Stones for Bread

I wrote the following poem last night. It was inspired by my Bible reading in Numbers and a book I am reading that I will share more about soon.

Far too often
Impatient
I struck out on my own
Into the wilderness
Rather than wait
For the cloud and fire to direct me.

Hours, days, weeks, years
Wandering
When I could have been safe in camp
Resting
Feeding on manna
Worshiping
The One enthroned above the mercy seat.

The veil is torn.
I can enter the Holy of Holies.
Instead, I sought stones
For bread.

—Katy Sammons

Your Mission Field

"If we would obey Jesus, we must go into the world. I've been challenged by the example of other churches to study my local community with the evangelistic intentionality of a missionary. To ask questions like "If I were a missionary to another nation, how would I view my life? What decisions would I make about where I live or how much I need to live on? Where would I spend my time so I could form friendships with unbelieving people? What would I seek to learn about the culture so that I could befriend and clearly communicate the gospel? What are the idols and false gods people are worshiping?

Ask these questions, and then apply them to your current location. The mission field is right in front of you. Imagine how this kind of evangelistic urgency could be used by God to touch your campus, workplace, neighborhood, and community."

from Dug Down Deep
by Joshua Harris

Proper Self-Assesment

"Time and time again throughout the pages of Scripture, believers are referred to as slaves of God and slaves of Christ. In fact, whereas the outside world called them "Christians," the earliest believers repeatedly referred to themselves in the New Testament as the Lord's slaves. For them, the two ideas were synonymous. To be a Christian was to be a slave of Christ.

We don't hear that concept much in churches today. In contemporary Christianity the language is anything but slave terminology. It is about success, health, wealth, prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness. We often hear that God loves people unconditionally and wants them to be all they want to be. He wants to fulfill every desire, hope, and dream. Personal ambition, personal fulfillment, personal gratification—these have all become part of the language of evangelical Christianity—and part of what it means to have a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ." Instead of teaching the New Testament gospel—where sinners are called to submit to Christ—the contemporary message is exactly the opposite: Jesus is here to fulfill all your wishes. Likening him to a personal assistant or a personal trainer, many churchgoers speak of a personal savior who is eager to do their bidding and help them in their quest for self-satisfaction or individual accomplishment.

The New Testament understanding of the believer's relationship to Christ could not be more opposite. He is the Master and Owner. We are His possession. He is the King, the Lord, and the Son of God. We are His subjects and His subordinates.

In a word, we are His slaves."

from Slave
by John McArthur