Let's Start Here

For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited. I am the LORD, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:18 (New King James Version)

Genesis 1:1 is the introduction of God and what He did. Chapters 44and 45 of Isaiah reiterate that truth of God’s existence as well as His creation. I would invite anyone to read those two chapters and underline each time God speaks of creating the world as well as being God alone. It is not only a rich theological find but a pivotal starting point for each of us.

Sad to say, some can read portions of Scripture and walk away unmoved and unchanged. They are much like Pharoah when Moses spoke to him about letting the children of Israel go free from Egyptian rule. His response? “Who is God?” It wasn’t a question of a searching heart but rather a proud statement of self-importance and self-worship. Some have little respect for the Word of God and have no trouble snubbing their noses and hearts at it. For them, we must continue to direct them back to Scripture and pray that one day God will open their heart to the truth.

I rejoice, though, that not everyone will have that response. Some, me included, will find great comfort and encouragement in the proclamation of God and His creation. When that happens, we come to realize that since He created everything and He is God alone, then He becomes our starting point for life. Here is what I take away from Scripture this morning.

God fashioned this world and established the way this world should operate. His Word is my guidebook for how to live in this world in relationship with God and others. He has a purpose for His creation and I am part of that purpose. Just as He did not create this world in vain, as a waste, or without intentional purpose, neither did He create me in vain, as a waste, or without intentional purpose. The world was created to be inhabited by us and we were created to be inhabited by God.

I have played board games with individuals who have made up their own rules to play by and the game no longer resembled its original design. That is okay to do with a game you purchase, but I do not want to live my life according to my own rules, boundaries, and plans. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than my own and I want live my life to the fullest. That is only possible as I align myself with His original design. That in turn, is only possible as I look into His Word and take note of how He says things are to operate. There is not an area or issue in my life that is not addressed in some way in the Bible. It is my intent to discover what it says and by God’s grace allow the truths to transform me.

Father, I am ready to approach Your Word in a life changing way. I have lived long enough my by own means, methods, and coping skills. Teach me. Guide me. Change me. Amen.

You Are God Alone - Phillips, Craig, & Dean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xPzTSpbYmk&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Created and Recreated

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26 (New American Standard Bible)

One of the aspects of being created in God’s image is that we are triune in nature. That means we are made up of three parts…body (physical), soul (emotional), and spirit (spiritual). Along with those components we were created for a purpose. We struggle to fully live out that purpose when one or all of our being is not whole and healthy.

A little over a year ago, I was in trouble in all three areas of my life. Physically I was obese with a life style of making unhealthy food choices. Emotionally I was dependent upon a significant person and bottomed out when all ties were severed. Spiritually I was more in tune to listening to what others said about God than what God was saying to me. Although I could write devotionals with ease, internally I was on shaky ground. Over the course of this past year, God has graciously worked on all three areas.

My physical transformation began when I joined Weight Watchers five months ago. I learned not only what to eat but how to properly view food. One benefit that came from that was a loss of 50 pounds. I feel better than I have felt in decades.

My emotional transformation began when my pastor’s wife saw my struggles and offered to be in an accountability partnership with me. Her listening ear, discerning spirit, wise words, and desire to see me emotionally free have been God’s primary means of healing for me. As we presently do a study through a book on emotional wholeness the fog is beginning to clear and the emotional strength is coming.

My spiritual transformation has been in learning to hear God’s voice more clearly through His Word, prayer, music, and the every day happenings of life. The mutual communication, contact, and connection that we share is both profound and powerful.

Although there is still much to be done in me, I am NOT the same person I was last year at this time. I can see the differences and I am living life more fully out of those differences. To God be the glory!

Father, I doubted I would ever see days like this. What You have done in the last year leaves me in wonder and amazement of You. I look forward to Your continued touch in the coming new year. Amen.

With All I Am - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrAafe7Mns&feature=related

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16

Imitations of Himself

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27 (New American Standard Bible)

I have seen pictures of the Rocky Mountains and I have been to the Rocky Mountains. While pictures can be breath taking, they do not begin to compare to the beauty and majesty of the actual place. They are simply an image or likeness of it. They give us an idea of the genuine but they are not the same thing. The Rocky Mountains are so much more! Any who would settle for a picture over the real place is settling for less.

God created man in His image as someone who would display His character, personality, and likeness. Think of the special qualities you see in others be it patience, love, joy, warmth, charm, or strength, and you are seeing a limited aspect of God Himself. They are merely the image of the One who created them. Too often, we settle for the image over the authentic One. In our flesh we would be content to look to the images, but our spirit knows the difference. Our spirit yearns for the God who created the very person with whom we have become enamored.

This morning I am thinking of numerous people God has brought into my life and I am appreciating the way they reflect God. That which attracts me to them is Christ in them. The qualities of His heart are showing through and are meant to give me a glimpse and taste of what He is like. Just as a picture of an exotic place would awaken a desire in me to go to that place, the picture of Christ in another individual should awaken in me a desire to go to Christ Himself.

God longs for each of us to move out of the “art gallery” that displays His image and turn our attention toward Him. To stop settling for the imitations. To stop making them our focal point, security, plum line, and compass. He is their Source and wants to be ours as well. He longs for us to be obsessed with Him and captivated by Him. What we see in others will help us to know about God but only He can help us to know Him. One is intellectual while the other is life changing.

While I thank God for those who have imitated Him so well, I am no longer satisfied with a limited view. My desire is to see Him for myself, hear Him for myself, talk to Him myself, and connect with Him myself. No amount of rubbing shoulders with others will bring that about. It must be a one on one meeting with the One who created me in His own image. This morning, I choose to slip my name into Genesis 1:27 and live with a fresh realization of that truth.

