Category: Acts

  • Spawning salmon point us to God

    Chinook, Pink, coho salmon at Weaver Creek

    Yesterday, Kathy and I took a little road trip. We visited the  Weaver Creek Spawning Channels and the Chehalis River Trout and Salmon Enhancement Facility. They were amazing.

    The Weaver Creek facility has 3km of manmade spawning channels, beautifully laid out for walking and viewing. Three species of salmon, sockeye, chum, and pinks, come here by the thousands to spawn and die.

    Every year, the salmon return to where they were born to spawn. No one yet understands how they know where to return.

    The salmon’s lifecycle is a miracle in itself. They are born in freshwater gravel beds and eventually travel downriver (often as much as 150 miles) to live their lives in the ocean. When it’s time to spawn, they return upstream in freshwater, overcoming a wide variety of obstacles, including waterfalls, to their place of birth.

    I found it impossible to stand there and watch the salmon without marveling at God’s incredible creative power and the beauty of what He has made.

    God has placed knowledge of their home into their hearts. In the same way, He has put a knowledge of our home into our hearts.

    In 1670, Blaise Pascal wrote,

    “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself.”

    When the Apostle Paul addressed the learned philosophers at the Areopagus, he said this…

    So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us. Acts 17:22-27 ESV

    Only God can truly fill that void in our lives. Everything else will fail.

    Praise God for the wonderful way in which we are made, and that He calls us to Him.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    You might also like

    Wolves – a lesson from nature warning of false teachers

    The gospel the best news you will ever hear

    Why no one has an excuse.

  • Give Thanks – Pray without ceasing

    The busy little gray squirrel was happily munching on some  sunflower seeds someone had left. The trail is clearly marked with don’t feel the birds’ signs, but there are always plenty of seeds left around for the squirrels and birds.

    This little fellow looked to me as if he were offering a prayer of thanksgiving. He had his eyes closed right up until I snapped the shot.

    He got me thinking about the custom of saying “grace” or giving thanks before a meal. Why do we call it grace, and does the Bible tell us to do it?

    I couldn’t find a definitive answer to why it is called a grace. From early church days, a short prayer of thanks acknowledging God’s grace and provision was called a “grace,” so perhaps that’s where it comes from.

    The Bible doesn’t explicitly tell us to offer a blessing before a meal, though it does call us, in general terms, to be thankful. 


    Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you I Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

    We do see the practice modeled in Scripture.

    Jesus gave thanks after the miracles of the loaves and fishes (Matthew 14:19-21; 15:34-36). At the Last Supper, He called his followers to give thanks (Luke 24:30).

    When lost at sea, Paul offered thanks for the food.

    As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat. Acts 27:33-35 ESV

    When we give thanks for our food, we acknowledge that all things come from Him.

    Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 ESV

    For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36 ESV

    Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 ESV

    Offering a prayer of grace or thanksgiving is not a requirement given by God, but a simple acknowledgement of gratitude for His provision.

    May we learn to practice gratitude.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    Some Reading Suggestions

    The boardwalk – what others think of Jesus. Is He the only way

    Is it right belief or right living?

    The gospel – the best news ever

    The Seven Sayings of Christ on the Cross