Tag: Faith

  • House cats and petty squabbles

    two cats curled up asleep on a blanket

    We have two grand cats, which means the family has two house cats that sometimes visit us. They most likely visit when we look after our granddaughters, especially if the girls have friends over.

    Leeloo (the female) and Vader (the male) are siblings who have been together from birth. Like human siblings, they can be best friends or want nothing to do with one another.

    Yesterday afternoon, they wandered down for a visit. Leeloo hopped onto a blanket on the couch, where she sometimes sits beside Kathy. It’s also one of Vader’s favorite spots. He was not impressed that his sister beat him to it.

    She chased him away with a few nasty ears-back looks, and a couple of bats on the head with her paw. He gave up for the moment and spent the next couple of hours trying to convince her to go somewhere else. After a while, it became apparent that she no longer wanted the spot but also didn’t want him to have it.

    Eventually, he forced his way up, and they reluctantly shared it, with neither particularly happy about it. They drifted off to sleep, each trying to nudge the other off the blanket.

    Now, you’d think that as human adults, we’d be more mature than a couple of house cats. Apparently not.

    What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:1-4 ESV

    The lusts of our eyes and hearts lead us to quarrels and divisions. At times, we want things just because someone else has them. We can be jealous, petty, and greedy. Even as believers, we can fall into this trap.

    Fortunately, James reminds us that the Lord offers a way out.

    But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Luke 4:6-10 ESV

    As we grow to be more like our Lord, may we be less prone to pettiness and jealousy and have less desire for the things of this world.

    May we learn to be more mature and gracious than a couple of house cats.

    Kevin

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  • Called to be Stewards of God’s Creation

    Mount Baker from Abbotsford January 2025
    Mount Bakefrfrom Abbotsford Jan 2025

    Kathy and I have decided to add something new to  our Bible reading plans. We do those separately as we are using different plans and translations. I found a “Reading Through The Church Fathers” in a year plan.

    That plan takes us through a curated introduction to the early church fathers over the course of the year. It’s made available by C. Michael Patton at Credo House Ministries.  The texts for the day are provided along with a narrated version of the text. We watch and listen together, stopping to discuss.

    As Protestants, we often pay little heed to the church fathers. That is to our detriment. Like any commentator or preacher, the “fathers” can be in error in places but provide a wealth of insight into the faith and the Scriptures.

    Most of these fathers lived before the Roman Catholic/Protestant separation, the Orthodox schism, and other divisions. They are a part of our shared Christian history and are enriching to read.

    With that unsolicited plug set aside, let’s move into today’s Gleanings.

    I recently read the Psalms, and the latter part of Psalm 65 particularly struck me.

    You visit the earth and water it;
    you greatly enrich it;
    the river of God is full of water;
    you provide their grain,
    for so you have prepared it.

    You water its furrows abundantly,
    settling its ridges,
    softening it with showers,
    and blessing its growth.

    You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

    The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills gird themselves with joy,

    the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
    the valleys deck themselves with grain,
    they shout and sing together for joy. 

    Psalm 65:9-13 ESV

    God, the creator of all things, lavishes great attention on His Creation. He cares for it and tends to it. He is not an absentee landlord who allows things to happen to His creation.

    God appointed his children to be the stewards of this little planet we call home.

    God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 ESV

    That verse has often been used to justify the wanton, wholesale rape of our home, its resources, and the exploitation of people. Yet, when we compare it to the Psalmist’s description of God’s tender care, we see how wrong such a view is.

    We are called to be faithful stewards of all God has provided. Yes, the land, the sea, and the sky are provided for us to use. We do not have the right to abuse them, however. The abuses we pour out on God’s creation not only have the potential for harm to the generations to come but are an affront to God.

    I am not advocating that we all become tree-huggers. While the environmental movement has many valuable elements, it also contains much pseudoscience and earth worship. I am advocating that we take a little more care of the earthly home God has provided us.

    Perhaps the little bit one person does won’t make a difference, but if each of the 7 billion people on this little blue ball, third from the sun, does a bit, the effect will be tremendous.

    Until next time, may you be a good steward of all God has given you.

    Kevin

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