November 2024 - Creation Beckons

It’s Still Thanksgiving

Philippians 4:6,7 It’s Still Thanksgiving

“Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer, and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (NET).

Well, thanksgiving is over. NO, IT IS NOT! We are told to give thanks in every situation. Thanksgiving is to be included in our prayers and requests. And when we do include thanksgiving, we will be given the peace of God. The verse doesn’t say that we will get what we pray for, but that we will have peace. It’s interesting that the verse says that God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds. We need God’s peace to protect us from the barbs of satan. His barbs are constant, but we can always remind him that he is a defeated foe—defeated by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We just need to use the victory that Christ bought for us and brought to us.

So when are we to be thankful? We are to be thankful in every situation, and that includes the little and the really big problems. That also means that we should be thankful when things are going well. Yes, we owe thankfulness and appreciation to God every minute of every day because He has given us everything from the oxygen we breathe to the promise of eternal life with Him.

The people we thanked this past week are still doing those things we thanked them for, and we need to continue to express our thanks to them throughout the year. It’s a long time between thanksgivings if we wait until late November to thank the people who make our lives comfortable, safe, and enjoyable. So let’s celebrate thanksgiving all year.

Oh, thank you to those who bake pies. (Sorry, I forgot to thank you yesterday.)

Thank You!

1 Thessalonians 1:2 Thank You!

“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers” (NIV).

First of all, I thank God for everything. But, in accordance with the verse above, I have many, many people to thank. Truthfully, I don’t always continually mention all of the following people in my prayers. But I will endeavor to thank God for several of them each day and ask Him to bless them.

Thank you to our postman.

Thank you to our garbage collector.

Thank you to the check-out clerks in the grocery store.

Thank you to the people who stock the shelves in the grocery store,

Thank you to the people who replace burnt-out lights in traffic signals.

Thank you to all my teachers, elementary, high school, college, and Sunday school.

Thank you to all members of our armed services—past and present.

Thank you to policemen.

Thank you to fire fighters.

Thank you to those who repair the highways.

Thank you to the ushers and security personnel in my church.

Thank you to all those who make it possible for me to post this message.

Thank you to farmers.

Thank you to truck drivers.

Thank you to waiters and waitresses.

Thank you to cooks.

Thank you to pilots.

Thank you to flight attendants.

Thank you to those who handle the paperwork necessary for government to function.

Thank you to our elected representatives.

Thank you to those who repair the electrical lines.

Thank you to those who drill for oil.

Thank you to engineers.

Thank you to those who invent things or improve things currently in use.

Thank you to doctors.

Thank you to nurses.

Thank you to pastors.

Thank you to cooks.

Thank you to EMTs.

Thank you to song writers.

Thank you to entertainers.

Thank you to photographers, still and motion.

Thank you to those who repair computers.

Thank you to store clerks.

Thank you to fruit and vegetable harvesters.

Thank you to auto repairmen.

Thank you to authors.

Thank you to the Pittsburgh Pirates. (This one is personal.)

Thank you to reporters.

Thank you to carpenters.

Thank you to choir directors.

Thank you to plumbers.

Thank you to electricians.

Thank you to counselors and social workers.

Thank you to Border Patrol.

Thank you to office workers.

Thank you to dentists.

Thank you for reading this.

If I missed you, I’m sorry. THANK YOU!

Thank God for God

Psalm 7:17 Thank God for God

“Oh, how grateful and thankful I am to the Lord because he is so good. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord who is above all lords” (TLB).

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (KJV). So what do I have to thank God for—everything! He created this fantastic universe with His spoken Word. It is His, we are His, and I am quite thankful that I am His. When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, He assured me of life eternal with Him. And I am most thankful for that!

The magnificence of the created universe, the magnificence of this beautiful planet, earth, speaks to the glory of God, and His glory is great. He created the universe and mankind because He wanted fellowship. He, of course created the universe to accommodate the physical requirements of human beings. But, I believe that He created the universe in great beauty for our enjoyment, and He gave us the five senses with which we enjoy it. Every time I look at a sunset or sunrise, I am in awe of the act of His creation. But the same thing happens whenever I enjoy a nice slice of blueberry pie, smell a rose, touch a baby’s smooth skin, or hear a bird sing.

God’s love was more wonderfully shown when His Son, Jesus, came to earth to live as a human being, being subject to all the vicissitudes of life as a man, including scorn, hatred, and finally torture and death, so that we could spend eternity with Him. In fact, He did it so that He could spend eternity with us. Yes, His desire to be with us equals or exceeds our desire to be with Him. That’s how important we are to God. Of all the things for which I am thankful, this, the sacrifice of Jesus to provide eternal life for me, is the one thing for which I am most thankful.

