When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
It is always humbling when I come to this verse. The world is so big and so vast...and yet so detailed and intricate. And in all that, God knows me. God sent his Son to save me. The same as He knows you and sent his Son to save you. But were one of us the only human at all, He would still have done the same.
Then consider that He knows you and regards you not only in terms of the work of salvation, but He knows and cares...yes, actually, cares...about your everyday life. How awesome is that?
Challenge for Today: If you live somewhere where you can see stars, step outside tonight and take a look. Do this by yourself. And while you're there, consider how many there are, how you can't possibly count them, and God knows each one. But He also knows you, though you are so small looking up at them. If you live in a city or somewhere else with enough light pollution that you either can't see stars at all or can only see the brightest, then find something else that evokes wonder in God's nature and consider it. (If the issue is just clouds, though...wait until a clear night. There is nothing quite like the stars.) And consider that, unless you live in a cabin in the woods or a mountaintop in Hawaii, you probably can't even see all the stars that the Psalmist was considering when he wrote this Psalm. There are very few places left where you can!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Short Break
All,
Sorry that I haven't posted much the last few days. I was sick Monday. (Sick to my stomach, then ended up sleeping all day until about 5 in the afternoon. I don't usually get THAT sick. I think it was food poisoning.)
Then this week, I've been working late to try and make up some hours and not go without pay for some of the week. :)
And...this is the big one. We've just moved, which is great. But my husband's family will be over for Christmas Eve, then my family will be over on Christmas Day. (Everyone wants to see the new place, of course!) So I've got to unpack the 100+ boxes that are in the living room and garage by then. So... I'll probably not write again until after this Christmas frenzy unless something pressing presents itself.
Thanks! And have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!
Sorry that I haven't posted much the last few days. I was sick Monday. (Sick to my stomach, then ended up sleeping all day until about 5 in the afternoon. I don't usually get THAT sick. I think it was food poisoning.)
Then this week, I've been working late to try and make up some hours and not go without pay for some of the week. :)
And...this is the big one. We've just moved, which is great. But my husband's family will be over for Christmas Eve, then my family will be over on Christmas Day. (Everyone wants to see the new place, of course!) So I've got to unpack the 100+ boxes that are in the living room and garage by then. So... I'll probably not write again until after this Christmas frenzy unless something pressing presents itself.
Thanks! And have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Psalms 4:5-6
Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord. Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
I have started reading through the Psalms, as much or as little a day as necessary to be able to internalize what the verses say and make it applicable to my own life. A couple of days ago, I ran across this verse, and God just really laid on my heart that it is something we need to consider as Christians. The first part of the verse says "Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord". A clear command. Then the second, which I believe is just a continuation of the same basic train of thought, says that many are asking "Who can show us any good?"
I don't think the person making the sacrifices and trusting in the Lord is the one asking "Who can show us any good?" And I certainly don't think it is saying offer sacrifices and trust so God will show you some good. I think the verse is saying that there area many people out there who are searching for something. They're looking for "good" in two ways that our sacrifices and trust can fulfill.
First, people are looking for someone...anyone...who will do something good for them, help them out of their troubles or perhaps a desperate situation that they are in, be a friend to them, or just generally treat them with some respect and dignity and go out of the way to care about them. When we make a sacrifice for God's kingdom, whether it is a monetary offering to a church or charity, a donation to a family in need, the sacrifice of our time in some kind of service to church or community... we are touching those people. You truly have no idea whether something that seems small to you actually has a very large impact on someone else. That is where the trust comes in. When God lays it on your heart to make a sacrifice, large or small, then you trust that that sacrifice will end up bringing glory to His kingdom and bringing others to Him. You put the sacrifice out there...He's the one responsible for the results.
Second, I think that people are, in general, looking around to see "good" people. "Who can show us any good?" they say. When our leaders are corrupt, our justice systemoften fails to do its job due to technicalities, and there are all sorts of atrocities being committed here and abroad that seem completely senseless, then people tend to look and say there just plain IS no good. People are evil, and that's just how it is. In addition, they often look at Christians, who are supposed to be "good", and see us doing the same things as everyone else, and they think if they "religious people" behave that way, then what is the point of religion. But, really, people do look around looking for a "good" person, and that good person need to be you and me. That's what we are supposed to be doing!
