Yesterday I was treated to the sight of a pair of California scrub jays at our little backyard feeder. They are a rare sight in these parts, although since the California wildfires of a few years ago, they are somewhat more common.
While on our mini vacation, we spoke to a couple from Northern Alberta. A mountain sheep has been seen in their area. The sheep are typically found in the Jasper area, but were driven out by wildfires. Now they are attempting to make a home hundreds of miles from their home.
The jays and the mountain sheep (and I’m sure many other species) refugees who fled a disaster, looking for a safe harbor. They are doing their best to make a way in an unfamiliar and, in many ways, hostile environment.
There is a sense in which all Christians are refugees as well. We grow up in a fallen world that is hostile to the Christian worldview. When we do become believers, our citizenship becomes that of heaven, and instead of being enemies of God, we become enemies to the world.
The once familiar is now strange. The former close friend now rejects and ridicules us. Things we once thought nothing of now cause us discomfort.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.1 Peter 2:11 ESV
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.John 15:19 ESV
We might be strangers, sojourners, even refugees in this world, but our home is secure.
In the interim, we have the Word to strengthen us. We have other believers to walk with. Most importantly, we have the Spirit within us to guide us and testify to our status as children of God and coheirs with Christ. The Spirit is our passport into the kingdom, both here and forever in glory.
Hold fast, my friends. The wandering time may seem long and hard at times, but we have victory in Him.
This morning’s image showcases a small section of a massive sandstone cliff in Point Roberts, Washington. Point Roberts is a pene-exclave of the USA, meaning it is American soil, but you have to go through Canada to access it by land. It has some small but beautiful ocean-side parks.
These sandstone cliffs have stood seemingly forever, yet they are slowly vanishing. If you look at the center of the pic, you can see a groove running downwards. The sand is almost constantly in motion, trickling back down to the sea as it slowly erodes away.
The sound is like a soft, gentle rain. It will take innumerable human lifetimes for the cliffs to be gone, but in the fullness of time, they will stand no more.
Even the most permanent-seeming of things in the created universe have an expiry date. The sun itself will eventually burn out if God hasn’t come back by then.
The little blue planet, third from the sun, that we call Earth will pass away.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Matthew 24:35 ESV
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. Isaiah 66:17 ESV
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 2 Peter 3:10 ESV
And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” Hebrews 1:10-12 ESV
The final end to the existing physical order is not something we need to fear. The same God who created it all with a word, who stands outside the physical realm, remains, and He promises His faithful a new home.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:1-6 ESV
As we await that day, we steward the physical realm to the best of our abilities, all the while recognizing that God created it for our use.
The seas may dry up, the climate might change, the magnetic poles might swap end over end, and the mountains fall into the sea. Yet, we can hold fast because the God we worship remains the same, regardless of our earthly situation.
God is in control and totally dependable. Praise His name.
I really enjoy waterfalls. They can be tiny, like one I know on Stoney Creek (perhaps 18 inches), or tall like Helmcken Falls (467 feet) near Clearwater. They might be narrow enough to step over or very broad, like Dawson Falls (over 150 feet).
Most of them carve out basins underneath the drop. The constant falling water erodes everything underneath, down into the bedrock in many cases. It’s almost as if the waterfall wants to keep the water for itself.
Waterfalls fail in that task. Eventually, the power of the river pushed out through and beyond the basin. The water won’t be thwarted in its goal to move downstream.
I’m reminded of God’s marvelous grace when I think of waterfalls. He pours rivers of mercy, healing, blessing, joy, peace, and spiritual gifts into the lives of those who believe on Him.
Like the basin, we try and keep it all to ourselves. We want the blessings to stay in our lives, yet we hesitate to share them with others, so we build floodgates of “me” and “mine” to hold the blessings in.
It is as if we’re afraid that if we share the blessings and grace, somehow God’s supply of those marvelous gifts might run dry. We get prideful about the gifts we have been given and think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
Ironically, when we open the floodgates and let the grace and mercy flow into the lives of those around us, we’re doubly blessed. God not only continues to pour into our lives, but we also see the blessings of others respond to His life-giving and sustaining gift.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. Isaiah 44:3-4
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7:38
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Revelation 22:1
Until next time, may you open wide and let the streams of God’s grace and mercy flow through you to bring life to others who are thirsting.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed,
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
One summer in my late teens, I worked for an oilfield service company. I was a grunt laborer and traveled into the field doing whatever necessary and unpleasant work needed to be done.
