Grains of Sand

" But go, tell his disciples and Peter... " (Mark 16:7). How do you feel, Peter, when you hear those words? Shame . Singled out because you know what you have done, the horror of it, and pain of it. Anxiety. Why are you separated from the rest of the disciples? Does that mean that you have been cut from the roster? Fear . What if the Lord is going to tear a strip off you in front of the men you have lived and worked with for the last three years, the men who looked on you as their lieutenant.  Relief . You hope this means that there is a reprieve at the end of this. You pray that there is forgiveness for your betrayal. A myriad of thoughts go through our minds when we know that we have failed the faithfulness test. To Peter was added the shame of having made a public promise to go to the cross with His Lord if had to. Instead he not only walked away physically but he walked away verbally as well. As public as his promise was, the betrayal was just as public. We know how th...

Reading: Jeremiah 1-3, Hebrews 9 I was a surprise to my parents, born late in their lives. God wasn’t a bit surprised. When I was in my early teens, a “friend” of the family told me that I should never have been born. God had a different opinion on that subject. So when I read God’s words to Jeremiah, I nod my head knowingly. “ The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you a prophet to the nations’ ” —Jeremiah 1:5, NIV. I like that thought. It’s not unique to Jeremiah. David echoes it in Psalm 139: “…you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were writte...

How would the Old Testament, written centuries before Christ was born, describe salvation? Here's a hint from Zephaniah. " The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save, He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing " (3:17 NIV). Luke tells us that the angels of God rejoice in heaven over one sinner who repents (15:10). They aren't the only ones who sing with joy over me and you when we come to faith through Christ. Even God sings with joy for us. That God is with me, that He is able to save me, are huge truths. But that He wraps His arms around me and tells me how precious I am to Him, that He stills my fears and anxieties about my unworthiness with His unlimited and unconditional love, that He sings for joy over me just as He finds me; those leave me disarmed before Him.