Grains of Sand

Google Image " When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord " (Exodus 34:29, NIV). I'm pea-green with envy. I don't think there has ever been a time in my life when people couldn't look at my face because the presence of God was reflected on it. I wish. I want. I desire. I covet. Moses had spoken with God. My speaking with God leaves a lot to be desired. I get sidetracked, distracted. I don't approach Him as He deserves to be approached—the worship isn't always there. Sometimes the submission is lacking, the confession scant, the shopping list preeminent. Maybe I don't listen enough to hear His voice. Perhaps I don't stop long enough with Him to let His beauty settle on my face. So it's not just wishing, wanting, desiring, coveting. Being green doesn't cut it. It's " Be still, and know that I am G...

What might have happened if…? “ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset ” (Exodus 17:11-13, NIV). What might have happened if Moses, as leader, hadn’t bothered to go up on that hill to intercede for Joshua and the troops who were facing the army of the Amalekites? What might have happened if Aaron and Hur had not been with Moses to help him continue to intercede through a long, tiring day? It’s not such a leap, in fact no leap at all, to equate this story to the church today. As we lose the battle for holiness, for victory over the world that has invaded the church, we can ask ourselves who’s interceding on behalf of that church? Leaders? Laymen? Moses talked to the Lord privately a lot. He is d...

Reading: John 15-17 Before prayer meeting last night a group of us were commiserating each other on our aches and pains. You see, we are in this difficult transition period between crisp, dry fall and cold, dry winter. It’s rainy and damp and cold. And everything in our bodies is stiff and achy; hands, hips, legs, ankles and even toes. Transitions can be tough. The Apostle John is recording the last mini-series Jesus will share with His disciples before He goes to the cross. While they might not fully understand, they know that somehow they are about to enter into that nether world of transition—Jesus gone and the Holy Spirit not yet come. The Lord has a lot to share with them. Their foggy minds can’t capture all that He is saying now, but later they will remember and be glad that He took the time to patiently explain what they needed to do, and then to pray for them. Chapter 15 tells us that the disciples needed to endure the pruning, abide in Him, obey Him, bear fruit and ...

Reading: Luke 19, 20 “ ’It is written,’ he said to them, ‘My house will be a house of prayer’ ” –Luke 19:46, NIV Words from the famous preacher of a bygone century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon that remind us that prayer needs to be constant, as much in the good times as the bad times. “And, now, I said I would say a word as to why WE ought to pray especially, and that shall close the sermon. Beloved friends, this church ought to pray without ceasing…We have lacked nothing because we have not lacked prayer. I do not doubt we might have had much more if we had prayed more; still prayer has been mighty here. Now, brethren, suppose you had no pastor, suppose the preacher was gone from you…you would pray, would you not? Will you not pray for me then while I live? If you would pray for another to come, will you not pray for me while I am here? I desire to discharge my office before you in God’s sight with all earnestness, but I cannot without your prayers, and as being gone from you, yo...