For a while, we had a beaver problem. Beavers are one way God uses His animals to mold and shape His creation. Their system of dam building can transform an area incredibly over time.
This particular beaver had decided to dam a culvert on a small creek, causing the road to flood. I’d get out of the truck, don hip waders, and pull the dam apart. In a day or two, the busy beaver would have it rebuilt. Various crews tore the dam down on multiple occasions.
The company I worked for even brought someone in to dynamite the dam and the beaver’s lodge. Even that didn’t work. The determined rodent started to rebuild. In the end, they called a trapper in and removed the beaver from the area.
Sometimes, we can be like that very determined rodent. We slave away at things, only to have them fail. Then we do it all over again and wonder why it doesn’t work.
Author Rita Brown once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”It’s a profound quote often falsely attributed to Albert Einstein and others.
We try to live and serve under our own direction and power rather than relying on the leading of the Spirit. It’s a form of insanity.
Only God’s plans are infallible. Only God’s ways will lead us to the right place. We need the Spirit.
We were given the Spirit as a helper.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. John 14:16
…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 1 Corinthians 12:11
As believers, we have choices. We can work feverishly but in futility. Or we can trust the Spirit to lead and trust the Lord to produce fruit.
I pray we are all a little less like that beaver and a lot more like Jesus.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed,
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
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These blooms are on a miniature rose bush in our backyard. It was given to us as a gift by visiting friends some years ago. We eventually moved it outside.
It has been moved several times, and almost died at least twice, but it keeps on growing and blooming. It is a hardy plant.
When I took the photo yesterday, my mind wandered back many years, to a time when I was working in a bank.
I walked into the florist to pick up some flowers as a gift. As I stood paying for my purchase, I noticed some roses tossed into the trash can.
I inquired about them and was informed that they had been damaged in shipping, with the outer petals frozen. They looked fine to me, and I persuaded the florist to give them to me.
I took the roses to my office, placed them in a vase, and set them in the sunny window. They opened over the course of the next few days. The outer petals turned black, but the rest of each rose was beautiful and fragrant.
To me, the dark outer petals framed the beautiful inner beauty of the roses. I don’t recall ever seeing roses that beautiful before or since.
That is how the Lord sometimes sees us. We have been damaged on the outside through circumstance or bad choices, and the world seems ready to discard us.
He rescues us and places us in a warm and safe spot. We bloom under His care. Our past imperfections provide a beautiful frame to show off our newly revealed beauty.
His love, forgiveness, and acceptance let us bloom to our best. We slowly open and become more and more like Him.
Paul alludes to this idea as he speaks of our becoming like Christ and God’s promise to finish His work in us.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.Philippians 1:3-11 ESV
Until next time, may the Love of Jesus fill you with joy and allow you to blossom and become all God has created you to be.
Our society is fascinated with the idea of zombies, the so-called “walking dead”. Your local bookstore probably has all kinds of zombie stories. Numerous television shows and movies feature battles against the living dead as a central theme.
I believe that the walking dead are all around us, but they aren’t anything like the media portrays them. These people seem perfectly normal, even happy in many ways. Their faces are not grotesque masks, and their body parts are not falling off. These dead are ordinary in every way.
All people are dead in their sin and trespass. All of us start as walking dead and continue unless God releases us.
“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 ESV
Our sin destines us for eternal living torment. Unless we are born again of the Spirit, we never truly experience living.
“Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” John 3:4-7 ESV
It is no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of people you see around you daily are dead in their sins. They are the walking dead.
The dead cannot seek God. The dead cannot choose God. We must take the gospel to them and allow the Spirit to do the work of bringing them back from among the vast hordes of the dead.
The cure for the actual walking dead isn’t to shoot or stab them in the head. It is to bring Jesus to them.
Many Christians are hesitant to share the truth of Jesus. It is often fear that holds us back. Fear of rejection or of messing up the message, and more, can inhibit us. Yet, our message is the only hope these people have. All other ways leave them on the path of destruction.