The last part of the verse above says, “…sing praise to the name of the Lord….” We are told to sing praises, and I get great enjoyment and am extremely blessed in that, but sometimes I get so involved in the music of a song of praise that I don’t think much about the words. Then I remember, when I am alone, to slow down and speak the words aloud slowly, until I can praise and worship my God with my heart as well as my voice.

THANK YOU, GOD FOR BEING GOD!

Family

Genesis 2:22-24 Family

“The Lord made a woman out of the rib. The Lord brought her to the man, and the man exclaimed, ’Here is someone like me! She is part of my body, my own flesh and bones. She came from me, a man. So I will name her woman!’ That’s why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman and the two of them become like one person” (CEV).

Thus, the first family. Children were born, and they became part of the family. Norma and I married, and we became a family. Three sons, Tim, Brian, and Jason, were born, and our family grew. Our sons married, and Michelle, Adirenne, and Danielle became part of the family. Our sons and their wives had children, Josh, Megan, Emily, Jonathan, Benjamin, Haley, and Noah, and our family grew. Our granddaughter, Emily, married a man named Joshua; Josh got engaged to a woman named Alicia, and our family grew.

At each point of this process, love grew because Jesus was included in the family with Norma and me from the beginning. This grouping that God created in the beginning, a family, is the biggest blessing in my life other than my relationship with Jesus, my Savior. I can truly say that love abounds within this family, and I can further say that love will grow as this family continues to grow.

The family, partly because of the increasing rate of growth of it, and partly because it is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ, has an effect on all those any member of the family meets. This is a great way to spread the Good News originally brought by Jesus. Each member of this growing family has many opportunities to spread this Good News, namely, the love of God, as he or she interacts with others by both actions and words.

God greatly blessed me the day that Norma Peden became Norma Croyle, and I have lived in that blessing every day since then. As our family grew with children, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, grandchildren-in-law, and grandfiance, the blessings in my life have grown immensely. For that I am thankful. I eagerly state that I receive love from, and return love to Norma, Adrienne, Alicia, Benjamin, Brian, Danielle, Emily, Haley, Jason, Jonathan, Josh, Joshua, Megan, Michelle, Noah, and Tim. I am a most blessed man, and I knew it from day one of our marriage.

THANK YOU, LORD, FOR MY FAMILY!

I’m Thankful for My Church

Hebrews 10:24-25 I’m Thankful for my Church

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as we see the Day approaching” (NIV).

I’m glad and blessed to be in a local church where we do “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” God is love, so as we spur each other toward love, we are helping each other to move closer to our Lord and Savior. Good deeds occur as the result of living in love and spreading the love of Christ. We are led in this pursuit of love and good deeds from the pulpit by our pastor, by the praise and worship we join, and not least in the conversations we have before and after services. These conversations are where we begin to apply what we have been taught. We do encourage one another also in several monthly informal gatherings. A word of encouragement and prayer from a church friend goes a long way toward lifting my spirits when I am discouraged.

We are told in Romans 12:4-5, “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (NIV). In our church we have people with many different skills and abilities, both spiritual and physical. When the speakers, the singers, the prayers, the cleaners, the encouragers, the ushers, the security people, the office workers, and the prophets all work together, God is glorified and people are blessed. I am thankful that in my church this happens often, and blessings flow within the church body and to the surrounding community.

A Tough Life Redeemed

Philippians 1:6 A Tough Life Redeemed

“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it out to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (NIV).

What a gnarled and twisted tree this is. It must have endured a difficult life. Its scars show the results of the difficulties it has endured. And then it died, and it will rot and go back to the soil from which it came.

We all know people who show scars of a difficult life. Their bodies may be twisted and bent, and their hearts may be downcast. Depression can be seen on their faces; hope is nowhere to be seen. The tree, after enduring storms throughout its life, died and fell to the ground. There is no chance of making the tree straight, green, and beautiful again. It is done, finished. Not so with the man who has endured pain and difficulties throughout his life. At some point, his body will die, but if He has received Jesus as Savior, the verse above is applied. “…He who began a good work in you will carry it out to completion….” So what’s this good work? It is a renewed spirit that began when he accepted Jesus. God has a plan for each individual, a special plan just for that person. When a person has accepted Jesus, that plan can begin to unfold. Growth in the Christian life occurs and the individual will begin to get a glimpse of what God’s plan is for him or her. Once the individual learns his or her mission in life–be assured that each person has a mission–life can get exciting. The range of missions range from the well-known public speaker to the most menial task in the local church. But, make no mistake, the mission is important to both God and the Church. There are no second-class citizens or workers in God’s kingdom .

