Scripture Treasures

  “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” ~ Genesis 12:2, 3   This is a literal promise to the Jewish people, and a spiritual promise to those who through faith believe in the God of Abraham, which now are called Christians. We who follow Jesus and His ways are included in the promise of God for blessings upon our lives. These promises do not only include the blessings in this lifetime in which we live, but also include promises which will be revealed to us in our eternal life. We have been adopted into God’s family, which gives us the privilege the Lord offered to Abraham and his descendants. All that knew Abraham were blessed. We read this through Scripture and the stories of the Old Testament. Many were encouraged by his faith in the God he believed in and followed. Though ...

  “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?   Tell me, if you understand ~ Job 38:4   Mankind boasts on his knowledge of the sciences and the causes of creation. For secular society, it all began with a “Big Bang theory,” and not at the hand of a Creator God. Cells of animal and human life began in a cesspool and gradually formed together to develop into different creatures and mankind himself. This was the beginning of the world. Here, God is talking to Job, telling him he is not as wise as he thinks, for he was not there when God created the world; that Job could not counsel God, or understand what God is doing. It is a reminder that we cannot understand God’s ways either. We, like the world, may at times think we know it all, that we can grasp what and why things are happening when in fact we cannot. At other times, we live in confusion like Job, wondering why God is allowing something to happen to us and questioning Him as to the reasons. In Isaiah 55:8, 9 G...

The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands ~ Psalm 19:1   When I lived in a remote part of Nova Scotia, I would go out at night to look at the evening sky. It was truly amazing to me to view. I had most of my adult life been in a city or small town, and the stars are not very vivid, but out in Nova Scotia it was as though I could reach out and touch the stars, they were so brilliant! Here, David is proclaiming this same brilliance as he looks up at the night stars. The heavens number the glory of our strong God as we gaze upward. But it is not only the stars David sees as displaying the glory of God, but every day, sometimes several times a day, the skies will display a new scene. Whether we are looking at the formations of the clouds on a bright sunny day, or a rain filled day, we see something remarkable. If the sky is clear and the skies shimmer a bright blue, it is all new and wondrous. If we see the bright orange moon of an autumn evening, o...

  “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen ~ Revelation 1:7 Many people say we are in the last days, that Jesus will soon be returning. We may be, but we also know we have been in the “last days” since the day Jesus rose up into the heavens to sit at the right hand of God the Father. The “when” of His return is not the issue though. For ultimately, He will one day return, and all will be fulfilled that was written in the Scriptures. He will return in a way that He will be visible to all peoples, and all will then know that what we have been trying to witness to throughout the last two thousand plus centuries…that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer of the world is true. He will be visible in all His glory and no one will misinterpret the truth then. The Word says that even those who pierced Him will see Him…does this mean just those who hung...

  "Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you ~ Zechariah 2:11   The Church in these times has undergone drastic changes as we have had to close our buildings during covid. Many are now opening, under restrictions for health safety, but this has caused many of our ways of praising God to be stifled. Music and song, our offerings, our communion all for now cannot be a part of our service, yet, we have found ways to accommodate much of these aspects during this time. The Church may not be in the building…truth is, it never was meant to be there. The joy of the church is in our heart and it springs from three sources: the presence of Christ in our lives, the gathering of God’s people and His possession of them, and the brothers and sisters we have universally. Christianity is the only faith that will one day unite the world under Jesus Christ. One day, all p...

  God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden ~ Habakkuk 3:3, 4   This is actually a prayer of confidence in the God who had rescued Israel in the past from Egypt, and would now rescue His people from Babylon. The prophet pictures Yahweh as rising over His people like the rising sun, appearing over Teman and Mount Paran as a symbol of strength. His splendor covers the heavens like a sun after it rises high in the sky. The prophet is praying God would hurry and deliver His people, for He had performed miracles in the past, and the prophet believes He would continue to show such providential regard for them again. Later in this chapter, Habakkuk again repeats the wonderful things God has done for them in the past, to encourage them in this time. God, he says, is king and commander of the thousands of Israel, leading ...

  And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” ~ Isaiah 6:3   Holiness is the very being of God. We are called to live holy lives, but we can only do so because God makes us holy. We think of the angels being holy, but they too were created by God to be holy. The holiness of God was not made or created; it was “eternally, originally and unchangeably” in Him. Holiness is a state of freedom: freedom from all imperfection including moral imperfection, it is the absence of evil, but it is also more than righteousness, goodness and purity. What it is, is all of these in their ideal completeness, which we cannot attain, but which is present in God. That the angels of God sing that the whole earth is full of His glory indicates they have always been familiar with the objects and events of this earth. They sang together when God laid the foundations of the earth, and they shouted for joy! They sang for joy whe...

