God of Wonders

Today is Thursday, the seventh of April, 2022, in the fifth week of Lent.

Peace be with you!

Day 23,401

I’ve got a thing or two that I want to get done before I go to work today, this being my first Thursday to work at the library. I’m due in at 11:15 and will work until closing time. The entire shift will be in the Computer Center, as this is replacing my previous Friday shift. I don’t work this Saturday, so my next shift will be next Tuesday evening.

I really don’t have much else to mention, this morning. I actually just got one of the things done, which was starting the soup we will have for dinner tonight. In case anyone is interested, we call it “Chicken Ranch Crockpot Soup.” All it has in it is three chicken breasts, three cans of cream of chicken soup (we usually use the 98% fat-free variety), a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix, and a can of water. It cooks in the crockpot on low all day, and we shred the chicken right before serving. Delicious and easy!

Oh, and one more thing. I haven’t mentioned it, lately, but today is Opening Day for baseball season. The Red Sox and Yankees were supposed to play today, but have been postponed until tomorrow. The Texas Rangers open their season in Toronto tomorrow. I reckon we will be watching.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS

"Love one another;
This is how they know you're Mine;
Love one another."
(Inspired by John 13:34-35)

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
(1 John 4:7-11 NIV)

Today I am grateful:

1. for love; for the love God has for us and the love that I have for Him and the love He has placed in my heart for you
2. for the wonder of God's creation
3. for baseball, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox
4. that my treasures (and my heart) are not on this earth
5. that, when I walk in the kingdom of God, this world is a perfectly safe place for me to be (Dallas Willard)

Today’s prayer word is “wonder.” Now, there’s a word I can be fully behind. In this case, I see the word as a noun, meaning, “a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.” I really like the last half of that. “Something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.” That is a great way to describe the wonders of God and His creation.

You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
(Psalms 77:14 NLT)

Like the writer of today’s reading, I haven’t seen any seas parting or rivers drying up or water coming from a rock or turning into wine. But I have seen things like this:

That was beautiful and unexpected and inexplicable.

I choose to celebrate God’s wonders, and I also wonder at His beauty, love, and faithfulness. So, you see, “wonder” can be either a verb or a noun, and both ways work equally well.

And I believe this song has always said it pretty perfectly.

(From Pray a Word a Day)

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
(Matthew 6:19-20 ESV)

Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
(Proverbs 23:4-5 ESV)

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
(Luke 12:32-34 ESV)

In other verses in that Matthew 6 passage, Jesus points at some of the “wonders” of creation in His efforts to get people to take their eyes off of themselves and their problems. And, truthfully, once I have witnessed the grandeur and majesty of God’s creation, in “wonder,” how can I even consider laying up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal?

Father, I revel in Your many wonders. I am reminded of the hymn, “How Great Thou Art,” especially that bit about seeing the stars and hearing the rolling thunder, “Thy power throughout the universe displayed.” I thank You for the wonders that You have created and for the wonder that You placed in my heart when I gaze upon these things. I am still grateful for the opportunity that we had to visit those mountains in the photos above. You have blessed us with so many opportunities to see Your beauty, just in our country alone (and a few in Mexico, as well). How someone can gaze upon these wonders and refuse to open their hearts to Your love and grace is beyond my comprehension.

I thank You that You have led me to not place my trust in the “treasures” of this world. The older I get, the more generous I get with the resources that You have provided. This is partially because I know the truth of the old phrase, “you can’t take it with you.” But I don’t really want to take it with me, either, because I believe that my inheritance in heaven will be so much greater, beyond my wildest expectations and dreams. In fact, it too, I believe, will be wondrous. I look forward to Home, Father, wherever that will be and whatever it will look like.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Grace and peace, friends.

How Great Thou Art

Today is Wednesday, the sixteenth of February, 2022, in the sixth week of Ordinary Time.

May the peace of Christ reign in all of us, today.