How significant is the need? Next time you’re out and about, take a look around. Most people you encounter are walking dead in their sin and have no way to rescue themselves.
Unlike the zombies of fiction, these people cannot bring you into their realm. They cannot undo the work of Christ. We might stumble over them for a while, but we are secure in Christ, so there is no reason to fear them.
Death has no hold on the believer; it has lost its sting. We will physically die, but our future is a berth in glory. The devil may accuse us, and our stumbles mark us as guilty, but the righteousness of Christ Himself redeems us.
I urge you to look around with open eyes to see how big the harvest field truly is. Then, may you share the truth of freedom and life.
Some years ago, my friend John gave me some old wooden cigar boxes. Neither of us is a smoker, but he had managed to collect quite a few of the little boxes over the years. Like me, he enjoys storing his treasures in small wooden boxes or tins of various types. The treasures can be anything from pencils and pens to nuts and bolts. I have always enjoyed boxes and containers of “stuff.”
I have one tin filled with such treasures as pocket knives, a bear claw, some arrowheads, a penknife that belonged to my grandfather, and a couple of inexpensive pocket watches. Still another holds USB memory sticks. I like to think of them as childlike treasures not childish.
I even have a few of those hollowed-out books that are really boxes sitting on my various bookshelves. They, too, hold “irreplaceable treasures.” Things like fossil shark’s teeth, shiny rocks, a compass that belonged to my grandfather, a letter opener made from a deer antler, and some of his World War II memorabilia. Nothing that would be of any value to anyone else but irreplaceable to me.
If you have been reading for any length of time, you will know that I also enjoy thrift stores, garage sales, and old-style small-town hardware shops.
I’ve panned for gold, scoured abandoned farmsteads for collectible “stuff,” and picked more than my share of interesting rocks and minerals in my travels.
I have never found anything that could be considered a great treasure or have substantial monetary value. It is the hunt for the unusual that I enjoy. I suppose that’s my childlike sense of wonder coming out. Some might say childish, but I prefer childlike.
Believers are called to be childlike.
“…calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-4
Like children, only in the sense that we learn to trust our Father, as a young child trusts their parents. We are not called to set aside our intellect or reason, but we are called to be humble and trust. Childlike not childish.
There is another reason Jesus called us to be little children. Children have little to bring to the table.
In the days of Jesus, children were amongst the lowest class of citizens. They had no rights, no power, and no wealth. That is hard for us to believe when today, children seem to be a privileged class. We place great value on them. The pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme, from highly marginalized to being worshipped.
Amongst other things, Jesus was making the point that the gospel was for marginalized people, not just the wealthy or middle class. It is for the sick, the poor, the addicted, the lonely, the undesirables, the unlovable, and in general, those we might feel uncomfortable sitting next to in a church service.
Christ had remarkable compassion for the misfits of the day. They had nothing to bring but faith.
In reality, you and I are misfits as well. We bring nothing but faith, and that is a gift from God. We are broken sinners who offer nothing special to God. It is by His grace that we are saved, not by our merit.
We have no right to have churches filled with one ethnic group or one social class. That distorts the gospel and sends the message that you don’t belong if you are not like us.
Churches are not meant to be filled with smug, self-righteous, perfect, homogeneous people. They are designed to be filled with people who know that they are broken and bring nothing. We are to be like the children of Jesus’ day.
We are saved by the mercy of Christ. I pray He gives us eyes to see others as He sees them and that we make time for the marginalized, the children, the misfits.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Ah, the humble mushroom. There are approximately 20,000 classified varieties, with more being catalogued all the time. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. These colorful and often strange-looking organisms have been used in cooking and traditional medicine for millennia.
This morning’s pic is a puffball mushroom, one of several varieties. Actually, that isn’t quite accurate. This is the fruit of a puffball mushroom.
The puffy bodies of mushrooms that we are familiar with are only a small part of the mushroom. The larger portion of the fungus is its extensive mycelium, hidden beneath the earth or other substrates.
The mycelium can be massive. According to one source, “The largest known living organism on earth is a fungus – an underground mycelial mat of the honey fungus in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, covering an incredible 2,385 acres.”
