Cornerstone

Psalm 119:97-104 (97)

⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.

⁹⁸ Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are ever with me.

⁹⁹ I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.

¹⁰⁰ I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.

¹⁰¹ I have kept my feet from every evil path
so that I might obey your word.

¹⁰² I have not departed from your laws,
for you yourself have taught me.

¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!

¹⁰⁴ I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.

I remember well times in the past walking hand in hand with my little boys.  Whether it was in a crowded mall, or across a busy boulevard I would hold out my hand and they would grasp it as well headed toward our destination.  I could telegraph to them my intentions by putting pressure on one side of their hand or the other, by twisting the wrist one way or another.  They could sense when it was time to speed up or slow down simply by the pressure of my hand surrounding theirs.  I also remember well the times when they felt secure. It was during these times when they would start to twist their hand and try to slip out of my grasp.  In those times they no longer wanted my guidance.  A little boy was standing with his father near the Grand Canyon. “Let me take your hand,” said the boy to his father. “No, let me take yours,” replied the wise father. So God says He will take our hand.  Although we may be spiritually sluggish and slow to grasp the Father’s hand we can only be secure when we feel his Divine grasp and know that we are on the path he has prepared for us.  By being sensitive to the Spirit, and observant students of His guidebook we can be sure that our feet will not slip.  He has given us the Word of God which is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path (Psa. 119:105).

Dr. Gayle Woods

Col. 3:5-11 (5).

Fascinated, I watched the little caterpillar crawling slowly, laboriously along. It seemed that it would take it forever to get to its destination. It didn’t even know it was crawling through the dirt! Neither did it realize it was very vulnerable to the hungry birds. The little creature just continued to do what it thought it needed to do to keep alive.

I knew something about its life that it did not even know. A transformation was necessary. It needed to die to its old life and come alive as a new creature. I marveled at that miracle in nature.

In much the same way I crawled along through the slime and sludge of sin. I thought I was doing what was important. People seemed to be in favor of my activity. I didnt know my existence was in danger.

Then Holy Spirit arrested my attention. I saw that my life needed to come an end. I crawled into the cocoon of God’s mercy and died to myself. I cried out in repentance. He heard my prayer and changed me into someone new. Now I was holy! I was innocent as I had been before I had first learned to crawl through the dredge of sin. Now I was free! Now I was clean!

Dr. Gayle Woods