Grains of Sand

Pixabay How many altars have I built in my life? An altar is a place of worship, of commitment, of sacrifice. Noah built an altar when, at last, he and the riders of the great ark were on dry land once again. It is recorded that Abraham built altars at significant points in his spiritual journey. In Genesis 26 Isaac builds an altar as well. This event was spurred by an encounter with God during which the Lord said: “ I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham” (26:24). It is said that Isaac built the altar “…and called on the name of the Lord ” (26:25). An altar is a place of communion, a place of encounter with God. We used to have “altar calls” away back when. Those were moments at the end of a service when the pastor invited anyone who wanted to accept Christ, or make some other significant spiritual decision, to come forward. I responded to one of ...

Pixaby The stage of the universe was set. The orchestra, watching for that first movement of the Conductor’s baton, raised celestial instruments and prepared to play. The score was laid out before them; whole notes and half, quarter notes, rests and full stops, the opus to end them all awaited the Creator’s pleasure. The Maestro raised His arm and then, with His hand marking a gentle downbeat, the music began. The curtains of time rolled back and the sweet Singer of songs stepped forward to take His place on the platform called life. The notes rose to caress the faces of leaves and petals, to brush the hummingbird’s wings and still her frantic flight. They tickled the whiskers of a tiger, tugged the tail of a monkey, and embraced the two jewels of creation as they sat engrossed in conversation with a turtle. The human pair paused, lifting innocent heads to breathe in the sweet smell of the Maker’s passage, to delight in the gentle timbre of His voice singing in the w...

Pixabay " O Lord, what is man, that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? " (Psalm 144:3) Long before the beginning of time a just, yet loving God designed a plan to rescue a creation not yet made. It involved a baby. Odd to hang the fate of a world on one helpless child. But God did. This wasn't any ordinary baby, though any parent will tell you,  sometimes ad nauseum, that their child is not ordinary! But this one was truly unique. He was God wrapped in skin. He was Emmanuel, God with us  (Isaiah 7:14). God, the Father, knew that you and I would sin, and by those offenses against Him cause an impossibly wide breach between us. He knew that you and I might try to bridge that gap—maybe. We might try to be good. We might try to be religious. We might try to be generous. We might try any number of things. But He knew we'd never reach Him, never heal the breach, on our own. So, because He knew we couldn't reach high enough, He desi...

Google Images John records for us how those first disciples came into contact with Jesus. The episode with Nathanael is particularly interesting. Philip, after meeting Jesus personally, went to find his friend, Nathanael, to tell him that he had found the Messiah. Nathanael was skeptical but went along out of curiosity. When Jesus saw him, the Lord identified him as a “ true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false ” (John 1:47). That resonated with Nathanael. The conversation provided the tipping point that brought this “true Israelite” into Jesus’ first circle of followers. “ ‘How do you know me?’ Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, ‘I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. ’” (1:48). It seems obvious that whatever Philip was thinking while under that tree had something to do with why Jesus would identify him as a true Israelite in whom there was no falsehood. Recently I was at an event where the speaker “suggested” that she had some special insig...