The advice of soil engineers was, "Move the house before it goes down. It is only a matter of time. Nothing can be done to save it."

It was a traumatic time of confusion, but following the only option given, we made arrangements to move the house.

Strangely, we could not feel at peace with our decision and cancelled the move a few days before the scheduled moving date.

God had given us a word from Haggai 1:8, "Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord." (KJV)

We clung to that in the face of all the well-meaning, contrary advice of family and friends.

There were times when my faith in God's promise would waver, and doubt would creep in. I would wonder if perhaps everyone was right — was I crazy to hold on? But when these doubts would come, I did something that seems unreasonable. I would walk to the edge of the slide and look down on what had turned men's faces white when they first saw it.

Instead of being filled with alarm, I would feel the presence of the Lord wash over me, and I would "stand there awhile" listening to His voice. Always, I would walk away with the peace that passes understanding restored to my soul.

The house still stands. Sixteen years after the slide, the bank had completely regrown, and when we sold it five years ago, the buyer had no concern for the safety of the house.

I was reminded of this time in my life the other day when I came to 1 Samuel 9:27b, where Samuel says to Saul, "Stand here awhile, that I may announce to you the word of God." (NKJV)

"Stand here awhile." How contrary to our instinctive urge to fight or flight! Something annoys us, and we react with a quick word that we later regret. A situation arises that is unexpected or traumatic, and we let panic rule. We are so quick to judge, to make choices or decisions on the spur of the moment, based on our emotions.

How different our lives would be if we developed the habit of standing still awhile — even in the frightening place — until we heard the voice of God.

In our hectic world of change, endless appointments, busy schedules, and information overload, have we forgotten how to take time to simply stand awhile and listen?

Psalm 46:10 – Be still and know that I am God. (NKJV)

Prayer: Dear Father, we come to stand here awhile before Your throne and ask that You teach us to become still, that we may hear Your voice above all the noise — not only the noise of the world around us, but also that within our own minds and hearts. Amen.

They were first found in many of the Egyptian tombs and were believed to have come from the Nile River. In appearance, they are long and narrow, flat on top, and curved underneath — like a cucumber pickle cut in half lengthwise.

If any movement rocks the Rattleback stone, it begins to spin counter-clockwise, and once given a spin, it just keeps on spinning.

The Rattleback stone is known for this very unusual characteristic: if the stone is spun clockwise, it begins to wobble, then stops, and begins to spin in the opposite direction — its default, counter-clockwise!

It remained a mystery as to why the stone did this until 1986 when G.T. Walker discovered the secret. A very simplified explanation is that the curved sides of the stone are not even; one side has a slightly longer curve than the other.

God has placed so many "pictures" in His creation that can be used for spiritual object lessons. In thinking about the Rattleback stone, I realized that, indeed, it has something to teach us.

We are all like a Rattleback stone.

Isaiah 53:6a – All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned (spun), every one, to his own way. (NKJV)

Our human flesh has a natural curve to it that turns us away from God, making us spin counter-God-wise.

But when we become believers, the Spirit of God works in our lives, reshaping us so that we can spin in a God-direction.

Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (curve). (NKJV)

As long as we obey this command, we stay centered on Christ, and our sinful curve has no rule over us.

But it does not take much — one fault, one weakness that we nurture and are reluctant to give up — to upset the curve of our balance, and make us wobble, stop, and begin to spin in the direction of the old sinful self — counter-God-wise. Just like the Rattleback stone, we find it easy to follow our natural inclinations. We spin effortlessly when we seek to gratify our selfish desires.

It is only when we remain vigilant, when we trust in the power of the Spirit living within us, that we have victory in our Christian walk and find the strength to spin contrary to our natural curve.

Romans 8:13b-14 – If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God! (NKJV)

Prayer: Dear Father, help us to resist the things that cause us to wobble and turn away from You. May we allow Your indwelling Holy Spirit to reshape us into the image of Your Son, so that our lives will spin in Your direction. Amen.

Suddenly, amongst the grey shades of old metal, something red caught my eye. I cried out, "Stop, stop!" as I scrambled for my camera. In the middle of heavy city traffic, we were not supposed to stop, but miraculously, at that very moment, the light turned red, and our car was stopped at just the right spot for my photo.

What had I seen? A child's shiny, candy-red, Fire Fighter ride-in car perched on top of the scrap pile, awaiting its imminent destruction.

I could understand a former boy-owner having outgrown his beloved toy, but surely there were many little boys who would have spent countless hours enjoying the play possibilities the car offered. But, instead, the beautiful car sat where it so clearly did not belong — on the scrap pile.

An analogy clearly presented itself in my mind.

Every human being has value in the eyes of God, and yet some of us end up where we don't belong — on the eternal scrap pile. Hell was not created for man but for Satan and his demons. God never intended for man to end up there.

Scripture tells us that God is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9b NKJV)

We are separated from God because of our sin, but God sent out personal invitations to His covenant of salvation. You received one with your name on it and so did I. At the bottom of the invitation are the familiar letters: RSVP. Recognizing the impossibility of settling our own sin debt moves us with humble gratitude to accept God's generous invitation and offer of free forgiveness. Trusting that Jesus has paid our sin debt is all that is required to keep us from the scrap heap of hell where we don't belong!

John 6:37 – All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (NKJV)

Prayer: Dear Lord, we thank You that Your love is big enough to embrace every person who ever lived on this earth. We thank You that even though we deserve hell because of our sin, we do not belong there. Cleanse us from our sin, known and unknown, and make us holy and worthy of Your kingdom. Amen.

I learned that this French artist had been fascinated one day by slabs of slate stone, the jagged edges begging him to be painted into mountain scenes.

