Grains of Sand

Okay, Lord, I could use an extra day so could you do another "Joshua" and make the sun stand still? … What's that you say? There is time enough to do everything You intended me to do in the amount of time You've already allotted? Are You sure? … No, I don't mean to doubt You, Lord, it's just that, well, there's just so much to do. … You mean to tell me that I might be doing stuff that isn't on Your agenda? … Oh, yes, I did see that quote on FACEBOOK. You mean it's true? … So the deal is if I concentrate on Your plans rather than mine, there will be enough time and the success rate is 100% AND, the sun WILL stand still if necessary? … Yes, I noticed that: " Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you " (Joshua 10:8, NSV). I noticed that Joshua marched all night to get to where he needed to be. … It was the night of a harvest moon so they could find their way? And You gave them enough st...

The owner of my apartment was invited to come for Christmas dinner. She graciously accepted. She arrived, right on time, ringing the doorbell at precisely 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of December 25th. She doesn't have a key to my apartment even though she's the owner. She has to wait for me to let her in. I thought of her when I read this morning's verse. This one is usually used in the context of evangelism. However, as I look toward a new year and consider the old one I realize that it applies just as much to me as it does to the one who doesn't believe. John writes: " Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me " —Revelation 3:20. No, I don't need to be saved all over again, but I do need to not overload my "house" with so many other guests that there isn't room for the owner to come in. Life gets so full of activities and people that sometimes Jesus ...

…I tithed not only my money, but my time and talents? I have at my disposition, 168 hours a week. If I were to tithe my time and talents to the Lord, that would mean an investment of 16 hours and 48 minutes per week that would be exclusively dedicated to Him. Now math has never been my strong point, but I think that works out to a little over two hours a day that we could give to Him. Malachi 3:10 tells us: "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'" What would happen to our spiritual lives, in our churches, to our mission as witnesses to a lost world, if we tested God in this? God doesn't fail in fulfilling His promises. The possibilities boggle the mind.