Beginning of March - Lion & the Lamb

 

Today is March 1st. March coming in as a lamb this year - at least in Southern Ontario. Gentle & Peaceful. As I think about the weather, another lamb-lion comes to mind.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7

“Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. Revelation 5:5a

Two verses - both speaking about the same person - Jesus. Both verses are prophetic. Isaiah`s verse was before Jesus came to earth as a lamb to be sacrificed for our sins. The verse in Revelation is in the future, when Jesus will return not as a lamb but as a triumphant king to rule - The Lion of Judah.

Here is a song by Robin Mark - You`re the Lion of Judah

Have a great day !

The Roads are Icy !!!

The roads are quite icy. My son's bus was cancelled today, so he got to stay home. A good day for some father/son time. We saw a lot of wildlife today for it being so windy. 30 wild turkeys and a pair of Red Tailed hawks. I tried to get them while they were in the tree, but to no avail. As soon as I put the window down - they flew. I did get one not too bad picture of one of the soaring, but the shot I was hoping for was when they were in the tree beside each other.

Back to the roads....they are icy - very icy. So icy in fact that as we were going up one, we failed to make it up the hill. Then I had to back down the hill - the icy hill. Isaac wasn't too happy about going backward down the hill. And to top it off, a farm truck - A farm transport was coming behind us. We made it to the opposite side of the road and let him pass...then we watched. He had the hammer down, going up the hill, but as he reached the peak - he almost stopped. His tires were spinning, and all I could think was - This is not going to be good. After about 15 seconds, he made it over the top. Now it was our turn. I got a good run at the hill, and this time we made it. But we did slow down from 60km/hr to 15km/hr by the time we reached the top.

We made it home, safe and sound. A fun and exciting day !

Taking the Garbage out...

Well today we did something as a family. We cleaned the house. And I don't just mean vacuuming. We knelt down and prayed as a family. We asked the Lord to show each of us anything in our house that is offensive to the Lord. Then we took a couple garbage bags and cleaned the house, as a family. 2 garbage bags later it was done. No one fought, no one was upset. Everyone agreed. Sure, someone else may find nothing wrong with the stuff we threw away - that's ok. But this was something that we needed to do. And we could have made quite a bit of money selling the movies that we tossed. - but I can't rationalize that. I couldn't in good conscience sell what we were convicted of. 

You may be thinking..."Tim, you've gone over the deep end" Go ahead, think that way :) It really doesn't bother me. I'm responsible for my family.

When all is said and done, and I stand before the Lord - I want nothing more than to be able to say with a clear conscience - "As for me and my house, we served the Lord."

It's a journey, and we stumble sometimes. But the Lord is faithful, kind and compassionate. He's a good God. :)

The Greatest Commandment

I do not think that it is coincidence that yesterday I wrote about the application of "Love" and today I open BibleGateway and this is the passage of the day... Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" Matthew 22:37-39
Ok Lord...you have my attention.

Knowledge is essential, but not sufficient...

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet...

Have you ever listened to someone who talked just to make you feel small? They used confusing words, and they let you know that they were educated, very educated.  Don't get me wrong, I believe education is important. But I also believe that people often misuse the education that they have in order to make themselves feel superior to others. The Bible is very clear - watch how you treat other people. Are you using your gifting for others instead of for yourself? I want you to think - Why did God gift you with the gifts that you have?  John MacArthur said many years ago "Knowledge is essential, but it's not sufficient."In other words - it is good to understand and learn, but that in itself is not enough.

Look at it this way, I'm Canadian so I'll use hockey as an example, but it will work with any sport...What if you were a hockey player and every shift you scored a goal....but on your own net. Yes you scored, but you are hurting your team! The same way it is with your walk with Christ. You can know the Bible, have scripture memorized, know what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable...but if you don't show love to your fellow human beings....you have missed it.

The Apostal Paul wrote it like this: ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2 NLT

I heard Francis Chan speak on this today and it hit me hard. I am beginning to realize in my own life that for too long, I've had the head knowledge but I am failing in the love application. The Lord is working on me in this area. It's a journey. And I'm learning :)

If you want to see the entire sermon, I've enclosed the link
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/think-hard-stay-humble-the-life-of-the-mind-and-the-peril-of-pride