by jot and tittle

      “I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever. With my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 89:1       “Your decrees are the theme of my song, wherever I lodge.” Psalm 119:54        What are you singing? What song is in your head right now? Does it reflect God? This is a lesson that God is teaching my more and more. I love music! But I love all different kinds of music, which can cause some unpleasant temptations when it comes to driving my car. I like the radio but I need to make more of an effort of listening to Christian CDs and try not to listen to so much stuff that doesn’t edify me. I am challenging myself to listen to music that will spur me onto “love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24) and now I am challenging all of you to do the same. See if for the next week you can stand to listen to music that only encourages you to love and obey God more. It mi...

We all have them, those friends that think your sole purpose of life is to jump however high they demand on the spot. I recently had been building up a heavy dose of resentment toward one of my friends and this resentment came to a climax at one point last week. I was venting to my mother and little sister about this friend and they, in a godly way, were trying to convict me of my sin but I was so annoyed that I didn't bother to listen. It wasn't till later when I was reading the Bible that God hit me hard in the heart. I was reading 1 Corinthians 13 which really isn't the smart thing to do when you want to be angry. Here's how I read it. "Becca is patient with ____ Becca must be kind to ____" And so on. The parts that were particularly convicting had to do with not being rude, insisting on my own way, irritable (I was pretty irritable) or resentful. It was a good lesson for me. I hope those of you who are going through things with your friends will be enc...

I stood by the counter at work bagging apples. I turned when I heard footsteps enter the store and smiled at a middle aged woman who entered. “Hello, how are you doing today?” I asked in a cheerful voice.      “Good,” she answered. “Do you have a washroom?” I said yes and proceeded to direct her when she said, “My son is coming in on crutches.” From the corner of my eye I saw a young man in his early twenties hobbling towards me. I mentally took a deep breath because I’m not fond of helping young men. He came closer and I looked him squarely in the eye and said, “right down this hallway, it’s the last door on the right.”       His eyes met mine and he responded with a gentle “thank you.” I turned on my heel and finished preparing the apples. The young man came back and helped his mother collect what they needed. When he was looking at the tomatoes I saw the reason for his crutches. The left leg of his track pants was rolled up j...

Today is an exciting day. Not only is it hopefully going to be warmer then yesterday but it is also the day that I graduate for my one year Bible Collage program. This year has been a great blessing for me. My classmates and I have learned so much about God and being part of His family!     Now, as our year together draws to a close, we must say goodbye to these wonderful people. We as a class have learned to love and respect each other in a way that could be compared with the way one is with their siblings. We as a group need to say goodbye to the church family that has embraced us and we must bid farewell to the teachers who have helped mold and shape us into the people we are today. I spoke to one of my classmates/sisters about this and she was saying that she wasn't looking forward to the end; we had learned so much, grown to love God more, grown to love each other more, gone on great adventures, walked through trials, spoken the truth in love, and shared the gosp...

Henry was walking quickly down the sidewalk one sunny summer afternoon. He had finished his chores and so his mother had let him go out to the park to play baseball with his friends before Dad came home for supper. Henry was quite excited about this adventure but he stopped suddenly when he passed the white church and saw his pastor sitting on the steps with a downcast expression on his normally joyous face.      "Hi Pastor Clay," Henry greeted him as he came to a complete stop just on the other side of the white fence.      "Hello Henry," Pastor Clay's answer was sad.      "How are you today?" Henry asked again, hoping all was well so that he could go play.      "Oh alright," Pastor Clay answered.     With all his might Henry wanted to nod and smile and be on his way...but he couldn't. Instead, he lifted the gate's latch and walked over to the step. Once there, he seated himself beside the pa...

After last week’s post about mending fences I was talking to one of my guy friends and he mentioned that it would be nice if I wrote something that was more applicable to men. After thinking about it I’ve decided to give it a go.     Let me start by saying that real men seem to be lacking in our culture. A real man is one who follows God’s commands and seeks to do God’s will. He loves Jesus more than anything else in the world. The Bible gives direction for men and let me tell you, there is more to being a Godly man then leadership.       Titus 2:6 gives one command to young men. Paul tells Titus “Likewise, urge the younger men to be self controlled.”   Matthew Henry expands on this passage by saying “Here is the duty of young men. They are apt to be eager and hot, thoughtless and precipitant; therefore they must be earnestly called upon and exhorted to be considerate, not rash; advisable and submissive, not wilful and head-strong; humble and m...

Since the weather has been warmer than usual this past week I've noticed some strange happenings in day to day life, both in the world and in the church. Somehow it seems that one of our good friends wants to be seen more and more, her name is Skin. Skin does not really like to be covered up by clothing when it is nice and warm out so we give her her lead and let her soak up one of her best friends, Sunshine. This is all fine and dandy for Skin and Sunshine but there is a problem with one of our other good friends, Eyes. Eyes LOVES winter because that's when Skin is controlled in the wonderful boundaries of clothing. However, when spring comes around it's as if Skin is too strong for the fence of clothing and she is let free to run wild. This causes a lot of trouble and anxiety for Eyes. Eyes wants to glorify God by not tempting the heart it's involved with to lust. Now, what God created Eyes for was to look at things and to see the good things God has done. It's tr...