Beauty and Creativity

God created us in such a way as to allow us to see the beauty in many things. For me, not only do I see the trees, flowers and creatures of this earth, their elegance, fragrance and interesting quirks, but I also get to delight in the thoughts that flow through my head about these things and other things that go unseen. God has given us many gifts and no two people are the same in how they were gifted. One of the gifts that God has graciously given me is in writing. I love weaving words together in such a way as to paint a tapestry for me and anyone else to read. There are a multitude of other things that people do that display beauty and creativity. Some people are gifted with speech, others with crafting or cooking, some with caring for others, and so many others with different types of gifts. All these things that we do, the little things, the great things, all of them are wonderful in their own way, and the thing that makes it all the more wonderful is that we don't just do these things, we get involved in them, it isn't just the thing we are doing, we are investing into the things that we are working on. We put forth love and care into our works, we appreciate them in a way that none but God will ever fully comprehend, though they might spend much time trying to.

You know, one of the best things ever created that holds the greatest beauty of all was in how God constructed and shaped a way for us to come to Him. He displays the entirety of His plan in the Gospel, by sending His Son to die for our sins that we may be forgiven and receive eternal life. This means that we will eventually be with God, forgiven by His grace, in perfect fellowship with Him in the new heaven and earth. Could you imagine seeing this beautiful world when it is perfect? No longer tainted or corrupted but as God intended it to be? What a thing to ponder and imagine! Oh, how I love the way that God created us, the complex ways in which we work, and the ability to look forward with wonder and amazement at something that none of us could possibly imagine! So for today, let us remember the Lord and all His good works and spend some time appreciating the beauty in all the things He has created, for nothing is that He did not first envision. Let us also remember that we too, are masterpieces of God's creativity and we are something of beauty to be appreciated.

Labor and Sin

Sometimes I find myself wishing that things just came my way, that life were easy and I did not have to strive for anything that I have. Most of the time this does not happen, I have to work for what I have and put forth some semblance of effort into everything. This reveals a few things. First, that my desire is for the perfect world that God first created. In the beginning we were given all that we needed, we needed to do nothing to have everything, however, this did not last, sin made sure of that. This brings me to the second thing this reveals, it was sin that made labor necessary for us. It wasn't until Genesis3 that the earth demanded labor to bear its fruits. It was when sin entered the world, when man first failed to have perfect obedience to God's commands, that labor as we know it began. The last thing it reveals is my own selfish desires, I do not desire to work and so I do not work as hard as I should. Yes, it is good that I desire God's perfect plan and it is also good that I recognize that the reason we must labor is because of sin, but it is not good that I do not work as hard as I should.

The Lord said that in whatever we do to do it as if we are doing it for Him. In remembering this then we need to think about how hard we work when it is something we desire. If you desire something enough you work very hard for it, you will push forward until the point of exhaustion and if it is important enough you push beyond that. To us, as believers, there is nothing more important than God and His saving grace. If then what we desire is fellowship with God and to please Him and He says to do everything as if He asked you to do it, then we need to desire this above all other things, to strive for it, to put forth the same effort in all things that we put into what we desire. For me, this gives me fresh conviction to strive harder to do better in all things I endevour in. I want to ensure that I am remembering this truth always, that I work for the Lord and not for man.

Asking and Receiving

As it says in the Bible, Matthew7:7-11, we should ask of God that we may receive from His hand. It seems so simple in its statement, and it is. We should ask God for all things. To pray daily to Him and ask that He provides us with our daily bread, our needed shelter, to do His will. Without Him we accomplish nothing and with Him we accomplish much. Though it may seem at times we toil and achieve alone it is in fact not that way. God is always with us, working His will among us. The thing that slows our success is by not turning to Him and recognizing His work in our daily lives. He is already there, helping us, why are we not turning to Him and asking specifically for the help He is already giving? Does not a crew build a house faster when they discuss what each one is doing instead of all of them just doing the part they think is next? Can you put a roof on a house without first constructing the walls? No! So why do we try to do the next thing without first communicating to the one helping us build? That sounds so simple, but for me, I struggle with something else, a fear, and I should fight the fear because it isn't meant to deter me from asking but to help me understand the desires of my heart.

The fear stems from James4:3. This passage says that I do not receive because I have asked wrongly. I fear being wrong. Which is funny, because I have been wrong enough to know it isn't the end of the world to be wrong. What I fight is my pride. I do not wish to ask wrongly, so I avoid asking for fear that my heart desires worldly things. I already know my heart has a tendancy to desire worldly things, so now I'm just making matters worse by never asking. God doesn't always give you what you desire or give in the way you desire it, but He gives you what is good. If I desire to gain a bit more financially and I ask I hardly ever receive that, but what does happen is God gives me what I need when I need it. So what I have learned is when I do receive something extra in our finances it is probably needed for something else that is about to come up. This in turn has been teaching me to care for the things that God has provided me. I don't do this perfectly, but I try my best and with God's help it is usually good enough to not mess up other things. So moving forward, my goal is to ask God for all things, because the worst that can happen is I don't get what I asked for, but receive something better that God has in mind for me.