Thought of the Week

To Search and Know

Posted on by Shannon

A new computer has introduced me to the world of cloud computing. It used to be that you had to store all your files on your physical computer, or at least backed up by some sort of gizmo you could buy. But now you can send all your files over the Internet to vast storage places operated by different companies that reserve some space for you. You can add to it any time you like, and later search for what you need to finish projects. It’s like sending information into a hovering cloud in the sky that guards it, only releasing it when you give it permission. Much of the knowledge of the world is now stored in virtual clouds. It’s amazing and very convenient.

The ability of God to know everything about us is also amazing. He doesn’t have to retrieve files from a cloud to check up on us, nor does he need special permission to find ways to help us when we need it. God is omniscient, possessing a full array of knowledge about all things at all times.

David expressed this in Psalm 139. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

David’s words are not meant to frighten us. He is merely praising God for who He is and how He cares for us. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them” (v17).

– Tim Johnson

Can’t Carry On?

Posted on by Shannon

Crocus in snow, yellowThese pretty crocuses have been blooming in my back yard for over a week. They came up when the snow melted and the ground warmed up a little in the sun. As we all know, the snow returned several times this week and, unfortunately, buried these flowers. But a few days later they poked right back up out of the snow. It’s as if they’re saying, “We’re going to bloom no matter what happens!”

God has built into nature a tremendous resiliency. Tough things can happen, but the colour and beauty of the world resumes anyway. Don’t you think there’s something important to learn from this? Surely human beings, who have been created in the likeness of God, should be able to get up and try again when they have been knocked down by life’s troubles. Now I’m not naive; I know that some troubles can be devastating and overwhelming. I don’t know how some people manage to survive. But I know what Jesus said about survival.

He said it in John 16:33. “These things I have spoken to you, than in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” When you follow a man who went through death and Hades and then rose again, you have a power at work in your life that can make you stand. The snows of life will bury you once in a while, but you can still get up and bloom.

– Tim Johnson

The Sea of Glass

Posted on by Shannon

Frightful things have confronted the world recently, highlighted by the violence in France and Belgium. Terrorism has people afraid of what might happen next.

After all the violence that accompanied the exodus of Israel from Egypt, God reassured Moses that there is peace. One day he called 74 people up into Mt. Sinai, including Moses. There they saw an appearance of God that was marvellous. See Exodus 24:9-10. “Under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.” The ancients were used to a world of rocks, dust and mud. A sapphire pavement would have been spectacular.

There’s a similar description in Rev.4:6, where John spoke of God in heaven. There he saw “a sea of glass like crystal” surrounding the throne. Later, in Rev.15:2, victorious martyrs stood “on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.”

What can we learn from such a splendid description? In the book of Revelation the enemy of the church arises out of “the sea” (13:1). Later, the great harlot – representing Rome – sits on her own throne “above the waters.” John explained, “the waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.” (v15) In the world there is turmoil, like the crashing, swirling sea. Nations and rulers often stir things up and there is unrest and violence. But with God there is only peace and calm, like a sea of glass. He is in control, even when the world seems more like a raging sea.

We have to live in a world that is constantly in turmoil, and often frightful. But we can have a connection with heaven where all is calm. In Jesus Christ we can have peace – come what may. Next time you feel fear, picture yourself standing before God’s throne surrounded by a sea of glass.

– Tim Johnson

An Unusual Command

Posted on by Shannon

It is interesting that a person who suffered imprisonment, flogging, shipwreck, danger, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and exposure to death should say to Christians, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” (Phil.4:4)

The fact of the matter is that the command to rejoice is given to all God’s children. It is one of the characteristics of the true believer’s life. Those who belong to Jesus are marked with joy. It is one of the Christian trademarks.

However, not once does the scripture tell us to give thanks FOR all circumstances. Rather, we are to rejoice or give thanks IN all circumstances. For instance, we don’t rejoice for death or pain or divorce or cancer. In what way then are we to rejoice?

Our rejoicing is to be “in the Lord.” What does that mean? A glance at the Book of Philippians says we are to rejoice in the work of redemption accomplished on our behalf. Jesus humbled himself and became a servant and was obedient unto death, thereby assuring our salvation.

Paul’s conclusion in the book is that the circumstances of one’s life do not take away the joy that the child of God experiences in Christ Jesus. Come what may, the Christian’s reason to rejoice is not altered. “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”

– David Johnson

The Irony of God

Posted on by Shannon

Irony often pertains to a sense of humor, but often it’s deadly serious. So it is with God. Read on.

When the spies returned and gave their cowardly report to Israel about the strength of their enemies, everyone cried out against Moses and God. They said they would all die if they invaded the promised land, and their children would become “plunder” (Num.14:1-3). God was listening!

They forgot God’s constant care over their 40-year desert journey and convinced themselves that all was lost. They let their human hearts deceive them. We’re told in Jeremiah 17:9-10 that “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” God warned in Proverbs 4:23 that each of us needs to “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the springs of life.” The human heart can be a wonderful thing, but we can let it become sour and corrupt.

This is where God’s irony comes in. When our hearts lead us away, God may well deal with us in surprising ways. Israel cried out that their children would become plunder in the promised land. God replied, “Your little ones who you said would become a prey…shall enter there, and I will give it to them, and they shall possess it” (Deut.1:39). God always judges righteously, and with surprising effects.

Back in Jeremiah’s passage, God continued, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.”

Guard your heart and keep it pure, for God searches what’s inside and deals with us appropriately. Israel didn’t, and suffered His precise and ironic judgment. Let that never happen to you.

– Tim Johnson