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Gleanings From The Word

Category: devotional

  • We Are All Displaced – Find a Home With Jesus

    agroup of displaced/ refugee children from World War 2

    I’ve mentioned before that the farm just up the hill from us is being developed into a subdivision. That has displaced many small animals and birds.

    That includes brown rats. There is a misconception that brown rats carry bubonic plague, but the biggest carrier of the plague during the Dark Ages was humans, followed by black rats. 

    Still, even brown rats can be pests.  Cute in their own way, and smart, but pests, nonetheless. I don’t mind them out in the wooded areas, but once they start visiting the yard, the rules change, and they have to go.

    I don’t blame the rats for moving down the hill. After all, their home has been turned into a construction zone. I can empathize.

    All believers are displaced people. We have been transferred out of the kingdom of this world into the Kingdom of God.  As the old song (whose authorship is disputed) “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through, My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue; The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

    We are pilgrims, strangers in a hostile foreign land. That concept is threaded through Scripture but is particularly highlighted twice in Hebrews. “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” Hebrews 11:13 ESV

    “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” Hebrews 13:14 ESV

    Displaced pilgrims waiting to go home. Citizens of another land, refugees. Yet, we are far from homeless. The Kingdom of God is manifested in this life; we just won’t experience it in full until we get to glory.

    When times get hard, when discouragement comes, don’t despair. We’re not home yet.

    Hang fast, my dear friends, home is just around the corner.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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  • What Lies Ahead? God has a plan.

    Wooded trail disappearing around a bend - what lies ahead

    You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar, have an advanced degree, or have a genius-level IQ to see our world is in rough shape. Everywhere you turn, things are in turmoil. We sometimes ask ourselves, “What lies ahead?”

    It’s a fair question. Many of the problems seem insurmountable from a human perspective. What can we do about wars, crime, addictions, bad economies, corporate greed, governmental corruption, poverty, wholesale exploitation of ecosystems, and more?

    To be honest, not a lot. That doesn’t mean we don’t do our part, but big problems are a part of living in a sin-filled, fallen world. What lies ahead for this world is more problems.

    So, what keeps us from sliding into depression, despair, and utter hopelessness?

    As believers, we know the character of God, and we know that He is sovereign over everything. We know that justice will eventually prevail in the hands of God. Most importantly, God declares,

    “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

    God is speaking to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, promising their eventual restoration — so it’s a corporate promise to a people in a hard season of waiting, not a guarantee of individual comfort. That said, the theological principle it reveals about God’s character — purposeful, good, forward-looking — has deep resonance for believers in every generation.

    It doesn’t mean things will get magically better and all the problems will go away. It’s a promise from God for our future and hope.

    What lies ahead? Hard times, conflict, and more. Yet, we have hope because we know God has it under control and that better things are in store for us.

    When we see the world falling apart around us, hold fast to your faith, strive to live as Christ has commanded us, and rejoice in the promise of better things to come.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    What lies ahead – some thoughts on worry

    Tribulation and perseverance