Grains of Sand

Pixabay Some people are under the mistaken impression (though there may not be as many of them as I think) that, just because I am older and have had some experience with life, I have wisdom to offer. There are times that I am even prone to believing that myself. The truth of the matter? Yes, I am older. Yes, I have had some experiences in life that others might not have gotten around to yet. Hopefully I have learned some lessons from those experiences. Hopefully I am the wiser for them—otherwise God’s efforts in bringing them into my life might have been wasted. But whatever wisdom that has been acquired does not ultimately reside in me—I’m still frail and sometimes foolish though, hopefully, less so than once I was. The truth is, as Job 12:13 says: “ To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his .” I am reminded that one of the characteristics of a good listening ear is humility—the recognition that I come from the same messiness that the person to whom I am l...

gopixpic.com (Google Images) Sometimes (perhaps more times than I care to admit) I am not too bright. I’ve been without internet on my laptop all weekend. I tried all the usual tricks to get it up and running but this morning I was finally driven to call my service provider. The gentleman on the other end began to ask me questions that I didn’t quite understand. I felt a little stupid, but then again when it comes to these things I AM a little stupid. Finally the problem got fixed—it turned out to be something simple—the presence of a splitter that for some reason wasn’t a problem until Friday morning, though it had been connected for years. So as I sit down right now to organize my thoughts on what I read in the Scriptures earlier today I realized that blind spots (a nicer way to say, “stupid”) happen to all of us. In Luke 5:1-11, the crowds have gathered to hear Jesus speak. Because there are so many of them and everyone is pressing for a front row seat, Jesus steps into a bo...

For the most part we are a society of independent people. In some ways that statement is an oxymoron—how can we be a society if we are independent of each other? Certainly independence damages community even if it can  maintain a tenuous hold on the claim to still be "society." But the Scriptures remind us Who we need to always be dependent upon. Deep down in our heart of hearts we all want someone to lean on. We have a built-in need that won't be denied no matter how hard we try to stamp it out. " As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet God? " (Psalm 42:1, 2). The psalmist knows the loneliness and desperation of being independent and yearns for that connection to the only One who can meet his need. " Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then I will go to the altar...

Reading: Luke 8, 9 You’re going down for the last time. The water is up to your chin and each wave fills your mouth and nose with water. You raise your hand, desperate for someone to see your plight and come to your rescue. From the distant shore comes the triumphant voice of the old revivalist preacher, “I see that hand!” But you’re still going down, overwhelmed by wave after wave of life events. And it doesn’t seem like anyone is going to help. You are going to drown. Enter Jesus. He’s been there all the time, but you’ve been so busy struggling to save yourself that you didn’t notice His hand reaching out to grab yours. Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia And you answer His question with tears generated by both shame and expectation: “Yes, Lord, where was my faith?”

“ I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven ” –Matthew 18:3, NIV. If you ask the average person what it means to “ become like little children ” you will often be told that a person needs to be “innocent” in order to gain heaven. Theologically that is true–though it isn’t our innocence that gains us heaven but the innocence that is declared to be ours when we ask Christ to forgive us and to cleanse us from our sins. But the verse tells us that there is something we have to “make” ourselves in order to be ready for the declaration of innocence that only God can make on our behalf. The question the disciples asked was, “ Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ” (18:1, NIV). Jesus didn’t answer that question that way the disciples anticipated. There is no class system in heaven, no hierarchy of believers. The Lord turned the discussion to how a person gets into heaven in the first place, and pride (whic...

“ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord ” —Deuteronomy 8:3, NIV. As Moses led the escapees from Egypt across the wilderness, they were faced with one of the many teaching points that God had in store for them. He let them go hungry. You would think that after all the miracles that God had done to get this newly formed nation out of captivity that he wouldn’t have forgotten the grocery list. But he did—on purpose. Then, when the Israelites realized that the supply of even their most basic needs depended on   God, and not on them, he sent them manna to satisfy their hunger. That lesson would be relearned every single morning of their lives as they travelled in the desert. We often question why God allows us to “hunger.” This hunger isn’t always wrapped in the need for a hamburger and fri...

Today's journey through Scripture took me to one of my favourite passages in 2 Chronicles 20. Let me summarize for you. Jehoshaphat (one of the good guys) is faced with a big problem. An army is headed toward Jerusalem with unfriendly intentions. The king calls for people to fast and seek the Lord. Excellent move. Jehoshaphat personally leads the inquiries and in a beautiful prayer acknowledges the supremacy of God over everything, including Israel's enemies. He then throws himself, and his people, on the mercy of the God to whom they have committed themselves no matter what happens, as he says: " If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us…For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you " (20:9, 12, NIV). In the history ...

I sent Vicky the pictures I took at the wedding of a mutual friend. When she replied to thank me I asked her how she was doing. It had been a long time since we'd "conversed." We used to live within shouting distance of each other in Caracas. She now lives in Mumbai and I am back in Canada. She left Caracas as a child about to burst into her teen years. Now she is a mature young woman about to finish off a post-graduate degree. When she emailed me back to bring me up-to-date with her life, I was reminded once more of God's faithfulness. Vicky is a trophy of God's grace and how she has gone on with the Lord through some difficult times is an encouragement to the fainthearted. In her email, Vicky was lamenting her failure to accomplish something that was at the top of her priority list when she left Spain to go to India. She desperately wanted to be a witness for Jesus. And while she's had many opportunities to do that, she feels badly about the times when she...