Grains of Sand

Pixabay As is always true, there so many diamonds to dig out of every passage of Scripture. A lifetime is not enough to find them all and expose every one of their glorious facets. We look briefly at a couple from 1 Peter 1:17-19 as we consider our pilgrimage or journey through this death valley of life and we look toward home.  Earlier this morning I was reading through the book of Amos. It's a book of judgment sprinkled with a little hope. But two words stuck out: justice and righteousness. The absence, or perversion, of these two in the lives of God's people, Israel, brought judgment down on their heads. God's judgment fell equally both on the enemies of His people as well as on His people. He will not be mocked by either. Peter alludes to that as he writes: " Since you call on a Father who judges each other's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or...

Pixabay I have a news app on  my iPad. This morning, like many other mornings, I took a peek at the headlines and shut-down the app. I don’t want to know. The world is too ugly a place for this bright sunny morning with its fresh fall of brilliant white snow on the ground. Evil is overwhelming. Whether it happens on the streets of Rainbow Village, in the remote regions of the Far North, in the back halls of power, in the quiet backyards of suburbia, or in some third-world rocked by perpetual conflict, it’s just too much. Enough, already. How do you stand firm when the ground underneath is shaking? I remember a few nasty tremors of the earthquake variety. Their arrival was a reminder of just how insecure our hold on anything is, no matter what the venue may be. Psalm 11 is made up of only seven verses, but they powerfully address the issue of rocking foundations. " In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: 'flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicke...

In 1979, a gal by the name of Lillian Heron gave me a copy of the New International Version of the Bible. I have pretty much worn its cover and its pages out over the years. It has become my favourite copy of the many I have. I suspect it is my favourite because the print is large and the margins are wide, allowing me to write notes throughout. When I come to Proverbs 3, just about all thirty-five of the verses have an asterisk beside them. At some point I went through the chapter and put a mark beside all the benefits of wisdom that the chapter mentions. Proverbs is a book of wise advice, but this chapter specifically focuses on the good stuff that comes when godly wisdom becomes a chief characteristic of a believer. Today as I sit in my new office with a new desk and a new chapter in my life's book before me, I was reminded of the words of Proverbs 3:33: " ...he blesses the home of the righteous. " This new place is a great gift (even if the smoke alarms go off ...

Pixabay, Public Domain If it were left up to the sheep, they’d stick to the same paths, the same pastures, the same watering holes. And eventually, the pastures would be eaten away to nothingness and the waters polluted to the point of contamination. The shepherd needs to guide them to fresh pastures and new streams. " The Lord is my shepherd…he guides me… ” Psalm 23:3. When was the last time you found something fresh and new in the Scriptures? It’s an old book that is always new. I’ve been attached to church since I was born, and a follower of Jesus for fifty-five years. I’ve been a student of the Word of God for a long time, more so in recent years. And I can say without a word of a lie that I discover new things constantly as I explore the Book. The truth isn’t new—it’s always been there. It’s just that I didn’t see it before. My fault. I either wasn’t ready for it, or not paying attention. But the Spirit of God guides us to, I guess you’d call it, “old truth made new.” Wha...

Exodus 28, 29 is a tedious read There are some passages in the Old Testament which many of us avoid simply because they seem totally foreign and totally irrelevant. You might be able to make an argument for that except for one “small” detail—God made sure that the information was recorded for us as part of His infallible Word, as part of the “ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness , so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work ” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17, emphasis mine). Exodus 28, 29 (in case you really don’t feel you can manage the perseverance to read it yourself) is all about the special clothing the high priest and the other priests were to wear in the performance of their duties, and the ritual surrounding their consecration as priests in the service of the Lord. “Special” hardly seems to sufficiently describe these garments. Exodus 29:29 says: “ Aaron’s sacred garments… ” or as the ESV pu...

Athabasca Falls I stood on the landing outside of the sanctuary of my church yesterday. There was a lull in the traffic and no one for me to greet. I glanced at the space over the entrance and read the words from Psalm 29:2 written on a banner that has been hanging there since the 1960s. “ Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness .” This morning my reading was from Psalm 29. I was reminded of the banner but I was also reminded of something else as I read the psalm. Last week I traveled with friends to Alberta, Canada. We spent a wonderful week exploring the beauties of the parks of Jasper and Banff. One of the places we stopped was Athabasca Falls. Psalm 29:3-5 reminded me of those mighty waters, their breathtaking power and beauty. “ The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the...

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish . —Psalm 1   Jesus stood out. Isaiah 52, 53 tells us that there was nothing physical about him that would attract anyone. He was not one of the “beautiful” people who by virtue of the physical or material gathers fans. He wasn’t a mover and shaker, creating a culture that would swirl around him like bees buzz a particularly succulent flower. He would not ...

