Gathered Into Shadows | Christmas Contest!

by Hillary McFarland

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
       Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
         My God, in Him I will trust.” 

very now and then a passage of Scripture grips me like no other. And this one is a favorite of mine, Psalm 91, because it describes the utmost comfort and safety one finds while tucked away in the shadows of the Most High.

 ...He shall cover you with His feathers,

         And under His wings you shall take refuge...

...Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,

         Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

No evil shall befall you,

         Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

For He shall give His angels charge over you,

         To keep you in all your ways.

In their hands they shall bear you up,

         Lest you dash your foot against a stone...

 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

         I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

         I will be with him in trouble;

         I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him,

         And show him My salvation.”

Please bear with me as I ramble a bit...

When Rest is Hard

by Eric M. Pazdziora

ast week, my wife Carrie got a cold. It was the kind of cold where medicine doesn’t really do much; until it gets better, you just have to wait, take some time off, and rest. The problem is that Carrie prefers to be active, so she’s not used to having nothing to do but lie back and take it easy. “You know,” she complained to me, “it’s hard to rest!” 

True. Sometimes it is. We like to keep ourselves busy. When we’re faced with the prospect of having nothing to do—or worse, having to do nothing—we tend to say, “But who’s going to take care of this and that and the other? Shouldn’t I be doing something? I don’t want to feel useless!” 

Rest is hard when we want to work.  

Maybe that’s why some people have a hard time with the idea of grace. Someone once asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). The thinking is astounding. You don’t get an inheritance because you do anything; you have an inheritance because you were born, or maybe adopted, into a family. It would be nonsensical for you to try to work for something you can’t get by working, or for something you already have.