Category: Matthew

  • Life – God has his hand on believers’ lives

    salmon eggs - Stonet Creek November 2025

    Yesterday, I was too slow registering for my Aquafit class, and didn’t get in. The class size is limited and fills within a minute of the registration opening for the day.

    With no class to attend, I  opted for a walk along Stony Creek. It was not much past sunrise and cloudy, so I didn’t take many photos.

    The salmon run is on, and one of the first things I saw was the carcasses of dead salmon lining the banks of the creek. I wondered if I was too late to see any live ones.

    With careful watching, I did see a fair number of living salmon and some trout as well. They were hiding under root balls and undercut banks, gathering strength for the next part of the journey upstream. https://www.facebook.com/reel/857922200042646

    I also managed to get a view of some salmon eggs. Once the eggs are laid and fertilized, the parents die, leaving their bodies to feed scavengers.

    It got me thinking of life. We’re born, live our lives, and die. Of course, humans have an afterlife, something the Bible doesn’t talk about for animals. You can insert your own theology at that point.

    Sometimes our journey from womb to tomb seems to stretch on forever. Other times, it races by in a blur. At times, we are oblivious to the passage of time, while at others we are acutely aware of every passing second.

    We pass through our lives quickly, unable to fully process everything we have seen, heard, and done. Much of it we can’t even remember. Yet, our omnibenevolent (infinitely, all good) God sees and knows every detail. Nothing escapes Him. God has His hand on believers’ lives.

    He knows us before we are born, and He cares about every moment of our lives.

    For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:13-16

    “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34

    Believers never walk alone. He knows us and cares for us beyond measure. He is there before we enter the world, through our lives, and even after physical death takes us.

    Wherever you are in the journey of life, if you have Jesus, know He will carry you through. We know that God has His hand on believers’ lives.

    Take heart and praise His holy name.

    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.

  • Childlike faith – not childish

    I was walking Misty Mountain of Valley Hideaway (more  commonly known as Misty), our border collie, around the neighborhood.

    We encountered a mom and daughter out for a walk. The daughter was a toddler, barely able to walk, but she wanted to pet the “big doggie.” 

    With Mom’s permission, I knelt beside Misty, holding her tightly by the collar. The girl was a little shy, even though her mom told us that she had two dogs of her own at home. 

    She came a little closer, then she pulled up close to my friend, knowing that he would protect her from the “big doggie”. She worked up a little more nerve and moved up close to me for protection, but stayed away from Misty. When she was comfortable that we would protect her, she slowly reached out and gave the big doggie a pet.

    She didn’t know us, but she had faith that we would protect her.

    That’s the kind of faith we are called to have in God. A faith that trusts even when we don’t understand everything that’s happening.

    At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And 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 18:1-4

    A childlike faith, not childish faith. We have the Bible, and we have intellect. We can reason, study, and learn more about Him. There is a wealth of great Christian material out there to read, to listen to, and to watch, which can help us grow in our understanding. We can be childlike in our trust and mature in our understanding and practices.

    It’s a balance. We don’t need to understand everything to accept His love. If we waited until we fully understood everything about God before trusting Him, it would never happen. We’ll never fully understand Him, after all He’s God and we’re not, nor will we ever be.

    If we waited until we understood fully every detail of the Bible and all its implications before we trusted Him, we would never get there. Most of the Bible can be readily understood by you and me, but there are parts where godly men and women of great wisdom, intellect, and training can’t agree, or fully understand. There are areas of prophecy that no one will understand fully until after they happen.

    At the same time, once we know Him, we are called to a deeper relationship with Him, and that comes from spending time with Him in prayer, study, and obedience.

    Until next time, may you trust Him as a child does, but grow deeper and more mature in that relationship every day. Childlike, not childish. May your faith walk be childlike not childish.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

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


    Subscribe today 

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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.

    From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.