Grains of Sand

Pixabay “ I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. ” (Matthew 18:18-20) I have recently come to look at this verse in a different way. In its context it applies to the process of reconciliation when there are issues between brothers and sisters in Christ. But here’s a slightly different take, courtesy of a course I recently took. What if two or three of us were to come together and covenant to join hands and hearts and minds in a journey of spiritual growth? What if we were to meet regularly with the sole intention of providing a safe environment where we could be encouraged by others as they stir us on toward knowing Christ at a deeper level, and be encouragers of the work of the Holy Spirit in o...

It came up in a discussion about parables. Jesus often used parables in His teaching and His disciples asked him why He used stories to teach spiritual truth when His audience often didn’t get the point of the illustration. Many times Jesus would have to explain to His disciples, in private, the meaning of the parable. It’s a question that others have asked since those years when the Lord walked and talked among the people of Israel. Many commentators express the opinion that the use of a story to illustrate a truth was meant to accomplish several things, one of which was to weed out those who were serious seekers of truth from those who were merely curious. In other words, if you really want to know what the story is all about, you’ll make an effort to find out! In Luke 19:1-10 we meet a tax collector by the name of Zacchaeus. Tax collectors were generally considered to be pretty near to the scum of the earth in ancient Palestine. They worked for the much hated Roman establishment a...