Grains of Sand

Pizabay Remember...His reputation. What's in a name? I have four names. Lynda Lee Schultz Bloedow. The last, my mother's maiden name, never really made much difference until I lived in Colombia and Venezuela where it was vital on official documents. The trouble was that its pronunciation sounds like a popular swear word in Spanish! Not good! Schultz was basically impossible to pronounce at all. Lee was easy and Lynda or Linda is a Spanish word, but not one usually used as a name so I got some odd looks when I introduced myself. Some people thought I was vain since "linda" means "pretty" or "lovely." Names mean something. And no one is more jealous of His Name than God. His reputation hangs on what people think when they hear His Name. And what people think when they think "God" depends on what the people who claim to be His followers are like. They are His representatives, His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). In Ezekiel 36, God...

Google Images The judgment has been pronounced. Eli, Shiloh’s priest, had not reined in his sons. As spiritual leaders they had failed miserably and God had announced, through the boy Samuel, that their dynasty would come to an ignoble end (1 Samuel 2:34-36). In 1 Samuel 4 we discover what that end was to be. The Philistines were pressing and Israel’s army was unable to get the upper hand against them. Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, thought that by taking the ark of the covenant out of the Tabernacle and taking it into battle with them, that this would guarantee success against the Philistines. Wrong. The end result was that the Philistines won the battle, the two sons were killed, the ark captured and Eli died of the shock. Even Eli’s daughter-in-law died in childbirth that same day, declaring as she passed, “ The glory has departed from Israel ” (4:21). In the midst of all this tragedy and all the lessons to be learned from it, I thought about the ark. It was a sy...

Google Images You have to be impressed with Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua when you read Numbers 14. The people have turned against them because of the spies' report on conditions in Canaan. They want to go back to Egypt. Worse yet, they are fully prepared to stone their leadership (14:10). Watch for the attitude on the part of these four men: “ Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes… ” (14:5, 6). This last gesture was one of mourning, of deep distress. These men pleaded with the people to obey God and claim the land that they had been promised. But there was more. The Lord took Moses aside and expressed His feelings about the matter, making it plain that He was prepared to destroy the nation-in-waiting and make of Moses a much greater nation (14:10-12). What an offer! What an appeal to a lesser man who, tempted to...

Google Images It’s not a pleasant picture. As hard as we work to introduce people to the forgiveness and new life they can have in Jesus Christ the majority will not believe. As convincing as the Spirit of God is as He works to show men the depth of their sin and the sufficiency of the Saviour most will refuse to listen. We are to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) of the nations, but the nations will not necessarily respond positively. Pessimistic? No, realistic. Matthew 7:13, 14 tells us what Jesus said about the matter. “ Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it .” Does this stop us from sharing the Gospel at every opportunity or praying for family, friends, neighbours, and the lost wherever they may be found? No, it shouldn’t. We don’t know who those few are who will eventually find the narrow road and ...