Our Great Ability To Create Great Things Because Of God

I took a ride today to get away from all the hustle and bustle in town.  There are times when I just need to be away from everyone.  So I drove and told myself just go and enjoy the beautiful weather God had blessed us with today.  The path I took today is somewhat pretty, I guess.  The view I took in were the low big white clouds that hung over top of us here in Arkansas.  They were just great, and made me feel small in this world.  I was in awe of our world, sometimes we think we are the biggest thing in this world. That we are the most important being here.  Funny thing is, to God we are.  I often wonder what God had planned for this world and His creatures.  Is what we have done exactly what he wanted.  I'm not talking about the way we've acted or sinned.  I'm talking about what men and women have done here on Earth.  Look at this picture of New York City.  It amazes me when I look at these buildings. Were these buildings what God intended to be here?  Is this what God planned for us to build? I often wonder what was His plan was after he created the entire planet. What did He want us to make the rest of His world to look like.  Did He intend for there to be huge skyscrapers and large stadiums to be here?

We've taken this Earth and have decorated it with great vision, and I really think we have done a great job. God laid the foundation and we created through Him the background. Humans learned through an evolution of learning to build and use our imaginations to make great things. Through great minds the world became a lot easier with new gadgets and many other inventions.  We went from discovering fire to being able to have a cell phone with computer capabilties in the palm of our hand.  All because God gave us free will to create through a tiny brain contained in skulls.  It's amazing how the past is tied to our present age. We learned from our mistakes and continue to learn from them to make great things to help us in so many ways. Our God is a God of "Free Will."  Allowing us  as humans to create and think for ourselves to become great in His sight.

Free will to do many things because He gave us the abilty to do it.  When you look at what we have and have accomplished through His free will to create things. Why can't we accept Him? He gives us the free will to accept Him and His Son Jesus.  You either believe or you don't! The Bible states that He has revealed Himself through His creation, so if you can't look around and see that something great was behind all that we see then you have no excuse.

There are times I have doubts, we all do. It's Satans way of blinding us from God, but my small brain just looks around and I try to wrap my mind around the world.  I find that creation is just to vast for me to figure it out to be a big bang theory.  The world is just too complex and put together to well for there not to be a creator.  Then I think about the things we have created on this planet to be to awesome for us to create without God not being behind it all.    I stand in awe of our creator and how he has made everything for us. To Him I will always believe in because it makes things seem easier to figure out. Thank you Lord for everything we have is yours and a gift to us.
  

Grace Reclaims!

"Grace reclaims what the world disowns."

I just heard this phrase from a song by a group called "Starfield." I thought this was a great and profound statement. I often think of how powerful the word "Grace" is.  The word itself sums up the entire mission of Christ's ministry here on Earth. None of us deserves any part of the definition of grace.  Especially, me!

I find myself to be a very impatient and easily annoyed person recently.  I just have no patience for anybody. I don't know why, I think it's a need for a vacation or it could be that the spring shoppers in the garden center this year where I work are shopping in record numbers. I think it's all that combined.  I need God's grace so much that I can't even express how much I want it.

This sentence in the beginning of this post says something to me that words would not be enough to describe it.   Our world has neglected so many, that a lot of times we don't even realize those who have been overlooked.  A number of people over the years have been pushed aside for so many reasons, never given the chance to be who they really are.  Our world chooses those who are pretty, thin, smart and strong.  We have been told that those who are among these numbers are the one's who can get it done.

We walk upon this Earth with our heads held high trying to be noticed.  But who are we trying to be noticed by?  We all try to be something we aren't. We try to keep up with the strong, thin and smart but we often fail.  Those who are the weakest of the vine are usually left to fall off while the other part of the vine becomes strong and prospers.  We say to those who are weak and ugly that they don't matter, only those who are at the top of the food chain matter.  Basically, it's called  the "survival of the fittest" and it's something I don't believe in.  I often have trouble with this also.   I also at times cheer for the strongest and forget about those who can't fend for themselves. Then I read in the Bible about Jesus saying about the meek and the humble and weak are who heaven is reserved for. After reading those passages I am back on track.

