Edtucner, Author at Creation Beckons

Be As Unique As God Needs You to Be

1 Peter 4:10,11 Be As Unique As God Needs You to Be

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen” (NLT).

Yes, each of us has been given a spiritual gift from God—a gift of service to others, and each one’s gift is unique. No one else can do what you can do as well as you can do it. He has made each of unique just as he has made the animals unique. Even within each general kind of animal, each animal itself is unique. No two are exactly alike. To make this world interesting, God has provided for uniqueness in self and uniqueness in service. Take a glance at just a few of the types of animals God has created. Each type has its own special place in creation, and each of us has his or her special place of service to Him and to mankind.

PRAISE GOD FOR MAKING US UNIQUE!

Bear Fruit

John 15:4-7 Bear Fruit

“Reman in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (NIV).

“If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit….” Before a tree bears fruit, it shows flowers—no flowers, no fruit. So flowers are indications that fruit is on the way. So it is with us; we must flower before we can bear fruit, and how do we flower? Jesus gave us the answer at the Last Supper when he told us that we must remain in Him. When we remain in Him and He remains in us, fruit is inevitable; it can’t be hidden. Not all fruit is the same. We are each prepared to produce particular fruit just as the flowers below are prepared to produce particular fruit. Look at the following flowers, enjoy the love of the Lord, and imagine what the flower that God has prepared for you looks like.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Praise the Lord

Psalm 117 Praise the Lord!

“Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise him, all you people of the earth. For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever” (NLT).

As I said at the very beginning of the year, my focus this year is, “Praise the Lord!” I will be leaving this platform by the end of January, but I have a few special messages before then.

For today, look at the majesty of the mountains He has created and gain strength from His love for us.

PRAISE THE LORD!

In 2025 Let’s Praise the Lord

Psalm 150 In 2025 Let’s Praise the Lord

Happpy New Year

¹Praise ye the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary:
praise him in the firmament of his power.
²Praise him for his mighty acts:
praise him according to his excellent greatness.
³Praise him with the sound of the trumpet:
praise him with the psaltery and harp.
⁴Praise him with the timbrel and dance:
praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
⁵Praise him upon the loud cymbals:
praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
⁶Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.

Praise ye the Lord.

AND

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Let the Word speak first, Psalm 150, and then let us praise the Lord through what many of us in the EUB Church knew as the Doxology.

PRAISE YE THE LORD in 2025!

God Is My Strength

Psalm 73:26 God Is My Strength

“My health fails; my spirits droop, yet God remains! He is the strength of my heart; he is mine forever” (TLB).

Have you ever been at the end of your rope? I have, and it’s not a good feeling. But Jesus Christ says, “If you’re at the end of your rope, just let go. I’ve got you. There is no end to my rope. In fact, I don’t have a rope. I use a net. That way wherever you fall from, I can catch you. Just call for me. I’m always there.” (I used quotation marks, but it’s actually a paraphrase.) I paraphrased it from the Bible. The specific reference is Genesis1:1—Revelation 22:21.) Just look. You’ll find it in there. The whole Bible is about God and His love for us. Jesus came to earth to personalize God’s love, care, and promises. “Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.” (Psalm 37:24 NLT)

Psalm 46:1-3 says, “God is our refuge and our strength an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (NIV). In today’s world, bad news is broadcast on every radio and television station numerous times each day. Flip through facebook and bad news shows up every page or so. My source of strength is my God. He is my source because he says He is, and I believe what He says. Look through your past and count the times that God has been your strength. He will be so again and again and again, if only we will ask and ask and ask. He doesn’t mind if we keep asking for His help. In fact, He loves helping us; He is pleased when we do ask.

The mountains in the picture give a real picture of strength. They are made of rock, and God is my rock that is stronger than any rock seen on earth because He created them all. Thank you, God, for being my strength at the end of my rope.

Quiet Time and Rest

Mark 6:31,32 Quiet Time and Rest

“Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.’ He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place where they could be alone” (NLT).

I’m sure most of us can relate to Jeus and His apostles as described in the verse above, but in different circumstances. Jesus and His disciples had been ministering to crowds of people and had difficulty getting away for even a few hours. The Christmas season is always busy, especially for Christians, because we take time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the real reason for Christmas celebrations.

