Mar 28 Burnout or Peace ?

Lord, I do not desire to be a stiff-necked person.  Yet there are so many times I have been obstinate, stubborn, and wanted my own way!

Situations come up in my life, and the first thing I think of is how it can work out best for me.  I don’t think of myself as selfish, but I certainly do prefer when circumstances benefit me and don’t rock my boat.

There are so many things beyond my control that I seek to tightly control the things that are within my grasp.  I do what I can to plan my work and work my plan.  I try and keep a handle on and stay on top of events, relationships, finances, schedules, health issues, family, home.

The truth is: my being in control is just an illusion.  I am not really in control of anything. What’s going on in the world and in our country have made that remarkably clear for all of us. But by Your grace, I make it from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next.

You created the universe with order.  You ordered the solar system, and the seasons, life cycles and day and night.

If You can handle the universe, You can certainly handle the details of my life and the crisis we are facing now.  The control I desperately seek, I can trust to You.  I need to do my part, but I can release that part of me that seeks to insist on my own way; that seeks to “feel” in control.

A new way of thinking for me is to ask how the circumstances in my life can be used to bring You glory.  How can I respond in a way that shows that my peace and confidence come from You, the Lord God Almighty, instead of being dependent on whether or not things work out my way?

Help me Lord.  Keep my heart sensitive to what You are doing so I can join you.  Keep my mind focused on what You are showing me and teaching me through Your Word, about how to let go.

I have heard that I cannot do Your part, and You will not do my part.  Give me the discernment to know which is which.   And the courage to let my actions reflect that.  Amen

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Feb 11 Omnipotent

Lord, I believe Your Word is right and true; and that You are faithful in all You do.  So when the Word tells me You created the heavens and the earth, I believe it and am amazed.

Not only did You have the imagination and endless creativity to think it all up, You had the power and sovereignty over the elements and forces to do the creating! 

How?  I don’t know.

Science is still wrestling with the questions of how our universe works.  Theories come and go about physics, matter, gravity wells, space and time; more than I can grasp.

Every generation we learn more, sometimes refuting what was previously believed.  I don’t know that we will ever reach a level of truly understanding it.

But I know that when I see the diversity and organization, I marvel at it – and see past it to the Creator.

I can look through a microscope or a telescope and see things beyond my imagination that amaze me.  I can observe connections and repeated patterns that cannot possibly exist by coincidence.

The recognition and glory are due the Creator.  “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him,” meaning I will acknowledge Your handiwork and have the utmost respect for Your power and authority over all our world.

“The Lord foils the plans of nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” 

I praise You that Your plans stand firm.

I will sing of the mercy of the Lord!  Your faithfulness endures forever!  Amen

Psalm 33:1-11

Jan 20 Indescribable…Uncontainable

Lord God, I continue to be amazed at the magnitude of the height of Your glory. You made the sun and stars, everything in the heavens.

As humans, we are just beginning to understand the depth of the workings of the cosmos.

All we know about our universe could fit on the head of a pin compared to what You were able to imagine and bring into being.

Even beyond our meager understanding, You had the ability, the power to create what You imagined. And by Your hand it is all kept in balance and in motion.

Yet, with the incredible greatness and the boundless vastness of Your power and sovereignty, You still know each one of us, each of Your creations, by name. I marvel at the love You have for us, and the care You take with us.

You can see the past and the future. You are outside of time. You knew when a famine was coming in Egypt, and cared to let them know in advance.

You spoke revelation through dreams and gave the interpretation to Joseph. And because of that, people were saved from the famine, and Your promise was preserved; Your covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was upheld.

As great as You are, You still communicate with us in ways we can understand; as in parables.

We can understand a crop with weeds sewn into it, and how harvest time works. We can see when a tiny seed grows into a large tree, or the action of yeast causing bread dough to rise. We know the draw and value of treasure and pearls.

Thank You for caring to communicate with us; to show us the way to have relationship with You: The Almighty God of the Universe.

And as we can only voice our faith and trust in You through the words we understand, we join with the Psalmist David in saying; “You are my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. You are my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to You, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”

“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” Amen

Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-3

Jan 8 Creation – Infinite Universe

I love Psalm 8!

Written by King David, it makes me wonder how many times he must have gazed up at the stars in the heavens and contemplated You, the Creator of it all. As a shepherd, he would have spent many, many nights outside with the sheep; resting, guarding the flock, alone with his thoughts.

The skies where I live are never really dark. We have the light from a major city and suburbs all around. The stars are visible, but not nearly as impressive as when I saw them from the middle of the Sinai Peninsula!

We stepped out of a bus on a lonely road in a part of the world where light pollution is not even a remote issue, and were completely amazed at the number and brilliance of stars visible to our naked eye.

It was one of those “awe” moments. You just stand, mouth agape, drinking in the magnitude of the millions of stars.

It makes you oddly aware of how huge the universe is, stretching out before your eyes; and how small and minuscule a single person is, standing on one spot of one planet in one solar system of one galaxy in that universe.

Today, the skies above the hills around Jerusalem are also filled with light. But how dark it must have been back then. How truly bright and brilliant the night sky must have been when one lonely shepherd looked up and pondered the universe and its Maker.

God, You truly have set Your glory in the heavens.  And “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have made and set in place” – I also marvel that “You are mindful of man.”

 Who am I that You concern Yourself with what concerns me?

How is it that You can know the number of hairs on my head: a number that changes every day?

And You don’t just know me by what You see on the outside, You know my innermost thoughts, my motivations, my words before I speak them.

Thank You for taking such care creating this amazing place You made for us to live. Its beauty, its vastness, and its infinite diversity blow my mind! Its magnitude is incomprehensible.

As much as I can know about this world in my lifetime, I can never begin to understand all the things You hold in balance so this planet stays together and is capable of supporting the lives You’ve placed on it.

But I can give You the credit due.

You alone are the Author, the Creator, the imagination and the power behind its creation. I can acknowledge that it is You who keeps it all together and in motion. And honor You as Almighty God.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Amen

Psalm 8:1-9

Aug 23 There is none like You

“Your wisdom is profound, Your power is vast. You move mountains …You shake the earth from its place…
You speak to the sun and it does not shine, You seal off the light of the stars. You alone stretch out the heavens and tread on the waves of the sea. “

“You are the maker of the Bear and Orion (northern constellations), the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. You perform wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.”

Father, these words of Job’s remind me of the immenseness of Your power.
The vastness of who You are.
The enormity of Your creation.
It reminds me of how limited man is in his ability to comprehend all You are, all You have created and all You have done.

I look up at the stars, and I see tiny lights in the sky.  On a clear night, I can see a lot of them.  But ambient light from the city screens much of what is truly there.

When I was in Egypt, our bus was traveling at night on a lonely dark highway.  We stopped in the middle of the Sinai and walked some distance into the desert to look up.  You could hear the gasps as we all saw the magnificent display of stars as we had never seen them before!

We were drenched in darkness, but looking up at the sky saw thousands of tiny lights we had never been able to perceive, brilliantly sparkling from horizon to horizon.  What an amazing display of Your grandeur

Later, here in Colorado I took a group of friends to a nearby observatory.   It housed a refracting telescope with a 20 inch diameter lens.  The lens is seated in a 26 foot long tube, mounted on a 20 foot tall stand and pointed at the sky.  We each took our turn climbing up to the viewing end of the telescope that was pointed at the Orion Nebula – the star at the tip of the sword held on Orion’s belt.

What I had seen as a fuzzy point of light, exploded with clarity!  Brilliant light and clusters of stars in differing stages of birth and aging.  Bright and discernible stars now filled my view. 

What had been viewed as one pinpoint in a haze was actually a nursery where new stars were being born!  Within the cloud I could now see several distinct, individual stars and cloud clusters.  How amazing!  All this, and more, You stretched out with Your hand.

