Tag Archives: scripture

What About Cain and Abel?

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Sometimes I wish I had studied theology instead of bookkeeping. There are so many Bible stories that confuse me, like the one a friend reminded me of this morning… the biblical brothers, Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. These boys were the first fruits of Adam and Eve, their parents.

The scripture says the Lord looked with favor upon Abel but not on Cain, and this made Cain angry; angry enough to kill his brother. It was the first murder ever committed on earth.

My friend posed the question, “If God looked with favor upon Abel, why did God let Cain kill him?”

My question is, if God looks upon us with favor…and we’re told he does…why does he allow bad things to happen to good people?

We have a dear friend and church member whose cancer is spreading even though we took the advice of James 5:14 and had the elders pray over her and anoint her with oil. Instead of getting better, her condition deteriorated to the point where the cancer has reached her brain.

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Psalms 119:130

I am a simple person, Lord, and need understanding of James 5:14; and while you are at it, what about Cain and Abel?

God’s Sense of Humor

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Big fat, fluffy, flakes of falling snow are accumulating all around my field of vision which happens to be in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. Now this is to be expected in the throes of winter but today is April 6th!

The crocuses and daffodils were beginning to smile their way up through the thawing earth, and have had to postpone their journey…for who knows how long?

Snow shovels and salt pails stored away for the next eight months or so are about to be resurrected. Robins were chirping their spring songs and are now hiding in various tree branches.

I’m very happy that God has a sense of humor but would rather he give me something warmer to laugh about.

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; Psalms 2:4

 

 

A Prayer for Us

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This prayer is one of my favorites. It is Ephesians 3:16-21
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
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Time Marches On

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Time is an intriguing subject, don’t you think? It is always with us to do with as we will…fill it, spend it, waste it, look at it forwards and backwards, but capture it? Uh-uh. It is so fleeting that the second you try to live in the moment, the moment is gone. But live in it anyway…it is a great way of learning to become more aware.

Have you ever thought about how much time it takes to walk down memory lane? Or how long it took Perry Como to record the song, Till the End of Time in 1945?

And what about the songs written about clocks: My Grandfather’s Clock that ticked away it’s owner’s life from the day that he was born until the day that he died…ninety years. And The Syncopated Clock written by Leroy Anderson in 1945; a fun and lively piece of music.

Time is spoken about throughout the Bible, but the best time passage (pun intended) is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. It is good reading to be sure and a wise use of words by King Solomon.

Time can be fleeting, or hang heavy on your hands, but it does not stand still…no matter what…time marches on.

 

What’s So Good about Good Friday?

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My claim to Christianity suffers much in my day to day life of trying to live up to the ideals of this religion. However, when it comes to the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, I am in awe.

Did Jesus die on a Friday? Does anyone really know? The scholars do, I’m sure, but I am not among the scholarly, and so, because I believe my early teachings, I accept that Friday it was. But what is so good about Good Friday if that was the day Jesus died his atoning death…because it was a brutal death…not good by any stretch of the imagination?

The good comes in looking forward to Easter Sunday, the day of Resurrection, that promised third day when life is restored to Jesus, the one who restored so many lives in bygone days, and died to restore so many more. What Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20: “You intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” comes to my mind when I think of that dreadful day of crucifixion. God intended it for good. Hence…Good Friday, the precursor to Easter Sunday.

God Bless and Happy Easter.

 

The Clock is Ticking

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Our pastor gave an interesting (as always) sermon on Sunday titled, “The Clock”. He opened with, “The clock is ticking. Can you hear it?” He was talking about the clock Jesus heard, ticking away the last week of his life on earth…the divine clock…heaven’s clock, and how little time he had left to prepare those who loved him for what was to come.

Today we learned that our former mayor, Rob Ford, succumbed to the cancer that, in a sense, started his clock ticking eighteen months ago. Did Rob hear his clock ticking? I believe he did. A few months ago he made this statement: “If I pass before my time, I just ask people to please try to help out Dougie and Stephanie and Renata in any way you can,” he added, referencing the names of his wife and two children.

Likewise, when Jesus, from the cross, saw the anguish of his mother, he in effect told one of his disciples to look after her. This then from John:19: 25But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

Here is a tiny passage from Sunday’s sermon:

Recently I received an e-mail. One of those that’s been forwarded a number of times. It was written by an elderly man approaching the end of his life. He said that he had “no questions, no doubts, no fear.”But then he went on: “A few [of you] let me know early in our friendship that religion would not be part of our conversation and I tried to respect this. To some, religions are a group of rules [which] if practised may make us good enough to earn eternal life. If that is the criteria, I would not qualify. My assurance is not based on religion but rather a gift with no strings attached, as described in Ephesians [“For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God.”] The benefits of a gift are not realized until accepted. I accepted this gift years ago, so death is not something to fear.”

While the clock is still ticking let us remember to make each day and each minute count…live, love and be happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something to Smile About

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Winter can be snowy, blustery, cold, slippery, and lengthy for those of us who are not snow enthusiasts. And then something like this appears to cheer up the day and put a smile on even the most frozen of faces. It certainly put a big smile on mine. It’s from “The Beauty of Every Season Photos” and once again, was shared on Facebook. Are you smiling?  Look at the birds of the air…Matthew 6:26

Sometimes Substitutes Work Well

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The dishwasher was full to the brim with a load of dirty dishes…and I had forgotten to buy detergent…big problem. Not willing to brave the blustery weather to return to the supermarket, or unload the machine and do all those dishes by hand, I looked online for a dishwasher detergent substitute. Many suggestions were to put two to three drops of Dawn liquid dish soap in the dispenser and top it up with baking soda. So I did. Voila! It worked like magic and will be my mode of cleaning dishes from here on in.

It made me think of some of the problems we face in life. We can’t always clean them away with conventional methods, and sometimes need to search for a substitute. For me that substitute is prayer…prayer that should have been the first course of action, but got lost in the effort of trying to solve things my own way

Putting a few drops of prayer into life’s problem dispenser and filling it up with God, can work wonders with the many difficult decisions that come our way.

Is any of you in trouble? He should pray. James 5:13

 

 

See It When You Believe It

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After watching the movie, Field of Dreams, with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones the other night, I was reminded of a quote, You will see it when you believe it. I think that might be the title of a book written by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

Too often we use the opposite of that quote which is I’ll believe it when I see it.

This was the third time for me watching this movie simply because of the good vibes it produces from beginning to end, from the whispering voice Kevin hears and follows, to the wonderful baseball heroes of the past, to the selflessness of Burt Lancaster’s character, Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham at the end of the movie.

Has it happened for you…something you believed in becoming a reality?

It happened for me with my book, “My Precious Life”. I had often talked about writing a book but lacked the confidence to follow through, until I heard that quote, You will see it when you believe it. And then I began believing I would write a book. A year later I held the book in my hand.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22

 

Hear the Spiders Walk

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Oftentimes when I open the door to outside there is an air of stillness and silence. I love that “sound” and feeling. It is all enveloping. It happened this morning while feeding the birds and squirrels…my backyard world was hushed, and I basked in it for several minutes.

Similarly indoors sometimes. When I choose to eliminate television and radio, and between the furnace cycles and telephone rings, my house is sometimes so quiet I can hear the spiders walk.

Isaiah 30:15 says in part…in quietness and trust is your strength…

Absorb the stillness when it comes, it’s extremely good for the soul.