Father, may I no longer settle for the images of You. I hear Your call to know You and I follow the sound of Your voice. Amen.

Called and Chosen Early

God, who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace. Galatians 1:15 NASB

A lot is said today about womb experiences. Much affects the small infant nestled in that place of safety. Not only what the mother takes into her body, but also her emotions, feelings, and thoughts. Her stresses and joys are felt by her yet-to-be born child as much as they will be when she holds him in her arms. Finding out some of the circumstances that surrounded my own conception and womb experience did much to explain certain feelings I had about myself. This morning, God is allowing me to realize His own involvement in my womb experience.

It is from Isaiah that I learn He formed me in my mother’s womb and called me by name! (Isaiah 49:1) How precious to think that God called me ’Pam’ before anyone else did! Even before my parents knew of my existence, God was shaping me, speaking to me, and watching me. In a sense, it was just the two of us!

It is from Paul that I learn God set me apart and called me while I was in my mother’s womb. (Galatians 1:15) Just like he had a call on the lives of Moses, David, Jonah, Esther, Daniel, and Paul, He has a call on my life. He spoke those words over me before I was even born! I have yet to fully understand all He has purposed for my life, but He is teaching me to open my eyes, ears, mind, and heart to what He has already said.

It is also from Paul that the picture of God’s early involvement with me is broadened. For in Ephesians 1:4 I read that He chose me before the foundation of the world. That means not only was I called before I was born, I was chosen before creation! My mind struggles to fully grasp that thought!

As I take in these truths this morning I am filled with a sense of God’s choice and design for my life. And now at the age of 48, I am basking in the fact that He is still just as involved with me. He is still molding me, speaking to me, calling me, choosing me, and watching me. He is still attentive to my every need. What a Shepherd! What a Father! What a Guide! What a Friend!

Father, the realization of You creating, calling, and choosing me has filled me with joy and awe this morning! How can I ever again feel like a nobody? You have once again nurtured my soul! Amen.

Being in God's Workshop

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:13,14 (NASB)

Charles Spurgeon referred to our mother’s womb as “God’s secret workshop”. I like that! It reminds me of God’s meticulous, detailed involvement in creating me. He did not miss a detail as He knit together my body, personality, strengths, uniqueness, and tastes. He not only planned for my eye and hair color, but also for my destiny and purpose in life. I marvel at His creation as well as His knowledge of me. There is not one part of me that is foreign to Him.

So it is with renewed joy that I take in the truth that God is still just as involved in my life now as when I was in my mother’s womb. Isaiah gives me the picture of God as the potter and me as the clay. He is daily molding and shaping me…helping me to become all that He meant and dreamed for me to be. He is still paying attention to the smallest details. Nothing escapes His eye of attentiveness. I am in His hands, His heart, and His mind. Psalm 139:17 tells me that God’s thoughts toward me are innumerable. Talk about ideal personal attention!

Each one of us are still in a ‘womb’ of sorts. We are still in God’s workshop. Still being crafted, molded, shaped, and fashioned by the Master designer! Still a work in progress! We are not being worked over but rather worked on. Each of us are a special project of which God takes great delight and care.

Each day He selects the right tools to use. Those tools vary. Trials, experiences, relationships, failures, successes, hurts, disappointments, joys, losses, gains, and a variety of other things are used in the workshop 'womb' of this world. I step into each day with the choice to cooperate with God and trust Him completely or to fight and hinder His work. He knows best! I crawl into the truth that not only WAS I fearfully and wonderfully made but I am STILL being fearfully and wonderfully made. I wonder what He has in mind for today!

Father, today I will take in the sites, sounds, and smells of Your workshop. I know what you choose to do in, through, and for me today will be done out of love and with great purpose. I am Yours and I yield to You. Amen.

Designed With A Purpose

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited). I am the LORD, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:18

Rick Warren wrote the book called THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE. I know many people have bought it, read it, and benefited from it. While I haven't finished reading it yet I understand the message within it....to know God's purpose for our life. If a book were written on today's verse it could be entitled THE PURPOSE DESIGNED EARTH.

It would start out with the creation aspect. God fashioned the earth, molded it, and arranged it in just the right way. He created and equipped our planet to sustain life. To this day it is the only planet that possesses all the means for life to continue. For centuries people have breathed the air, drank the water, and eaten the food, yet the supply has not been diminished. What beauty continues as we see mountains, oceans, sunsets, and meadows! Wildlife in all its magnificence captivates us. So much abounds that God Himself spoke into existence.

But what would this planet be without people to enjoy it? A waste place. Desolate, empty, worthless. Over run by plants and animals ~ a glorified zoo or greenhouse. No one to notice and respond with praise to the Creator. What would be the purpose? No, He did not create it as a waste place. He made it to be inhabited!

His purpose for the Earth was to be lived on. It was created for us! Our home, our dwelling place. Not just to exist here but to work, play, relax, enjoy, and thrive here. So much beauty, so much space, so much richness. Take all of the technology and nothing compares to the roar of the ocean, the majesty of mountains, the intensity of waterfalls, the wonder of star lit skies, the fragrance of flowers, the adventures of forests, or the miracle of birth. I will never get over the beauty of changing seasons.

All of this and more makes me appreciate God's gift of life to each of us. And just as He created this world to be inhabited by us, He created us to be inhabited by Himself through Jesus. May He daily transform me into His kind of dwelling place.

Father, the wonder of Your creation overwhelms me at times. Thank you for deciding that I would be a part of it. Amen.