Google Images Goosebumps. That’s what John 20:18 and the story around it gives me. Combined with the song you can access through the following link, the message rings loud and clear:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yLgtd_kkxw Mary Magdalene saw all that Peter and John saw when she arrived at the tomb. But she saw something they didn’t: two angels (John 20:12) sitting where the body of Jesus had once lain. Then she saw Jesus (20:14). Through her tears, overwhelmed with grief, she didn’t recognize Him, until something in His voice stirred her soul and she saw, really saw, HIM. “Mary,” He said (20:16). And she knew. When she returned to the room where the disciples were meeting and told them that she had seen the Lord, alive and glorified, the impact must have been incredible. It would still take time to really understand the reality of the resurrection for some of His followers, but for Mary, nothing would ever be the same again. How could anything be the same once a person has ...

Two generations passed between Hezekiah and Josiah. They were evil days; fifty-seven years of defying God. Fifty-five of those years belonged to Manasseh. So terrible was his reign that it brought about  this statement from God: " I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle " (2 Kings 21:12, NIV). After more than a half century of godless rule, Josiah came to the throne of Judah. It was written of him: " He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left " (23:2, NIV). In the course of Josiah's reforms, the Book of the Law was discovered. When the king heard the law read he was horrified and tore his clothes in mourning at the sin of the nation (22:12) and the grievous offense committed against God. Huldah, one through whom God spoke in those days, delivered a message to the young king. The judgment of ...

Living by Grace is a FACEBOOK community for those who enjoy digging into, and discussing, the Scriptures. Check it out. I'm there on Thursdays. Reading: Hosea 7-14 I vaguely remember a movie, probably of the “B” category, where the villain had discovered a way to control the weather. Of course, he tried to use his discovery for evil purposes and had to be predictably subdued by the gallant hero and his beautiful sidekick. Controlling weather is not entirely fiction. Experiments with cloud seeding have been going on for many years. I read a detailed explanation online (most of which I didn’t understand) complete with diagrams detailing how various substances were dumped from planes into clouds in order to manufacture what nature seemed resistant to produce on on its own. The jury is still out as to whether or not any of these experiments ever really accomplished anything that wouldn’t have happen anyway. But there is one kind of “cloud seeding” that we are really good at...

“ For many are invited, but few are chosen ” –Matthew 22:14, NIV. This much-quoted phrase used to cause me some consternation. However, a careful examination of the context quickly put that concern to rest. You see, this phrase has often been used to defend a particular interpretation that some people use in trying to convince their listeners that God arbitrarily decides who gets saved and who doesn't. Look at the context. Jesus is telling a kingdom story (Matthew 22:1-14). A certain king is celebrating his son’s wedding but the guests he has invited (representing Israel) all have excuses for not attending. In fact, the invited guests went so far as to abuse the king’s messengers. That was a grave insult–when the king issued an invitation, it was definitely not “politically correct” to refuse it. There were nasty consequences (22:7). Then the king sent his servants out to invite “ anyone you find ” on the streets (representing the Gentiles and anyone else). The passage says t...

“ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. ”  —Isaiah 61:1-3, NIV. All the God does for His children—and that’s plenty—has a purpose much bigger than meeting the needs of those children. He delights to meet us at every crossroad to give us direction, to comfort us when we suffer loss, to fill  our hearts when they are empty, to replace sadness with joy, mourning with singing. Bu...

“ Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them ” —Hosea 14:9, NIV. According to the introduction to the Book of Hosea that I have in my Bible Hosea has been referred to as “the prophet with the broken heart.” He ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel just before it was taken into captivity by Assyria. The land was materially prosperous but spiritually bankrupt. Hosea is most famous for his very visual and personal illustration of God’s message. At the Lord’s command he married Gomer, a prostitute. She was faithless and couldn’t resist returning to her former life. But Hosea, instead of repudiating or divorcing her, went after his wayward wife and brought her back. Israel was guilty of abandoning her God and prostituting herself with the gods of the neighbouring nations. She threw God’s love for her back in His face. Though He had to punish...

“ There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins ” —Ecclesiastes 7:20, NIV. Last night I watched the beginning of a televisions series called The Borgias. Though I haven’t read up on the subject recently and I am certain a lot of fiction has been added to the facts, history doesn’t deny that these leaders of the church in the fifteenth century (or any other century) was unholy men dressed up in holy clothes. Before I began to watch the movie I had been at church facilitating a discussion on evil and suffering.   The movie left me with that age old question prompted by the discussion: Why? Many of the saints of Scripture asked God, Why? Someone commented last night that it was too pat an answer to say that evil and suffering exist because we live in a broken world, and that we need to focus on fact that there is another world, a better world that is to come. It was a good thought. But the inescapable truth is that our world is broken, we broke ...