Psalm 8:3-9

For those days when you feel like a big, important person, remember the cue ball on a pool table.

Our God is big enough to play billiards with the planets. If he did, earth would feel smoother to God than a cue ball feels to us. If Mt. Everest wouldn't even show up as bumps on God's galactic cue ball, how big of an impression can we human beings make? We're 29,000 feet smaller than that massive mountain! When God holds the universe in his hand, why would he pay any attention to insignificant specks of humanity such as you and me?

Yet, from the beginning God did care for us, making us rulers over this universe. We’ve proven ourselves unworthy of this authority. We kill each other and pollute our world. We fight and hurt each other. We rarely say thanks to God who gave us so much. Creation rebels right back at us with hurricanes and viruses and everything in between.

We still have hope. Hebrews 2 tells us Jesus is the ultimate “son of man” of Psalm 8:4. God’s Son became a son of man. After laying down his life to pay for the wrongs we did, he went back to heaven to rule this universe in our place. All of nature is now under his control (under his feet).

Jesus rules by guiding and controlling all things for our good – even when we can’t see what good can come from cancer cells. I may not be able to see how he can make it good, but I know he will. I know because he loved me enough to die for me. Love like his guarantees he will take care of me even in the worst of times.

Not because I stand out on this planet sized cue ball. He’ll take care of me because he has chosen to love me – forever.

Psalm 8:1-2

Are you smarter than a first grader?

We look at the wonders of the cosmos.  It is estimated that there are more stars in the universe (10²²)¹  than grains of sand in our world (7.5 X 10¹⁸)² . 

We look at the wonder of our bodies – 50 trillion cells able to fight infection, create music, run for miles and miles, or cradle a child in arms. 

These wonders impress us as adults. We praise God for them, thinking, “Wow!  Isn’t God awesome?”

First graders know God’s creation is awesome, but they also know there is a divine glory deeper and grander than any telescope or microscope can show us.  First graders sing about this glory all the time:

“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
 
With all our knowledge and important things to do, have we adults forgotten God’s greatest glory?  His most awesome work is loving us imperfect people.   He loved us, people who have cursed him in pain, questioned his wisdom, forged ahead with our own life without consulting him, or completely ignored him.  A first grader who believes in Jesus, knows Jesus’ greatest glory.  Jesus is worthy of praise because he has loved us.  He loved us to death, by dying to pay for our sins.

Learn God’s praise from children and infants.  When you feel as if you have more problems than the world has sand, sing their song to remember God’s greatest glory and our strongest comfort:

“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

  ¹http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Herschel/How_many_stars_are_there_in_the_Universe - accessed 5-14-13 - just one example of a source

  ²http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/09/17/161096233/which-is-greater-the-number-of-sand-grains-on-earth-or-stars-in-the-sky - accessed 5-14-13 - just one example of a source

Acts 16:9

How long will eternity last?

Seriously, stop and think about that question.

When you think about it, it's mind-boggling. The hymn "Amazing Grace" reads, "When we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, then when we'd first begun." And that's true! Eternity will go on and on and on and on and ..., well, you get the picture.

Of course, for us who are believers in Jesus, that's an awesome thing! We'll be enjoying God's love and praising him, and it will be incredibly meaningful and joyful!

But for those who go to hell? It will be horrible, horrible, horrible! Separated forever from God and his love, suffering without end!

So can we understand the plea from the Macedonian man? What did the people in that area need? More than anything else they needed to know about Jesus and his forgiving love! More than anything else they needed to know that God loved them! More than anything else they needed to know that heaven was open for them because Jesus had died and risen!

And wonderfully God has brought that knowledge to you! God has "helped" you in bringing you to know that Jesus is your Savior! God has "helped" you in knowing that you're on your way to heaven! Could anything be more important, more valuable than that?!

And now you get the honor of "helping" others, by leading them to Jesus. Whom can you "help" today?

