Grains of Sand

Years ago I heard a well-known preacher tell a poignant story about his wife. When he wasn’t traveling he visited her every day in the nursing home where she lived. She didn’t know him—she didn’t know anyone. He remarked that people sometimes asked him why he thought the Lord hadn’t taken her home since she was bedridden and unable to relate to any of the staff or her loved ones. His answer to that question has never left my mind. He said that though she didn’t know him or anyone else, and was unable to leave her bed, there was one thing that she did know and that one thing was, to his mind, why the Lord left her behind in that nursing home. Apparently she constantly repeated, whether there was anyone in the room or not, “Jesus loves me.” Her witness was impeccable until the day the Lord finally took her home. Yesterday the sister of an old friend left a message on my answering machine. I knew that the only reason Rita would call me was to tell me that Erla Jean had passed away. She ...

Only the title would come to mind this morning. When I googled it, at least two songs appeared, one by Lucy J. Akerman, written in 1858 and the other by William J. Henry, written around 1911. Lucy Akerman’s song was a favourite at the early Moody and Sankey evangelistic meetings and is included in the old hymnbook some are familiar with, Sacred Songs and Solos . Nothing but leaves! The Spirit grieves O’er years of wasted life; O’er sins indulged while conscience slept, O’er vows and promises unkept, And reap, from years of strife— Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! No gathered sheaves Of life’s fair rip’ning grain: We sow our seeds; lo! tares and weeds, Words, idle words, for earnest deeds— Then reap, with toil and pain, Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! Sad mem’ry weaves No veil to hide the past; And as we trace our weary way, And count each lost and misspent day, We sadly find at last— Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! Ah, wh...

Google Images When was the last time you when out for a good meal at Home Hardware? Bet you didn’t, did you? Disaster struck after King Hezekiah died. God had granted him a few extra years of life after a potentially fatal illness (2 Kings 20:1-6) and during that time a son, Manasseh, was born to him. When Hezekiah died, this son took his place as king. He was NOT like his father. The temple, once dedicated to the worship of God, was desecrated, filled with objects of idol worship. God had said: “ ‘In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave to their forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them.’ But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites ” (21:7-...

Google Images The judgment has been pronounced. Eli, Shiloh’s priest, had not reined in his sons. As spiritual leaders they had failed miserably and God had announced, through the boy Samuel, that their dynasty would come to an ignoble end (1 Samuel 2:34-36). In 1 Samuel 4 we discover what that end was to be. The Philistines were pressing and Israel’s army was unable to get the upper hand against them. Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, thought that by taking the ark of the covenant out of the Tabernacle and taking it into battle with them, that this would guarantee success against the Philistines. Wrong. The end result was that the Philistines won the battle, the two sons were killed, the ark captured and Eli died of the shock. Even Eli’s daughter-in-law died in childbirth that same day, declaring as she passed, “ The glory has departed from Israel ” (4:21). In the midst of all this tragedy and all the lessons to be learned from it, I thought about the ark. It was a sy...

Google Images In 1876, Robert Lowry wrote this well-known hymn: 1. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Refrain Oh! precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus . 2. For my pardon, this I see, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; For my cleansing this my plea, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 3. Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; Naught of good that I have done, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 4. This is all my hope and peace, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; This is all my righteousness, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 5. Now by this I’ll overcome— Nothing but the blood of Jesus, Now by this I’ll reach my home— Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 6. Glory! Glory! This I sing— Nothing but the blood of Jesus, All my praise for this I bring— Nothing but the blood of Jesus. The last two stanzas are unfamiliar to me—cut out of most...

Google Images During the debacle of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32) God tested Moses twice. When God said that His anger against the people was great that He was going to destroy them and make Moses into a great nation (32:9, 10), Moses interceded for the people and pleaded for their lives. Here was his opportunity to become truly great in his own right, and he passed it up. A little later, after he had seen for himself what the Israelites had done and realized how terrible the offense was, he went back to the Lord to beg God’s forgiveness for the sin the nation-to-be had committed—to the point of offering his own life as a substitute for theirs (32:30-32). Moses put himself on the line for the people he served. Then God announced that He would send His angel to take Moses and the people to the land He had promised Abraham (33:2). “ Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way ” (33:3...

Google Images I often wonder how Jesus would feel about the activities that go on in His house today. John 2:13-17 records an event that Matthew, Mark and Luke put much later in Jesus’ ministry. There is no reason to assume that Jesus only cleared the temple once so the fact that John recalls the events early in Christ’s ministry doesn’t pose a problem. We KNOW how slow we are to get the message sometimes, so there is no reason to believe that the Jews of Jesus’ day were any faster—or any more obedient! In any case, John tells us that shortly after the wedding in Cana, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the Passover. When He got to the temple he found it busy—but not with worshippers. It was busy with businessmen hawking their wares. To facilitate the sacrifices, these merchants had set up shop to sell the sheep, cattle, and birds required by the priests. Since there were foreigners among the Jewish converts, the money changers were there as well. It was their version of “seeker-sensit...

Google Images The last two chapters of Galatians are rich with teaching. The issue throughout the book has been the problems that were being caused by the “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who had infiltrated the church and were trying to teach, as Paul puts it, “ a different gospel ” (1:6). As wolves are prone to do, they divided the flock of God. “Divide and conquer” is an effective strategy for getting what you want—every kid knows how to play off one parent against another. In these final words, Paul urges the Galatians not to give in, to “ stand firm ” (5:1), to continue to run “ a good race ” (5:7). He reminds them that it is important not to tolerate the untruth because “ A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough ” (5:9). Instead Paul urges the believers to walk in the Spirit and not fall into the trap of wolfish behaviour. “ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love...

