Grains of Sand

rightnow.ph (Google Images) Ezra, the priest, gathered up his fears and took courage “ because the hand of the Lord my God was on me ” (Ezra 7:28). During the same period another man felt that same power infusing him with the courage to ask huge favours of scary people. Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:11). This was a dangerous job if this particular king, like those of his kind, needed someone not just to approve the bouquet of his wine, but to make sure that wine wasn’t poisoned. Nehemiah, as a Jewish captive in Susa, was expendable should someone have evil intentions. But that wasn’t what sent chills up and down Nehemiah’s spine. He had heard about the state of Jerusalem and the news devastated him (1:4). What made him afraid was the urge he felt to approach his master and ask for permission to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls. Such effrontery might cost him his head. We are told in Nehemiah 1:11 that he prayed for favour before the king. But when he ap...

Google Images There is still a lot of work to be done, but Joshua and the Hebrews have entered Canaan. The land has been divided among the tribes, cities of refuge have been designated and the Levites have been assigned their towns. At the end of Joshua 21 comes this wonderful summary statement: “ So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled ” (Joshua 21:43-45). It’s the end. God has kept His word and brought them to the place He had promised to bring them. It’s the beginning. A new page. A fresh start. Certainly they brought some “baggage” with them. Some things can’t be parked at the door of opportunity. They are who they are—at times reb...

“ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours ” –Mark 11:24, NIV. This verse is Mark’s version of the verses I commented on in yesterday’s post, you know, the one about throwing mountains into the sea? (Matthew 21:18-22). In Mark’s gospel the verse quote above is followed by another verse that seems totally unrelated to the subject of faith and moving mountains. Verse 25 says: “ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins .” Yesterday, I suggested that we don’t do much external mountain moving perhaps because we haven’t allowed the Holy Spirit to remove those internal mountains that keep us from being in as perfect a relationship with God as is possible on this side of heaven. Today, while doing some research for an upcoming series of studies on The Lord’s Prayer, R. T. Kendall commented on the passage from Mark that may giv...

“ A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall ” —1 Samuel 17:4 Late yesterday afternoon I walked down to a nearby medical clinic to get a prescription renewed. Ahead of me in the line was a big man who was well over six feet tall. I remember thinking he’d make a good basketball player. The thought also passed through my mind that I wouldn’t want to have to fight him off if I happened to meet him a dark alley. He’d crush me like a grape. That experience gave me a whole lot of sympathy for the armies of Israel as they took a look at this Philistine champion. The deal was that Israel would send out its best warrior to meet Goliath and whoever was still standing at the end of the fight would determine the winner of the battle between the two nations. No one needed a crystal ball to figure out how this was going to end! The result was a standoff—no one did anything because no one in Israel was willing to get crushed like a...

1 Samuel 11-13 It sounded like a good idea at the time. After all everyone else in the neighbourhood had a king of their own. It took Israel very little time to figure out that they had made a mistake by choosing Saul as their king. It wasn't that he wasn't capable—he'd just finished rescuing them from the Ammonites. It helped that he looked good, had that "kingly" presence and all that. But Samuel's rebuke made them take a second look at their decision. The response? " The people all said to Samuel, 'Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king. '" (12:19 NIV) Some things are difficult to "fix" after the fact. Israel couldn't "unking" Saul so would have to live with the consequences. But the encouraging note here is Samuel's response. " 'Do not be afraid,' Samuel replied, 'You have done all this...