Grains of Sand

Pixabay Remember...the Truth. We live in a world where absolute truth that governs all men equally is considered an impossibility. What is absolute truth for me, might not be absolute truth for you. And in a world where personal freedoms and political correctness are almost a sacred right, my absolutes cannot be allowed to infringe on yours, and vice versa. We might expect that from a world that doesn't believe, but are we to expect it from the world that claims to believe? Apparently so. Paul, in his parting message to the church leaders in Ephesus, had this to say: " Guard yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made your overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock, Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three yea...

Pixabay, Public Domain “ …your rod and your staff, they comfort me ” (Psalm 23:4) The wooden spoon, the belt, the ruler, the “board of education applied to the seat of learning;” whatever it was that was once a symbol of a just reward for bad behaviour, never seems comforting at the time. I didn’t get spanked often, but I had a healthy respect for that piece of belt that my father used on us when all else failed. Today it is not “politically correct” to use these kinds of methods. It’s a shame. While abuse is never acceptable, there is a world of truth behind Solomon’s statement: “spare the rod, spoil the child.” In fact, he goes so far as to say that lack of discipline is a sign of lack of love (Proverbs 13:24, 22:15, 23:13, 14). We often liken the rod and staff mentioned in Psalm 23 to instruments of punishment. Sometimes they are instruments of discipline, but more often than not, they are weapons of protection and means of guidance. That is why they are described as being of “c...

panoramafactory.net (Google Images) As I read through Psalm 19 this morning it struck me that there seemed to be a disconnect happening through these few verses—a drastic change in themes without any link between them. From verses 1 to 6 we have the glorious reminder that the skies declare the wonder of God. The rising and setting of the sun proclaims Him without a sound being heard. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice in not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like  champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. There is a dramatic shift in verses 7 to 11 when...

teensaloud.com (Google Images) “ …my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge ” writes the prophet in Hosea 4:6 (NIV). The entire chapter is terrifying in its condemnation, but this one phrase came to mind as I read 2 Chronicles 17 this morning. The chapter describes the early years of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.  Those were good years because Jehoshaphat followed the Lord (17:3-6). One of the items on the king’s “to-do” list is described in verses 7 to 9 where we are told that he sent his officials, along with Levites and priests, to the outlying areas of the country. Their task is described this way: “ They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns and taught the people .” Jehoshaphat’s father, Asa, had been delivered a message through one of God’s prophets. As king, he had begun the process of ridding the land of its pagan idols and its idol worship. Substituting the true God for other gods was inevitably ...

Google Images “ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth ” John 17:17. Repeatedly the Scriptures tell us how important being immersed in the Word of God really is in a journey of faith that is taken seriously. Part of Jesus’ last prayer for His followers emphasized that importance as He asked His father to make them holy through their interaction with God’s Word. PSALM 119 is well-known for its emphasis on the importance of the Word of God: “ How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word ” (Psalm 119:9). “ I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you ” (Psalm 119:11). “ The unfolding of your word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple ” (Psalm 119:130). The author to the Hebrews says this: “ For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart ” (Hebrews 4:12). As indi...

I have the bread. It’s in my possession though it isn’t really mine. God provided it, but unless He blesses it, it will not multiply nor will it satisfy anyone. Those are the thoughts that go through my mind as I read Matthew 15:29-39. It’s a similar story to the one we find in Matthew 14:13-21. This latter event startled me too. In Matthew 14 the disciples come to Jesus after a long day of teaching and tell Him to send the crowds away so that they can get some food. Jesus tells them: “ They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat ” (14:16). In Matthew 15 there was a little more faith present. The disciples didn’t ask to send the crowds away, they asked: “ Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd ” (15:33). In both cases there was bread and fish. In the first case they didn’t believe those would be enough. The second case reminds me of someone standing beside a well-to-do man and asking: “I wonder where I can get a dollar for a cup of c...

Google images I wonder what the difference sounded like? “ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as the teachers of the law ” (Matthew 7:28, 29). The sermon delivered on the mountainside had ended and the audience was left with their mouths open, their minds awhirl, and their hearts aflutter. This man, this Jesus, sounded inspired and the people knew the difference between Him and all the others who claimed to speak in the name of God—not too hard since Jesus was God in the flesh! The sermon had ended with a challenge and a warning. Jesus told the parable of the two men who had built houses; one whose foundation was laid on sand and another whose foundation was laid on the rock. When life got difficult the house built on sand collapsed while the other remained upright. Jesus summed up the parable and His teaching by warning the people listening to take heed to His words. “ But everyon...

Another one of those things I never noticed before— " The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground " (1 Samuel 3:19, NIV). It's a little awkward grammatically but the following two verses clear up which "he" is who! " And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. And Samuel's word came to all Israel " (3:20-4:1a, NIV). I love that phrase, " …he let none of his words fall to the ground. " This boy to whom God spoke, this youth, this man, heard the voice of God, he listened (once he got over that initial confusion of who was speaking to him) and he didn't forget or neglect one single word of what God told him. What a beautiful example of what our attitude should be to the Word of God. We sometimes pick and choose from among the things we hear f...

“ Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty ’” —John 6:35. I live within spitting distance of two bakeries. I try to stay away, but I really like bread, especially when it comes in the form of a honey-dipped doughnut. Bread always satisfies—temporarily. Water is convenient. Here in Canada it is even more easily accessible than it was in Venezuela where drinkable water depended on the arrival of the water truck. Here, in this country, the tap is never far away. Water always satisfies—temporarily. When I look at Jesus’ statement in John 6 I know that spiritual satisfaction is not permanent either. Jesus is the bread and water of life. He always satisfies. But there is a condition tucked away in the Lord’s statement. Just as I have to keep going back for more doughnuts and keep turning the tap on to get water to meet my physical cravings, so I have to keep going back to Jesus to satisf...

“ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away ” –Matthew 24:35, NIV. We worry a lot about the temporary. During those last days of Christ’s earthly ministry He warned His listeners about what was to come. The first section of Matthew 24 outlines some of the disasters, natural and otherwise, that would be the lot of believers. Actually none of those things was new information. Wars between nations, famine, earthquakes, persecution, deception and unfaithfulness to God had been part of the human experience since the fall of man back at the very beginning of time. However, the Lord did add some new information. The destruction of Jerusalem, and the temple that was so dear to the Jewish nation, was not far away. Jesus also reminded His followers that He would return at some point in the future, but until He did, and they would know Him when they saw Him, they were not to be deceived by the fakes that would come along or by the false prophets who would send them ...

“ Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it ” —Haggai 1:6, NIV. Two short chapters, that’s the Book of Haggai. It only goes to prove that you don’t need a lot of words to say a lot, as contradictory as that may sound! The issue in Haggai’s day was the devotion of the people to building and beautifying their own homes while the temple lays in ruins (1:4). Transported to New Testament, post-Pentecost times, we know that the physical building called “church” is not the issue (though we shouldn’t leave that in ruins either!). Believers are, says Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:16: “ ...the temple of the living God ,” as he warns his listeners not to allow anything or anyone to distract them from a life of righteousness. Haggai’s message is a call to look at life realistically. Why i...

“ The days are coming,” declared the Sovereign Lord, when I will send a famine through the land– not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst. They who swear by the shame of Samaria, or say ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’– they will fall, never to rise again .” –Amos 8:11-14, NIV. Some people recognize the signs. The famine has come upon us. The land lies dry, whirligigs of dust swirling around. We waited too long to make our course correction, to pull out the weeds of human philosophy and worldly wisdom and to put our roots down into His riverbed where we could draw from the water of life. The weeds have choked the grain. And the God who let us choose between His Word and...

“ As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it ” —Isaiah 55:10, 11, NIV. Easter weekend Spring brings with it an uncertainty with the dawn of each new day. Has it snowed overnight? Will it rain? Here in more northern climes, we are never quite sure until June that we won’t wake up to a blanket of white on the ground. Even then there isn’t any guarantee; some people remember snow in July! We grumbled a bit when it snowed heavily this past Easter weekend. At the same time we remember last summer when a Winter almost devoid of snow and a painfully dry Spring meant a summer of dry forests and the constant danger of forest fires even before summer began. In a part of the world where ci...

“ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path ” —Psalm 119:105, NIV. There is a big different between using Scripture as a “proof text” to support an argument and making your argument the detailed explanation of a Biblical text. Today’s sermons, and the endless supply of books written for the Christian audience, often make me feel as though I am having to shuck a lot of oysters of human thought and cute stories just to find one pearl of divine truth. So when I come to a verse like this one from Psalm 119, I recognize again the importance of THE Word in my life, not as an “add-on” but as a guiding principle. Without it I can’t see where I am supposed to be going, or what the dangers are that lie at my feet. The psalmist makes huge claims for the one who takes his connection with the Word of God seriously. If we look back a few verses in this wonderful tribute to God’s Word, we read this: “ To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless. Oh, how I l...

Yesterday, over turkey and dressing, we got to talking about reading Scripture. I'm pretty sure that one has nothing to do with the other but the latter certainly had to do with my post yesterday on how few people actually bring their Bibles to church. One of my friends showed me his ipod? Cell phone? Blackberry? Whatever it is, my friend can access any passage of Scripture on it. When the Scripture is being read during the service or as the pastor preaches, he follows the reading on his "whatever." Modern technology gives a new meaning to carrying your Bible to church, doesn't it? The point is, whatever form it takes, it's important to bring your Bible with you to God's house. This theme of reading the Bible will not go away. I had to chuckle to myself this morning as I read the devotional reading assigned for today. The people have gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate their return and the rebuilding of the city walls. Ezra brings out the Word of God and: ...