Grains of Sand

Google Images Those last words from the cross tell it all: “ Jesus said, ‘It is finished ’” (John 19:30). Instantly, as I read this verse, the words to this Gaither song came to mind: There's a line that is drawn through the ages, On that line stands an old rugged cross. On that cross, a battle is raging, To gain a man's soul or its loss. On one side, march the forces of evil, All the demons, all the devils of hell. On the other, the angels of glory,     and they meet on Golgotha's hill.  The earth shakes with the force of the conflict,     and the sun refuses to shine. For there hang's God's son, in the balance,     and then through the darkness he cries. It is finished, the battle is over. It is finished, there'll be no more war. It is finished, the end of the conflict, It is finished and Jesus is Lord. Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging, Not all prisoners of war had come home. These were battlefields of my own making, ...

“ Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart ” —Job 22:21, 22, NIV. Taken at face value this verse sounds like perfectly good advice. The words were spoken by Eliphaz to his friend, Job, while Job was going through the ultimate in hard times. The advice, good though most of it is, contains a misconception. Job’s friends were trying to convince him that he needed to repent of his sins if he expected God to restore to him all that he had lost. None of the men knew that what was happening to Job had nothing to do any sin Job might have committed. Job had lost everything: family, possessions, health. It was logical to assume that all this disaster was because of something Job had done to offend God. In fact, all this was a test—a battle between God and Satan through which God was going to show Satan that some people won’t sin, and turn their backs on God, even when you hit th...