This year we sang in our church’s Christmas musical presentation and enjoyed a puppet program put on by our youth the same evening. It was a great evening of celebration and joy. And, of course we spent time in rehearsal for the program. We had two services at a local retirement home, including one with communion and one singing Christmas carols. Norma and I baked cookies—I helped more this year because of Norma’s broken arm. (I think they turned out all right.) We had Christmas dinner at our house for our son who lives in Tucson and his family. Phone conversations with our sons and their families who live in Colorado Springs and in New Kensington, Pa, were happy times on Christmas Day. We decorated the house—I should say Norma decorated the house inside until she fell and broke her arm which entailed one hospital visit, and two doctor visits so far. We did Christmas shopping, most of it on-line this year, Soooo, like everyone else I know, we need some rest.

I don’t know that we were as busy as Jesus and His disciples were in the Scripture above, but we do need rest. Unlike Jesus and His disciples, we did have time to eat, and we took good advantage of that time, as we always do at Christmas. One other difference between us and Jesus and His disciples—we are not going anywhere on a boat. But we will take time to rest, time to spend in the Word and in long conversations with our Lord. Whether we do that quietly at home or spend a few days away doesn’t matter as long as we take at least a few days to draw away from the world and focus on the one whose birth we just celebrated. If we are too busy at Christmas time to focus on Jesus Christ ,we have not celebrated appropriately. We expect to have time of joy, time of rest, and time of peace with Him for the next few days. I suggest that you do the same. Rest in Him!

The Same Yet Different

Romans 12:6-8 The Same Yet Different

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us If your gift is, prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, then do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully” (NIV).

The five roses above are alike. They are all miniature roses, but they are all obviously different. No two are the same, but each one is beautiful in its own right. We, in the church of Christ are similar, in that we are all alike, but we are all different. Each of us shines with the light of glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are all alike in that God loves each of us the same, and Jesus paid the same price for each of us.—death on the cross of Calvary.

In the church, we are all different. The Holy Spirit has endowed us with different gifts because we are called to different missions. Once He calls us for a task, He gives us the special abilities to perform the task, and He grows the abilities as we use them, so that we get better and better and are of more and more use to His Kingdom as we grow in them. There are certain gifts needed in each church, and some churches may have different combinations of gifts in their membership. Because of our differences, our churches have different personalities and different specific assignments.

Ask God to show you your gift, and then ask Him to develop it in you. Then allow Him to fit you into your church in the way that will help your church perform its assignments in the best manner it can. Together we bring glory to His name.

Be Prepared; Be Ready to Be Used by God

2 Timothy 2:15 Be Prepared; Be Ready to Be Used by God

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (NIV).

The hay has grown, and it is now being gathered in a convenient form to be collected along with other hay to provide food for the cattle. We can see the farmer at work, and we can see the delineation of the grain that has been gathered and that still waiting to be joined with other grain into a useful and convenient form.

As we live our Christian lives, we grow until we are of useful purpose for the Lord. Then we are gathered together with others to provide spiritual food for our brethren. Just as hay bales are stacked in a barn to be used later, Christian lives are gathered in the local church to be released into the world as spiritual food for those who do not yet know the blessings of Jesus Christ. It does my heart good to realize that I have reached the place where I am of use in His Kingdom, to be used along with others to bring blessings to the world at large. Lord, help me to be worthy of your trust.

Genesis 1:1–Revelation 22:21

This is the day that we celebrate the greatest gift ever given, and it was given by our Father God. The gift was and is His Son, Jesus, and Jesus, in His turn, gives His gifts of love, peace, joy, and most importantly, the forgiveness of sin. God the Father and God the Son offer these gifts to us, to you, to you, to you, to you, and to me. Bless yourself eternally by accepting these gifts, by receiving these gifts in your heart.

MERRY

CHRISTMAS!

God So Loved the World

Luke 2:1-20, John 3:16 God So Loved the World

Silent Night

Josef Mohr Franz Gruber

Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heav’nly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!
Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Silent night, holy night!
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Sing this beautiful song in anticipation all day.