“The Lord will fulfil His purpose for me” Psalm 138:8
Several times I took my children when they were young to the ocean for a holiday. I still have some photos of the place and the sand castles we built. Not having an artistic bone in my body, I was not very good at creating a recognizable structure.
Looking at some other dad’s efforts along the beach I knew instantly that building sand castles was not my calling. However we had lots of fun trying.
I was comforted in my attempts to create something for my children to know that when the tide came in everything would be washed away. The remarkable castles we saw would also be gone in a few hours. There would be no record of any creation that afternoon.
Continue reading 'God Never Fails'»
“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees.” Psalm 119:71
As I sat and listened to the patient in hospital describe their medical difficulties I was amazed at the sequence and complexity of their issues. It seems that a domino effect had occurred as each problem caused another until they had to be hospitalized and undergo a series of surgeries.
I could not help being very distressed for the person and wondering on the human level how they would ever cope. Life would not be the same for them after this series of problems.
After I left them a verse came to mind that I had been pondering for some time. The Psalmist said, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” Psalm 119:71 How can we ever call suffering good? Is that what the Psalmist meant to say? One writer has well said, “Sin is pleasant but not profitable, sorrow is profitable but not pleasant”.
Continue reading 'Growth through suffering'»
The Greek word for forgiveness is pronounced Ôapse a miÕ. The word means to send away, to dismiss, to depart.
To forgive is to send away that for which there was a breach in the relationship.
When a person confesses their sin to us, we are to remove the offense from the relationship and receive the person back into our society. Clearly then, only the one who was offended can extend forgiveness and reinstate the offender in the relationship.
The Bible makes it clear that forgiveness is a possibility and is to be extended when the party who has committed the offense has repented.
In 1 John1:9, it tells us that when we confess our sins the Lord will forgive us. We, in like manner are told to forgive those who sin against us when they repent.
Luke 17:3 says, “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” The sequence then is fourfold. 1. An offense is committed. 2. A rebuke is given by the offended party. 3. The offender repents. 4. The offended person extends forgiveness.
Continue reading 'The Biblical View on Forgiveness'»
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