  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9   It is hard to say how Christ spoke to Paul but more than likely it was with the “still small voice” by which we often hear the voice of the Lord speak to us. Paul was an avid prayer and communication with his Lord was both a habit and revealing. What is important is that his request, though fervently prayed for, was not granted, but assurance of grace to support him was. Paul is not the first to pray for something he did not receive, neither was he the last. Jesus himself prayed in the Garden for the cup to be removed from him. He prayed so fervently he sweat drops of blood! Yet, it was not his will he desired but the will of his Father that he relented to. If our Saviour’s request was not answered in a literal way, we cannot expect all our prayers to be ...

 " Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare ~ Isaiah 55:1, 2 Jesus referred to himself as the Living Water and the Bread of Life. He is all we need to satisfy our inner soul, to satisfy the needs we feel are wanting when He is not a part of our life. In the Old Testament, water was a metaphor for the law and wisdom, and the law is also compared to wine and milk because water is needed for all life, and milk is necessary for the child. The thought is that everyone, not some, not a few, but everyone who has an intense desire can come and be filled. There is no need in our human reality as the need for water and food. They occur on a daily basis, and when they are not met, there is nothing which distr...

  When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." ~ John 8:12   “Satan said to the holy and blessed God, For whom dost thou reserve that light which is under the throne of thy glory? God answered: For him who shall subdue thee, and overwhelm thee with confusion. Satan rejoined, Lord of the universe, show that person to me! God said, Come and see him. When he saw him, he was greatly agitated, and fell upon his face, saying, Truly this is the Messiah, who shall cast me and idolaters into hell." (Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 6). What an interesting paragraph! Most certainly, Jesus is the light of the world and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire when He returns, and the Kingdom of Light will be established forever in Jesus’ name! As we wait for that eternal kingdom, we walk spiritually with Jesus by faith, by believing in the coming of Christ, not only in the futur...

  To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne ~ Revelation 3:21   This is a grand promise, but also a grand challenge for the Christian. It is a call to rise up higher and higher in the principles and ideals of Christian living, resisting the temptations of life which are inevitably encountered. It is an encouragement to vanquish any foe, internal or external (most are internal) which would destroy them. Each one of us have special life-battles to overcome, and this is an encouraging message to be victorious in gaining the upper hand. It is to overcome the weak points in our character and gain instead the character of Christ. After all, consider His example. He who passed through every temptation which afflicts us, to those He is familiar. He is not a stranger to our needs, our desires, our weaknesses; He is an overcomer of them all. His victory is a pledge to our victor...

  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith” ~ Romans 1:17   Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sin, from our being lost to eternal joy, to save us from present and eternal separation from Him, our God. He took on flesh so that He might relate to us, yet He was also fully God. In flesh He hungered in the dessert, He was tired enough to sleep in a boat, He cried at the death of a friend, He was thirsty at a well. All that we experience as humans, Jesus experienced, with one difference: He did not sin. He came in human flesh so that He could relate to our needs. What God does this? As He is in the flesh, we draw close to Him; as God, we worship Him. This is the “gospel of righteousness revealed.” It is God’s plan of justifying people and releasing them of punishment – God on earth, sent to die and take our sins, nailing them to a tree with His b...

  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world ~ James 1:27   The term “religion” brings up many descriptions in people. For one it may mean that there is a mysterious spirit out there somewhere, and to another it may mean the customs and rituals connected with their church, and for another it may mean to separate oneself from the world as in a monastery as a nun or a monk. There are countless ways to define religion. It may mean mere doctrine, or opinion, but here we are told that religion has two faces – it is charity and it is purity. On the one hand it is mercy, kindness, generosity in how we deal with others, and on the other hand it is connected to how we live our life in all areas so there is no stain or shadow of dishonour. It is a life unspotted by the world, by its hardness, its false behaviour, its impurity. There is a beauty then in the...

  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known ~ 1 Corinthians 13:12   When I gaze into a mirror, I see only a part of myself. Whether the mirror is a small one which displays my face, or whether I look into a full-length mirror and I see my whole body, it is still just a part of me. I cannot see into my soul, I cannot see how my heart beats, I cannot see how my brain thinks. I see only a reflection of my outer self, not my inner makings. In the days of Paul, most mirrors were made of metal and would reflect a distorted image back to the viewer. We have advanced in materials used for mirrors, but still, they only reflect what is outwardly visible. One day, when we stand in the heavenly realm we will see things much clearer, as one who stands face to face with another. All that is hidden will be revealed. We will see below the surface. Our mental and spiritual powers wi...

  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit ~ Galatians 5:25   Walking in the Spirit means we live in the Spirit, but what does that mean for someone who is a new Christian. Well, our walk is our whole life, our whole conduct both inward and outward. It is to be all we think, all we feel, all we desire, all we speak, and all this reflects the values, principles, knowledge, of God. In my life, I now live in an apartment complex, where many know I am a pastor. They want to talk to me about God, how they believe in God and love God, yet there is something amiss in their conversation, for none of it revolves around God or the Lord Jesus. Their “spiritual” language does not match their conversations, or their actions, or attitudes. To walk in the Spirit means the Holy Spirit controls and governs all these aspects of our life. Our walk is a progress, for sure, and we all start from the place of sin and rebellion against God. As we walk with the Lord, learn...

