Christian messages paired with photographs of God's great creation
Genesis 1:1 God Created
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (NKJV).
He created the heavens and the earth with great beauty for our enjoyment and benefit and as a means to draw us to Him. Enjoy a few examples of His creativity.
Go ouside, and look around. Let His creation draw you to Him.
Come back tomorrow for a few more examples of His creativity.
Nehemiah 9:6 The Awesome God
“You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in Therm. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you” (NIV).
God is indeed awesome. All we need to do to discover that is look outside and see the vast beauty of the universe, the earth and all the magnificent landscapes, animals, plants, and the seas it contains. Mountains are stunning from the Alps to the Rockies, to the Appalachians to the hills of Missouri—they are all stupendous. The vast numbers of plants, from spiny cactus to beautifully petalled pansies, the many animals from the amoeba to the great whales—they are all unbelievably intricate. He created the earth such that the animals, the plants, the landscapes, the oceans and the heavens work together as an amazing functioning unit that sustains life. From His creation alone, we can see that “Our God Is an Awesome God.”
He went beyond all that, and He created humans, and these He loved. He loved and loves them so much “…that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” John 3:16 (NIV). Nehemiah tells us more of God’s awesomeness in Nehemiah 1:5: “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands.” As we saw in John 3:16, He went beyond that love spoken of in promised in Nehemiah to include not only those who obey his commandments, but also to those who would accept His Son, Jesus.
He is powerful. He is awesome. He is the most loving. HE IS GOD
Job 8:7 Growth
“Even though you’re not much now, you’ll end up better than ever” (MSG).
In Job 8, Job’s friends took him to task regarding what had happened in his life, but even in their criticism they have some encouragement. For example, Bildad said, in the Scripture above: “…you’ll end up better than ever.” And he was correct. The end of Job’s life contained even more blessings than the beginnings did. The same is true of flowers, as I have found out the past few years.
We bought flowers at the local nursery and planted them, and then the work began. It’s not easy to grow flowers and keep them blooming during the hot days of a Tucson summer. They take constant care, frequent watering. Taking a few days off in the growth of flowers in a Tucson summer does not work unless you are looking for dry, withered twigs. The flowers need frequent watering and even a cooling spray during the afternoon. The summer heat in Tucson is merciless to young flowers. With proper care and attention, flowers can maintain their beauty throughout the summer season even in Tucson.
Our lives as Christians may resemble the growth of flowers planted in Tucson in the spring. Flowers bought from a nursery are full of blooms and look like they will thrive forever. The new Christian appears much the same way—vigorous and full of promise. And that is true: every new believer has immense prospects for growth. After all, the master gardener, the one most able to help us discover and grow into our fullness as a follower of Christ is with us every day. One big difference between us and flowers is the fact that we choose whether we get fed or not and just how much we get fed. We are fed and watered through the reading of the Word, prayer, gathering with other believers to hear and learn, and quiet contemplation of God’s remarkable creation. When we accept the feeding, we find ourselves fed with the choicest of nourishment, and our growth is awesome.
Timothy David Stickle
In memory and honor of my cousin, United States Marine Corps Private First Class Timothy David Stickle. Tim was born on December 26, 1948, and he was killed in Quang Nam, Viet Nam, on December 11, 1968, just fifteen days before his twentieth birthday. Tim is one of thousands of our citizens who have given their lives because their nation, our nation, asked them to sacrifice. I honor them all! My thanks also go out to the families who gave their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins to protect our freedom. May God’s blessing rest upon all of those touched by the sacrifices of these brave patriots.
Luke 3:4-6 The Crooked Made Straight
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation’” (NIV).
This is taken from the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist. He went throughout the countryside preaching a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The Scripture quoted above speaks of John’s reason for ministry—prepare people for the coming of the Messiah. The implication of the verse is that when Jesus arrives, things will get better. Moving through life is to become easier with valleys and mountains made level, crooked roads made straight, and the rough ways made smooth. Did that happen, even after Jesus was baptized by John? No, it didn’t because the leaders of the time saw Jesus as a threat to their authority because they feared that His message would upset the Romans and cause them to crack down and take away the powers the religious leaders had. Their selfishness and lust for power made them rouse the people against Jesus, accuse Him of sedition against the Romans, and demand that He be crucified.