Google Images The Galatians believers were being lured back into a salvation-by-works theology. The false teachers creeping into the church, described in Galatians 1:6-9, pushed Paul to explain again the principles of salvation by faith and to urge the believers to remain faithful to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. At the end of Chapter 3, we find this beautiful summary statement (though Paul isn’t really finished summarizing yet!). He writes, “ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ ” (3:26-28). This is the essence of redemption. This is a return to Eden before the fall. Balance is restored. Everyone is equal. In Christ there are no barriers. There are no colours. There are no genders. There are no different strata of society. When Christ was in His last few hou...

Google Images Most of us loved to be stroked. We appreciate people who agree with our opinions, do what we ask of them, and don’t challenge us. When faced by some real or imaginary threat, we follow the old western model and “circle the wagons” with the “good guys” (the ones who stroke us) gathered around us ready to repel the “bad guys” (the ones who challenge us). It’s not a good plan, certainly not a Biblical one. And in spiritual leaders it’s a heinous crime, an affront to all that Jesus taught. Paul, preaching to the believers in Ephesus, remarked: “ Keep watch over yourselves and all of the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood ” (Acts 20:28, NIV). He then goes on to say that it is the wolves who come in and destroy the sheep, and distort the truth (20:29). But it is Paul’s statement in verse 28 that needs to be etched in the minds and on the hearts of all those who would call themselves ov...

Google Images The early chapters of Acts describe a church on fire, where thousands of people came to faith and new believers were added daily to that number. This new movement must have distressed the establishment to no end. They thought they had stamped out any possibility of these Christ-followers gaining momentum when they crucified their leader. Equally amazing to those who watched was the community that grew up around these professions of faith. Acts 5 tells us: “ All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all .” We like the multiplication the believers but tend to race over the division of goods. But that’s a subject for another time, though I can hear the pundits clamoring to tell me that that was a different time, a different place, a different culture and we c...

It's almost supper time and all you have is some leaf lettuce, a pomegranate, a hot chili pepper and an apple turnover. What are you going to do with those four items to turn them into an edible and attractive main course? Sounds like an episode of the Food Network's cooking challenge show, Chopped , doesn't it? On the night that Jesus was betrayed, He met for the last time with the twelve men who had become His inner circle of disciples. If there was ever a band of unlikely suspects upon which to create a movement, this was it. Fishermen, tax collectors, and anarchists, among others, gathered around the table to participate in an historic moment. " Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins '...

Google Images In a world focused on individualism, team is vitally important. It's been interesting to watch these first few days of the Olympics, especially those venues that are both team and individual sports. Men and women who compete against each other individually often must come together to compete as a team in order to defeat their rivals. Somehow they have to put aside that spirit of competition that exists between them in order to work together for the greater good. It sometimes works and then again, it sometimes doesn't. In one team in the women's cycling, one of the team members was unable to put aside her own ambition to support a stronger team member and stepped outside the solidarity of the team. She weakened her own chances and that of her other team members. I'm taking a broad look at the first four chapters of book of Nehemiah today to understand how individualism and team worked for Nehemiah and for the Jews as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem....

Dr. R. E. Baxter, former pastor The aged prophet has just delivered a stinging rebuke. He was against the request that Israel had made to imitate their neighbours and have a king. But God had directed him to do as the people had asked. Samuel did as he was told, albeit reluctantly. Now, after the fact, he reminds Israel that they have made a big mistake. Oddly enough, and despite the fact that Saul has just had a decisive victory against the Ammonites, the people realize what they hadn’t understood earlier—they had made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Some are bigger than others and bring corresponding consequences.We often gloat a little (or a lot) when others get caught. We wiggle on the end of our own hook when we get caught, ably assisted by those who twist the line a little as they gloat over our mistakes. We might have expected Samuel to gloat a little at a remorseful Israel, but he doesn’t.While he doesn’t excuse them, he does offer them words of encouragement (1 Samuel 12:...

“ Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’ ” —Isaiah 30:21, NIV. By itself this verse is a wonderful word of encouragement. But to ignore the its context is like picking the carrots out of the stew and ignoring the rest of the ingredients as well as to miss an important detail in the message. Isaiah speaks to a nation about God’s heart for His people; what God has for them after they come to their senses and after they have suffered the consequences of their rebellion against Him. For those who see the God of the Old Testament as an angry and vindictive One, these verses are a rebuke as well as a lesson about the nature of God. “ Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice, Blessed are all who wait for him! O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he he...

I can talk to God without listening for Him. I can learn all there is to learn about Him without applying what I learn. Hypocrites are those who talk without listening, who learn without applying, and then claim to hear God's voice and follow His precepts. I don't want to be a hypocrite so I will explain my behaviour (and lack of it) by saying that talking and learning aren't all that important anyway—it's the relationship that counts. How can I have a relationship with someone I talk to, but don't listen to? How can I have a relationship with someone I research but never respond to? How can I listen if I never bother to enter into conversation? How can I respond if I have never collected enough information to base that response on? I need to learn to talk to God, not just to dump my "God bless…" or "Be with…" or "You just gotta get me out of…" on, but to acknowledge Who He is and submit myself to Him. Then I need to listen for His ...