Creation!

"All the earth worships you
    and sings praises to you;
    they sing praises to your name." (Psalm 66:4)

You know, that first verse in the Bible--come on, everyone knows it--is pretty simple. Pretty straightforward. I've heard it my whole life. Believed it all my life. It's the first lesson in the curriculum for the one-year-olds I teach in Bible class.

But when's the last time you sat and really thought about this simple truth and all it encompasses?

I'm blessed to work for an organization whose goal is to spread the love of Jesus through building communities, connections, and relationships. This past week, we went to Pine Cove near Tyler, Texas, for our biennial staff retreat. In addition to various sessions about our actual work, and time spent reconnecting with friends who work in other places across the country, and yes, playing and having fun, we were encouraged--as in, it was on the official schedule--to find a quiet place to spend time with the Lord.

The picture below is one of the spots I chose. A wooden deck overlooking Lake Palestine. Gazing through tall, east Texas pines. Punctuated by the sounds of nature. And right in the middle of my view ... that sign.

CREATION
PS. 19:1-6

I said in the very first blog I doubted these #60seconddevotionals would tackle anything too deep or controversial. They're meant solely to encourage and uplift. But I have to tell you, sitting on that deck, I kept puzzling over the theory of evolution.

It's beyond my understanding how a rational person can't look out and just see God. He's there. In every ripple of that water. In every tiny pine cone, some so small it's hard to see they'll even be pine cones. He's in every bird song, every whistle and chirp. Every crisp sunrise and every peaceful sunset.

How can I not believe and honor Him for His incomprehensible creation? A world--and everything in it--so amazing as to be mind-boggling. The answer is simple: I can't.

I must worship such a Creator.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

• Take some time and read the following passages:
• Psalm 66
• Job 12:7-10
• Psalm 19
• Psalm 96:11 & 12
• Psalm 95:4-6
• Job 37:14 - 16
• Psalm 104:24 & 25
• Revelation 5:13
• Isaiah 55:12
• Nehemiah 9:6
• Isaiah 43:26
• So many more, but my 60 seconds are up. You find some. Find your favorite. Write it down. Put it somewhere you'll see it on a regular basis, and remember He created this for you.

Pursuing and Finding

"Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor." (Proverbs 21:21)

Things get lost in my house. One person will leave something somewhere, usually meaning to come back to it or for it later. Great idea ... in theory. In a household of four, that something will get moved. Put away. Or--yikes!--thrown away. Drama ensues.

But on a fairly regular basis, while searching for that lost thing, we find something else. Something better sometimes. Something more valuable.

The wise writer, through the inspired pen of God, tells us to expect just such a serendipitous occurrence. He tells us, while seeking and pursuing righteousness, yes, we'll find righteousness, but we'll also find life!

LIFE!

Christ, Himself, tells us He came so we'd have "... life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) Does that mean a long life? A life of wealth and ease? Maybe. Maybe not. Everyone receives different blessings. And God never promised us earthly wealth. He never even promised us happiness in this life. At least, not as the world sees happiness.

But He did promise we could have a life of joy in serving Him and others. Isn't that the best thing we could find while searching? While seeking righteousness--a wonderful thing to pursue in and of itself--we find life in Christ.

Life eternal.

What a find!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

• What have you found while pursuing righteousness? Think of those blessings--like-minded friends, peace, joy in serving ... what else?
• What examples can you give of your life being "more abundant?"

A Dry and Thirsty Land

"For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
    and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
    and my blessing on your descendants." (Isaiah 44:3)

A few weeks ago, this verse was part of our daily Bible reading. It stuck with me. It's powerful imagery.

Here in Texas, around about late June or so, we stop seeing rain. Walk down nearly any street or sidewalk, and you can see the earth, dry and cracked, the edges curling like the pages of some ancient, dusty book. That land begs for water.

And then ... summer rainstorms! They don't usually last long--mere minutes sometimes. But it's often enough to heal those cracks. To refresh the wildflowers. And for a little while, everything is fresh and bright and clean and new.

Some days, my heart feels that way. Parched. Dry. Cracked. Longing for refreshment. And then I turn to God, His word, and He does exactly what He promised the children of Israel. He pours His living water on me. It runs down, washing me, healing wounds, refreshing me.

Streams that never run dry.

No matter how much I drink, there will always be a renewed stream. No matter how dry my spirit, He will always quench my thirst. And only He can refresh my spirit with His blessings.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

• Consider the times in your life when God has refreshed you with living water. How many times has He poured out blessings on you? As the song says, "Count your blessings, name them one by one."

Laundry Day

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)

Honestly, if I hadn't promised these devotionals would be short and sweet, I'd include this whole psalm. Every verse is beautiful and chock full of what I want in my heart. But this verse is the one that truly speaks to me.

Raise your hand if you love doing laundry. Come on, be honest. I know there are one or two weirdos out there who love the whole process. I once worked with a woman who said ironing was like therapy to her. Me? I need therapy because of ironing.

So for the rest of us who hate it--the sorting, the lugging to the washer, the moving to the dryer (stopping to hang all the things you don't machine dry), the folding, the matching of socks, ohhh, the socks! Yes, for those of us who don't love laundry, imagine you could snap your fingers, wiggle your nose, or bob your head, and voila! It's done! All of it. Washed clean, stains gone, fresh as it was when all those clothes were brand new.