The very limits of human perception cannot even begin to see, much less understand Your immensity.  Your imagination and creativity are magnificent and immeasurable.  There is none like You.  Amen

Job 9:1-22

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210813.html

M42 Wisps of the Orion Nebula © Jon Christensen

July 18 Order from Chaos

Father, for the last several chapters, You have shown me how David and his commanders allotted all the jobs that needed to be done, to the Israelites.

There was a job for every person and a person for every job.  From the priestly duties in the Temple concerning worship, to defending the people and guarding the gates in the wall around Jerusalem.  There were people who took care of all the building and supplies, all the flocks and herds, and all the king’s business.

It reminds me that You are a God of order, not chaos.

I usually start off my day with a plan of order.  But You know all too well how many times those plans have dissolved into chaos.  My house starts out in order.  Then life happens, and chaos takes over.  Sometimes it takes an unexpected emergency like water in the basement or some planned entertaining activity to motivate the family into cleaning up again and putting things back in order weeks after the chaos has taken over.

I marvel at how You know humans so well, and give us what we need.  You know that I need order.

You created this world with painstaking care.  Every planet in the solar system is ordered.  The geology of the planet earth is stable enough that I don’t see mountains from my window one day and valleys the next.

The seasons change, giving us variety in weather patterns, but the seasons always come in the same order.

And the human body is amazingly organized, down to the pattern of neurons in our central nervous system and brain; and the arteries and veins that carry blood.

So I get the benefit and security of knowing that night always follows day; Summer always follows Spring.  Thank You for knowing me so well and what I need to feel safe and secure in the world.

Thank You for going to such great lengths in creating this beautiful planet; with its specific gravity, air pressure, radiation levels, temperature, and path through the solar system, to provide stability to sustain my life.  Thank You for the constancy I see repeated in the cycles: sprouting, growth, maturity, fruitfulness, harvest, hibernation, rebirth.

When chaos increases in my life, it’s a signal I need to spend more time with You.

Help me be more organized.  Remind me I need to be consistent in devoting time to You. Show me how to set right priorities.   And how to stick to them.   Thank You for Your loving help.  Amen

I Chronicles 23:1-27:34

Mar 28 Burnout or Peace?

Lord, I do not desire to be a stiff-necked person.  Yet there are so many times I have been obstinate, stubborn, and wanted my own way!

Situations come up in my life, and the first thing I think of is how it can work out best for me.  I don’t think of myself as selfish, but I certainly do prefer when circumstances benefit me and don’t rock my boat.

There are so many things beyond my control that I seek to tightly control the things that are within my grasp.  I do what I can to plan my work and work my plan.  I try and keep a handle on and stay on top of events, relationships, finances, schedules, health issues, family, home.

The truth is: my being in control is just an illusion.  I am not really in control of anything. What’s going on in the world and in our country have made that remarkably clear for all of us. But by Your grace, I make it from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next.

You created the universe with order.  You ordered the solar system, and the seasons, life cycles and day and night.

If You can handle the universe, You can certainly handle the details of my life and the crisis we are facing now.  The control I desperately seek, I can trust to You.  I need to do my part, but I can release that part of me that seeks to insist on my own way; that seeks to “feel” in control.

A new way of thinking for me is to ask how the circumstances in my life can be used to bring You glory.  How can I respond in a way that shows that my peace and confidence come from You, the Lord God Almighty, instead of being dependent on whether or not things work out my way?

Help me Lord.  Keep my heart sensitive to what You are doing so I can join you.  Keep my mind focused on what You are showing me and teaching me through Your Word, about how to let go.

I have heard that I cannot do Your part, and You will not do my part.  Give me the discernment to know which is which.   And the courage to let my actions reflect that.  Amen

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Feb 11 Omnipotent

Lord, I believe Your Word is right and true; and that You are faithful in all You do.  So when the Word tells me You created the heavens and the earth, I believe it and am amazed.

Not only did You have the imagination and endless creativity to think it all up, You had the power and sovereignty over the elements and forces to do the creating! 

How?  I don’t know.

Science is still wrestling with the questions of how our universe works.  Theories come and go about physics, matter, gravity wells, space and time; more than I can grasp.

Every generation we learn more, sometimes refuting what was previously believed.  I don’t know that we will ever reach a level of truly understanding it.

But I know that when I see the diversity and organization, I marvel at it – and see past it to the Creator.

I can look through a microscope or a telescope and see things beyond my imagination that amaze me.  I can observe connections and repeated patterns that cannot possibly exist by coincidence.

The recognition and glory are due the Creator.  “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him,” meaning I will acknowledge Your handiwork and have the utmost respect for Your power and authority over all our world.

“The Lord foils the plans of nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” 

I praise You that Your plans stand firm.

I will sing of the mercy of the Lord!  Your faithfulness endures forever!  Amen

Psalm 33:1-11

Jan 20 Indescribable Uncontainable

I continue to be amazed, Lord God, at the magnitude of the height of Your glory. You made the sun and stars, everything in the heavens.

As humans, we are just beginning to understand the depth of the workings of the cosmos.

All we know about our universe could fit on the head of a pin compared to what You were able to imagine and bring into being.

Even beyond our meager understanding, You had the ability, the power to create what You imagined. And by Your hand it is all kept in balance and in motion.

Yet, with the incredible greatness and the boundless vastness of Your power and sovereignty, You still know each one of us, each of Your creations, by name. I marvel at the love You have for us, and the care You take with us.

You can see the past and the future. You are outside of time. You knew when a famine was coming in Egypt, and cared to let them know in advance. You spoke revelation through dreams and gave the interpretation to Joseph. And because of that, people were saved from the famine, and Your promise was preserved; Your covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was upheld.

As great as You are, You still communicate with us in ways we can understand; as in parables. We can understand a crop with weeds sewn into it, and how harvest time works. We can see when a tiny seed grows into a large tree, or the action of yeast causing bread dough to rise. We know the draw and value of treasure and pearls.

Thank You for caring to communicate with us; to show us the way to have relationship with You: The Almighty God of the Universe.

And as we can only voice our faith and trust in You through the words we understand, we join with the Psalmist David in saying; “You are my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. You are my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to You, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”

“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” Amen

Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-3

Jan 8 Creation – Infinite Universe!

I love Psalm 8!

Written by King David, it makes me wonder how many times he must have gazed up at the stars in the heavens and contemplated You, the Creator of it all. As a shepherd, he would have spent many, many nights outside with the sheep; resting, guarding the flock, alone with his thoughts.

The skies where I live are never really dark. We have the light from a major city and suburbs all around. The stars are visible, but not nearly as impressive as when I saw them from the middle of the Sinai Peninsula!

We stepped out of a bus on a lonely road in a part of the world where light pollution is not even a remote issue, and were completely amazed at the number and brilliance of stars visible to our naked eye.

It was one of those “awe” moments. You just stand, mouth agape, drinking in the magnitude of the millions of stars.

It makes you oddly aware of how huge the universe is, stretching out before your eyes; and how small and minuscule a single person is, standing on one spot of one planet in one solar system of one galaxy in that universe.

Today, the skies above the hills around Jerusalem are also filled with light. But how dark it must have been back then. How truly bright and brilliant the night sky must have been when one lonely shepherd looked up and pondered the universe and its Maker.

God, You truly have set Your glory in the heavens.  And “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have made and set in place” – I also marvel that “You are mindful of man.”

 Who am I that You concern Yourself with what concerns me?

How is it that You can know the number of hairs on my head: a number that changes every day?

And You don’t just know me by what You see on the outside, You know my innermost thoughts, my motivations, my words before I speak them.

Thank You for taking such care creating this amazing place You made for us to live. Its beauty, its vastness, and its infinite diversity blow my mind! Its magnitude is incomprehensible.

As much as I can know about this world in my lifetime, I can never begin to understand all the things You hold in balance so this planet stays together and is capable of supporting the lives You’ve placed on it.