Revelation 22:14

The Washing

In his Civil War book, Glory Road, author Bruce Catton shows us how dirty a human being can get. He recounts an episode in which a soldier leaves a prisoner-of-war camp to rejoin his old unit. His time as a POW had left him filthy beyond description. He asks his comrades to help him get clean. They take him into a river, strip off his clothes and begin to wash and scrub. Only after this continues for a time do the man and his friends realize that he is still wearing an undershirt. The man’s body had become so encrusted that it had been impossible at first to tell the difference between a soiled piece of clothing and his own skin.

The soiling nature of sin does the same thing. From the dark thoughts we allow to fester in our minds to all the deeds of love conveniently left undone, sin does more than leave a dirty streak here and there on our souls. It makes us spiritually filthy beyond description. Left to ourselves, our hearts are so encrusted by sin that it’s impossible for us to see how lost we really are, how deep the pit really is.

That’s where Jesus comes in. We didn’t see how lost we were. But he did. We didn’t see how far we had fallen. But he did. He took us to the river of his grace. He washed us in the waters of baptism. He cleansed us in the blood he shed on Calvary’s cross. Now we stand before him in robes of white. Now, through faith in him, his forgiveness is our personal possession.

There are moments when the same old stench from the same old sinful habits can fill our nostrils with despair. When such a moment comes for you, remember who you are. Remember what Jesus has done. He has gone to the cross to wash you clean. He has risen from death to assure you that not one of your sins remains. Through his eyes your life is fresh and clean and new. Your days as a filthy prisoner are long gone.

John 17:24

What Jesus Wants

Paul was looking for a church. Every Sunday he would try a different one. Some were intriguing.  Others turned him off.  As time went on his search became more frustrating. Often the message was the same and it could be reduced to one sentence: “This is what Jesus wants you to do for him.” While Paul never claimed to have any real knowledge of the Bible, he realized something was lacking. It wasn’t until a friend invited him to come to church with him that he soon found what he was missing.

During that worship service Paul noticed the difference between what he had been hearing, and now what he was hearing for the first time. Instead of being told this is what Jesus wanted him to do, he heard this is what Jesus wanted for him.

It is easy to be confused by the many messages which tell me I have to do something for Jesus. They may sound attractive, even admirable, but there is only one problem. I can never do enough to merit Jesus’ favor or secure the hope of heaven. It is impossible because my sin always causes me to fall short of the perfection the Lord requires.

The only way I can find hope and peace is by knowing what Jesus wants for me. Simply put Jesus wants me to be his now, and he wants me to his forever in the glory of heaven. He, then, reveals how I can have this hope and peace.

Through Jesus’ perfect life as my substitute, he completed what I never could have begun to do. Through his perfect death as my Savior, he secured what I never could have attained on my own. Through his triumph over death as my living Lord, he proclaimed what I never expected to hear. His work tells me I am forgiven. His work tells me I am free from death and the devil. His work tells me I am an heir of heaven.

It is easy to become confused about Jesus and his ministry. This is why I need to carefully listen to my Savior and trust his precious work. Here I can know in a clear and simple way, this is what Jesus wants for me.

Psalm 65:9-10

Oh, Give Thanks to the Lord

We are not always great at giving thanks, whether it is giving thanks to God or thanking other people. From the time our children are very little we have to train them to say, “Thank you.” And, it’s not something we need to tell them only once. Over and over and over again we remind them, “Say, ‘Thank you.’”

As often as we fail to thank other people, it pales in comparison to how we fail to thank God for his goodness. Often, it is because we simply don’t think about everything God does for us and gives to us.

In Psalm 65 King David reminds us that it is the LORD who provides for our bodily needs. He provides rain for the crops and pasture for the livestock. We easily forget that our food comes from God because most of us have such easy access to our food. We walk into the grocery store and…there it is! There are fruits and vegetables and meat and milk and cereal. The closest most of us come to starving is having to stand behind two or three people in the checkout line!

Many Christians say a prayer before eating a meal. Perhaps something like, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.” It is all too easy to say such a prayer without any more thought than when we say, “Please pass the potatoes.” The next time you enjoy a meal, remember Psalm 65. Remember that you are enjoying that meal because the Lord IS good. So, give him thanks!