Last, a comment from popular culture. I was thinking this over and deciding what exactly to say the other night, and The Night Before Christmas came on TV. You know...the old cartoon with the mice and the clockmaker. And they sang the cute song that I had never really even paid attention to before. (It is, after all, singing mice...) The chorus says, "Even a miracle needs a hand."
Well, I don't think God "needs a hand" to get His miracles done. I'm not saying that at all. God can do a miracle whenever He feels like it. But sometimes He calls you and I to help. I don't think for an instant that's because He needs our help. I think it is because, as a loving God, He gives us the opportunity to help. He allows us to partner with Him to bring about the result of a miracle. He uses our "hands" to deliver a miracle to someone else. I think if we are unwilling or too busy, He raises up someone else to that job, but what a blessing we miss out on if that is the case! I certainly don't want to miss out...though I'm sure I often have just by not looking and listening and being willing.
Challenge for Today: Look around for where God wants you to impact someone else...in a large or small way...and act on it.
I have started reading through the Psalms, as much or as little a day as necessary to be able to internalize what the verses say and make it applicable to my own life. A couple of days ago, I ran across this verse, and God just really laid on my heart that it is something we need to consider as Christians. The first part of the verse says "Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord". A clear command. Then the second, which I believe is just a continuation of the same basic train of thought, says that many are asking "Who can show us any good?"
I don't think the person making the sacrifices and trusting in the Lord is the one asking "Who can show us any good?" And I certainly don't think it is saying offer sacrifices and trust so God will show you some good. I think the verse is saying that there area many people out there who are searching for something. They're looking for "good" in two ways that our sacrifices and trust can fulfill.
First, people are looking for someone...anyone...who will do something good for them, help them out of their troubles or perhaps a desperate situation that they are in, be a friend to them, or just generally treat them with some respect and dignity and go out of the way to care about them. When we make a sacrifice for God's kingdom, whether it is a monetary offering to a church or charity, a donation to a family in need, the sacrifice of our time in some kind of service to church or community... we are touching those people. You truly have no idea whether something that seems small to you actually has a very large impact on someone else. That is where the trust comes in. When God lays it on your heart to make a sacrifice, large or small, then you trust that that sacrifice will end up bringing glory to His kingdom and bringing others to Him. You put the sacrifice out there...He's the one responsible for the results.
Second, I think that people are, in general, looking around to see "good" people. "Who can show us any good?" they say. When our leaders are corrupt, our justice systemoften fails to do its job due to technicalities, and there are all sorts of atrocities being committed here and abroad that seem completely senseless, then people tend to look and say there just plain IS no good. People are evil, and that's just how it is. In addition, they often look at Christians, who are supposed to be "good", and see us doing the same things as everyone else, and they think if they "religious people" behave that way, then what is the point of religion. But, really, people do look around looking for a "good" person, and that good person need to be you and me. That's what we are supposed to be doing!
Last, a comment from popular culture. I was thinking this over and deciding what exactly to say the other night, and The Night Before Christmas came on TV. You know...the old cartoon with the mice and the clockmaker. And they sang the cute song that I had never really even paid attention to before. (It is, after all, singing mice...) The chorus says, "Even a miracle needs a hand."
Well, I don't think God "needs a hand" to get His miracles done. I'm not saying that at all. God can do a miracle whenever He feels like it. But sometimes He calls you and I to help. I don't think for an instant that's because He needs our help. I think it is because, as a loving God, He gives us the opportunity to help. He allows us to partner with Him to bring about the result of a miracle. He uses our "hands" to deliver a miracle to someone else. I think if we are unwilling or too busy, He raises up someone else to that job, but what a blessing we miss out on if that is the case! I certainly don't want to miss out...though I'm sure I often have just by not looking and listening and being willing.
