Dan Dowd

A young man steps into an office. It’s the Great Depression and he needs to find work. His chosen profession: telegraph operator. He’s answered an ad in the newspaper and goes to the telegraph office to interview. He knows Morse Code and is highly qualified, but the large, noisy office is crowded with other applicants. 

God doesn't view time like we do. Not only does He live in eternity (Isaiah 57:15For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
See All...), He has a long-term view of His interaction with mankind. The Father and the Son decided in pre-history that the Son would die for the sins of mankind (Revelation 17:8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
See All...)—a mankind that had not even been created yet. God had His prophets record history centuries or millennia before those events finally came to pass.

" The humble man feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised while he is forgotten… ," Andrew Murray.

Are we able to sleep when the wind blows?

Can one person make a difference?  In light of the myriad of problems that mankind faces we can often think that we cannot make much of a difference, seeing ourselves as just one person adrift in the sea of humanity. We might ask ourselves, “How can I make a difference in world hunger, or world peace or even the salvation of mankind?  While I might help in my own small way, how can that make much of a difference?”

Why? When we are little we are full of “why” questions. Why is the sky blue? Why do I have to go to school? Why are those kids so mean? Why do I have to eat my vegetables? One of the casualties of growing up is that we tend to lose our ability to question “why.” Questioning is good for us as we grow up so that we begin to make sense of the world around us. Questioning helps us to put thoughts and facts together so we have a knowledge base to make our way in the world.

One of the hardest things to take, humanly speaking, is criticism. It is harder still to be wrongly, or unfairly, criticized publically – and it is even harder to be wrongly criticized by a friend or brother.

Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread are seven weeks past and we are almost finished in the counting toward Pentecost. God’s Holy Days are rich in meaning and anticipation as we rehearse them once again – each of them unique in what they picture and adding to what has gone before.  The upcoming Feast of Pentecost is no different in these regards. 

A primary outlook that God expects of His called out ones is to consider the impact (consequences) of our sins. As we grow in God’s grace (2 Peter 3:18But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
See All..., His Holy Spirit) we should also consider the impact our sins can have on others. We are strongly cautioned in verses such as Proverbs 6:16These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
See All... to not harbor attitudes that damage others—and yet too often we still hurt others. Here is a simple story that illustrates the damage our sins can cause to others.

We are, of course, only a week away from Passover (next Thursday evening, April 5th) and the beginning of God’s Holy Day season for 2012.