Marching Forth!

" If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. " Colossians 3:1-2 In a sermon I heard many years ago, the pastor urged his hearers to consider how our perspective should be ordered as children of God.  Rather than being at the mercy of our circumstances, emotions or feelings, we are to remain grounded in the sovereignty and goodness of God in every season of life.  Unlike a ship adrift that is carried by wind or currents, we have an anchor for our souls by faith in Jesus Christ our Saviour.  We can see the waves and feel them beating upon us, yet we can remain immoveable, fruitful and abounding in the work of the LORD. He used an illustration of the difference Jesus makes in our lives, not to pump us up that we can feel "in control" during the storms of this life, but to know that whatever happens God remains on the throne ove...

The book of Ruth is a beautiful and heartwarming passage of virtue, kindness and redemption.  The most compelling and romantic fairy tales written by people fall infinitely short of its perfection.  This historical narrative is no work of fiction dreamed up by man but is the word of God that leads us to wonder and marvel over the Redeemer of lost sinners, Jesus Christ. The plot of the story is simple:  Naomi went to Moab to avoid a famine in Bethlehem-Judah with her husband and two sons, and she later returned widowed, childless and bitter accompanied by her loyal daughter-in-law named Ruth.  This industrious woman went to glean in a field which turned out to be owned by a rich older man named Boaz, who was unmarried, and he also happed to be a near relative of Naomi.  He was aware of Ruth and her relation to Naomi, and he did everything to generously extend kindness to Ruth. Boaz urged Ruth to only glean in his field to protect her from unsavoury men.  He ...

Recently I considered how we often wonder in trying circumstances, "What should I do?"  Often we can be focused on what actions we ought to take to relieve our difficult situation.  People who fear God also think about what God holds us responsible to do or what other Christians or friends counsel us to do.  With so many voices and our potentially self-seeking motives, we can experience analysis paralysis and fail to do what we should. I have come to find out by reading the Psalms and other portions of God's word (the Bible) that what we will do is more important that what we should do--for this wise counsel applies to every situation of life.  For instance, knowing we should wash the car because we cannot see out of the windows is not as important as washing the car.  The Bible is packed with revelations and affirmations of God's will for our lives that is as relevant for household chores, business decisions and personal relationships--really everything. When ...

The infamous tragedy of the Levite and his concubine recorded in Judges 19 was a wake-up call that united the nation to stamp out the abominable conduct of Benjamites in Gibeah.  The gang-rape and murder of the concubine by men of Gibeah was savage, and when the Levite posted her corpse in pieces throughout the tribes the whole nation took notice and united to take decisive action.  Such a shocking thing had not been done or even heard of before, and when the Levite sent notices with decomposing body parts of his concubine to all the tribes it illustrated the sinful rot in the nation that literally was slaughtering their citizens. I do not believe the Benjamites or those in Gibeah were worse than any other tribe in Israel, for many times the book of Judges explains how in those days every man did what was right in his own eyes.  Because mankind is naturally sinful, what happened during that fateful night in Gibeah was just a small sample of how wickedness had corrupted ...