But I can give You the credit due.

You alone are the Author, the Creator, the imagination and the power behind its creation. I can acknowledge that it is You who keeps it all together and in motion. And honor You as Almighty God.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Amen

Psalm 8:1-9

Aug 23 There is none like You!

“Your wisdom is profound, Your power is vast.  You move mountains …You shake the earth from its place…You speak to the sun and it does not shine, You seal off the light of the stars.  You alone stretch out the heavens and tread on the waves of the sea. “

 “You are the maker of the Bear and Orion (northern constellations), the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.  You perform wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.”

Father, these words of Job’s remind me of the immenseness of Your power.

The vastness of who You are.

The enormity of Your creation.

It reminds me of how limited man is in his ability to comprehend all You are, all You have created and all You have done.

I look up at the stars, and I see tiny lights in the sky.  On a clear night, I can see a lot of them.  But ambient light from the city screens much of what is truly there. 

When I was in Egypt, our bus was traveling at night on a lonely dark highway.  We stopped in the middle of the Sinai and walked a ways into the desert to look up.  You could hear the gasps as we all saw the magnificent display of stars as we had never seen them before!  

We were drenched in darkness, but looking up at the sky saw thousands of tiny lights we had never been able to perceive, brilliantly sparkling from horizon to horizon.  What an amazing display of Your grandeur!

Here in Colorado I took a group of friends to a nearby observatory.   It housed a refracting telescope with a 20 inch diameter lens.  The lens is seated in a 26 foot long tube, mounted on a 20 foot tall stand and pointed at the sky.  We each took our turn climbing up to the viewing end of the telescope that was pointed at the Orion Nebula (the star at the tip of the sword held on Orion’s belt). 

What I had seen as a fuzzy point of light, exploded with clarity!  Brilliant light and clusters of stars in differing stages of birth and aging.  Bright and discernible stars now filled my view. 

What had been viewed as one pinpoint in a haze was actually a nursery where new stars were being born!  Within the cloud I could now see several distinct, individual stars and cloud clusters.  How amazing!  All this, and more, You stretched out with Your hand.

The very limits of human perception cannot even begin to see, much less understand Your immensity.  Your imagination and creativity are magnificent and immeasurable.  There is none like You.  Amen

Job 9:1-22

(NASA picture Orion Nebula) M42 Wisps of the Orion Nebula © Jon Christensen

more NASA photos: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210813.html

 

July 18 Order from Chaos

Father, for the last several chapters, You have shown me how David and his commanders allotted all the jobs that needed to be done, to the Israelites.

There was a job for every person and a person for every job.  From the priestly duties in the Temple concerning worship, to defending the people and guarding the gates in the wall around Jerusalem.  There were people who took care of all the building and supplies, all the flocks and herds, and all the king’s business.

It reminds me that You are a God of order, not chaos.

I usually start off my day with a plan of order.  But You know all too well how many times those plans have dissolved into chaos.  My house starts out in order.  Then life happens, and chaos takes over.  Sometimes it takes an unexpected emergency like water in the basement or some planned entertaining activity to motivate the family into cleaning up again and putting things back in order weeks after the chaos has taken over.

I marvel at how You know humans so well, and give us what we need.  You know that I need order.

You created this world with painstaking care.  Every planet in the solar system is ordered.  The geology of the planet earth is stable enough that I don’t see mountains from my window one day and valleys the next.

The seasons change, giving us variety in weather patterns, but the seasons always come in the same order.

And the human body is amazingly organized, down to the pattern of neurons in our central nervous system and brain; and the arteries and veins that carry blood.

So I get the benefit and security of knowing that night always follows day; Summer always follows Spring.  Thank You for knowing me so well and what I need to feel safe and secure in the world.

Thank You for going to such great lengths in creating this beautiful planet; with its specific gravity, air pressure, radiation levels, temperature, and path through the solar system, to provide stability to sustain my life.  Thank You for the constancy I see repeated in the cycles: sprouting, growth, maturity, fruitfulness, harvest, hibernation, rebirth.

When chaos increases in my life, it’s a signal I need to spend more time with You.

Help me be more organized.  Remind me I need to be consistent in devoting time to You. Show me how to set right priorities.   And how to stick to them.   Thank You for Your loving help.  Amen

I Chronicles 23:1-27:34

Mar 28 Burnout or Peace?

Lord, I do not desire to be a stiff-necked person.  Yet there are so many times I have been obstinate, stubborn, and wanted my own way!

Situations come up in my life, and the first thing I think of is how it can work out best for me.  I don’t think of myself as selfish, but I certainly do prefer when circumstances benefit me and don’t rock my boat.

There are so many things beyond my control that I seek to tightly control the things that are within my grasp.  I do what I can to plan my work and work my plan.  I try and keep a handle on and stay on top of events, relationships, finances, schedules, health issues, family, home.

The truth is: my being in control is just an illusion.  I am not really in control of anything.  [add in 2020 – This year and the corona crisis had made that remarkably clear for all of us.]

But by Your grace, I make it from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next.

I believe You are a God of order.  You created the universe with order.  You ordered the solar system, and the seasons, life cycles and day and night.

If You can handle the universe, You can certainly handle the details of my life.  The control I desperately seek, I can trust to You.  I need to do my part, but I can release that part of me that seeks to insist on my own way; that seeks to “feel” in control.

A new way of thinking for me is to ask how the circumstances in my life can be used to bring You glory.  How can I respond in a way that shows that my peace and confidence come from You, the Lord God Almighty, instead of being dependent on whether or not things work out my way?

Help me Lord.  Keep my heart sensitive to what You are doing so I can join you.  Keep my mind focused on what You are showing me and teaching me through Your Word, about how to let go.

I have heard that I cannot do Your part, and You will not do my part.  Give me the discernment to know which is which.   And the courage to let my actions reflect that.  Amen

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Feb 11 Omnipotent

Lord, I believe Your Word is right and true; and that You are faithful in all You do.  So when the Word tells me You created the heavens and the earth, I believe it and am amazed.

Not only did You have the imagination and endless creativity to think it all up, You had the power and sovereignty over the elements and forces to do the creating!

How?  I don’t know.

Science is still wrestling with the questions of how our universe works.  Theories come and go about physics, matter, gravity wells, space and time; more than I can grasp.

Every generation we learn more, sometimes refuting what was previously believed.  I don’t know that we will ever reach a level of truly understanding it.

But I know that when I see the diversity and organization, I marvel at it – and see past it to the Creator.

I can look through a microscope or a telescope and see things beyond my imagination that amaze me.  I can observe connections and repeated patterns that cannot possibly exist by coincidence.

The recognition and glory are due the Creator.  “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him,” meaning I will acknowledge Your handiwork and have the utmost respect for Your power and authority over all our world.

“The Lord foils the plans of nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” 

I will sing of the mercy of the Lord!  Your faithfulness endures forever!  Amen

Psalm 33:1-11

Jan 20 Indescribable! Uncontainable!

I continue to be amazed, Lord God, at the magnitude of the height of Your glory. You made the sun and stars, everything in the heavens.

As humans, we are just beginning to understand the depth of the workings of the cosmos.

All we know about our universe could fit on the head of a pin compared to what You were able to imagine and bring into being.

Even beyond our meager understanding, You had the ability, the power to create what You imagined. And by Your hand it is all kept in balance and in motion.

Yet, with the incredible greatness and the boundless vastness of Your power and sovereignty, You still know each one of us, each of Your creations, by name. I marvel at the love You have for us, and the care You take with us.

You can see the past and the future. You are outside of time. You knew when a famine was coming in Egypt, and cared to let them know in advance. You spoke revelation through dreams and gave the interpretation to Joseph. And because of that, people were saved from the famine, and Your promise was preserved; Your covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was upheld.