Day 23,351

I was, admittedly, a little “off,” for most of the day, yesterday. I even realized, much too late, that I failed to “sign off,” properly, in my blog post. I felt better by the end of the day, but I’m still not totally right. It’s mostly mental/emotional. Physically, I feel pretty good. There’s always some random pain or something, and I sneeze and sniffle a few times a day on a regular basis.

I think I’m getting tired, as many people are. I’m tired of politics. I’m tired of a pandemic. I’m tired of people. I mean, I love some people. My family, of course, and my library family, for sure.

Oh, well. Time is getting short, as today is one of my full shift days at the library, and I need to be there before 9:15. So here we go.

I might also add that I have struggled with a routine, so far, this year. The material I’m using is more diverse, format-wise, this year, and half-way into February, I still don’t feel like I have a steady routine for my devotional. That could be good or bad, but hopefully, that will settle in, soon.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS

The LORD is my strength and my shield; 
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; 
my heart exults, 
and with my song I give thanks to him. 
(Psalms 28:7 ESV)

Today I am grateful:

1. that even on days like yesterday, God is faithful to hold me
2. the frame of reference of God's love, through which I need to observe my world
3. the call to unity among the brothers and sisters
4. the call to pray; for others, and, lest I forget, for myself
5. the call to praise, to sing that "new song" of praise to the Lord

There are six things that the LORD hates, 
seven that are an abomination to him: 
haughty eyes, 
a lying tongue, 
and hands that shed innocent blood, 
a heart that devises wicked plans, 
feet that make haste to run to evil, 
a false witness who breathes out lies, 
and one who sows discord among brothers. 
(Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV)

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
(James 5:13 ESV)

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
(1 Chronicles 16:9 ESV)

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
(Hebrews 11:3 ESV)

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
(Hebrews 11:3 KJV)

The prayer word for today is “frame.” In this case, we are speaking of that device through which we observe a picture. We might not be speaking literally, though, correct? I mean, a physical frame can make or break a great painting or photograph. But a virtual frame can have a great effect on how you look at life around you.

My “frame of reference” is extremely important, perhaps more important than many people realize. In recent years, God has been directing my gaze through a frame of love. This has been challenging, some days more than others. Obviously, yesterday was one of the more challenging.

Mind you, in case anyone wonders, there is nothing specific that I can think of that sparked yesterday’s downward trend.

Today, I can see that I seem to have lost my frame for a bit. But, this morning, I am getting it back. If I look through the “frame” of God’s Word, by which everything was created, then all is well. My actions will line up with what I believe. “All is well” does not mean that everything is happening as it should be. “All is well” means that my state of mind will be good, regardless of what I see around me.

This is of utmost importance. If I allow myself to look at the world through a frame of selfish desires and wants, the picture becomes distorted. I become self-serving instead of other-serving. And what am I called to do? Serve others. That is something that all of us who claim to be followers of Christ are called to be and to do. Servants. We are to become last. We are supposed to surrender our “rights.”

But when I look through the wrong frame, those rights become more important than you. Today, God is reframing my view. And for that, I am most grateful.

Father, we seem to have forgotten about that list of things in Proverbs 6 that You really, really don’t like. In fact, the writer of Proverbs says that You hate them. And the seventh thing in that list is “one who sows discord among brothers.” The Message renders that, “a troublemaker in the family.” Sometimes, it’s hard to tell which ones are the troublemakers, though. It’s hard to know if someone is just making trouble and stirring things up, or if they are legitimately calling out flaws in the Body. Father, please give us wisdom, and fix our hearts, that we might be unified under the Gospel of Christ. Give us that “frame” of reference, so that we can get all of those selfish things out of the picture.

Let the frame through which I view this world be that of Your great and steadfast love and mercy. You are the Judge, not me.

Thank You for songs of praise, old and new. Help me to regain that sense of praise as I walk through the day. Give me new songs to sing to Your Name and to Your glory.

Oh, 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; How great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
"How great Thou art; How great Thou art!"

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Grace and peace, friends.