Grains of Sand

Google Images If there ever was a portion of the Gospels that testifies to the deity of Jesus Christ, John 1 is that portion. The writer begins with those famous lines, “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. ” One of the reoccurring questions that bubbles to the surface here and there on the otherwise stagnant pond of today’s church is, “How can I know God better?” The deepest desire of a believer ought to be a more intimate connection with his Creator, John, reported to be the disciple who had that connection with Jesus more than any of the others, tells us the secret to knowing God. “ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known ” (John 1:14, 18). To know Jesus is to know God. Those who say t...

Reading: Ezekiel 46-48, Revelation 1 Tedious. That’s what the journey seemed like until I got to Ezekiel 47. I have a colour-coded Bible that I use for my quiet time. The colours were all brown until I got to Ezekiel 47:9-12. Blue appeared, as blue as the water described in its verses. The description is of the restored city, shown to Ezekiel in a vision from God. In this particular chapter, the temple is the focus. As the chapter begins, Ezekiel sees a river of water flowing out from the temple. “ Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will g...

Reading: 2 Peter 1 “It’s a process,” I protest, “It takes time.” So you’ve had fifty years since you gave yourself to me. Practice doesn’t seem to be cutting it, does it? “But I’m only human,” I whine.   “You can’t expect me to be perfect.” No, I’m the only One Who’s perfect. But I gave you sufficient resources to have gotten better at imitating me by now. “It’s hard,” I reason. Of course it is. In fact, when you try to do it yourself, it’s impossible! “Sometimes it’s annoying to be surrounded by Someone who has all the answers.” Maybe if you paid attention to them…? “Did I miss something?” I’m going to forget you said that. But let’s not get sidetracked here. You’ve read, or heard someone preach on, 2 Peter 1:5-8 lots of times, right? But maybe that’s a problem. “How so?” Listen to it. I told Peter to say ‘…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; a...