Grains of Sand

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 The sun rose in a brilliant blue sky this first morning of a new year. Light. How appropriate to this: “ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that it was good… ” (Genesis 1:1-3). We just finished celebrating the first coming of THE light—Jesus Christ—the One of whom the prophet spoke when he said: “ The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned ” (Isaiah 9:2). Our Lord, speaking of Himself, said this: “ When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ ” (John 8:12). THE Light passes on His glow to those who follow Him. The world was a place dark with sin when the Saviour arrive...

Nic Taylor — Google Images The detailed description of how the Tabernacle was to be built continues in Exodus 27. It isn’t until the end of the chapter that a light goes on, literally. The last two verses of the chapter describe the lighting for this meeting place with the Lord. “ Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This is to be lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come ” (Exodus 27:20, 21). Olive oil is good stuff. But you have to be careful when using it because it catches fire at a lower temperature than other oils—this I know because I had a small kitchen fire of my own when I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening in the frying pan! In this account, we see that the oil was to be uncontaminated—cle...

Google Images The human mind can’t take it in. Many still do not believe it even though they might be religious. Those who believe it struggle with how its reality applies to their daily lives. “ ...because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself ” —Hebrews 7:25-27. There is only one High Priest. There is only one Mediator between God and man. There is only one necessary sacrifice for sin— and that sacrifice has been offered and accepted. Salvation is complete. Our needs are met in Him. The Saviour is alive. He, our High Priest...