Marching Forth!

Today marks the beginning of a new year, a year of vast potential, purpose, and promise.  In His wisdom God designed the earth to orbit the sun and orchestrated the division of seasons, months, weeks, and days.  If all we counted were days without hours, time would hold little promise for the future.  There would be no possibility for a year to hold the potential of being "the year where everything changed for good."  A new year opens countless possibilities, and reminds those whose eyes have been opened to the new life we have granted us through faith in Christ.  Every day is a new day to seek God and worship Him, as we grow in His love and wisdom.  Our God is not one of second chances but new beginnings!  Every new day and every new year is one to take hold of as a gift from God and relish the opportunities and even challenges He places before us. It is now 2014, two-thousand and fourteen years since the birth of Jesus Christ, the One who makes all...

" Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly ." Romans 5:1-6 During a drive last night, part of this passage continued to rattle through my mind:  " Now hope does not disappoint ."  Everyone alive at some time has been disappointed, and for good reason.  In every heart there are dreams and expectations that this ever shifting world has unceremoniously shattered.  In the KJV the word " hope does not ...

How important it is to have a biblical worldview!  God is revealed in scripture as the only true source of wisdom.  If we only see as men see, we are spiritually senseless and without wisdom from above.  Libraries contain a wealth of knowledge, and reading is required for understanding and application.  Without a vantage point provided by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we walk though life like an illiterate man wandering through a library.  He may be familiar with the appearance of books, flip through the pages of large tomes, and admire the pictures, but the captions and text remain unknown to him. We live in a world that largely claims (by whose or what standard I cannot tell) man is inherently good.  Besides, who is permitted to say what is right and wrong anymore with authority?  The Bible has a very different view of things.  It tells us that there is none good, no not one.  When measured against God's righteous standard ther...

It is easy to focus on the symptoms and neglect diagnosing and dealing with the source.  For years I have dealt with a shoulder injury by avoiding actions that cause additional pain.  I take care not to lie directly on my shoulder at night, and ensure I stretch properly and warm up before physical activity.  To this point I have not taken the time to seek a professional opinion or pay for scans.  Instead of having the cause fix, history says I prefer to treat my symptoms through strengthening exercises, avoiding painful activities, applying ice and pain relieving rubs, and using anti-inflammatory medications.  Eventually, I keep telling myself, I will have the shoulder examined and scanned.  But in the meantime, I will keep treating my symptoms rather than seeking out the cure. I do not believe I am alone in this.  Governments, businesses, churches, families, and individuals sometimes see a symptom as a problem rather than ferreting out the cause and...

No one likes the idea of confinement.  No one thinks, "I'd really like to see more restrictions placed upon my life."  But there is one Person who willingly accepted personal restrictions beyond anything we could ever imagine:  the Infinite, Almighty God took the form of a human being in the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was in a human sense free to do anything He wanted, yet He voluntarily chose to take upon Himself the form of a servant and was obedient to His Heavenly Father in everything. Jesus is the Creator of all, for without Him nothing was made that is made ( John 1:1-2 ).  He existed from eternity past and had previously no date of birth.  But all that changed about 2,000 years ago when He was conceived in the virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit ( Is. 7:14 ) and was born in the city of Bethlehem ( Matt. 2:5-6 ).  For the first time, God entered the confines of time.  God was also confined within a human body as Immanuel, God with us....

I was riding back from lunch with a couple of mates when the car started making an odd noise.  The sound began a running commentary among all in the vehicle about the source of the sound.  As it persisted and grew worse, a passing driver honked and quickly ended the discussion.  We pulled over and found we had a flat rear tyre.  It turned out that my fellow passenger knew personally a tyre shop owner close by and directed the driver to the entrance.  True to his claims of good service, the process of the inspection and replacement was handled immediately.  This was a case of knowing where to go because you know someone you trust. The situation had me thinking.  My mate who directed us to the tyre shop performed a role similar to that a Christian who leads others to Christ in time of need.  Had we been without his aid, it would have taken us a long while to locate the jack, remove the spare, and possibly find the spare too was flat!  Because...

One character I find most interesting in scripture is that of Balaam the prophet.  When King Balak sent prestigious nobles a second time to entreat him to return with them, they promised honour and advancement should he curse Israel.  God told him to go with them if the men came in the morning and called him.  In the morning, the text says Balaam rose, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.  It does not say that Balaam waited to be called, but presumed he was free to go anyway.  Numbers 22:22 reads, " Then God's anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him ."  When opposition to God makes Him our adversary, that is a bad thing indeed! As the Angel of the LORD stood in the way with a sword drawn, Balaam was completely clueless to the mortal danger he was in.  The donkey, however, was able to see th...