Grains of Sand

There really is such a thing as a Canaan dog (Google Images) Exclusivity. While the Lord walked this earth He limited Himself in many ways. He did not, as Dan Spader says, “use the God-card” and demonstrate all the power that He could have. There were people He didn’t heal, needs He didn’t meet, judgment that He didn’t execute. His message was exclusively for the people of Israel—well, almost. While Jesus’ particular focus was Israel, He paved the way for the Gentiles to be included in the household of faith. The story recorded for us in Matthew 15:21-28 illustrates this. Jesus often traveled through “foreign” country—through Samaria, for example. In Matthew 15 He takes His disciples to Tyre and Sidon. Obviously they will meet people who are not Israelites. And it is in these encounters that Jesus has a lesson to teach to His followers. They are confronted by a Canaanite woman. If you remember your Old Testament history, the Promised Land was wrested from the hands of the Canaanite...

“ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done is secret, will reward you ” –Matthew 6:6, NIV. A friend of mine used to lock herself in the bathroom to do her devotions–it was the only way she could get away from the rest of family for long enough to spend significant time with the Lord! I think it was Susanna Wesley who used to sit in the corner of her kitchen with her apron pulled up to cover her face when she was having her “quiet time.” Her numerous children knew not to disturb her during those moments. If there is one thing in my walk with the Lord (and there is more than one!) that causes me difficulty, that thing is prayer. I pray all the time, but carving out a time, a place, and then focusing exclusively on prayer as a routine matter, has been an elusive goal in my life. The verse for today doesn’t deal with all the “issues” I can think of that are associated with maintaining a regu...

" ...our prayer is for your perfection " –2 Corinthians 13:9, NIV. I pray a lot of things for a lot of people but I'm not sure I have ever prayed for someone to be perfect. Perhaps I'm a casualty of the popular adage, "nobody's perfect" which might make a prayer for perfection seem like a silly thing for which to petition the Lord. Perhaps I am too aware (or not aware enough) of my own imperfections, making it feel a little hypocritical to pray for someone else to be perfect when I'm not. Oddly, (or not) Paul must have been thinking the same thing. The complete sentence is: " We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection ." The whole context follows the same line. He hoped that he would not fail the test (vs. 6) but his primary concern, and prayer, was that they not do anything wrong (vs. 7). He ends this letter with an admonition to: " Aim for perfection... " (13:11, NIV). Paul isn...

Today's journey through Scripture took me to one of my favourite passages in 2 Chronicles 20. Let me summarize for you. Jehoshaphat (one of the good guys) is faced with a big problem. An army is headed toward Jerusalem with unfriendly intentions. The king calls for people to fast and seek the Lord. Excellent move. Jehoshaphat personally leads the inquiries and in a beautiful prayer acknowledges the supremacy of God over everything, including Israel's enemies. He then throws himself, and his people, on the mercy of the God to whom they have committed themselves no matter what happens, as he says: " If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us…For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you " (20:9, 12, NIV). In the history ...

Right on the heels of yesterday's post on Zedekiah's efforts to manipulate God comes another lesson on prayer. I won't tell you the whole story, but encourage you to read Jeremiah 40-42 so that you have the background. To summarize, a bunch of army officers asked Jeremiah to: " Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do...May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it be favorable or unfavourable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God " –Jeremiah 42:3, 5, 6, NIV. Can't you just hear the "amens" rolling off your tongue? What a great prayer! Except that when, ten days later, Jeremiah delivered God's answer, the officers refused to obey God's instructions. When it came down to it they were afraid to trust God w...

In my devotions yesterday I read these words of Samuel: " As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you " —1 Samuel 12:23 (NIV). I'm not sure we think that we might be sinning when we fail to pray, but that certainly seems to be Samuel's attitude. In my reading this morning, we find Samuel in anguish because of Saul's persistent disobedience. When the Lord tells his prophet that he is going to take the kingdom away from Saul, Samuel immediately goes to prayer. I Samuel 15:11b (NIV) says: " Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night ." We suppose that Samuel had kept his promise and had been praying for Saul. But those prayers apparently didn't have the effect that Samuel anticipated. Now the end of Saul's reign is in sight, and Samuel goes back to prayer again. I wonder what that all night conversation was like? What did Samuel ask for? This morning I talked to the Lord ab...