  May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17   This is a prayer to God through Jesus Christ, who is recognized as the one who offers us consolation through Him. It is to recognize that Christ is in God, though separate from God, and it is a prayer to call upon the blessings offered by both. For it is the love of the Father which is shown in the redemption we have through Jesus Christ. God loved the world so much that He gave His Son to die for us on the cross. We boast in the cross, for it is our saving grace, it is our eternal life offered through the nails, the stripes, the death and ultimately, the resurrection of the Son of God. There are many superficial consolations in this world that we may call upon. We may get our high in an event, or a happening, but it may be short-lived and when it ...

  Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress ~ Isaiah 33:2   The prophet is reminding the people where they are to go when they are surrounded by distress. It is a reminder to us as well. We may not be fighting the Assyrians, but is there not always some spiritual enemy at our doorstep? When we are confronted by the enemy, we too are to take ourselves to prayer. We too are to hope in the God whose strength will protect us. Some versions state it is the arm of the Lord which comes every morning, making note that the arm is the power of the Lord as He exerts His strength in defense of His people. It is to say that God would interpose in the enemies plans and put them to frustration. Ruin would fall upon the enemy because of God’s willingness to come between and save. In times of trouble, we have a lesson to learn from this prophet: to cry unto God and then to wait. All we need from God we receive: His grace, His...

  Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour ~ Habakkuk 3:17, 18   Every single thing around this prophet has failed and his hopes in the provision of the earth are dashed in the dust. The end result is starvation and death to thousands of people. The afflictions of life are great, yet, he will not cease to rejoice and be joyful in his God. Our joy, he is saying, does not depend on outer prosperity, but on the inner joy of salvation. Though everything around him is perishing, those who look to God would not perish inside because of the joy within. How often are we unlike this prophet, placing our joy in objects and playthings. We think if we have enough in the bank, or if we have a fine house and a great paying job that we have it all together. But, what h...

    My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word ~ Psalm 119:28 Are you weary with sorrow in these days of Covid-19? I think many people are. It has become exhausting to always be on guard for our safety, for the safety of others, to self-isolate when all we want to do is gather and be with people we care about and enjoy life to its fullest. We have had a long, hot summer, one of drought, but this verse is actually talking about a soul that is dripping wet, like a leaky roof. It just keeps seeping in, and you have to keep mopping it up. The author is weeping continually, unlike some who may have a moment of passionate emotion, this person is under the influence of a persistent, quiet but never-ending grief that slowly wears away the soul. Well, I don’t know about you, but I can certainly relate. And like the psalmist I cry out for strength from God and His word. Without Him it is difficult to bear up under trials and afflictions, and to continue to do the...

  For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love ~ Lamentations 3:31, 32   We live in what is called a “cancel culture”. In this culture, people are reminded what they had said or thought earlier in life, even though their thought processes and beliefs have changed over the years. Forgiveness is not prominent in this culture, and remorse of the person being attacked makes little, if any difference in the opinions of those doing the attacking. Cancel Culture is the popular practice of taking away any form of support of a public figure, a company, or a political party based on their language or actions which are objectionable or offensive. It is a way of shaming others. And it is becoming a rapidly growing way of dealing with what one person dislikes and uses against another. Unlike our world, our God is compassionate, and if he does cast us off, it is for our good and not our destruction. The Lord ...

A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense ~ Proverbs 19:11   Offences can happen so quickly, too quickly most of the time. And at times, the simplicity of what has transpired to offend is truly amazing. Often too, the “offender” may not even know they have offended someone. It is always better to take the time to consider what the offense was, rather than to jump to conclusions, or to react in anger. We have to weigh matters with thought and discretion first, for when we take the time to think about things, then we can see them in a different light. And, if we cannot after a bit of time, then we must go and talk it through with that person. A question we must ask ourself in any situation is: Am I harmed? In other words, has something concrete happened to me? A punch in the face, a destroyed reputation, being arrested on false charges – these things are harmful. But, if I am told in private I need to work harder, my feelings may be hurt, but ...

  If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved ~ Romans 10:9, 10   The heart and the mouth do not need to be in agreement. No, I can say something with my mouth and believe something very different in my heart, however, that makes me a hypocrite. What I therefore say in this case is incongruent with my thoughts, for out of my heart comes what is in my inner person. If I am to have integrity, I will speak what my heart believes. My mouth, on the other hand, can lie. I can say I believe in Jesus, but not actually do so. My life, my actions, my activities will show that my words are hollow. I am not saved when there is a difference between what my heart and my mouth display. It is only when I profess Jesus because he is in my heart that I will be saved. And what am ...

