The Field is the World (Matt. 13:38)

There are certain statements that get thrown around in Christian circles and even become conventional wisdom, even though they don't agree with the Word of God. One that comes to mind is, "God helps those who help themselves." You have to wonder what the inventor of that phrase was thinking...because I can think of about a dozen verses that would contradict what people generally mean when they use that phrase; one of them would be, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm..." (Jeremiah 17:5) Some sayings of conventional wisdom have a firm root in Biblical truth, however. One is "Where God guides, He provides," (See 1 Thessalonians 5:24 for the proper version)... and "God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called." (See Isaiah 6:8; Ezekiel 22:30) God is looking for workers for the harvest, and avail ability is the ability that is primarily required, to use another appropriate maxim. I have an example today t

The old man had been a slave in a foreign land his entire life. Today, as he was spending his customary time with God, he had come to understand that his people’s captivity was about to come to an end. He must have felt delight to know that bondage was about to end for his people. But he also felt an overwhelming sense of shame. He and his people ought to have known this was coming. They should have prepared. The Law told them what to do. Have you been looking for clues to God’s will for your life? What the prophet Daniel did in Daniel 9 forms a great model for us all in seeking God’s will: First, he was consistently reading the Bible. That’s a way of hearing from God regularly, knowing Him and putting His plan first. Second, this had prepared him to know what to do in a specific situation. He found out (by reading Jeremiah 25:11) that the captivity would be seventy years long. But from Leviticus 26:32-45 he knew that meant he could be the one to intercede for Israel. Experience applyi

My kids love lizards. Living in Florida as we do, we get to see a lot of them. The ones we see around our house all have a fascinating trick. They change their body color against whatever background they crawl on. They do it to blend in with their surroundings so that they are safer from the attacks of predators. It also makes them more effective predators because it enables them to ambush insects who can't detect them as easily. After rolling down my garage door last week, I made a sad discovery. One little fellow's camouflage had been all-too-good! I didn't see him as I closed the door and he had been trapped and crushed in the seam. Under certain circumstances it's better to stand out than trust your camouflage. We can either embrace conformation to the image of Christ, or be squeezed into the pattern of the world. Sometimes it's better to stand out than trust your camouflage. In Numbers 22-24, a strange prophet named Balaam tried to "sit on the fence"

Revelation 4:1-11 S: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11, KJV). O: Exodus 28:17-20 lists the stones on the breastplate of the High Priest: And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. (Exodus 28:17-20, KJV). The Jasper is the last, the sardius is the first stone. Whatever else God's appearance in this vision suggests, it demonstrates that He is the first and the last. He is the central figure of history and creation. The 24 elders and living creatures bow down and confess that everything was created by Him and for His pleasu