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Gleanings From The Word

Category: nature

  • God sees the big picture

    small waterfall, a part of the big picture - a larger waterfall

    We spotted this lovely little waterfall a week or so ago on a drive down a local area forest service road. What you can’t see is the bigger picture. It’s a tiny section on the lower part of a waterfall that probably drops 150 feet or more.

    The area we traveled through has several reasonably large falls, and, because of the rain, dozens of beautiful seasonal falls of various sizes. I always find being near a set of falls relaxing, and seeing the water’s power reminds me of God’s power.

    Just as the image today shows a complete waterfall, but misses the big picture, so it is with our lives. We often live as if we are the center of the universe and if everything that happens is about us.

    In truth, while every one of us is loved by God, we are just one of billions of people alive today, and God only knows how many have come before us and will come after.  The thought that we are one of many shouldn’t cause us to despair.

    God created each and every one of us in his own image. Every single one of us is uniquely crafted and gifted by God. Each of us has a divine purpose to fulfill in bringing about God’s kingdom. Knowing that should bring us joy.

    The person we are today isn’t who we were in the past, and it’s not who we will be in the future. I’m not the man I was 10 or 20 years ago, nor will I be the same in 10 or 20 years from now.

    The big picture of who we are in God’s economy is something we can’t yet see. I hope it will be revealed in glory, but even if it isn’t, we will be able to rejoice in our fellowship with Him, and in the wonder that He chose to love us and adopt us as his children.

    We get a fresh start when we become believers

    “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” I John 5:1

    …  since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; … 1 Peter 1 ESV

    The Lord will finish the work He started in us. The final big picture will be something more amazing than we can ever imagine, and as believers, we will get to see it.

    That’s a reason to celebrate.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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  • What’s your anchor? Where are you rooted?

    What’s your anchor? Where are you rooted?

    cherry blossoms

    It’s cherry blossom season. As I drive around town, I see more and more of them in bloom. It’s a beautiful sight, especially when there are many trees together.

    The state of the blooms depends on many factors. Particular microclimates can have their effects as the tree receives more or less warmth and sunlight. How well-tended and rooted the tree is makes a difference. A poorly placed, less well-rooted tree is less healthy than a well-rooted, well-tended one.

    It’s a truth that has spiritual parallels. Psalm 1 is one of the Scriptures that speaks of being well-rooted.

    Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
    nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law[  of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Psalm 1

    We are in the second week of Lent, which has a theme of “trusting in God vs trusting in the world.” The church historically concentrates on selected readings from Jeremiah and Luke. It asks in essence, “Where are you rooted?”

    Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.  “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, or it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8

    As we travel the road from Palm Sunday towards our Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection, it’s a perfect time to consider our roots.

    Are you rooted in the Word and Spirit, or are you anchored to the world? Are you born again but trying to live the old life? God knows your heart. Your life shows the fruit (or lack thereof).

    I pray you are well rooted and growing in the Lord.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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    All contents, “Gleanings From the Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2026 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, “Gleanings From the Word.”

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