Saturday, August 29, 2015

Kick back and put up your feet...



Rest.

By definition, rest is, "to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength."

An athlete rests after a strenuous workout. A worker rests after a hard day at his or her job. A mother or father rests after a busy day tending the children.



The word, "rest," brings pleasant, peaceful and serene thoughts to mind. Unfortunately, in today's hurry-up, dog-eat-dog, competitive world, rest is often elusive.

Our heavenly Father did not create us to be idle beings, but he also knew that we required, yes, needed rest. So important is rest to our bodies, minds and souls, that he set for us an example at the beginning of the second chapter of the Bible. After God spent six days creating the world in all its splendor, he rested. Genesis 2:1-4, here from The Message, tells us:
Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail. By the seventh day, God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested from all his work. God blessed the seventh day. He made it a Holy Day. Because on that day he rested from his work, all the creating God had done.
Day Seven God set apart as a Holy Day. A day to rest, yes. But more importantly, a day to honor God. A day to give God our full attention. A day to set aside our normal work and routine, and spend time with our Creator. A day to relish in his love and faithfulness. A day to give him our best. A day to give him our love.

If you don't think a day of rest is important, think again. God thought it so important that he made it one of his Ten Commandments. Number four, in fact. We find its place in the list along with, "No murder," and, "No adultery."

Sabbath. Sunday. A day of rest. However you define it, God commands it.

May the peace of Christ find you at rest on your Holy Day.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Spots, Stripes, Fingers and Toes...

No way. Can't happen. Not a chance.

There's no way possible to cover the details of creation, Day Six, in one blog post. Because of the sheer creative juices that God exhibited that day, let's just roll a highlight reel and consider attributes of God that get overlooked.

God has a sense of humor.

Doubt it? Consider what God was thinking as he pondered his animal kingdom. Maybe after he created bears, wolves and squirrels, he thought, "Kinda bland. Hmm. Let's stretch this one's neck waaaay long and make a giraffe." Or, "Let's jazz it up with some pattern. Stripes even. Maybe black and white." Wa la! Zebras. Or how about, "Too much fur. Let's make some spiny characters." Porcupines. God definitely created quirky-looking animals for his and our enjoyment, and I imagine he did it with a smile on his face and laughter on his lips.



God is into details.

Sure, he created the big guys like elephants and hippos. But he also created ants, honey bees and spiders. He created the praying mantis and the dragon fly. Each species has its place in his ordered and perfect world. Each dependent on others and on his creation for survival.

God is sensitive and knows our needs.

After God filled the earth, he created man to be its caretaker. God placed man in charge of the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle and earth itself. God made man, in his image, to reflect his nature. God created us to be like him. God being God, also knew that man needed a helper. Man needed a companion. And so God created woman. On Day Six, God created human beings, male and female, and blessed them.

God made me. God made you. The Bible tells us that God made us in his image, reflecting his nature. That means God takes delight in me. God delights in you. Big. Small. Fat. Skinny. Tall. Short.

God has a sense of humor. God is into details. God is sensitive and knows our every need.

What a Creator we have!
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good,, so very good! It was evening, it was morning - Day Six.  Genesis 1:31 (The Message)
  

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Gills and Gulls...

Imagine dawn on creation's fifth day. Our world had plants and trees. Earth experienced its first sunrise. The moon disappeared in the brightness of an empty blue sky. Oceans were still and lifeless. Not a sound was heard except for the whisper of the wind through the trees.

Earth was, well, quiet.

Quite. Quiet.

No living creature inhabited the water. No winged bird soared in the sky. No bug crawled the ground. No bee buzzed the air.

The earth was still.

And then God, the greatest conductor in the world's finest symphony, spoke.
"Swarm, Ocean, with fish and sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!"
And God began the business of creating the host of sea life and the vast array of winged birds:
"God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters. And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good." 
God, in his infinite wisdom, created the octopus and the squid. God created the whale and the barracuda. The seagull and the pelican. The owl and the woodpecker.
Noise, Movement. Life. God filled the water. He filled the sky. And for the first time, on Day Five, God blessed his creation:
God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!"
Not only did God create marine life and aves, he intricately designed their bodies to reproduce and populate his world. God blessed his creation and commanded them to grow vigorously and multiply.

 As the sun sets on Day Five, the earth moves with energy. The ocean teems. Sounds are heard: the owl's hoot, the woodpecker's hammering pound, the dove's coo. We feel the building excitement - the edge of your seat eagerness for what it yet to come. Day Five leaves us breathless with anticipation for the Grand Finale!
It was evening, it was morning - Day Five. 

Scripture from Genesis 1:20-23 (The Message)

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Earth..Solar System...Galaxy...Universe

If you hadn't considered God's immense power and immeasurable greatness before, Day Four of creation might cause you to take pause. In fact, it might just knock you on your keister.

Days One through Three of creation, God did a lot of forming. Light and dark, water and sky, dry ground and seas. During Days Four through Six, he started the process of filling. The cool thing about God's organization is he shares it with us in parallels. Day Four connects with Day One, Day Five connects with Day Two and Day Six pairs up with day Three.

Here's how he starts: Day One he commanded, "Let there be light." And then, he connects Day Four with Day One by making "the lights." Hang on for the wild ride!

First off, he makes our sun and moon. Genesis 1:14-15:

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so,

God didn't just pop our sun and moon into place and say, "Good enough." He set the Earth in orbit around the sun to align Time. He ordered time in segments. Days. Weeks. Seasons. Years. Perfectly planned. Perfectly ordered.

God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.

God knew his creation needed sunlight for growth and sustenance, and he gave us the moon as our night light. He gave the sun charge to rule the day, and he set the moon in place to rule the night. Day and night. Light and dark. Order in the world.

But what really blows my mind is the next five words in Genesis 1:16. Five short words that we can read without hesitation. We skip over these words because they are easily missed. We are going to pause and soak in the wonder of these five words. For pondering them will key you in to God's immeasurable greatness.

"He also made the stars."

The website learningastronomy.com puts it in simple terms:
We live on planet Earth which is part of our local Solar System.
Our Solar System includes the Sun and everything that orbits the Sun.
Our Sun, is just one Star in the Milky Way Galaxy.
The Milky Way Galaxy is just one Galaxy in the Universe.
Chew on this for a moment. Our sun is just one star in the Milky Way Galaxy. On Day Four, God didn't just make the sun and moon. God "also made the stars." God created our solar system. God created Mars. God created Mercury. God created Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. God didn't stop there. God created our Milky Way Galaxy and the rest of the galaxies and the entire universe! 

Our God is an awesome God!

Wrapping up Day Four, Genesis 1:17-19 tells us:

God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day.