God is all that we need. However, I think for our sakes, He often simplifies Himself. Sometimes, or lately, I’ve been reading my Bible and finding how God is a pair of things. Again, He’s much more, but in some scriptures, I’m seeing a specific focus.
The verse above says long ago God created the earth and made the heavens with His hands. If you read Genesis, you’ll learn that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God created because He is a Creator.
What hit me is that God didn’t just create and leave. God sustains His creation. The heavens and earth are still here by God’s sustaining power. We don’t do anything to help Him sustain it. We have the opportunity to steward our land and resources well, but make no mistake, we don’t sustain the world in our power, and we certainly didn’t help to create it.
Look around you today. How do you see God as both Creator and Sustainer? You won’t have to look very far.
Psalms 139:13-14 NIV [13] For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. You are unique!
This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalms 118:24 NLT
This is the day that the Lord has made! Today is the day that God has crafted and blessed! Today, right now, this moment. I will rejoice and be glad in it!
Today is the day to see God at work. Today is the day with new opportunities. Today is the day with new mercies. Today is the day to make an influence. Today is the day to make a chance. Today is the day!
There’s a quote that says, “What can anyone give me that is more important than right now?” Nothing! This present moment is what we have. Why not take advantage of it?
Today, you’re alive. Today you have decisions to make. Today is God’s gift to you! Rejoice! Be glad that He has a purpose for you to live out today.
I have two favorite moments in the last seven years. Well, I have more, but these immediately came to mind.
First moment:
We took a big family vacation to Mexico. It was my husband’s first time out of the country and several of my cousins’ first times as well. We had a big group of people too, like 12 people deep.
Most people think, well, of course, it would be at the top. It’s a trip out of the country, and yes, we stayed at an all-inclusive resort. All that made the trip great, but it was the fact that everyone who went had a great time. Do you know how difficult it is to be on the same page with one person, let alone 12 people?
In the moment, it was a great trip. It wasn’t anything I had to look back on and realize later that I had a great time. It was on the trip that I knew it would be memorable. In the present moment, I knew a special trip was happening, and that was the first time I’d experienced that.
Second moment:
This one happened recently. Brandon and I took my mom to The Melting Pot. It wasn’t a special occasion. I’d finished coaching a basketball game, and we had a window of time one Friday night to do it.
While this was expensive, it was still a simple night out for dinner with my family. In the moment, I knew it was one that was special. I don’t think we were on our phones. We we didn’t have plans for the next morning or anywhere else to be, but where we were. Everyone was simply put, just present. We had a great meal and even greater company in one another.
The lessons I’ve learned are pretty simple:
1. Wherever I am, be there. Be present.
2. Choose to see moments, especially simple ones, as monumental because there will be a time when we will only have memories to sustain us.
3. Make as many moments happen as you can.
There is beauty in simplicity. We just have to be willing to see it.
Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.
Psalms 90:12 NLT
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude – Psalms 32:5 NLT
Confession goes a long way. It’s simple but difficult for us. That’s why pride is such a problem because pride keeps us from confession.
Confession admits that we messed up. It admits that we need accountability. It admits that we need help. Confession is a good thing.
Pride causes us to be too ashamed to admit our sins. It causes shame and embarrassment. All those things were present in the Garden of Eden, and they’re still doing the same thing to us today. They’re still making us hide from the One we need to confess to in order to have our sins forgiven.
When we confess and repent, it’s like a weight being lifted off our shoulders. God forgives us. What has to happen is the breaking of our pride though. Keep a tight grip, holding on to it, and you’ll be holding on to guilt and shame that keeps you from freedom.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Colossians 3:15
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”
Psalm 118:24
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Gratitude. It’s important to approach life with an attitude of gratitude. For those who call themselves Christians, there is always an audience watching your behavior to see how you will respond. It’s so important for the example of Christians to be one of joy because if Christians aren’t joyful, if Christians aren’t appreciative and grateful, can we really motivate others to be?
Self-assess today: Where have your words or actions misled the meaning of Christianity? How can you correct it? God will give grace, and He will give you the strength to do it. The first step is wanting to make corrections. Do you want to?
What are palette problems? Well, it’s not what you’re thinking. The Bible says taste and see that the Lord is good. My question is, what if people don’t want to taste because Christians have made the Christian lifestyle seem so bitter?
Have you ever really craved something? Maybe it was a particular restaurant. Maybe you craved a specific food. Whatever it was, you really wanted it. What happened when somebody tried it first and had a look of disgust? What about if they tried it first and talked about how bad it was? Or maybe they didn’t say anything about it, and it made you wonder if it was worth it. Did you still have the same craving? Probably not.
As Christians, we’ve got not just a good thing, but the best thing. We’ve got Jesus. Yet, so many of us walk around bitter, as if we’ve not tasted and seen that the Lord is good. What’s just as bad as that is the fact that we’ve left a bitter taste in the mouths of others due to our own failed palette.
Maybe people aren’t tasting and seeing because believers keep acting like it’s bitter? Maybe the bitter look on our faces has turned others off. Perhaps our poor speech has proven rotten to others. Maybe we’ve not really tasted or truly craved God.
If believers don’t crave the fruit of God, well, why would nonbelievers?
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Psalms 34:8 NLT
Now or Never 