...

Pixabay What is it that makes it possible to turn a valley of sorrow into a mountaintop of joy? Psalm 84:11 describes the believer’s journey toward the heavenly Zion as “ the valley of Baca ” or the valley of weeping.  "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion ." “Baca” or ”Bakah” refers to a tree that weeps resin, likely a Balsam or Mulberry tree. In the psalmist’s day pilgrims would pass through what is now considered to be the actual Valley of Baca, on their way to worship in Jerusalem. It was waterless, dry, barren. The psalmist uses the picture of this valley as representative of the journey of life which so often includes sorrow, suffering, and barrenness. But he insists that the pilgrim can turn that dark and difficult valle...

Pixabay Our goal: Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go on from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion. —Psalm 84:5-7 Pilgrims, on their journey to the capitol city of the Kingdom of God, are not promised a trouble-free trip. The believers to whom Peter wrote his first letter were experiencing persecution because they were followers of Jesus. They were scattered throughout the world of their day with little hope of finding peace and safety anywhere since Rome had her tentacles in every part of that world. Several years ago I read  We've Lost. What Now? ,  a book based on lessons from Daniel. In it, author Wayne Baxter describes how Daniel's experience relates to today's church as it hovers on the edges of society, in a world over which, as Francis Schaeffer said in...

Pixabay Here's where we are going as we travel through 1 Peter: Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go on from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.  —Psalm 84:5-7 Here's the next part of how we are going to get to our destination: I recently embarked on an archiving course. In preparation I bought a few books that looked like they might help me navigate my way through something I know very little about. I also confess that keeping track of important things in my life is not something I do well and I can certainly use some guidance on how to do a better job at that. One author used a fascinating illustration when discussing how vital it is to keep track of the important stuff. Apparently someone at NASA erased a huge chunk of the original video that had been taken duri...

Pixabay Paul Tripp writes: " Perhaps we can find no more real and present argument for heaven than the angst that we all carry in the face of the temporary and dissatisfying awes of the present." He then quotes C. S. Lewis: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." Placing our focus in life on eternity's destination changes what life looks like as it is lived out with anticipation of our arrival there. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go on from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.  —Psalm 84:5-7 When Peter writes his first letter, he addresses it to " …exiles scattered ."  "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect,  exi...