Tag: Christian living

  • I Can’t even Imagine

    This diptych (a work made up of two matching parts) shows two things. Firstly, it shows how my mind and imagination work. Second, it shows why it takes me a long time to walk in the woods. The right-hand side is obviously an ai generated visual of the sort of thing I imagine when I’m out in the woods.

    I have a pretty vivid imagination, but there are some things I cannot, for the life of me, get a grasp on. Here are a few.

     For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.1 Corinthians 13:9-12 ESV

    What will it be like when we see the Lord face to face and others fully modeled into everything God created them to be? I can’t imagine.

    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  Revelation 21:1-4 ESV

    What will glory look like?

    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV

    How long is eternity?

    There are plenty of things about God, His Word and what is to come that I can’t fully grasp. I’m okay with that. I know it will be better than anything I can dream up, even in my vivid imagination.

    There are also some things I do understand. He loved me enough to come and die to free me. He seals me with His Spirit. He is shaping me into the image of His Son. I might not fully understand those things, but His Word, the testimony of the church, and what I have seen and experienced convince me of their reality.

    We don’t have to understand everything fully to know that Jesus is the best thing that has ever happened to us. We don’t need to understand fully to share the truth with others.

    Don’t let what you don’t know hold you back. Read the Word, apply it to life and grow deeper in your faith. Give Him all the glory.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    My imagination cannot picture what it will be like to see the Lord face to face. I do not need to understand that fully to trust it, or to keep telling others about Him.

    TAKEAWAY

    Can you imagine what it will be like to see the Lord face to face, and to see others fully become everything God created them to be?

    You don’t have to understand everything fully to know that Jesus is the best thing that has ever happened to you.

    Don’t let what you don’t know hold you back. Read the Word, apply it to your life, and grow deeper in your faith.

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  • Two bees or not two bees?

    Thoughts on Psalm 119

    I snapped this shot in the backyard recently for no particular purpose. I didn’t realize there were two bees inside the dahlia flower. One is quite visible; the second is almost hidden by the first bee and the flower petals.

    Our backyard is popular with the bees. Usually, I see bumblebees like these, and occasionally a honeybee. There are also plenty of solitary bees. There are more than 50 bee species that live in BC, most of which are quite small, and I just don’t notice them.

    I might be related to Winnie the Pooh because when I see bees, I think of honey. Bumble bees don’t make honey the way honeybees do. They make far less, not enough to be harvestable; still, in my mind, a bee equals honey.

    Thinking of honey brought to mind a scripture passage.

    Oh how I love your law!

    It is my meditation all the day.

    Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,

    for it is ever with me.

    I have more understanding than all my teachers,

    for your testimonies are my meditation.

    I understand more than the aged,

    for I keep your precepts.

    I hold back my feet from every evil way,

    in order to keep your word.

    I do not turn aside from your rules,

    for you have taught me.

    How sweet are your words to my taste,

    sweeter than honey to my mouth!

    Through your precepts I get understanding;

    therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119:97-104 ESV

    Psalm 119 is devoted to praising the Law of God, its beauty and usefulness. 

    It’s an alphabetical acrostic poem, with its 176 verses grouped into 8 verse sections. The first letter (in Hebrew) of each section begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet: aleph, beth and so on. It’s a marvel of literary construction. It’s not the only alphabetic acrostic in the Psalms but is certainly the largest,

    More importantly, though, is its deep, resonant theme of the goodness of God and His Word. I wonder if we have the same appreciation for the Scriptures that the Psalmist did.

    I love reading the Word, but I confess I don’t always think of it as sweeter than honey. I can often find other things to read or fill my time with instead of the Scriptures.

    When I do read it, I sometimes neglect to consider it as a whole. It was written over 1500 years, on three continents in 3 languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) by about 40 authors. Yet it presents an incredibly cohesive story.

    It’s a book that has survived many efforts to eradicate it and still remains the best-selling book in the world today. That doesn’t include the number of Bibles available as apps or online. It’s a trend that shows no sign of ending. In fact, in the US, the number of Bibles sold in 2025 doubled the sales of 2018. 

    Are you reading yours? Is it sweeter than honey? Are you applying what you read?

    Read the Word. Read the Word. Read the Word.

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    Two bees hid in a backyard dahlia and got me thinking about honey and Psalm 119. It left me asking if I treasure God’s word as sweeter than honey, or just fill my time elsewhere.

    TAKEAWAY

    Is God’s word sweeter than honey to you, or do you turn to other things instead?

    Remember the Bible is one story, not scattered pieces, even though it took 1,500 years and about 40 authors to write.

    Are you reading your Bible? Are you applying what you read?

    #Dahlia #Bumblebee #ScriptureOfTheDay #BackyardGarden

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