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Gleanings From The Word

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  • Busy Beaver – another helper

    Busy Beaver – another helper

    Beaver

    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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    All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word. 



    Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”


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  • Treasure of trash? The cross of Christ.

    Treasure of trash? The cross of Christ.

    Canada Gosse nest with eggs
    Canada Goose nest

    I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday rather than more  than twenty years ago. Genni, the Wonder Dog, and I walked around the lake. 

    Up ahead of us, three boys, the eldest perhaps aged ten and the other two maybe eight and six, were busy at the lakeshore. As we drew closer, they came to “pet the dog” and show us the great treasure they had found.

    Two goose eggs that they had fished out of the lake were in a Ziploc bag. Although they were covered in weeds and algae, they were nonetheless intact.

    “They still have the yolks in them,” said the oldest. “They probably got drownded.”

    “We’re taking them home to keep,” said the middle one.

    The eldest pointed to the middle boy with pride and said, “He gets the award for being the most disgusting human being alive. He reached into the muck and weeds and got them for us.”

    We spoke for a couple more minutes, and then they carried on their way. I saw them later sharing the news of their great treasure with another couple out walking their dog.

    I suspect the boy’s mother will be less than thrilled with the treasure the boys bring home, especially if it ends up in a drawer somewhere for a week or two, and they discover it by the smell.

    Such is life. One person’s treasure is another person’s trash.

    It is that way with the Gospel. Those of us who have found Christ are called to tell others about it. It is the most wonderful news in the world. It is worth more than all the gold and diamonds in the world. Everyone can be free of the penalty of his or her sin. God loves us enough to have died for us. We can have eternal life.

    To some, though, that treasure is simply foolishness.

    For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 

    Each person must make up their own mind whether the gospel is a treasure worth dying for or foolish words. Do not be discouraged by those who reject the message. That is between them and God. Continue to share the treasure with all who will listen.

    Until next time, may you share the truth of Jesus Christ with many.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

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