He had numerous resulting pieces on display, but my eye immediately rested on one in particular. It was as if he had sat in my family room and painted using the colours around him.

I loved it! I went closer and instinctively reached out to touch it. The artist had been watching me, and as I reached out, he cried, "Don't touch it!" "Too late," he added, "It's still wet!"

To my dismay, I had already left my thumb smudge in the wet paint, and the picture perfection was ruined. His face severe, the artist handed me a scalpel. "Now you have to fix it," he said.

I took the scalpel in my hand and looked at the painting. I knew I could not repair the damage I had done.

Then the artist's face broke out in a smile, his eyes twinkled, and he said, "I'll fix it!"

With a few deft strokes of his hand, the painting was as good as new! He joked, "A hundred years from now, when they scrape back the paint, they will find your fingerprint and accredit you as the artist!"

Of course, I bought the beautiful slab of slate.

How like the artist God is, and how quick we are to mess up what He has done. In the Garden of Eden, God said, "Don't touch!" but Adam and Eve touched and ruined perfection with their sin. God gave them the old covenant and said, "Fix it!" but of course, man in his own strength could not do it. Then God smiled, took the old covenant, perfected it through Jesus, and offered us all the new covenant — perfect!

When we receive His offer, our personal imprint of sin is covered over. Eternity is ours at a price we can afford: our faith in the Artist's work.

But God continues to cover our "imprints", does He not? We fail, we stumble, we touch, and He is ready, scalpel in hand, to make it right again.

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness! (NKJV)

One day when we are standing at heaven's door and are asked why we should be allowed in, we will be able to say, "Because the imprint of my sin is covered by the redemptive work of the great Artist!"

Romans 4:7 – Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. (NKJV)

Prayer: Dear Father, we thank You for Your willing heart to take scalpel in hand and restore us to wholeness when we sin. May we be quick to run to You in repentance before our hearts have time to harden. Amen.

One Sunday, a little boy's prayer "preached" the sermon. He said, with a childish lisp, "Dear God, we thank you for dis day; we thank you for dis church" … a pause, then, "How are we doin', God?"

A ripple of amusement swept over the congregation. Obviously, the child had a parent who routinely asked how he was doing.

But his question is a good one, is it not? It is one we should all be asking.

What if every child of God asked throughout the day, "How am I doing, God? How is my attitude? Am I keeping my mind pure and focused on things that are good? Am I doing the things that are pleasing in Your sight? Am I growing taller in You?"

King David had this kind of watchful attitude before God. I think he often asked, "Lord, how am I doing?"

Perhaps he worded it like this: "Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart." (Psalm 26:2 NKJV)

Prayer: Dear Father, we humbly ask You today, "How are we doing?" We lift our hearts and minds to You to be examined and tried. Forgive us where we so often fail to hear Your voice. Help us to walk in obedience to Your Word. O Lord, may we be worthy of Your praise. Amen.

I saw the moment when his eyes focused on the biggest boulder there, probably about thirty inches high.

The face of it was smooth, with no footholds. Reaching to his highest stretch, he could just barely reach his fingertips to the rounded top. He kicked and reached but could find no way to conquer this "mountain". Frustrated, he called for help, but he was rewarded with nothing more than an ignoring smile. I watched him struggle, his determination admirable, but finally he was forced to admit defeat. He shuffled off, head down. Then, he gave one last reluctant look over his shoulder.

Immediately, his body language changed, and he turned and raced back to the boulder.

He had not realized that this boulder had another side to it, a side that had a convenient step naturally provided in the cut of the stone. Reaching his short little leg as high as he could, he was just able to catch the top of the step with his boot, and in a second, pull himself up to sit triumphantly on the top of his "mountain". I heard the exuberance in his voice as he exclaimed, "I made it! I made it! It's amazing! It's amazing!"

I saw the lesson immediately.

How often we look at the "boulder" circumstances of our lives from only one side. If we walk around to God's side of it, we find that He has already provided a step, a way to conquer it, to climb to the top and experience the exuberance of victory! The accomplishment of overcoming, to the point where our view is through God's eyes and not our own, is that we see His purposes, and then our joyous victory song can be heard by all who are watching! "I made it! God is amazing!"

1 Corinthians 15:57 – But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

Prayer: Dear Father, help us not to view the boulders of our lives from the side of defeat, but rather, with childlike faith, to look for the side where You have already provided the way of escape, the way to victory! To all who are watching, may we proclaim through our attitudes and actions that our God truly is amazing! Thank You for Jesus who was born and came to show us the "steps" to an overcoming life! Amen.

He was fishing for salmon on the banks of a local river, catching one big fish after another. A fisherman, equipped with expensive bait and rods, was catching nothing.

Finally, he came over to my son-in-law and asked, "What are you doing?" Looking at the old trout rod, he scratched his head and murmured. "Hmm… I'll have to try that!"

We all enjoyed listening to my son-in-law tell the story and shared a good laugh.

We, as Christians, are called to be "fishers of men", and we, too, use something the world considers foolish to catch our "fish" — the message of the cross!

1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (NKJV)

God's ways often seem foolish to the wise of this world, but only God's ways lead to life and godliness.

As we, who are God's children, live our lives beside God's river, we are being watched. We may not be doing things the way the world dictates. In fact, at times, we may look foolish, but there will be some who come close to ask, "What are you doing?" We will then have the privilege of being "fishers of men", sharing with them the message of the cross and aiding in drawing them into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 4:19 – Then [Jesus] said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (NKJV)

Prayer: Lord, You have called us to be fishers of men. Help us to live our lives in such a way that people will see that we are different in a way that makes them hungry to know You. Open our eyes to see the ones who stand beside us, and may we be faithful in our witness to them. Amen.