If there is no mycelium, there is no mushroom fruit.
The same holds true in the spiritual realm. If there is no Holy Spirit at work in us, there can never be fruit of the Spirit.
For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:11-14
The Holy Spirit allows us to discern things of the Spirit. It gives us the seed to grow spiritually. We nurture those seeds through spiritual disciplines such as reading Scripture, prayer, worship, serving, fasting, confession of sin, and more.
All the spiritual disciplines in the world cannot grow the fruit of the Spirit if we don’t have Him. People of many faiths practice spiritual disciplines, in truth, often putting Christians to shame with their devotion and faithfulness. Yet, in the end, their efforts will prove fruitless because they don’t have Him.
Are you seeing the fruit of the Spirit in your life? Certainly, fruit is seasonal, and some fruit takes longer to mature than others, but if there is none, there is a problem.
You may need to stop and ensure you are right with the Lord. Then you need to nurture what He has provided.
My prayer is that you become increasingly conformed into the image of Jesus and bear a vast harvest of the fruit of the Spirit. May your life reflect Him well.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
The remnants of old split rail fences can be found in many of the local area parks. The cedar rails are rot-resistant, and the fences are relatively easy to construct, making them ideal for many uses.
There’s an old country saying: “Good fences make good neighbors.” It’s been found in writing as early as the 1640s, but it likely far outdates them. The saying implies that boundaries, both physical and otherwise, are good. There is truth in that, but boundaries are often abused.
We like to categorize people. It helps us know who is who. We do it by gender, culture, politics, age, skin color, and so much more. It’s even done within the church. We sort by theology, baptism style, denomination, worship style, what seminary the pastor attended, and more.
It becomes problematic when we start to see categories rather than people. We can begin to focus on the differences rather than the commonalities. Rather than a tool to help facilitate understanding and dialogue, we begin to exclude based on what fence our neighbor lives behind.
It’s an easy trap to fall into, particularly when dealing with contentious issues within the church. I can easily fall into the trap of seeing people as one of “them” rather than individuals. I find myself doing that I must repent of as sin and seek reconciliation if need be.
The fact that someone comes from a different denominational background or differs on non-essential theological issues doesn’t make them our enemies. If their faith is in Christ per the gospel, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Like blood families, Christian families can have differences and struggles. It’s a fact of life and an opportunity to give and receive forgiveness, grace, and love.
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.1 John 2:9-11
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.1 John 3:15
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.1 John 4:19-21
Let’s use our fences to understand, but let us also remember to love.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
The Easter season is over for another year. In Jesus’ day, it was still a time of intense instruction for the original disciples. They would spend their next few weeks being tutored and instructed by Jesus, and He would appear to many people, confirming his death and resurrection.
It would all come to a head when Jesus gathered His disciples on a mountaintop and gave them the Great Commission to evangelize the world.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20
It was a seemingly impossible task. How could a few followers who just weeks before had been hiding for their lives take such a message to an entire world? Of course, they couldn’t, although they got well into Europe, Asia, and Africa, most giving up their lives in the process.
It was an ongoing commission taken up by every successive generation of believers, and continues today. Every believer has been tasked with sharing the gospel and making disciples. You and I are included in this group of “every believer.”
Not all of us are evangelists or pastors, but we all have a story, a “testimony” of how Jesus changed our lives. Each of us has been given a unique circle of influence to reach.
We don’t all have to travel to strange and foreign lands to be “missionaries.” There are plenty of people around us who don’t yet know Him. We can serve from wherever we are.
Do you remember your joy at discovering Jesus? You can help bring that joy to others.
We can share our stories, pray, and love the people in our circle. It can be uncomfortable to do at times and may lead to some rejection, but the results and rewards are eternal.
Are you unsure where to start or how to do it? Pray for the Lord to give you opportunities and courage and to put receptive hearts in your path. It’s impossible on our own, but He empowers us, dwells in us and goes before us.
Our efforts don’t have to be perfect and polished. We don’t have to know everything or have the answers to every question and objection. It is the Spirit who does the work of opening hearts.
Our job is to be faithful with what knowledge and gifts the Lord has given us.
I pray you learn to be bold for the Lord.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