As great as You are, You still communicate with us in ways we can understand; as an example: parables. We can understand a crop with weeds sewn into it, and how harvest time works. We can see when a tiny seed grows into a large tree, or the action of yeast causing bread dough to rise. We know the draw and value of treasure and pearls.

Thank You for caring to communicate with us; to show us the way to have relationship with You: The Almighty God of the Universe.

And as we can only voice our faith and trust in You through the words we understand, we join with the Psalmist David in saying; “You are my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. You are my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to You, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.” 

“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” Amen

Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-3

Jan 8 Creation – Infinite Universe!

I love Psalm 8!

Written by King David, it makes me wonder how many times he must have gazed up at the stars in the heavens and contemplated You, the Creator of it all. As a shepherd, he would have spent many, many nights outside with the sheep; resting, guarding the flock, alone with his thoughts.

The skies where I live are never really dark. We have the light from a major city and suburbs all around. The stars are visible, but not nearly as impressive as when I saw them from the middle of the Sinai Peninsula. We stepped out of a bus on a lonely road in a part of the world where light pollution is not even a remote issue, and were completely amazed at the number and brilliance of stars visible to our naked eye.

It was one of those “awe” moments. You just stand, mouth agape, drinking in the magnitude of the millions of stars. It makes you oddly aware of how huge the universe is, stretching out before your eyes; and how small and minuscule a single person is, standing on one spot of one planet in one solar system of one galaxy in that universe.

Today, the skies above the hills around Jerusalem are also filled with light. But how dark it must have been back then. How truly bright and brilliant the night sky must have been when one lonely shepherd looked up and pondered the universe and its Maker.

God, You truly have set Your glory in the heavens.  And “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have made and set in place” – I also marvel that “You are mindful of man.”

 Who am I that You concern Yourself with what concerns me?

How is it that You can know the number of hairs on my head: a number that changes every day?

And You don’t just know me by what You see on the outside, You know my innermost thoughts, my motivations, my words before I speak them.

Thank You for taking such care creating this amazing place You made for us to live. Its beauty, its vastness, and its infinite diversity blow my mind! Its magnitude is incomprehensible.

As much as I can know about this world in my lifetime, I can never begin to understand all the things You hold in balance so this planet stays together and is capable of supporting the lives You’ve placed on it.

But I can give You the credit due.

You alone are the Author, the Creator, the imagination and the power behind its creation. I can acknowledge that it is You who keeps it all together and in motion. And honor You as Almighty God.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Amen

Psalm 8:1-9

Aug 23 There is none like You

“Your wisdom is profound, Your power is vast.  You move mountains …You shake the earth from its place…You speak to the sun and it does not shine, You seal off the light of the stars.  You alone stretch out the heavens and tread on the waves of the sea. “  

 

 

NASA

M42

Wisps of the Orion Nebula (c) Jon Christensen

 

 

“You are the maker of the Bear and Orion (northern constellations), the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.  You perform wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.” 

Father, these words of Job’s remind me of the immenseness of Your power.

The vastness of who You are.

The enormity of Your creation.

It reminds me of how limited man is in his ability to comprehend all You are, all You have created and all You have done.

I look up at the stars, and I see tiny lights in the sky.  On a clear night, I can see a lot of them.  But ambient light from the city screens much of what is truly there.

When I was in Egypt, our bus was traveling at night on a lonely dark highway.  We stopped in the middle of the Sinai and walked a ways into the desert to look up.  You could hear the gasps as we all saw the magnificent display of stars as we had never seen them before!

We were drenched in darkness, but looking up at the sky saw thousands of tiny lights we had never been able to perceive, brilliantly sparkling from horizon to horizon.  What an amazing display of Your grandeur!

Here in Colorado I took a group of friends to a nearby observatory.   It housed a refracting telescope with a 20 inch diameter lens.  The lens is seated in a 26 foot long tube, mounted on a 20 foot tall stand and pointed at the sky.  We each took our turn climbing up to the viewing end of the telescope that was pointed at the Orion Nebula (the star at the tip of the sword held on Orion’s belt).

What I had seen as a fuzzy point of light, exploded with clarity!  Brilliant light and clusters of stars in differing stages of birth and aging.  Bright and discernible stars now filled my view.

What had been viewed as one pinpoint in a haze was actually a nursery where new stars were being born!  Within the cloud I could now see several distinct, individual stars and cloud clusters.  How amazing!  All this, and more, You stretched out with Your hand.

The very limits of human perception cannot even begin to see, much less understand Your immensity.  Your imagination and creativity are magnificent and immeasurable.  There is none like You.  Amen

Job 9:1-22

July 18 Order from Chaos

Father, for the last several chapters, You have shown me how David and his commanders allotted all the jobs that needed to be done, to the Israelites.

There was a job for every person and a person for every job.  From the priestly duties in the Temple concerning worship, to defending the people and guarding the gates in the wall around Jerusalem.  There were people who took care of all the building and supplies, all the flocks and herds, and all the king’s business.

It reminds me that You are a God of order, not chaos.

I usually start off my day with a plan of order.  But You know all too well how many times those plans have dissolved into chaos.  My house starts out in order.  Then life happens, and chaos takes over.  Sometimes it takes an unexpected emergency like water in the basement or some planned entertaining activity to motivate the family into cleaning up again and putting things back in order weeks after the chaos has taken over.

I marvel at how You know humans so well, and give us what we need.  You know that I need order.

You created this world with painstaking care.  Every planet in the solar system is ordered.  The geology of the planet earth is stable enough that I don’t see mountains from my window one day and valleys the next.

The seasons change, giving us variety in weather patterns, but the seasons always come in the same order.

And the human body is amazingly organized, down to the pattern of neurons in our central nervous system and brain; and the arteries and veins that carry blood.

So I get the benefit and security of knowing that night always follows day; Summer always follows Spring.  Thank You for knowing me so well and what I need to feel safe and secure in the world.

Thank You for going to such great lengths in creating this beautiful planet; with its specific gravity, air pressure, radiation levels, temperature, and path through the solar system, to provide stability to sustain my life.  Thank You for the constancy I see repeated in the cycles: sprouting, growth, maturity, fruitfulness, harvest, hibernation, rebirth.

When chaos increases in my life, it’s a signal I need to spend more time with You.

Help me be more organized.  Remind me I need to be consistent in devoting time to You. Show me how to set right priorities.   And how to stick to them.   Thank You for Your loving help.  Amen

I Chronicles 23:1-27:34

Mar 28 Burnout? or Peace?

Lord, I do not desire to be a stiff-necked person.  Yet there are so many times I have been obstinate, stubborn, and wanted my own way!

Situations come up in my life, and the first thing I think of is how it can work out best for me.  I don’t think of myself as selfish, but I certainly do prefer when circumstances benefit me and don’t rock my boat.

There are so many things beyond my control that I seek to tightly control the things that are within my grasp.  I do what I can to plan my work and work my plan.  I try and keep a handle on and stay on top of events, relationships, finances, schedules, health issues, family, home.

The truth is: my being in control is just an illusion.  I am not really in control of anything.  This year and the corona crisis had made that remarkably clear for all of us.

But by Your grace, make it from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next.

I believe You are a God of order.  You created the universe with order.  You ordered the solar system, and the seasons, life cycles and day and night.

If You can handle the universe, You can certainly handle the details of my life and the crisis we are facing now.  The control I desperately seek, I can trust to You.  I need to do my part, but I can release that part of me that seeks to insist on my own way; that seeks to “feel” in control.

A new way of thinking for me is to ask how the circumstances in my life can be used to bring You glory.  How can I respond in a way that shows that my peace and confidence come from You, the Lord God Almighty, instead of being dependent on whether or not things work out my way?

Help me Lord.  Keep my heart sensitive to what You are doing so I can join you.  Keep my mind focused on what You are showing me and teaching me through Your Word, about how to let go.