And after death, each individual will live a life of no fear, no pain, no anxiety. He will abide with His Savior eternally in a place prepared for him, his own special place in heaven. Some may ask, “But what about his gnarled and twisted body?” Once his old earthly body has finished living, his new, perfect, eternal body will take over and live in joy for eternity.

It helps me to look at this gnarled and twisted tree, and picture it as my earthly body being straightened and filled with green leaves by my Savior and Lord. God can do that, and He does do it on a regular basis.

Magnificent

Romans 1:20 Magnificent

“Ever since God made the world, he has been showing people clearly about himself. We cannot see God. But The things that he has made show us clearly what he is like. We can understand his great power that continues for ever. We can know that he is the true God. So there is no reason for anyone to say, ‘We could not know about God’” (EASY).

What a magnificent scene, and they are everywhere you look in Arizona’s Grand Canyon, either north rim or south rim. Probably the word most spoken at Grand Canyon is ”WOW!” And it is spoken in many languages. Perhaps even more often than speaking the word, “wow,” is just a speechless stare at the wonder of the surroundings. The Grand Canyon is beautiful in full sunshine in the middle of the day, but sunrise or sunset, particularly with partly cloudy skies, the place just shows off. Colors, shadows, and shapes combine to stun the eye.

This is just one of the magnificent scenes God has created on this earth. The view of Denali on a clear summer night at about 11:30 is breathtaking. The stalactites and stalagmites of Carlsbad Caverns many feet underground are amazing. Yosemite Valley experienced within the valley or seen from above is stunning. Certainly I could go on naming beautiful things, but I’m sure you can think of many others without any reminders. Still wondering if there is a God? Take a breath. Take a drink of fresh water. He provided both of them for you.

So why did God create such beauty on the earth? I believe it is for two reasons—no three reasons. I believe He loves beauty, and He obviously loves us. I believe He created beauty just for beauty’s sake, and I believe He created it for us to give us enjoyment. There is one other rather important reason for the magnificence of His creation. He wanted to demonstrate His power and His awesome intelligence. How else could this universe with all its intricacies, all the physical laws, the placement of the earth at just the right distance from the sun, the interaction of the many parts of earth to keep us in oxygen, and the interaction of evaporation and precipitation that keeps the rivers flowing. Just to keep you wondering—why does ice float, and why is it important that it does?

God created man because He wanted fellowship, and He wanted to share His love. His creation is magnificent, but He went to greater lengths to provide us with eternal life with Him. He sent His Son to earth as a human to take on Himself all the sins of mankind and to pay for them with His death by crucifixion. That’s the great gift He made available to us, but like every gift, it must be accepted to be received. To receive this magnificent gift, ask Jesus for forgiveness of your sins and acknowledge Him as the risen Son of God and as your Lord and Savior. Do it! If He made earth this beautiful, how fantastic must heaven be?

Gratitude

Philippians 4:6 Gratitude

“Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God” (CEV).

I have a great feeling of gratitude today. A situation or problem that I have been working on for about seven months was resolved this morning at about 10:45 A.M.

Gratitude is defined by Webster as “a feeling of thankful appreciation for favors or benefits received; thankfulness.” He got that right. I am thankful to my Lord for resolving this situation for me.

I am also thankful for His patience with me over this seven month period. When it began someone said that I should “just give it to the Lord.” I did, and then I “just took it back.” I didn’t do that just once or twice or even five times, but God was patient with me through the entire process. The Lord told me several times, “I’ve got this,” and I believed Him at the moment. But when things didn’t go quite as fast or in quite the manner I expected, I “just took them back,” and did it my way. I soon found out that my way wasn’t working, so “I just gave it back” to the Lord, and He accepted. Guess what? I did that several times over the seven months. I am amazed at the giants of the Bible like Abraham who waited twenty-five years for the son He was promised. Wait a minute. One time in the middle of the twenty-five years, he took matters into his own hands and fathered a child not of his wife Sara. But that didn’t work out quite right. Abraham came back to God, and the son he was promised was born. I think I detect a pattern here. First God calls us to something and we accept it. Then when things don’t go the way we want them to, we leave God behind and do it our way. When that doesn’t go well, we offer the situation back to God. Since He is a patient and loving God, He takes it back and finally brings it to resolution. The steps—1. We are called to something. 2. We accept the call and start working on it. 3. We mess up. 4. We give it back to God, and He completes it. That seems pretty simple and straight forward except that we often get stuck in the middle of step 4 and we “just take it back.” And then we start the process over again. The great thing about our Lord is that no matter how many times we “just take it back,” He is always ready when we “just give it to Him.”

