Grains of Sand

Stock xchng photo Over the last few decades, doctors have warned expectant moms about all the things they should, and should not, do when they discover they are pregnant. Not surprisingly God has had that one covered since the beginning of history. Take the case of Samson's mother in Judges 13. An angel appears to this sterile woman. No sooner than he announces that she is going to conceive, he tells her: " Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean " (13:4, NIV). Samson would become a Nazirite and hold to certain rules in keeping with that calling, but why should his mother be restricted? Could it be that there is a correlation between what a pregnant woman does with her body and the tendencies her child will show after he or she is born? Science has since proven that to be true. The woman repeated the instructions to her husband. Manoah immediately asked God: " O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you...

“ Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created .” —James 1:16-18 James began his letter writing aboout trials. He encouraged us to rejoice in whatever trials God sends us because they ultimately are meant for our spiritual growth. We are encouraged to persevere so that we get the most value out of those trials. We are to ask for wisdom in dealing with them. We are to trust without wavering. A little later, James deals with temptations. From Satan’s standpoint what God uses as fertilizer to promote growth can also be a gopher hole to cause us to fall and break a leg. James reminds us that it’s our choice to give in, the desire to sin comes from within, not from influences without. We know that the paragraphing and the numbers assigned to the Scripture...