So the church began in a time and place of criticism and antagonistic actions by the religious leaders of the day. It seems to have been a foretaste of what was to come for millenia after the crucifixion of Christ. Throughout history, the church seems to grow best when its members are driven to defend themselves and their beliefs in Jesus Christ. The opposition makes for tougher, more determined believers. For the past two thousand years, those who truly accepted Christ as Savior have proven to be willing to undergo hardship, punishment, and even death to declare that Jesus is the Messiah, the one and only way to God.
If you follow the lines in the picture above from left to right, the swirls, whorls, and bumps are easily seen, but as the view continues to the right, the lines smooth out and go forward in a strength proven by the earlier difficulties in the growth of the tree. Yes, valleys will be filled, mountains will be made low, crooked roads will be made straight, and the rough places will be made smooth. But a look at the center of the picture above shows the difficulties and hard times that the tree survived before it got to the smooth times. So in our lives as Christians, we will encounter tough times, difficult times, and, perhaps, even dangerous times before we attain peace and rest with Christ in eternity. I haven’t been in eternity with Jesus, but I am convinced that eternity with Him will be worth any difficulties we encounter here. So hang in there—it will be worth it.
Proverbs 6:25a Be Careful of Beauty
“Do not lust in your heart after her beauty…” (NIV).
Forgive me for taking this verse out of context. It is in a section of Proverbs warning against adultery, but I would like to apply it to the danger of looking only at the beauty of anything. I have a fascination for the fighter aircraft of World War II, but I can’t let my enjoyment of them make me forget their purpose—to shoot down enemy aircraft and kill men. The P51 Mustang is one of the most effective fighter aircraft of WW II, and it has the distinction of having beauty in its functionality. But it is a machine made to kill, so I have to look beyond the beauty of the airplane whenever I see one.
There are many things in life that have the appearance of great beauty, and many of them are used to glorify God. But there are also things of apparent great beauty that are used by satan to draw us away from God, and because of that they can’t be called beautiful no matter the appeal to the eye or ear or taste. I’ll be short and sweet today—Before you become attached to something with a beautiful appearance, be sure you know its purpose.
In God’s creation, there are millions of things of great beauty, and they should be the things that draw our attention because their purpose is to draw us, beckon us to Him. To God be the glory!
John 4:13-14 Jesus Gives Eternal Water
“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life’” (NKJV).
The woman was pleased and asked for this water so that she wouldn’t have to keep coming to the well every day to draw water. Jesus didn’t correct her, but instead told her to go get her husband, which resulted in Jesus’ revelation that He knew that she had had five husbands and was living with another man not her husband. She believed Jesus to be a prophet. She replied that she knew that the Messiah, who knew all things, would be coming sometime. Jesus then dropped the bombshell, “That’s me. I am the Messiah.” She dropped her water container and ran back to tell everyone that she had met the Messiah. They followed her back to the well, met Jesus, and He spoke with them. Many of them believed because of what Jesus had told the woman, but after He spoke to them, many more believed. They asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed two additional days. The result of this “chance encounter” was the salvation of a large number of Samaritans.
How many “chance encounters” have we had that we didn’t recognize as opportunities to speak the Word of the Lord and bring salvation to a non-believer. It is important for us to recognize these “chance encounters.” Important for us, but vitally important to those whom God brings to us. I might be, or you might be, the one voice that the person would really believe and accept Jesus as Savior. That’s a “chance encounter” that could affect someone throughout eternity. I know that I have had “chance encounters” that I didn’t recognize or didn’t choose to recognize. My prayer is that the person I encountered was blessed enough to have another “chance encounter” with someone more willing or able to express the love of God. Romans 10:14-15 makes clear our responsibility: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘how beautiful are the feet of those who being good news!’” You might say, “But I don’t know how to speak. I wouldn’t know what to say.” The Word tells us in Luke 12:12, ”…for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Even if we can’t speak, we can be effective by doing as Romans 10:15 tells us, and send others. There is need from the local church to the farthest missionary field for funds to support the furtherance of the Good News.
I need to be more attentive to the Holy Spirit and watch for those “chance encounters” that he arranges.
Lamentations 3:40 Turn Back to God
“Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us return to the Lord. (NLT).
This picture was taken in 1971 on the beach in Olympic National Park. The time was just after low tide. We had walked, well, I walked and Tim was carried in my arms. We had walked up the beach past this place and enjoyed the ocean and its views and then returned through this narrow section to go back to our car. No big deal, right? No big deal except that as the tide came in, this entire area was under water and was impassable for a man and his young son. I knew that the area became flooded at high tide, so I decided to turn around and go back long before high tide. It was good that I had that information, because Tim was much too young to know and understand the danger of remaining on the wrong side of these rocks.