Thank you, Lord, for resolving my problem, and thank you, Lord, for your great patience with me. You are so good to me!

Thankfulness

Psalm 100:4 Thankfulness

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name” (NKJV).

It’s ten days before Thanksgiving, and I thought it was time to write about thankfulness. But then I thought that thankfulness is something we should have all year. I’m glad that our nation has chosen a time to publicly thank God for His provision, and I celebrate it, but I feel ashamed that I waited until now to write about thankfulness.

First of all, we owe our greatest thanks to God Almighty for His love that caused Him to create the universe. God is due our thanks for everything we have in our daily lives, and we owe our greatest thanks to Him for providing eternal life for us in heaven with Him.

Personally, I am very thankful to God for my wife, our three sons, our three daughters-in-law, our three granddaughters, our four grandsons, our one grandson-in-law, and our one grand fiancé. My life is full and quite blessed because of these beautiful gifts from God. Family, the great invention of God, is the glue that holds communities and nations together. When we can live together, work together, worship together, and love together, with God at the center of the family, the world is blessed.

Since I’m being personal in this message, I will state my thankfulness for my church, Faith Community Church, East, in Tucson, Arizona. We were welcomed within a minute of entering the church the first time, and the welcome was confirmed by many people before the service even started. It felt like home, and it has been so for many years. Friendships continue to grow as more people join the church. God is praised and worshipped each time people gather there. The Word of the Lord is preached and opportunity to reach out to the community is provided. It’s a good place to grow closer to our Lord and to learn how to be His light in the world.

I hope that you are blessed as I am with a wonderful family and a blessed church. If you are, thank God for them today. If you don’t have one of them, family or church, or even if you don’t have either, give thanks to the Lord and ask Him to lead you to both.

Praise and thanks to our Great God!

P.S. The church pictured is not Faith Community Church, East, but a Pennsylvania church.

Why Should I Memorize God’s Word?

2 Timothy 3:16 Why Should I Memorize God’s Word?

“All the Holy Writings are God-given and are made alive by Him. Man is helped when he is taught God’s Word. It shows what is wrong. It changes the way of a man’s life. It shows him how to be right with God” (NLV).

This property is in Montana, just outside Yellowstone National Park, so we can guess that it gets cold in the winter. We can see by this large stack of firewood that they have been preparing for winter’s storms and cold weather by storing a large quantity of firewood. When the temperature drops, they just throw another log on the fire to keep them warm. Hopefully, they have enough stored to last through winter.

As Christians, we need to gather a large of supply of Godly help to get us through the storms and difficulties of life. The best thing we can store for these dark, lonely, and stormy times is the Word of God. When we are lonely or hurting or ill, or just feel lost, we can reach for the Bible and search until we find a Scripture that helps. We can also check with a reference book for verses that are appropriate to the situation. We can call a pastor or a friend and ask for Scripture suggestions. But, there is one way that is closer and quicker, memorized Scripture. It’s immediate. We don’t have to go look for it. We don’t have to call someone to give us suggestions. If we have memorized enough Scripture, we can just ask the author, God, and an appropriate one will be suggested by Him. Memorized Scripture is a treasure trove of wisdom, knowledge, hope, love, and faith. Some of us could say, “But I don’t know any Scripture. Where should I start memorizing?” Others may say, “I’m not good at memorizing.” To both groups I can say that there are many, many systems of learning Scripture, and most of them are offered for free. Type “Scripture memorization” in a Google search. If you don’t know where to start, I suggest reading the Gospel of John. I don’t think you will get very far before you find something you would like to remember. Some people may say, “I don’t have time to memorize a lot of Scripture.” That’s okay; one verse memorized is a start, and it’s better than having none memorized.

Here’s some encouragement. Fanny Crosby had memorized the first four books of the Old Testament, and the four Gospels by the time she was ten years old. That’s impressive, but what makes it more impressive is the fact that Fanny was blind. I’m not only impressed with what Fanny did, but I am also impressed with whoever read the verses to her often enough for her to memorize them. Maybe it would be a good idea to get a partner and memorize together. My list of memorized Scripture is not very long, so I need to get a new start at Scripture memorization. Will you join me?