If You Do ...

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten -- a long used expression, thought provoking, attention getting.  What are you getting in your life?  Out of life? Are you satisfied?  Are you getting what you want?  Are you healthy? Are you prospering? Do you have enough? More than enough? Less than enough? Are you enjoying life? Is your work rewarding? Is it satisfying? Is it meaningful? Do you have a good marriage? Are your children doing well? Overall, on a scale of 1-10, 10 high, how would you rate your life?

To all whose rating was less than 10, something's missing.  If something is missing, then something needs to change.  Are you ready and willing to make the changes necessary to obtain a different result? Remember -- if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.  It has been said that stupidity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result.

So what does God say?  I'm glad you asked. Consider Colossians 3:23-24.  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  "Whatever" means what? "With all your heart" means what? Must you do everything as unto the Lord? Umm ... so stop doing what you've always done ... you'll stop getting what you've always gotten.

Live Well, Live Wisely

Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. 

James 3:13-18 MSG

 

How Great Thou Art, part 2

When does life begin? Is it before the sperm and egg come together? Is it at conception?  Is it hours after conception, or days, or weeks, or some time during the first trimester? So what did God mean when He said to Jeremiah that He knew him before He formed him in the womb (see Jeremiah 1:5)? To what was the writer referring in Psalm 139:15-16a?  "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body."  

So, when does life begin? The questions came to mind again as I recently stood before an incubator in a hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.  The little girl was taken from her mother's womb at a mere 25 weeks (6 months).  This was my first time to see a preemie at this young age.  My naked eye saw very clearly a baby ... just very tiny, weighed in at just over one pound ... hair on her head ... fully formed arms, hands, fingers w/nails ... fully formed legs, feet, toes w/nails ... very active arms and hands, legs and feet ... used hands to take hold of connectors to her body ... stretched out her legs, sometimes moved them from side to side, sometimes up and down.

Not knowing what to expect, I stood there in awe and amazement. And I could only think, my God, how great Thou art.  How amazing are you, God.  How could anyone ever believe that man is a product of evolution? The process of birth, how miraculous?  Our minds are incapable of understanding how this development unfolds.  So we merely just take this development for granted.  We assume that life just happens. And it doesn't, it can't.  Who then is this Master Creator? Master Designer? Life Giver? Sustainer of Life? And my thought remained the same, O Lord my God, how great Thou art!!!

How Great Thou Art

As part of my family's 40th year reunion in Phoenix, we traveled to the Grand Canyon, one of the seven wonders of the world.  On this my first visit, I stood and looked in awe at the handiwork of Almighty God.  The formations, the colors, the depth, I viewed all with my mouth open, bottom lip hanging, saying "Wow," and thinking how great is our God.  I can only imagine its immense size -- 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and a mile deep.  I could literally feel the words of the songwriter . . . O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art!

What a Mighty God we serve.  My thoughts wandered as I considered the Creator of this universe, His sovereignty, His awesomeness, His might and power, His majesty, His glory and honor.  I thought, who is man, what is man that Almighty God is mindful of him?  Of me? Of us? 

On the return trip as I was jolted back into the present, my thoughts turned to the foolishness of man.  Who do we think we are?  How little do we actually know or understand? Yet, how much do we think we know?  How much in control do we think ourselves to be?  What power do we imagine ourselves to have?  We lie, steal, and cheat.  We take into our own hands the lives of others.  We ignore Almighty God, our Creator. 

Forgive me Father for my thoughtlessness.  You are great, and greatly to be praised. How great Thou art!