Grains of Sand

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...

I heard it second-hand so I can’t attest to exactly what the conversation was, or with whom. But the speaker apparently said that no one would ever marry me because I wasn’t submissive enough! What was said may be true, but at the time I laughed—and am still laughing— A. Because I have no particular interest in marrying, nor have I ever. B. Because the speaker was annoyed at me for daring to ask too many questions about his actions. I don’t usually share something quite this personal, but it came to mind as I read the verse for today. “ Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart .” —Job 22:21, 22 It isn’t always easy to submit to God—it should be if we truly trusted Him and believed Him to be good as well as powerful. When things don’t work out as we hope, or prayers aren’t answered as we anticipate, or He is silent when we want Him to speak, we wonder if He cares, i...

Google Images There is no doubt that we are always tested at our weakest point. A wonderful celebration followed the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. That celebration included a revival and a renewing of the vows that the Jews had made to follow God. Three areas of weakness were identified: intermarriage, the commercialization of the Lord's Day, and the neglect of the house of the the Lord. As the book of Nehemiah comes to an end, Nehemiah gives us some insights into the forms that these three weaknesses took. The intermarriage problem is describes in Nehemiah 13:1-3, 23-28. It is interesting to note that Nehemiah uses Solomon as an example of the consequences of marrying an nonbeliever. He writes: " Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women " (13:26, NIV). The commerc...

“ How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word ” —Psalm 119:9, NIV It sounds amazingly simple. The difficulty is not in the execution because the body will go where the mind tells it to go. The key to the problem of execution lies in the mind. In this case, does this young man want to keep his way pure? The question and the lesson is easily transferable to everything else and to everyone else. Our theme verse in the old Sky Force program that I grew up in as a kid comes from Colossians 3:1, 2: “ Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated on the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things .” Romans 12:1, 2 takes us one step further: “ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transf...

As Paul was finishing up his letter to the Roman church he made a request of the believers in that city. He asked them to: " Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem might be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed " —Romans 15:31, 32, NIV. As I was reading the last few chapters of Acts this morning I was reminded once again as to how God answered Paul's prayers and those of the believers in Rome. Paul had been warned not to go to Jerusalem, apparently by those who were moved by the Spirit of God to deliver that warning (Acts 21:4b). When the apostle got to Jerusalem he delivered to those in need, the charitable donations he had been entrusted to him by the Gentile believers. Then, he immediately went to the temple. Some Jews, opposed to his message, aroused the crowd and Paul was rescued, then arrested, by the Roman constabulary. He ended up ...

It's funny how the mind works. I just finished reading through the Book of Romans in my devotions. This morning I got "stuck" on this little phrase: " Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ " —Romans 13:14, NIV. I wondered what being "clothed" in Christ would look like. Of course, the context of this verse gives us a list of some of the "nasties" that we should avoid such as: orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, debauchery, dissension and jealousy. Since I'm not having any issues with any of those (well, maybe a little jealousy from time to time!), I wondered what else "clothed in Christ" might look like in my context. Ministry never ends. There is always more that can be done than there is time or ability to accomplish. That has weighed heavily on my mind lately so as I thought about this phrase from Romans I initially began to think about all that Christ accomplished during his earthly ministry. When I do ...

The daughter of some friends is having her first baby. The doctors are concerned that the child will not make it to term because the heart is not developing as it should. If he should be born, the prognosis is grim. As I prayed for the family this morning I got to thinking about the difference between resignation and submission. Resignation is quitting, giving up a position, accepting defeat because there is no other choice. On the other hand, submission is yielding to, accepting the will of a superior authority. One is defeatist, the other is not. I often hear "resignation" in conversation. People are "resigned" to that which they feel helpless to change. Those who believe in an almighty and compassionate God, One who acts for His glory and for our benefit, need an attitude of submission rather than one of resignation. The former is alive with faith, the latter empty of it. The former is depressing, the latter is liberating. As I pray for a miracle, I pray not only...