I have heard that I cannot do Your part, and You will not do my part.  Give me the discernment to know which is which.   And the courage to let my actions reflect that.  Amen

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Feb 11 Omnipotent

Lord, I believe Your Word is right and true; and that You are faithful in all You do.  So when the Word tells me You created the heavens and the earth, I believe it and am amazed.

Not only did You have the imagination and endless creativity to think it all up, You had the power and sovereignty over the elements and forces to do the creating!

How?  I don’t know.

Science is still wrestling with the questions of how our universe works.  Theories come and go about physics, matter, gravity wells, space and time; more than I can grasp.

Every generation we learn more, sometimes refuting what was previously believed.  I don’t know that we will ever reach a level of truly understanding it.

But I know that when I see the diversity and organization, I marvel at it – and see past it to the Creator.

I can look through a microscope or a telescope and see things beyond my imagination that amaze me.  I can observe connections and repeated patterns that cannot possibly exist by coincidence.

The recognition and glory are due the Creator.  “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him,” meaning I will acknowledge Your handiwork and have the utmost respect for Your power and authority over all our world.

“The Lord foils the plans of nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” 

 The Israelites were a stiff-necked people and disobeyed You over and over again.  Yet still You made them Your chosen people, a people set apart, to this day.

The disciples Jesus gathered around Him betrayed and denied Him, then scattered.  And yet, they spread the word of salvation through the work of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection.

I have been known to be stiff-necked and disobedient.  And there have been times I have not followed through on all You have shown me.  Yet I trust that Your plans, through me or in spite of me, will stand.  I am not much, but in Your hands, I am a tool wielded by the almighty Creator of the universe.  And what You can accomplish by the work of Your hands is limitless.

I praise You that Your plans stand firm.

Thank You that the purpose of Your heart was to provide a way to reconcile us, Your creation, to Yourself again.

I will sing of the mercy of the Lord!  Your faithfulness endures forever!  Amen

Exodus 32:1-14; Matthew 26:69-27:5; Psalm 33:1-11

 

Jan 20 Indescribable Uncontainable

I continue to be amazed, Lord God, at the magnitude of the height of Your glory. You made the sun and stars, everything in the heavens.

As humans, we are just beginning to understand the depth of the workings of the cosmos.

All we know about our universe could fit on the head of a pin compared to what You were able to imagine and bring into being.

Even beyond our meager understanding, You had the ability, the power to create what You imagined. And by Your hand it is all kept in balance and in motion.

Yet, with the incredible greatness and the boundless vastness of Your power and sovereignty, You still know each one of us, each of Your creations, by name. I marvel at the love You have for us, and the care You take with us.

You can see the past and the future. You are outside of time. You knew when a famine was coming in Egypt, and cared to let them know in advance. You spoke revelation through dreams and gave the interpretation to Joseph. And because of that, people were saved from the famine, and Your promise was preserved; Your covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was upheld.

As great as You are, You still communicate with us in ways we can understand; as an example: parables. We can understand a crop with weeds sewn into it, and how harvest time works. We can see when a tiny seed grows into a large tree, or the action of yeast causing bread dough to rise. We know the draw and value of treasure and pearls.

Thank You for caring to communicate with us; to show us the way to have relationship with You: the Almighty God of the Universe.

And as we can only voice our faith and trust in You through the words we understand, we join with the Psalmist David in saying; “You are my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. You are my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to You, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.” 

“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” Amen

Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-3

Jan 8 Creation – Infinite Universe

I love Psalm 8! It makes me wonder how many times David must have gazed up at the stars in the heavens and contemplated You, the Creator of it all. As a shepherd, he would have spent many, many nights outside with the sheep; resting, guarding the flock, alone with his thoughts.

The skies where I live are never really dark. We have the light from a major city and suburbs all around. The stars are visible, but not nearly as impressive as when I saw them from the middle of the Sinai Peninsula. We stepped out of a bus on a lonely road in a part of the world where light pollution is not even a remote issue, and were completely amazed at the number and brilliance of stars visible to our naked eye.

It was one of those “awe” moments. You just stand, mouth agape, drinking in the magnitude of the millions of stars. It makes you oddly aware of how huge the universe is, stretching out before your eyes; and how small and minuscule a single person is, standing on one spot of one planet in one solar system of one galaxy in that universe.

Today, the skies above the hills around Jerusalem are also filled with light. But how dark it must have been back then. How truly bright and brilliant the night sky must have been when one lonely shepherd looked up and pondered the universe and its Maker.

God, You truly have set Your glory in the heavens.  And “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have made and set in place” – I also marvel that “You are mindful of man.”

Who am I that You concern Yourself with what concerns me?

How is it that You can know the number of hairs on my head: a number that changes every day?

And You don’t just know me by what You see on the outside, You know my innermost thoughts, my motivations, my words before I speak them.

Thank You for taking such care creating this amazing place You made for us to live. Its beauty, its vastness, and its infinite diversity blow my mind! Its magnitude is incomprehensible.

As much as I can know about this world in my lifetime, I can never begin to understand all the things You hold in balance so this planet stays together and is capable of supporting the lives You’ve placed on it.

But I can give You the credit due.

You alone are the Author, the Creator, the imagination and the power behind its creation. I can acknowledge that it is You who keeps it all together and in motion. And honor You as Almighty God.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Amen

Psalm 8:1-9

Aug 23 There is none like You

“Your wisdom is profound, Your power is vast.  You move mountains …You shake the earth from its place…You speak to the sun and it does not shine, You seal off the light of the stars.  You alone stretch out the heavens and tread on the waves of the sea. “

“You are the maker of the Bear and Orion (northern constellations), the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.  You perform wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.”   

Father, these words of Job’s remind me of the immenseness of Your power.  The vastness of who You are.  The enormity of Your creation.  It reminds me of how limited man is in his ability to comprehend all You are, all You have created and all You have done.

I look up at the stars, and I see tiny lights in the sky.  On a clear night, I can see a lot of them.  But ambient light from the city screens much of what is truly there.

When I was in Egypt, our bus was traveling at night on a lonely dark highway.  We stopped in the middle of the Sinai and walked a ways into the desert to look up.  You could hear the gasps as we all saw the magnificent display of stars as we had never seen them before!

We were drenched in darkness, but looking up at the sky saw thousands of tiny lights we had never been able to perceive, brilliantly sparkling from horizon to horizon.  What an amazing display of Your grandeur!

I took a group of friends to a nearby observatory.   It housed a refracting telescope with a 20 inch diameter lens.  The lens is seated in a 26 foot long tube, mounted on a 20 foot tall stand and pointed at the sky.  We each took our turn climbing up to the viewing end of the telescope that was pointed at the Orion Nebula (the star at the tip of the sword held on Orion’s belt).

What I had seen as a fuzzy point of light, exploded with clarity!  Brilliant light and clusters of stars in differing stages of birth and aging.  Bright and discernible stars now filled my view.

What had been viewed as one pinpoint in a haze was actually a nursery where new stars were being born!  Within the cloud I could see several distinct, individual stars and cloud clusters.  How amazing!  All this, and more, You stretched out with Your hand.

The very limits of human perception cannot even begin to see, much less understand Your immensity.  Your imagination and creativity are magnificent and immeasurable.  There is none like You.  Amen

Job 9:1-22

Jul 18 Order from Chaos

Father, for the last several chapters, You have shown me how David and his commanders allotted all the jobs that needed to be done, to the Israelites.

There was a job for every person and a person for every job.  From the priestly duties in the Temple concerning worship, to defending the people and guarding the gates in the wall around Jerusalem.  There were people who took care of all the building and supplies, all the flocks and herds, and all the king’s business.

It reminds me that You are a God of order, not chaos.

I usually start off my day with a plan of order.  But You know all too well how many times those plans have dissolved into chaos.  My house starts out in order.  Then life happens, and chaos takes over.  Sometimes it takes an unexpected emergency like water in the basement or some planned entertaining activity to motivate the family into cleaning up again and putting things back in order weeks after the chaos has taken over.