  As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us ~ Psalm 103:12   The amazing thing about the east and the west is that you never reach either one. You may reach your starting point by heading around this earth in whichever direction you choose if you continue far enough, but still you can keep going east or west. When we talk about the east from the west, it is an infinite distance which is never reached. Just head out into our solar system and see if you come to the end of it. The thought is the same for our sins. Once we are made new in Christ, whatever our past was, is out of reach. We move forward continually, but never can our sin reach back into our life to condemn us, for God has removed them from us as far as they can be removed. We are forgiven completely. Some people have a hard time with this. Complete forgiveness is hard to grasp for them. When we lived in sin, our sentence was death, but now that death has been turned, f...

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9   My prayers today are going up for someone I know who is greatly afflicted with a modern illness of anxiety. At least, it seems to be a modern illness when it happens to the point of completely and totally disabling a person. I think our young people are dealing more with this affliction more than in past generations. This young person needs the Lord, but cannot see that. But, I do. It is a terrible thing to find oneself so anxious about life, that stepping outside a door becomes an impossibility. We do live in stressful days. Covid-19 seems to have added this stress to many people, of many ages. We are afflicted. The Apostle Paul was afflicted with something as well, though we never read what that affliction exactly was. What he was told was that God’s grace was...

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord ~ James 5:14   The sickness here is not specified as a bodily sickness, or as a heart sickness, for either one, together or alone, afflict us deeply. The idea here is the general subject of sickness, for it so often occurs in all of us. The direction James is calling upon us is for others to pray for us. This is simply because when we are sick and not feeling well, it is difficult to focus our minds and hearts on prayer other than the trial we are currently in. I find it difficult, and perhaps you do too, to pray with a clear mind when my body or my mind is in agony. Sometimes I want to just huddle down within myself, and this is what the apostle is calling us to not do. He is saying that we should actually call the elders, that is, they should send for them. I find this is not something we do much of these days, whether we in the midst of a pandem...

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it ~ John 1:5   Little solar garden lights are a common sight these days. We place them in amongst our flowers and plants, or along our front sidewalk, inviting people to our front door. My sister has so many little solar lights, not only in her garden, but also on her deck, so that the night around her home becomes a mystery of enchantment. It is truly beautiful to see all the little lights dancing in the night as we sit and talk in the dusk of the evening. How much we both would miss if all those little various solar lights were not around us. The evening may become dark, but we sit in light. Darkness cannot shut out a light, no matter how small and insignificant it might seem. In the Bible, darkness is that which is found in either ignorance, guilt, misery, or sin. I have written about truth, and how in our world now there are many “truths”, but these “truths” are founded on darkness, for they have no founda...

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it" ~ Genesis 4:7   I just read that Bibles were burned in front of a courthouse in Portland and the a statue of Jesus was decapitated in a Miami church in Florida. Wow! What is our world coming to? Is this due to white evangelicals supporting Trump, or is it due to other issues related around Christianity itself? This is a time when the word of God is needed desperately, yet it is being offered on a fire pit. Cain, in the story of Genesis offered up a sacrifice which was unacceptable to God. His sacrifice was probably a hand-made object, most certainly Coffman calls him the “first innovator”, indicating something was very wrong with the sacrifice. Perhaps his heart was not in line with God’s, or perhaps he offered what he thought was just as good as what God would want, but in that thought, it lacked. Whatever was...

Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God ~ Luke 18:42, 43   Today, we read another healing Jesus performed as He was walking with his disciples. I do not expect there were many days which went by when Jesus would not heal a person which had been deprived of some frailty of the human body or mind. Of all these, his disciples, and those that followed Jesus, were witnesses in appreciation. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to follow Jesus as these people did, but I can understand the joy they offered up as a result of what they had seen. God is good and compassionate to those who come to him for healing. This man’s healing was immediate, and his sight returned without limitation. Not all healing is immediate in today’s world, but I do believe Jesus still heals our mind and our body when we come and seek his touch. Healing take...

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed” ~ 1 Peter 2:24   I recall once being punished as a child for something I did not do, and I recall the frustration, the anger, the confusion I felt at being accused when I knew I was innocent. It was not a place where I felt I should be, nor deserved to be, and no matter what I said, I could not convince my mother otherwise. I was innocent! Small comparison to what our Lord suffered, I know, for although I felt I had been called upon to carry the sins of one of my siblings (I never did find out which one), I did not do so willingly. I did so with anger and resentment. Our Lord took our sins, all of them, every single one committed behind us and every one we will commit in our tomorrow’s, and He did so gladly, with the “noblest of love”. His burden was heavy, so heavy it separated Him from his Father in heaven! We may sometimes feel Go...