Grains of Sand

The old saying, “ practice makes perfect ” rings true when you read the author’s words in Hebrews 5:14. “ But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. ” Both the latter part of Hebrews 5 and the beginning of Hebrews 6 have to do with moving on from the fundamentals of the faith to spiritual maturity. The author’s concern is with the apparent slowness of his audience to catch on, describing them as children who need milk instead of meat, “ …for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child ” (5:13). The challenge is to “ …leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity… ” (6:1) marked by an ability to wrestle with good and evil and choose the good. It is in the application of truth that we discover just how much of what we have come to believe is actually rooted in our hearts and not just recorded in our minds. Discernment, the abili...

Google Images “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild” never seemed to apply to the religious leaders of the Lord’s day. When they pushed Him, He pushed back. In Matthew 15, some Pharisees and teachers of the law criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to eat without washing their hands. It wasn’t that the Public Health Department would be after their hides if they didn’t (unless they were serving the food they were handling to other people). The religious leaders had a rule, a tradition, that hands should be washed. Good precaution but hardly a hanging offense! Jesus pushed back, reminding them that they regularly broke their own rules and taught others where to find the loopholes so that they could break those same rules when it was convenient. Then came these fateful words: “ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules ’” (15:7-9)....

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 ...

I just came back from a week in Florida. While we were there we traveled up to St Augustine and visited the crocodile preserve. It was fascinating to be able to observe them without the worry of losing a leg! I thought about the crocodiles again as I read this morning's scripture. The book of Leviticus is full of regulations that God put in place for the developing nation of Israel. Chapter 11 has to do with the kinds of animals and birds that the Hebrews were allowed to eat. I suspect crocodiles were among the prohibited. When the chapter ends, Moses records this: " You must distinguish between the clean and the unclean… " (11:47, NIV). This phrase is repeated in other parts of the Old Testament in relation to how God is to be worshiped. In Chapter 10, it is repeated again after the Aaron's sons had disobeyed a command God had given (10:1). Moses writes: " You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you must tea...

Reading: Mark 6, 7 I catch myself complaining when my plans get interrupted by other people’s agendas. To tell the truth, it isn’t a surprise that I complain. It doesn’t sneak up on me as though it were something alien to me. I choose to complain. There was no one busier than Jesus was during those brief three and a half years that He had to complete His ministry. In the account we have for us in Mark, He had gifted His disciples with the ability to do miracles, divided them into teams, and sent them out to do ministry (6:7-13). When they came back they reported everything that had happened. Now Jesus wasn’t the only “show” in town; His disciples must have also garnered a reputation for themselves. The crowds where so big and came so often that Jesus and His team didn’t have a chance to eat (6:31). It looks like He didn’t pay much attention to His mother’s concerns about His physical and emotional state as reported back in Mark 3:20, 21. But the Lord wasn’t unaware of the nee...

“ The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart ” —1 Samuel 16:7, NIV. You would have thought that Samuel might have learned a better head-hunting technique after the debacle with Saul. Israel’s first king had some sterling qualities but his appearance and strength were what really attracted the people to him. When the silver began to tarnish in the later years of his reign, they all realized their mistake. But here is Samuel choosing a new king, but judging among Jesse’s sons as though he were conducting the male version of Miss Universe. God had sent him on a mission. Saul’s character defects were beginning to show and among Jesse’s sons was the king God wanted to place over his people. Jesse lined them all up from the oldest to the second youngest. Somehow it didn’t occur to anyone to call in the youngest, ...

Though I haven't been chosen to rule a kingdom, I can empathize with Solomon. When the Lord appeared to the new king in a dream, as recorded for us in 1 Kings 3, God asked Solomon what his greatest desire was. Solomon replied: " …I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours " —1 Kings 3:7-9, NIV. The heart of the request comes in: " give your servant a discerning heart… " Part of my task is that of discovering and mobilizing people to do ministry. In the weeks that I have been here, I've begun to investigate and observe. Sheets of information on the gifts that have been identified in members of the congregation have been handed to me. However, paper, as good as it is, doesn...

What looks like one thing often turns out to be something different when seen in its context. That's true with this well-known verse of Scripture: " Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened " —Matthew 7:7, 8. And everyone rushes into God's presence with his wish list. Since Jesus used an illustration about food to describe God's perfect responses to this prayer, we immediately think material things when we claim this verse. But context is everything. In Luke's Gospel, these verses are summed up this way: " If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! " (11:13). Holy Spirit? What's He got to do with food, clothing, financial security, health, job opportunities—all the things o...