I marvel at how You know humans so well, and give us what we need.  You know that I need order.  You created this world with painstaking care.  Every planet in the solar system is ordered.  The geology of the planet earth is stable enough that I don’t see mountains from my window one day and valleys the next.

The seasons change, giving us variety in weather patterns, but the seasons always come in the same order.

And the human body is amazingly organized, down to the pattern of neurons in our central nervous system and brain; and the arteries and veins that carry blood.

So I get the benefit and security of knowing that night always follows day; Summer always follows Spring.  Thank You for knowing me so well and what I need to feel safe and secure in the world.

Thank You for going to such great lengths in creating this beautiful planet; with it’s specific gravity, air pressure, radiation levels, temperature, and path through the solar system, to provide stability to sustain my life.  Thank You for the constancy I see repeated in the cycles: sprouting, growth, maturity, fruitfulness, harvest, hibernation, rebirth.

When chaos increases in my life, it’s a signal I need to spend more time with You. Help me be more organized.  Remind me I need to be consistent in devoting time to You. Show me how to set right priorities.   And how to stick to them.   Thank You for Your loving help.  Amen

I Chronicles 23:1-27:34

Mar 28 Burnout or Peace?

Lord, I do not desire to be a stiff-necked person.  Yet there are so many times I have been obstinate, stubborn, and wanted my own way!

Situations come up in my life, and the first thing I think of is how it can work out best for me.  I don’t think of myself as selfish, but I certainly do prefer when circumstances benefit me and don’t rock my boat.

There are so many things beyond my control that I seek to tightly control the things that are within my grasp.  I do what I can to plan my work and work my plan.  I try and keep a handle on and stay on top of events, relationships, finances, schedules, health issues, family, home.

The truth is: my being in control is just an illusion.  I am not really in control of anything.  But by Your grace, make it from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next.

Before, I believed order was better than chaos, and the lack of control is chaos.  So trying to control things meant I was being good.

Now what I believe is that You are a God of order.  You created the universe with order.  You ordered the solar system, and the seasons, life cycles and day and night.

If You can handle the universe, You can certainly handle the details of my life.  The control I desperately seek, I can trust to You.  I need to do my part, but I can release that part of me that seeks to insist on my own way; that seeks to “feel” in control.

A new way of thinking for me is to ask how the circumstances in my life can be used to bring You glory.  How can I respond in a way that shows that my peace and confidence come from You, the Lord God Almighty, instead of being dependent on whether or not things work out my way?

Help me Lord.  Keep my heart sensitive to what You are doing so I can join you.  Keep my mind focused on what You are showing me and teaching me through Your Word, about how to let go.

I have heard that I cannot do Your part, and You will not do my part.  Give me the discernment to know which is which.   And the courage to let my actions reflect that.  Amen

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Feb 11 Omnipotent

Lord, I believe Your Word is right and true; and that You are faithful in all You do.  So when the Word tells me You created the heavens and the earth, I believe it and am amazed.

Not only did You have the imagination and endless creativity to think it all up, You had the power and sovereignty over the elements and forces to do the creating!

How?  I don’t know.

Science is still wrestling with the questions of how our universe works.  Theories come and go about physics, matter, gravity wells, space and time; more than I can grasp.

Every generation we learn more, sometimes refuting what was previously believed.  I don’t know that we will ever reach a level of truly understanding it.

But I know that when I see the diversity and organization, I marvel at it – and see past it to the Creator.

I can look through a microscope or a telescope and see things beyond my imagination that amaze me.  I can observe connections and repeated patterns that cannot possibly exist by coincidence.

The recognition and glory are due the Creator.  “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him,” meaning I will acknowledge Your handiwork and have the utmost respect for Your power and authority over all our world.

“The Lord foils the plans of nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” 

 The Israelites were a stiff-necked people and disobeyed You over and over again.  Yet still You made them Your chosen people, a people set apart, to this day.

The disciples Jesus gathered around Him betrayed and denied Him, then scattered.  And yet, they spread the word of salvation through the work of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection.

I have been known to be stiff-necked and disobedient.  And there have been times I have not followed through on all You have shown me.  Yet I trust that Your plans, through me or in spite of me, will stand.  I am not much, but in Your hands, I am a tool wielded by the almighty Creator of the universe.  And what You can accomplish by the work of Your hands is limitless.

I praise You that Your plans stand firm.

Thank You that the purpose of Your heart was to provide a way to reconcile us, Your creation, to Yourself again.

I will sing of the mercy of the Lord!  Your faithfulness endures forever!  Amen

Exodus 32:1-14; Matthew 26:69-27:5; Psalm 33:1-11

Jan 20 Indescribable Uncontainable

I continue to be amazed, Lord God, at the magnitude of the height of Your glory. You made the sun and stars, everything in the heavens.

As humans, we are just beginning to understand the depth of the workings of the cosmos.

All we know about our universe could fit on the head of a pin compared to what You were able to imagine and bring into being.

Even beyond our meager understanding, You had the ability, the power to create what You imagined. And by Your hand it is all kept in balance and in motion.

Yet, with the incredible greatness and the boundless vastness of Your power and sovereignty, You still know each one of us, each of Your creations, by name. I marvel at the love You have for us, and the care You take with us.

You can see the past and the future. You are outside of time. You knew when a famine was coming in Egypt, and cared to let them know in advance. You spoke revelation through dreams and gave the interpretation to Joseph. And because of that, people were saved from the famine, and Your promise was preserved; Your covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was upheld.

As great as You are, You still communicate with us in ways we can understand; as an example: parables. We can understand a crop with weeds sewn into it, and how harvest time works. We can see when a tiny seed grows into a large tree, or the action of yeast causing bread dough to rise. We know the draw and value of treasure and pearls.

Thank You for caring to communicate with us; to show us the way to have relationship with You: the Almighty God of the Universe.

And as we can only voice our faith and trust in You through the words we understand, we join with the Psalmist David in saying; “You are my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. You are my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to You, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.” 

“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” Amen

Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-3

Jan 8 Creation – infinite universe!

I love Psalm 8! It makes me wonder how many times David must have gazed up at the stars in the heavens and contemplated You, the Creator of it all. As a shepherd, he would have spent many, many nights outside with the sheep; resting, guarding the flock, alone with his thoughts.

The skies where I live are never really dark. We have the light from a major city and suburbs all around. The stars are visible, but not nearly as impressive as when I saw them from the middle of the Sinai Peninsula. We stepped out of a bus on a lonely road in a part of the world where light pollution is not even a remote issue, and were completely amazed at the number and brilliance of stars visible to our naked eye.

It was one of those “awe” moments. You just stand, mouth agape, drinking in the magnitude of the millions of stars. It makes you oddly aware of how huge the universe is, stretching out before your eyes; and how small and minuscule a single person is, standing on one spot of one planet in one solar system of one galaxy in that universe.

Today, the skies above the hills around Jerusalem are also filled with light. But how dark it must have been back then. How truly bright and brilliant the night sky must have been when one lonely shepherd looked up and pondered the universe and its Maker.

God, You truly have set Your glory in the heavens.  And “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have made and set in place” – I also marvel that “You are mindful of man.”

Who am I that You concern Yourself with what concerns me?

How is it that You can know the number of hairs on my head: a number that changes every day?

And You don’t just know me by what You see on the outside, You know my innermost thoughts, my motivations, my words before I speak them.

Thank You for taking such care creating this amazing place You made for us to live. Its beauty, its vastness, and its infinite diversity blow my mind! Its magnitude is incomprehensible.

As much as I can know about this world in my lifetime, I can never begin to understand all the things You hold in balance so this planet stays together and is capable of supporting the lives You’ve placed on it.

