Grains of Sand

Pixabay “ In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears ” (Psalm 18:6). There is a lot of that going around these days—a lot of calling out to the Lord. If you read the rest of the psalm you discover how the Almighty answered David as he cried out to the Lord. It’s impressive reading. But the words of this particular verse from the psalms came to mind as I was reading Exodus 23 earlier this morning. These have been challenging days, days of huge concern, sorrow, confusion, doubt, and even a little fear. And each has been met, in some way, by some form of reassurance that the call for help from the Lord will not, and has not, gone unanswered. This morning was no different. Israel is still at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses is still furiously taking notes as God tells him what is required of the nation-in-the-making. Then the Lord says: “ See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you alo...

Pixabay For some of us there is snow on the ground and a distinct chill in the air. But it is summer somewhere! Still, though there are no tomatoes in my garden (not that there ever were!) I can still buy them in the grocery store. Provision has been made somewhere, somehow, for my BLT even in January. That’s a God thing. Genesis 1 describes how our Creator God brought into being all that we, the last pieces of His creative genius, need. Then He rested: “ By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done ” (Genesis 2:2-3). He didn’t need the rest—but He knew that we would so He set the example. He even made that day a holy one, a time for spiritual renewal. Even in that our great God made provision for us. When God created the first of our ancestors, He placed them in a garden (2:8). And in that pla...

Ester It’s easy to skip over. It’s just one word at the beginning of a story, but it is one word that makes all the difference to what follows. “ Some time later God tested Abraham ” (Genesis 22:1). It was a TEST. God knew His man. He also knew that from this test would come one of the most graphic illustrations of the grace of God delivered to us on the cross by Jesus Christ that the world would ever see. Abraham was to take his only son to Mount Moriah and there sacrifice him as an offering to God. Of course, we know what happened. When Isaac asked his father where the lamb for the sacrifice was, Abraham replied: “ God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son ” (22:8). God knew His man, and Abraham knew his God. When the test was over, Abraham named the spot “ The Lord will provide ” (22:14) because that was exactly what the Lord did. It was a TEST. As I read the story this morning I thought of some dear friends who are sitting by the bed of their newborn daug...

Job 35-37 In these final three chapters of the conversation between Job and his friends, Elihu continues his discourse. The one thing we learn from these friends is that one can speak truth and still be in error. That’s a scary thought, a theological disaster. But when we speak in our arrogance, taking what is truth and twisting it to suit our purposes, we run the risk of ending up like Job’s friends—condemning the innocent, attributing to God what is not his, and bringing down on ourselves his judgment. God is about to speak, actually to piggyback on Elihu’s words as he “counsels” his friend. The truth that we find in these chapters is another eloquent description of the wonders of God—something God will pick up on in the following chapters. Elihu rightly asks who is capable of understanding the ways of God. He might think he is (36:3, 4) but he is about to find out otherwise. Still, his description is elegant: “ God is exalted in his power…How great is God—beyond our understanding! T...

Life is spiritually dangerous which prompts Paul to write: " Put on the full armor of God…Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place…Take the helmet of salvation… " Ephesians 6:10-18 Thus armed we launch ourselves into the current. It it there we discovered that there is another river that flows around us. Consider the hymn and think about the picture. Like a river glorious is God's perfect peace, Over all victorious in its bright increase; Perfect, yet it floweth fuller every day; Perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way. Chorus: Stayed upon Jehovah, Hearts are fully blest— Finding as he promised, Perfect peace and rest. Hidden in the hollow of his blessed hand, Never foe can follow, never traitor stand; Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care, Not a blast of hurry— Touch the Spirit there. Chorus Every joy or trial falleth from above, Traced upon our dial by the Sun of love; We may trust him fully...