Among other brilliant things reading the book of Jonah is noting that it’s as much about what’s around Jonah as it is about Jonah. The Ship’s Crew: Here is a group of people who do not know or worship the God of Israel. They are very much into their gods, though. They show a great […]
Read More MWTM: Jonah Part 2 – Something Around JonahA lot of the book of Amos is fairly brutal and bleak. Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit. “What do you see, Amos?” he asked. I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.” Then the Lord said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not […]
Read More MWTM: Amos Part 2 – Hope of RestorationThere’s a phrase that endeavours to describe a series of troubling events. The phrase suggests that when things get bad it’s as if all hell broke loose. Interesting phrase. It’s an especially interesting phrase when those circumstances are viewed with the benefit of hindsight. Surely no one wishes for anyone to go through the pain of […]
Read More Year Six – Sometimes When All Hell Breaks Loose …“Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:17-18) He was passing by. They called out to Him for help. He sent them to some other people. They left and got what they were looking for on the way. He helped […]
Read More Have You Returned?Among other themes that captured my interest was the theme of streams. A group of us were considering how the theme of water is prevalent throughout scripture. There’s the connection to the Spirit that is evident and what water does in life as well is something that was highlighted and I took much encouragement from […]
Read More Streams … for RestoringWhen I was a lot younger, I was given to having a rather dramatic reaction to things that happened. A good way of expressing that is my given moods when my football team won or lost. If my team won, I would be so buoyant you would not be able to stop me walking on […]
Read More Everything Is Not RuinedCain was expected to look after his brother and killed him. Killed him out of anger, killed him out of jealousy, killed him through ignoring the call of God to deal with his own issues rather than taking it out on his brother. Whatever you think of the historicity of the episode in scripture, there […]
Read More Keeping a BrotherIt’s quite something to read this Psalm. Remember when God restored us before? We need Him to restore again. And as we cry out for Him to restore, so we return with joy at the response He gives. When He restores. The restoration is the taste of the Eden lost. When He restores it is […]
Read More Psalm 126 – When He RestoresLike we needed more reasons to praise God, this Psalmist makes a big deal of praising the incomparable Creator of the Universe. The reason? As great as He is, He still looks at those in lowly conditions and picks them up. This is more than rags to riches, this is not about turning a pauper […]
Read More Psalm 113 – In The Habit of Picking You UpAsking God to do something that has never happened before is audacious. Asking God to do something He has done before should be rather more straightforward. This Psalm, however, still goes to show that approaching God to do something that He has done before is not something to take lightly. Here is a pleasant for […]
Read More Psalm 85 – You Did It Before…
Life With CD 