But I can give You the credit due.

You alone are the Author, the Creator, the imagination and the power behind its creation. I can acknowledge that it is You who keeps it all together and in motion. And honor You as Almighty God.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Amen

Psalm 8:1-9

Oct 8 Worship the Creator not the created

Jeremiah points out the worthlessness of the idols that the people made for themselves.  They were made of wood or stone.  They had to be carried from place to place.  They had no awareness and no power.  Yet the people superstitiously bowed down to them.

What a stark contrast to You!  There is “No one like You, Lord”.

You made, literally created, the earth!  You imagined it, and then spoke it into being.  When You speak, it trembles.  When You thunder, the waters storm with hurricane force.  “You are the Creator of everything that exists.”

If I were to worship anything else, I would be as Jeremiah described his people, and the whole human race: “stupid and foolish…without knowledge”.

Jeremiah also encourages me not to fear the predictions of those who look elsewhere for their wisdom.  So I need not be afraid of false prophets, horoscopes or those who seek to divine the future from the stars.  You made the stars.  So I worship the Maker, not what was made.

Paul was in chains for speaking out about who You are.  That is not a current threat where I live.  Help me “be wise in the way I act towards outsiders, and make the most of every opportunity.  Let my conversation be full of grace and seasoned with salt, so that I may know how to answer everyone.”

Show me when to speak, and what to say.  And when to hold my tongue.   So many people are put off of Christianity because of the actions and attitudes of Christians.  Let me be a beacon of light to others as I walk the walk, and talk the talk in grace and love.

Show me what it means to “Devote myself to prayer, being watchful and thankful”.  I strive to express my thanks in prayer and allow time for You to speak to me, not just deliver a list of requests.

Thank You Father, that You, the matchless King of the Universe, hear my prayers.   And thank You that You answer them.  Help me to be watchful for Your answers.  And wait on Your timing.  I trust in the Creator of all things.  Amen

Jeremiah 10:1-16; Colossians 4:2-6

Aug 23 There is none like You

“Your wisdom is profound, Your power is vast. You move mountains …You shake the earth from its place…You speak to the sun and it does not shine, You seal off the light of the stars. You alone stretch out the heavens and tread on the waves of the sea. “

“You are the maker of the Bear and Orion (northern constellations), the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. You perform wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.”  

photo NASA website M42 Wisps of the Orion Nebula(c) Jon Christensen

Father, these words of Job’s remind me of the immenseness of Your power. The vastness of who You are. The enormity of Your creation. It reminds me of how limited man is in his ability to comprehend all You are, all You have created and all You have done.

I look up at the stars, and I see tiny lights in the sky. On a clear night, I can see a lot of them. But ambient light from the city screens much of what is truly there.

When I was in Egypt, our bus was traveling at night on a lonely dark highway. We stopped in the middle of the Sinai and walked a ways into the desert to look up. You could hear the gasps as we all saw the magnificent display of stars as we had never seen them before!

We were drenched in darkness, but looking up at the sky saw thousands of tiny lights we had never been able to perceive, brilliantly sparkling from horizon to horizon. What an amazing display of Your grandeur!

I took a group of friends to a nearby observatory.   It housed a refracting telescope with a 20 inch diameter lens. The lens is seated in a 26 foot long tube, mounted on a 20 foot tall stand and pointed at the sky. We each took our turn climbing up to the viewing end of the telescope that was pointed at the Orion Nebula (the star at the tip of the sword held on Orion’s belt).

What I had seen with my eye to be a fuzzy point of light, exploded with clarity!  Brilliant light and clusters of stars in differing stages of birth and aging. Bright and discernible stars now filled my view.

What I had seen as one pinpoint in a haze was actually a nursery where new stars were being born! Within the cloud I could see several distinct, individual stars and cloud clusters. How amazing! All this, and more, You stretched out with Your hand.

The very limits of human perception cannot even begin to see, much less understand Your immensity. Your imagination and creativity are magnificent and immeasurable. There is none like You. Amen

Job 9:1-22

Mar 28 Burnout or Peace?

Lord, I do not desire to be a stiff-necked person. Yet there are so many times I have been obstinate, stubborn, and wanted my own way. Situations come up in my life, and the first thing I think of is how it can work out best for me. I don’t think of myself as selfish, but I certainly do prefer when circumstances benefit me and don’t rock my boat.

There are so many things beyond my control that I seek to tightly control the things that are within my grasp. I do what I can to plan my work and work my plan. I try and keep a handle on and stay on top of events, relationships, finances, schedules, health issues, family, home. The truth is: my being in control is just an illusion. I am not really in control of anything. But by Your grace, make it from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next.

Before, I believed order was better than chaos, and the lack of control is chaos. So trying to control things meant I was being good. Now what I believe is that You are a God of order. You created the universe with order. You ordered the solar system, and the seasons, life cycles and day and night. If You can handle the universe, You can certainly handle the details of my life. The control I so seek, I can trust to You. I need to do my part, but I can release that part of me that seeks to insist on my own way, that seeks to ‘feel’ in control.

A new way of thinking for me is to ask how the circumstances in my life can be used to bring You glory. How can I respond in a way that shows that my peace and confidence come from You, the Lord God Almighty, instead of being dependent on whether or not things work out my way?

Help me Lord. Keep my heart sensitive to what You are doing so I can join you. Keep my mind focused on what You are showing me and teaching me through Your Word, about how to let go.  I have heard that I cannot do Your part, and You will not do my part. Give me the discernment to know which is which.  And the courage to let my actions reflect that. Amen

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

 

Feb 11 Omnipotent

Lord, I believe that Your Word is right and true; and that You are faithful in all You do. So when the Word tells me You created the heavens and the earth, I believe it and am amazed.

Not only did You have the imagination and endless creativity to think it all up, You had the power and sovereignty over the elements and forces to do the creating!

How? I don’t know. Science is still wrestling with the questions of how our universe works. Theories come and go about physics, matter, gravity wells, space and time; more than I can grasp. Every generation we learn more, sometimes refuting what was previously believed. I don’t know that we will ever reach a level of truly understanding it.

But I know that when I see the diversity and organization, I marvel at it – and see past it to the Creator.  I can look through a microscope or a telescope and see things beyond my imagination that amaze me. I can observe connections and repeated patterns that cannot possibly exist by coincidence.

The recognition and glory are due the Creator. “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him” meaning I will acknowledge Your handiwork and have the utmost respect for Your power and authority over all our world.

“The Lord foils the plans of nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” The Israelites were a stiff-necked people and disobeyed You over and over again. Yet still You made them Your chosen people, a people set apart, to this day. The disciples Jesus gathered around Him betrayed and denied Him, then scattered. And yet, they spread the word of salvation through the work of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection.

I have been known to be stiff-necked and disobedient. And there have been times I have not followed through on all You have shown me. Yet I trust that Your plans, through me or in spite of me, will stand. I am not much, but in Your hands, I am a tool wielded by the almighty Creator of the universe. And what You can accomplish by the work of Your hands is limitless.

I praise You that Your plans stand firm. Thank You that the purpose of Your heart was to provide a way to reconcile us, Your creation, to Yourself again. I will sing of the mercy of the Lord! Your faithfulness endures forever! Amen

Exodus 32:1-14; Matthew 26:69-27:5; Psalm 33:1-11

Jan 20 Indescribable Uncontainable

I continue to be amazed, Lord God, at the magnitude of the height of Your glory. You made the sun and stars, everything in the heavens.

As humans, we are just beginning to understand the depth of the workings of the cosmos. All we know about our universe could fit on the head of a pin compared to what You were able to imagine and bring into being. Even beyond our meager understanding, You had the ability, the power to create what You imagined. And by Your hand it is all kept in balance and in motion.

Yet, with the incredible greatness and the boundless vastness of Your power and sovereignty, You still know each one of us, each of Your creations, by name. I marvel at the love You have for us, and the care You take with us.

