What do you see?

When you look at clouds, what do you see?  Do they form patterns, represent objects or animals?  Sometimes, do they even look like people?  When I saw this picture, at first I thought of a carnation and then a serpent, then an atomic mushroom and lastly I noticed the small rainbow at the bottom.  I couldn't make up my mind and gave up.  Finally, I did notice that the myriad of contrasts and shapes formed a wonderful sort of painting; one that any painter would be proud to display.  And yet I see things like this every day.  How grand and marvelous is our world, how full of surprises and beauty.  The best part is that I know it didn't just happen; that God created it all for my enjoyment and appreciation.  More than that, HE created all the things around me that I might come to know HIM and praise HIM for all that HE has done.  Obviously, this passage from the Psalms came to mind.

Psalms 8:1-9 (WEB)
1) For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens!
2) From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
3) When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
4) what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?
5) For you have made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor.
6) You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:
7) All sheep and cattle, yes, and the animals of the field,
8) The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9) Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

The next time you take pride in doing something and marvel at your own accomplishments, realize that compared to The Creator Of The Universe, we are as nothing.  However, it is HIS will that we rule the Earth wisely and do so with a realization that we are not alone, that God cares for us.  Frankly, I don't know of a better way to remember these things than to simply look at the sky and stand in awe of the one who has created all things.  Begin with clouds and take it from there. 

More than a lot!!!

I have never held one hundred thousand dollar bill in my hand, but it must be quite a feeling.  That amount of money could buy a lot of things, but in today's market it couldn't buy a upscale home.  I wouldn't mind having that much money in my checking account for spending money, but then, what would I do with it?  King David wanted to build a house of worship for his God, but he wasn't allowed to.  Instead he gathered the resources for his son Solomon to do it.  In David's last days, he says the following...

1 Chronicles 22:14 (WEB)
14) Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Yahweh one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance. I have also prepared timber and stone; and you may add to them.

There are 75 pounds of Gold in a talent, that figures out to be 19 billion 200 million dollars at $1600 an oz.  (75 x 16oz per pound= 1200 oz @ 1600 = 1,920,00 per talent) times 100,000= $19,200,000,000.00.  And that is just the gold!!!  I can't even begin to get my mind around that figure, but it is sure A LOT MORE THAN THE PICTURE ABOVE!!!  This says a lot about David's love for God; what does our giving say about us???  Something to think about today?  For those math wizards out there... am I right?

Never back down!

Just an ordinary church building to most people, but not to me.  For I learned a practical lesson here which has stayed with me for over 40 years.  My wife and I worshipped here for several years and attended a Bible Study on Tuesdays in the parsonage as well.  Needless to say, we made a lot of friends, especially the minister and his wife.  Then a series of events occurred that changed everything.  One Sunday, the minister (lets call him Tom) preached a scathing sermon on Masonry.  Several of the church members were Masons and there was an angry response.  Then came a board meeting and an ultimatum: recant or be let go.  The following Sunday, Tom recanted, apologising for his previous sermon.  He apologised for what the Bible said and was sorry for his remarks.  This episode made me think a lot about The Word of God and eventually led me towards being a preacher myself.  So, when I saw this picture today, I immediately thought of this passage.

Galatians 1:6-10 (WEB)
6) I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different “good news”;
7) and there isn’t another “good news.” Only there are some who trouble you, and want to pervert the Good News of Christ.
8) But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.
9) As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any “good news” other than that which you received, let him be cursed.
10) For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.

Never apologise for what God has said, never back down from anyone, regardless of the cost.  A good lesson, a good thing to remember and a better thing to put into practice.  Sometimes even an unpleasant memory can have good consequences if we can learn from our experiences.  I never did know what became of Tom, but I think of him time to time because he looks exactly like Richard Dryfus, the actor.  I hope he has learned the lesson that Galatians teaches and has changed. 

Pucker up!!!

Now there is something you don't see every day!!!  First thing that came to my mind was : a face only a moose could love.  However, who am I to judge?   Although the years have been kind to me, yet, still I am showing my age more and more with each and every passing of the New Year.  Then I thought of this chapter from the book of Ruth.

Ruth 3:1-18 (WEB)
1) Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?
2) Now isn’t Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he winnows barley tonight in the threshing floor.
3) Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor, but don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
4) It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall mark the place where he shall lie, and you shall go in, and uncover his feet, and lay down; then he will tell you what you shall do.”
5) She said to her, “All that you say I will do.”
6) She went down to the threshing floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law told her.
7) When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. She came softly, uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
8) It happened at midnight, that the man was startled and turned himself; and behold, a woman lay at his feet.
9) He said, “Who are you?” She answered, “I am Ruth your handmaid. Therefore spread your skirt over your handmaid; for you are a near kinsman.”
10) He said, “Blessed are you by Yahweh, my daughter. You have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as you didn’t follow young men, whether poor or rich.
11) Now, my daughter, don’t be afraid; I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people does know that you are a worthy woman.
12) Now it is true that I am a near kinsman; however there is a kinsman nearer than I.
13) Stay this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform for you the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman for you, then will I do the part of a kinsman for you, as Yahweh lives. Lie down until the morning.”
14) She lay at his feet until the morning. She rose up before one could discern another. For he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
15) He said, “Bring the mantle that is on you, and hold it.” She held it; and he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her; and he went into the city.
16) When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” She told her all that the man had done to her.
17) She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley; for he said, ‘Don’t go empty to your mother-in-law.’”
18) Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest, until he has finished the thing this day.”