Well, if we let Him, God will do just that with our hearts. How encouraging. How utterly amazing to know when we ask forgiveness, He erases the sins that stain our spirits. And He does it every single time. Every. Single. Time.

What an awesome God we serve. My Daddy used to start every prayer with the words, "Our kind and loving heavenly Father ..." If God's mercy, His willingness to create and re-create a clean heart in us, isn't the epitome of loving kindness, I don't know what is.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

• Do some laundry this week. If you haven't already done so by the time you finished this blog, pray for a clean heart. A renewed, right spirit.

Put on Your Coat ... er ... Kindness

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." (Colossians 3:12 - 12)

For various reasons, kindness has been on my mind lately. I've seen a couple of people I care about hurt recently. One situation was the result of someone being petty and small. One was the result of a handful of people being thoughtless (literally not giving thought to) in regard to another. One was just poor judgment on the part of one person toward another.

In my view, all of the people--petty, thoughtless, unwise--were unkind. Kindness, based on that verse up there, is a very conscious act. We're told to "put on" compassion and kindness. Have you ever accidentally put on a coat? Living in Texas, I rarely wear a coat, so when I do, it's because I chose to do so.

Don't you think kindness is the same sort of thing? Certainly kindness can become a habit, but the words and actions that result from kindness aren't accidents. They don't just happen. You choose kind words, whether in response to something or to prompt happiness in someone else. You choose to do a kind act for someone.

Kindness is often listed in the New Testament with other traits--fruits of the Spirit--such as humility, meekness, love, joy, peace, and so on. We hear about love all the time. Joy, peace, patience. But kindness kind of gets the short end of the stick, doesn't it? If the inspired writers of the Bible considered it on a par with love, why don't we?

I can sing about the fruits of the Spirit all day long, but if I'm picking and choosing the ones I want to exhibit and leaving others out, I don't really have the right attitude, do I?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

• Think of people who might need a kind word or act from you. List them, along with ideas to show kindness to them. (It doesn't have to be huge. A smile, a compliment, a cup of coffee ... a little kindness goes a long way toward making someone's day.)

Who's Got Your Six?

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

Imagine facing a room full of your greatest enemies. They hate you. They're all hoping you'll fail at everything you put your hand to. They will do anything in their power to ensure your failure. You tremble and cower, knowing the combined strength of all those enemies is easily able to overpower you.

We have sayings about friends who support us. She's got my back. He's got my six. She's always here for me.

Everybody knows what those phrases mean. If you've got someone's back, if you're watching their six, it means you're protecting the areas they can't see. If you tell someone you're here for them, it means you'll drop everything to help them out, to listen, to support them. All of those phrases cover a lot of bases in a typical friendship.

But no matter how supportive our friends are, things happen. We're human. We let people down, in spite of our best efforts, and people let us down.

So imagine that room full of enemies again. And then you look over your shoulder. And you remember Who is on your side.

"... who can be against us?"

The enemy does not exist who can overtake me when God is on my side. Does this mean I'll never suffer disappointment or failure? Not at all. But with God on my side, my disappointments and failures aren't the end of my story. They won't drag me down and cause me to give up.

"... who can be against us?"

Powerful words that remind me God is always on my side. He wants me to gain that ultimate prize, eternal life in heaven.

"... who can be against us?"

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

• What struggles are you facing right now? Pray specifically for God to grant you wisdom and strength to handle them.

Chosen

"and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." (Romans 8:17)

When I was a kid, adoption wasn't often discussed. I remember thinking it must be bad to be adopted. I can recall hearing people speaking in whispers, "She doesn't know she's adopted." In retrospect, I still don't understand the secrecy in most cases.

Now I know several couples who've adopted children, usually at a significant financial cost. Attorneys' fees, other fees I probably don't even know about, travel expenses sometimes. But it's not about the money to those couples. It's never about the cost.

It's about bringing someone else into the family.

Oftentimes, the couple I know who've adopted a child have traveled to a foreign country and chosen a child. And that's the word I wanted to get to when I started this blog.

Chosen.

We refer to the Israelites as God's chosen ones. And they were. They were His people.

Then Christ died for us, and a new covenant took effect. A covenant under which I was adopted. Suddenly I was one of God's chosen. Me! Who am I to be chosen by God? The Israelites could trace their lineage and tell you which tribe they belonged to. Meanwhile, I'm a mutt. If I did one of those DNA tests, I figure it'd look like a wheel of fortune. A little slice of this, a tiny sliver of that, and a whole lot of how-did-that-end-up-there? Like a chihuahua and a Great Dane.

But you know what? It doesn't matter whether I can trace my ancestry back to the Mayflower, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, or even a boat on the sea of Galilee.

God adopted me. He chose me. I didn't deserve it. I can't earn that inheritance. I will never be worthy of being His child. And yet ... here we are.

So I encourage you to consider what that means for us. What does it mean to you, personally, to be adopted, chosen by God? Blessed. Humbled. Thankful.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

• Spend some time thinking about the cost of your adoption--Christ's sacrifice. Really think about what that means, to be chosen by the Creator to be one of His own children.