You can see the past and the future. You are outside of time. You knew when a famine was coming in Egypt, and cared to let them know in advance. You spoke revelation through dreams and gave the interpretation to Joseph. And because of that, people were saved from the famine, and Your promise was preserved; Your covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was upheld.

As great as You are, You still communicate with us in ways we can understand; as an example: parables. We can understand a crop with weeds sewn into it, and how harvest time works. We can see when a tiny seed grows into a large tree, or the action of yeast causing bread dough to rise. We know the draw and value of treasure and pearls.

Thank You for caring to communicate with us; to show us the way to have relationship with You: the Almighty God of the Universe. And as we can only voice our faith and trust in You through the words we understand, we join with the Psalmist David in saying; “You are my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. You are my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to You, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”

“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” Amen

Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-3

Jan 8 Creation – infinite universe!

I love Psalm 8! It makes me wonder how many times David must have gazed up at the stars in the heavens and contemplated You, the Creator of it all. As a shepherd, he would have spent many, many nights outside with the sheep; resting, guarding the flock, alone with his thoughts.

The skies where I live are never really dark. We have the light from a major city and suburbs all around. The stars are visible, but not nearly as impressive as when I saw them from the middle of the Sinai Peninsula. We stepped out of a bus on a lonely road in a part of the world where light pollution is not even a remote issue, and were completely amazed at the number and brilliance of stars visible to our naked eye.

It was one of those ‘awe’ moments. You just stand, mouth agape, drinking in the magnitude of the millions of stars. It makes you oddly aware of how huge the universe is, stretching out before your eyes; and how small and miniscule a single person is, standing on one spot of one planet in one solar system of one galaxy in that universe.

Today, the skies above the hills around Jerusalem are also filled with light. But how dark it must have been back then. How truly bright and brilliant the night sky must have been when one lonely shepherd looked up and pondered the universe and its Maker.

God, You truly have set Your glory in the heavens. And “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have made and set in place” – I also marvel that “You are mindful of man”. Who am I that You concern Yourself with what concerns me? How is it that You can know the number of hairs on my head: a number that changes every day? And You don’t just know me by what You see on the outside, You know my innermost thoughts, my motivations, my words before I speak them.

Thank You for taking such care creating earth: this amazing place You made for us to live. Its beauty, its vastness, and its infinite diversity blow my mind! Its magnitude is incomprehensible. As much as I can know about this world in my lifetime, I can never begin to understand all the things You hold in balance so this planet stays together and is capable of supporting the lives You’ve placed on it.

But I can give You the credit due You alone as the Author, the Creator, the imagination and the power behind its creation. I can acknowledge that it is You who keeps it all together and in motion. And honor You as Almighty God. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Amen

Psalm 8:1-9

Feb 11 Omnipotent

Eye of God Nebula

Lord, I believe that Your Word is right and true; and that You are faithful in all You do. So when the Word tells me You created the heavens and the earth, I believe it and am amazed.

Not only did You have the imagination and endless creativity to think it all up, You had the power and sovereignty over the elements and forces to do the creating! How? I don’t know. Science is still wrestling with the questions of how our universe works. Theories come and go about physics, matter, gravity wells, space and time; more than I can grasp. Every generation we learn more, sometimes refuting what was previously believed. I don’t know that we will ever reach a level of truly understanding it.

But I know that when I see the diversity and organization, I marvel at it – and see past it to the Creator.   I can look through a microscope or a telescope and see things beyond my imagination that amaze me. I can observe connections and repeated patterns that cannot possibly exist by coincidence. The recognition and glory are due the Creator. “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him” meaning I will acknowledge Your handiwork and have the utmost respect for Your power and authority over all our world.

“The Lord foils the plans of nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” The Israelites were a stiff-necked people and disobeyed You over and over again. Yet still You made them Your chosen people, a people set apart, to this day. The disciples Jesus gathered around Him betrayed and denied Him, then scattered. And yet, they spread the word of salvation through the work of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection.

I have been known to be stiff-necked and disobedient. And there have been times I have not followed through on all You have shown me. Yet I trust that Your plans, through me or in spite of me, will stand. I am not much, but in Your hands, I am a tool wielded by the almighty Creator of the universe. And what You can accomplish by the work of Your hands is limitless.

I praise You that Your plans stand firm. Thank You that the purpose of Your heart was to provide a way to reconcile us, Your creation, to Yourself again. I will sing of the mercy of the Lord! Your faithfulness endures forever! Amen

Exodus 32:1-33:23; Matthew 26:69-27:5; Psalm 33:1-11

Jan 20 Indescribable Uncontainable

I continue to be amazed, Lord God, at the magnitude of the height of Your glory. You made the sun and stars, everything in the heavens. As humans, we are just beginning to understand the depth of the workings of the cosmos. All we know about our universe could fit on the head of a pin compared to what You were able to imagine and bring into being. Even beyond our meager understanding, You had the ability, the power to create what You imagined. And by Your hand it is all kept in balance and in motion.

Yet, with the incredible greatness and the boundless vastness of Your power and sovereignty, You still know each one of us, each of Your creations, by name. I marvel at the love You have for us, and the care You take with us.

You can see the past and the future. You are outside of time. You knew when a famine was coming in Egypt, and cared to let them know in advance. You spoke revelation through dreams and gave the interpretation to Joseph. And because of that, people were saved from the famine, and Your promise was preserved; Your covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was upheld.

As great as You are, You still communicate with us in ways we can understand; as an example: parables. We can understand a crop with weeds sewn into it, and how harvest time works. We can see when a tiny seed grows into a large tree, or the action of yeast causing bread dough to rise. We know the draw and value of treasure and pearls.

Thank You for caring to communicate with us; to show us the way to have relationship with You: the Almighty God of the Universe. And as we can only voice our faith and trust in You through the words we understand, we join with the Psalmist David in saying; “You are my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. You are my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to You, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.” 

“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” Amen

Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-3

Jan 8 Creation – infinite universe!

I love Psalm 8! It makes me wonder how many times David must have gazed up at the stars in the heavens and contemplated You, the Creator of it all. As a shepherd, he would have spent many, many nights outside with the sheep; resting, guarding the flock, alone with his thoughts.

The skies where I live are never really dark. We have the light from a major city and suburbs all around. The stars are visible, but not nearly as impressive as when I saw them from the middle of the Sinai Peninsula. We stepped out of a bus on a lonely road in a part of the world where light pollution is not even a remote issue, and were completely amazed at the number and brilliance of stars visible to our naked eye.

It was one of those ‘awe’ moments. You just stand, mouth agape, drinking in the magnitude of the millions of stars. It makes you oddly aware of how huge the universe is, stretching out before your eyes; and how small and minuscule a single person is, standing on one spot of one planet in one solar system of one galaxy in that universe.

Today, the skies above the hills around Jerusalem are also filled with light. But how dark it must have been back then. How truly bright and brilliant the night sky must have been when one lonely shepherd looked up and pondered the universe and its Maker.

God, You truly have set Your glory in the heavens. And “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have made and set in place” – I also marvel that “You are mindful of man”. Who am I that You concern Yourself with what concerns me? How is it that You can know the number of hairs on my head: a number that changes every day? And You don’t just know me by what You see on the outside, You know my innermost thoughts, my motivations, my words before I speak them.

Thank You for taking such care creating earth: this amazing place You made for us to live. Its beauty, its vastness, and its infinite diversity blow my mind! Its magnitude is incomprehensible. As much as I can know about this world in my lifetime, I can never begin to understand all the things You hold in balance so this planet stays together and is capable of supporting the lives You’ve placed on it.

But I can give You the credit due You alone as the Author, the Creator, the imagination and the power behind its creation. I can acknowledge that it is You who keeps it all together and in motion. And honor You as Almighty God. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Amen

Psalm 8:1-9