Tag: Christian living

  • 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

    __________________________________________ 

    Please like and share this with your friends and those in your circle of influence.

    ___________________________________________ 

    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.”

    Back to our Home page

  • God’s Incredible Promise to You

    God’s Incredible Promise to You

    Yesterday, I was sitting in my office at home watching the rain fall. At times it came down by the bucketful, and at others it was just a wet drizzle, something like walking through a cloud

    At one point, just for a few seconds, the sun peeked through the clouds, while the rain kept falling. The sunbeams caught the rain, giving the drops the appearance of millions of delicate diamonds or prisms suspended in the air. 

    I simply do not have words for the beauty of the moment, and it was just that “a moment”. Within a matter of two or three seconds at the most, the sunshine was gone, and the moment had passed. Had I not been looking out the window at that very moment, I would have missed it all.

    I thought about all those raindrops suspended in the light. I wondered how many drops were falling in the backyard alone, let alone the entire landscape around me. 

    I did a quick internet search and came up with a crude number. In the backyard, something in the order of 125,000 raindrops a second, assuming a moderate rainfall. Over the city of Abbotsford, that’s about 5.2 billion raindrops a second or 19 trillion an hour. I know those numbers are very rough, but they stagger my imagination.

    Trying to comprehend the number of raindrops got me thinking of God’s incredible promise to Abram (soon to be Abraham)

    After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:1-6

    God’s incredible promis is promise beyond comprehension, yet a true promise, nonetheless. It was fulfilled (and continues to be fulfilled) in ways that Abram could never have comprehended. Every believer is a spiritual child of Abraham.

    What was Abram’s response to the promise? He believed, and God credited it to him as righteousness.

    God also makes promises beyond our comprehension to us. He promises forgiveness for our sins. He promises life everlasting. He promises that we shall be joint heirs with Christ. He promises to return.

    What should our response be to His promises? If Abram is any example, and I believe he is, we should believe. God never breaks a promise. Our whole future is predicated on one decision … do we believe and trust God’s incredible promises?

    Until next time, may you believe and may it be credited to you as righteousness. If you already believe, ponder the miracle of your salvation and praise god for His mercy.

    Be blessed

    Kevin