La Voix de l'Évangile

For those of you who receive this blog post by email, I apologize for the delay in sending last week’s blog post. Karen and I, along with our daughter, Bethany, were in Connecticut, visiting our daughter, Candace, and her husband, Richie. We had a wonderful visit, which included a gender reveal party (the first one we’ve ever attended). We also visited Camp Spofford in New Hampshire, where Jon Deming (Bethany’s boyfriend) is serving. It is a beautiful camp beside a lake in the woods.

Speaking of water, we had a fun time at a beach in Connecticut until … I decided to go on a jetty (a walkway of rocks) and fell into the ocean, cutting my left leg and foot. I was very thankful for Candace and Bethany helping me hobble to the first aid station, where several people helped stop the bleeding. We then went to a hospital where I received six stitches on the bottom of my left foot. It could have been a lot worse, as my knee and other leg were not injured. This happened two days before we were heading home, so I had a day to adjust and the flights to Washington and Montreal went smoothly.

This sudden injury reminded me of the health that I have enjoyed for more than six decades. One of my friends, Don, broke his knee cap when we were in the same elementary school, and had to stay in bed all summer. Don went to a different high school than I did and we lost touch until I began working in the business office of the Gazette newspaper in Montreal, where he was my supervisor. I was glad to see that Don was able to walk without a limp.

Pastor Brad Mellette is preaching a series of messages from the book of Genesis and recently looked at the story of Jacob wrestling with a man all night. In Genesis 32:25, we read: “And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.” The man told Jacob that his name would no longer be Jacob, but Israel, “for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed” (v. 28). The people of Israel have known adversity for thousands of years and today, conflicts abound in the tiny country of Israel. How sad that the majority of the people there do not recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, of whom Isaiah and the other prophets of old wrote.

In his Bible Commentary, Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe writes: “Contentment cannot come from material things, for they can never satisfy the heart. Only God can do that. ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions’ (Luke 12:15 NIV). When we have God, we have all that we need. The material things of life can decay or be stolen, but God will never leave us or forsake us. This promise was made to Joshua when he succeeded Moses (Deut. 31:7-8; Josh. 1:5, 9), and it is fulfilled to us in Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:20; Acts 18:9,10).” If you have never asked God’s forgiveness for your sins, you can do so right now. Come to the One who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). If you are a child of God, trust Him to guide you as you read His Word and share His precious promises with others.

Scripture for the weekend: “Nevertheless He looked upon their distress, when He heard their cry; and He remembered His covenant for their sake, and relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.” Psalm 106:44-45 (NASB)