Boaz was an older man and the passage of time takes its toll.  Face it, we all will someday lose our looks, but what matters most is what is on the inside.  And Boaz had more than enough goodness there to overcome the effect of years.  Ruth must have seen this too, because she didn't go after younger men.  Choosing a mate for looks is a bad idea because in 50 years we are all going to have faces that look like shriveled prunes.  This moose must be one very smart cookie!!!

LOOK UP...

Atomic Bomb? No, its just the clouds, but what clouds!!!  Nearly every day I look at the formations they make and the patterns I observe seem endless.  Each and every time I see something in them it makes me think of the magnificence of the Almighty and realize my own insignificance.  Which, by the way, is exactly what JOB needed to learn.  God helped him with this lesson by asking him some interesting questions.  See if you can answer them?

Job 38:1-41 (WEB)
1) Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
2) “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3) Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
4) “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
5) Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
6) Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
7) when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8) “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth from the womb,
9) when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10) marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
11) and said, ‘Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?’
12) “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place;
13) that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
14) It is changed as clay under the seal, and stands forth as a garment.
15) From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
16) “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
17) Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18) Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all.
19) “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
20) that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
21) Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22) Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
23) which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24) By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
25) Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm;
26) To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man;
27) to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to spring forth?
28) Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
29) Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?
30) The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
31) “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
32) Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
33) Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
34) “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?
35) Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are?’
36) Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
37) Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
38) when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
39) “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40) when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
41) Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?

Job 39:1-30 (WEB)
1) “Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
2) Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?
3) They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, they end their labor pains.
4) Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and don’t return again.
5) “Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
6) Whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling place?
7) He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.
8) The range of the mountains is his pasture, He searches after every green thing.
9) “Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
10) Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?
11) Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?
12) Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?
13) “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; but are they the feathers and plumage of love?

15) and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild animal may trample them.
16) She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
17) because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.
18) When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.
19) “Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
20) Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
21) He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.
22) He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword.
23) The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.
24) He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25) As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26) “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?
27) Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?
28) On the cliff he dwells, and makes his home, on the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
29) From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.
30) His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is.”
 Job 40:1-2 (WEB)

Job 40
1) Moreover Yahweh answered Job,
2) “Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Hint: Don't even try!!!  Some things are beyond our knowledge and understanding!!!  Yet, the questions that God asks make us marvel at the complexity of the universe and the true grandeur that the creator must possess.  What are we compared to that?  In actuality, not much at all.  However, God has given us the ability to perceive his greatness and a good way to begin is to start looking up... who knows what we may see next?

Great balls of lightning

 

I have heard of a bold of lightning, but a ball?  Very interesting; but I wonder what the impact would be of actually SEEING this thing in the sky?  Could you feel the tingle of electricity on your skin or the heat it produced?  Such a sight in the sky would probably produce an abnormal amount of light?  Humm, reminds of a passage in the book of Acts...

Acts 9:1-9 (WEB)
1) But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
2) and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3) As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him.
4) He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5) He said, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
6) But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7) The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one.
8) Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
9) He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.
 

Like the picture above, this heavenly light must have caught their attention. Unlike it, this one had a purpose and it was quite clear: What are you doing Saul?  Bright enough to blind Saul, it was accompanied by Jesus himself directing Saul.  If you are going down a wrong path like Saul, I wonder what it would take to get your attention?  Would you listen like he did?  Remember that the next time you read your Bible, it just might enlighten the words some.

we be friends

You and I are friends!!! It doesn't matter if your skin color is a bit off or if you are a bit too large or even if your nose is bigger than everyone else's; we are friends!!!  Friendship with God is like that too, HE doesn't care what you look like or where you come from or what you do for a living; HE is your friend irrespective of these issues.  What does HE care about?  Read the following passage and find out...

James 2:19-26 (WEB)
19) You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
20) But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
21) Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22) You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;
23) and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness;” and he was called the friend of God.
24) You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.
25) In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
26) For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

Martin Luther called the book of James an "epistle of straw"; why, because it contradicted his doctrine of "faith only".  As I read it, Abraham's belief in God was coupled with actions and concrete action showed his faith to be real.  James also refers to Rahab, a prostitute, who helped the spies as the nation of Israel conquered the holy land.  What you do is important to God!  If even demons believe in God, then just believing in God isn't going to get you into heaven.  Again, its what you do as a result of your (confident trust) belief.  I may not be much to look at, but if God is my friend, I AM SOMEBODY SPECIAL.  Now, the only thing that remains is the question:  If I believe in God, then what am I going to do about it?  Hint:  Read Acts chapter two as a starting point.