Challenge for Today: Look around for where God wants you to impact someone else...in a large or small way...and act on it.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Matthew 5:10-12
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
We are blessed to live in a country where we don't go through the horrors of physical persecution every day. We can worship without fear of being hauled to jail, tortured, or even beaten or killed outside the law by followers of other religions. Christians in places like China and India face those possibilities every day. In many African nations like Somalia, it's the same. The laws either condone persecution, outlaw Christianity, or the authorities are simply too weak to enforce laws that protect various faiths.
However, we are not without persecution in the United States. I would never say that our situation even comes close to comparing to that faced by other believers throughout the world. However, verse 11 of this passage speaks loudly to us. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me."
It is frustrating to see in the media, in movies, on talk shows, and in all manner of public culture that Christians are portrayed as being close-minded, backward, even evil (as in the case of the religious fanatic mother in movies like Carrie...and that's not the only movie where that type of character appears). Or on talk shows, if a Christian speaks out in the audience defending the Bible, Biblical principles, the rights of Christians to show their faith in public, they are often shouted down by the very people who espouse the idea of religious freedom...for everything except Christianity. (And sometimes Judaism is thrown into the "intolerant" mix, as well, by those who advocate loudly for religious freedom.)
I am continually amazed that people will talk about the right to "believe whatever you want", but then turn and visciously attack the Christian for believing that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. And then many will go further and say that the Christian is intolerant for saying so or that they are racist or unloving...or any other of a long list of things that Christians are called unfairly. I think that sort of thing is what verse 11 is talking about. Sadly, I think we can expect to see even more of this and to see such opinions coded into law or legislated into "legal" by judges in the very near future. It seems to be the way the world, and especially our country, is headed, but it is to be expected and not a cause for dismay. In fact, if you read on to verse 12, it is a reason for gladness and rejoicing.
Challenge for Today: The challenge is two-fold. First, find a missionary or other Christian in another country that needs your prayers and lift them up. They are being persecuted in ways that we hope never to be.
Second, when someone takes a stab at you for doing something righteous or holding a belief you know is true and not backing down from it, don't be discouraged...and certainly don't be angry with them...but instead be glad. A tall order, I know...but the appropriate response!
We are blessed to live in a country where we don't go through the horrors of physical persecution every day. We can worship without fear of being hauled to jail, tortured, or even beaten or killed outside the law by followers of other religions. Christians in places like China and India face those possibilities every day. In many African nations like Somalia, it's the same. The laws either condone persecution, outlaw Christianity, or the authorities are simply too weak to enforce laws that protect various faiths.
However, we are not without persecution in the United States. I would never say that our situation even comes close to comparing to that faced by other believers throughout the world. However, verse 11 of this passage speaks loudly to us. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me."
It is frustrating to see in the media, in movies, on talk shows, and in all manner of public culture that Christians are portrayed as being close-minded, backward, even evil (as in the case of the religious fanatic mother in movies like Carrie...and that's not the only movie where that type of character appears). Or on talk shows, if a Christian speaks out in the audience defending the Bible, Biblical principles, the rights of Christians to show their faith in public, they are often shouted down by the very people who espouse the idea of religious freedom...for everything except Christianity. (And sometimes Judaism is thrown into the "intolerant" mix, as well, by those who advocate loudly for religious freedom.)
I am continually amazed that people will talk about the right to "believe whatever you want", but then turn and visciously attack the Christian for believing that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. And then many will go further and say that the Christian is intolerant for saying so or that they are racist or unloving...or any other of a long list of things that Christians are called unfairly. I think that sort of thing is what verse 11 is talking about. Sadly, I think we can expect to see even more of this and to see such opinions coded into law or legislated into "legal" by judges in the very near future. It seems to be the way the world, and especially our country, is headed, but it is to be expected and not a cause for dismay. In fact, if you read on to verse 12, it is a reason for gladness and rejoicing.
Challenge for Today: The challenge is two-fold. First, find a missionary or other Christian in another country that needs your prayers and lift them up. They are being persecuted in ways that we hope never to be.
Second, when someone takes a stab at you for doing something righteous or holding a belief you know is true and not backing down from it, don't be discouraged...and certainly don't be angry with them...but instead be glad. A tall order, I know...but the appropriate response!
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