Marching Forth!

For the last two days, I encountered a strange, intermittent rustling noise that disturbed the early morning silence.  On a couple occasions I rose from prayer to try to find where the sound was coming from:  was it behind the lounge, near the window or in the attic?  This morning (for a few minutes) I was convinced the most reasonable explanation was the movement of air in the attic caused sound to come through the flexible duct through the register--until I finally found the culprit.  A click beetle had somehow made its way into the attic and found itself trapped in the white plastic lens of a ceiling light.  It could see it crawl up the lens, roll back to the bottom, and then stubbornly try again. It is remarkable the beetle had the strength and endurance to continue actively trying to escape the ceiling light for over 24 hours with no water or food.  The constant effort to escape the plastic prison illustrated well the instinct God put in living creatur...

What comes to mind when you think of being prosperous?  The 1828 Webster's Dictionary describes "prosperous" as:  " advancing in the pursuit of any thing desirable; making gain or increase; thriving; successful ."  It is likely people have a range of views of what prosperity looks like, that it is gauged by financial net worth, possessions, being the boss rather than a new hire, one who owns houses and properties rather than the person cleaning them.  The Bible speaks of people who were prosperous, and the Scriptural examples fundamentally have little to do with any of these worldly metrics. Genesis 39:2-3 in the KJV reads, " And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.  3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand ."  There are likely few who would think a slave could be prosperous, but that is exactly how Josep...

In the New Testament, water baptism follows a basic pattern of personal willingness coupled with personal desire.  This is one reason why many Christian churches require the individual being baptised to have an understanding of the spiritual significance of water baptism after being born again by the Gospel.  Being baptised is symbolic that as Jesus died, was buried and rose again from the dead, we who were once dead in sins have now been raised to new, everlasting life by the power of the Gospel.  We are baptised in water in obedience to Christ, for identification with Christ and as a public testimony we have chosen to follow Christ.  Our salvation hinges upon our personal choice to repent and trust in Jesus, and the decision to be baptised in water is also a personal choice that requires our willingness. I see a connection between our willingness to submit ourselves to God in receiving the Gospel to be saved from our sins (for God will not force forgiveness or salv...

The Bible is full of encouragement for those who trust in God, and sometimes it is found in unexpected places.  This morning I was blessed by a pattern I considered that sprang from reading  Genesis 36:6 :  " Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob ."  After decades of living in Haran, Jacob returned to the land of Canaan a wealthy man with a huge family.  Esau was a wealthy and powerful man in his own right, having 400 men who followed him when he greeted Jacob upon his return.  Yet there was no power play between them for the land of Canaan:  when their flocks and herds became too many for the land to support, Esau voluntarily chose to leave. I found this very encouraging.  From the beginning, God is established as Creator and sovereign ...