This past week we all witnessed the NCAA finals that was somewhat a David vs. Goliath match between Duke (Goliath) and Butler (David).  I watched Duke start playing rough toward the end of the game and closing in on victory.  I was sort of mad about them winning, I wanted to see the underdog win it, and they almost did.  My thoughts after the game were, "Duke may have a trophy, but Butler won the heart."

I believe that  is what God thinks.  The mighty may have won all the treasures here on Earth but the left out, the weak and the humble won the heart of God.  I believe that is all that matters.  Win less here and earn more up there in heaven.  Grace always wins for all of us.  That why it's grace, a gift from God to reclaims his own back to Him.  Cheer for the underdog, those that have been disowned by us.  Give your heart to somebody or give it to everybody.  If you know anybody has been diowned by this world, do something for them. Reclaim them! God Bless!

Pray Because You Want to, Not Because You Feel You Have Too!

Where would my life be without prayer? It would not be as it is right now. Life is not how exactly how I want it, but it is what I am given for right now.  We all look at our life and say it's not quite what we expected it to be.  Why can't it be better? So we pray and pray and still continue to see no results.  We want to see the results right now, not later.  I've come to realize through the years that is not how God works.  He answers in His own time.  So why pray? 

I always used to see prayer as a place for my requests.  A moment to give God my wants and needs and maybe a little time for others needs.  I see it now as a place to talk to someone who wants to hear it all.  The good the bad and the ugly.  I see prayer as a place between me and a Being much bigger than me. A Being that has the ability to do it all, but a little at a time.  I see my prayers to God as a Father/Son relationship.  I have seen this through raising my own children, they make their requests and I  make a decision on those requests.  Sometimes I have to say no and other times I give all I can to their little pleas.  Most of my decisions are benificial for their character and by making them it shows my love for them.  As a parent though I don't have all the resources to fulfill their needs and wants.  Where our Father in heaven has all the resources to do all things, yet he sees and knows when to give those gifts to us. 

So, prayer for me has become a place to talk to my Maker one on one.  I have seen the reason of prayer as a continuous need in my life and it has given me the encouragement I need.  Prayer can be many things for all of us.  Some pray in dire need.  Many have only prayed on these occasions, their life has drastically changed and sickness may be ready to take them soon, so they resort to prayer. Others pray quick prayers, they make requests and hope for the results they want.  They take no time to give God the thanks he deserves, they just want their needs met and that is it.  Then there are those that pray out of religious practice.  One example is the Muslim religion, they all stop at a certain time of the day and face the same direction and pray out of religious practice, these prayers have no heart in them. They just do it because they fear that if they don't they are going to be harmed in some way.  I used to feel that way sometimes that if I don't pray I felt fearful and had let my God down. Not true!

Prayer is a conversation with you and God. A conversation  to be done in private for nobody to see you doing it.  I don't know exactly why God chose it that way, you would think He would want it done in public to promote his name. He doesn't want it that way, He wants us to be humble and to not be distracted, he wants our complete attention.  God wants us to draw near to Him. He wants us to be complete in Him and wants to hear more than our requests.  He wants to have a conversation to release our true self to Him.  God may not speak clearly to us but He speaks to our hearts.  Prayer always makes me feel relieved, I feel like I have talked to the most important being in the universe and the heavens. And I always do.  I feel listened to, nobody can interupt me when I speak in prayer.  When we talk to others here in life, we're always interupted by someone or something. It makes me feel empty a lot of times.  I want to be heard but life and it's obstacles keep us from being heard.  I always want to let people know who I am and about my life and it's experiences, but there is always an interuption and no one ever gets the whole conversation.  So I go to the one who really wants to hear about me and how I want to be heard and not interupted.  God gives us His whole attention and never allows anything to interupt our conversation. What a great thing it is to pray and talk to the God of all that is. Change your prayers from a list of demands to a conversation with a loving Father. Do it that way and you will do it not because you feel you have too, but because you want to.  He's waiting and all lines are open.