We walk with our Lord, or He carries us in His arms as we explore this world, but there are times when we explore on our own. There are places that we can go, but we must also return back from them in order to escape a difficult or even fatal fate. We may be too young in the faith to understand the inherent danger, but since our God always knows where we are, we can feel safe because we know that He knows when it is time for us to return to Him, and He calls us back. He doesn’t force us to return, but He calls us to Himself, and it is our decision whether we return or not. Because of His great love for us, He continues to call even when we have said “no” to His initial call to return. God never gives up on us. His love is eternal, and His call to us is available every moment of our lives, right up to the moment of death. Once death occurs, there is no way back to God. God loves each of us for eternity, but if we have not returned by the time of our death, there is no longer a path back to Him. So, if you have wandered far away from God, and you hear His call, turn back to Him. He will greet you with open arms and great joy. If you have a friend who is far from God, be part of God’s call to bring him back. Yours may be the voice that convinces your friend to return to the joy of the Lord.
Matthew 11:29-30 Share A Yoke with Jesus
“Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (NLT)
In a yoke the two animals bear the work load together; they share it. The two animals are not necessarily of the same strength, but they must be of the same kind of animal. We can be yoked to Jesus because we were made in the image of God, so it is proper for Jesus to ask us to be yoked with Him, and what a privilege that is. Often in a pair of yoked animals, one is more experienced, stronger, more aware of the work to be done, and is able to help the other one learn how best to carry the load. While the more experienced animal may determine the pace and the distribution of the load between the two, he cannot work well if his partner hangs back, is unwilling to work, or tries to make his own way. The less experienced must accept the lead of the more experienced so the maximum load can be carried without overburdening either of the pair.
When Jesus asks us to take His yoke, He is telling us that He knows the way, He knows how to distribute the load, He knows the pace to keep, and He accepts the responsibility of leadership. As the follower we must accept His lead and trust Him to know the way. By accepting leadership, Jesus makes our load easier. (We don’t have to figure it all out.) He shows what to do and how to do it. We are expected to do our part, accept the role we are given, and pull our share of the load. We are also expected to learn from our leader, Jesus, so that we can become leaders of others and help them to receive the benefits of being yoked with Jesus, help them also become leaders, but each one must then become yoked with Jesus to learn for himself the joy of being yoked with the Master, learning how to become a leader. In this way the Kingdom of God advances exponentially. As each one becomes a leader and shows others the way, growth occurs at a phenomenal and ever-increasing rate. Yes, Jesus, I accept Your yoke, and I know that You will give me rest so that I can gain the energy needed to continue to grow the Kingdom of Heaven. Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of sharing a yoke with You.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 The Tools We Are Given
“God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when” (MSG).
I realize that is a long quote, but it is all relevant to the tools we are given to use. I spent several years as business manager in both Vail School District and Grace Christian School. In both places I was responsible for compiling the annual supply orders for all the teachers into one large order. When this large order was received, it was then my responsibility to distribute the various supplies to the correct teachers. There were general supplies that every teacher ordered, and specific supplies that teachers ordered according to their teaching specialties. Math teachers ordered different things from English teachers, and history teachers ordered different supplies from science teachers. Elementary teachers tended to order many of the same items.
There is a big difference between the teachers supplies and the tools of the Christian worker. The school teacher decides what supplies he needs, but the Holy Spirit decides and distributes the appropriate tools for each Godly task. According to the Scripture above, God provides the tools we need. Some people minister mainly in the healing of the sick, and some minister mainly in the giving of words of wisdom for difficult situations. As the Scripture says, everyone is given the particular tool or tools he or she needs for the assigned task. The last sentence of verse eleven tells us that the Holy Spirit decides “who gets what and when.” The implication in that verse can be that anyone can receive any of God’s great tools at any time, and perhaps could receive different tools at different times for different purposes. Some may interpret these verses to mean that a person would be given one specific tool for his or her lifetime. I don’t know which of these interpretations is correct. I will leave that for you to decide which you believe to be correct. God has already decided and the Holy Spirit will distribute the appropriate tool at the appropriate time for each assigned task. All we need to do is be ready and willing to do God’s will. He will make us able. All the tools are in the tool storehouse of the Holy Spirit, and He knows what tool needs to go where and when it needs to be there. He will do whatever is necessary for the completion of God’s plan on earth. Praise be to God!