Grains of Sand

Google Images As I've been reading through the Old Testament, there is one thing that stands out among many important principles. God's holiness pervades all the pages of Scripture but never more than it does in the Old Testament. That holiness was offended in Genesis at the fall of Adam and Even, driven to its limits in the flood during Noah’s time, and tested time and time again by a disobedient and the rebellious people. It demanded that no one touch the mountain of God, and established a priesthood, a Tabernacle and a system of sacrifices that were set apart to be as holy as the One Who had established them. God’s people were given commandments to follow and told to be as holy as the God Who was forming them into a nation. That command to be holy carried over into the New Testament, providing the bridge between the Old and the New (i.e. Leviticus 11:45; 1 Peter 1:16). As I was reading Numbers 3 this morning, I was reminded again that God had set apart His priests to mai...

Google Images Lord, put a clip on my lip! The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had no idea how much grief they were heaping upon themselves when they criticized the Lord. In Matthew 12 we find one of the many examples of the head-on collisions that often took place between Jesus and those who haunted his steps looking for a excuse to marginalize Him. Jesus did miracles and they accused Him of doing those miracles through the power of Satan (12:24). This particular conversation led the Lord to remark: “ Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit ” (12:33). The evilness of the remarks made by the Pharisees was proof of how bad the “tree” was. Out of their mouths came what was in their hearts and Jesus warned them that all those words would condemn them one day (12:37). The New International Version calls such words, “empty.” The King James Version uses the word, “idle.” One of the meanings given for ...

Google Images Perhaps nothing better illustrates James 1:26 and James 3:1-12 than recent events in England. A nurse committed suicide after having been deceived by two Australian DJs into giving information on the health of the Duchess of Cambridge to a person she thought was Queen Elizabeth. Apparently the DJs are devastated. Certainly a whole lot less devastated than the husband, two children and family and friends of the nurse. It was a ploy to get a news story and it took a woman’s life. James 1:26 introduces a subject that the author will continue in detail in chapter 3. He writes: “ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is in vain .” The DJs never imagined that a woman would take her life because of what they did with their tongues. We often never think about the consequences of our words. Someone recently said that the Lord gave us two ears and one mouth, signifying that we ought to listen...

“ But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken ” –Matthew 12:36, NIV. I’ve been reading The White Rose by Inge Scholl which recounts the story of Sophie and Hans Scholl who were decapitated by the Nazis in 1943 for resisting the direction in which their country was going under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. At the time they were students and their protest consisted mainly in the publishing and distribution of leaflets decrying the actions of the Fascists. The group was never big–a half dozen or so–but obviously their written words were a thorn in the flesh to the regime. As I read the verse for this morning and the context surrounding it I thought of the consequences that the words of these students had during that terrible time. Their words were not careless by any means. Sophie and Hans were deeply religious. They knew that what their country was seeing and experiencing was wrong and were driven to find a...

I knew what would happen but I did it anyway. I mentioned that a certain person had called the office. The name prompted a discussion where information was shared that might have been true, but it certainly wasn't kind. I should have kept my mouth shut. This morning's rebuke from James added to the mental "kick in the pants" I had already given myself that had the force of the Holy Spirit behind it. The tongue is a small but deadly instrument. It cuts, and it kills. So James warns his readers: " When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corr...