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God Creates and We Nurture! Creation is the biggest miracle ever. Ask any mother how she felt while carrying a child within her, and her first reaction to her new born child. It is a wonderful, unimaginable miracle. But how does God create? God creates by His Word. He spoke things into existence. 33:9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood forth. I heard this story on a TV show I was watching late at night. I don't remember the show, or who told this story, but it gave me a clear understanding about how God creates. Now on to the story... Let's say that I wanted a watermelon. I can take a packet of seeds, open the packet, and pour out the seeds. But does that give me a watermelon? No, they are only seeds. A scientist can examine the seeds. He can tell you the chemistry make-up of the seeds. But does that give me a watermelon? No, he can't make a watermelon. If I plant the seeds, they are still seeds, but buried in the ground. I can nuture the ground... water and weed the ground... to help the seeds grow into watermelon. But even then, I may not get a watermelon. What these seeds have that produces watermelon goes back to the beginning of time. What makes these seeds into watermelon is the voice of God that says, "You are a watermelon, grow and produce watermelon." 33:9 For he gave the word, and it was done; by his order it was fixed for ever. Now the growth of a plant from a seed is a miracle of God's doing, but you must prepare the ground, weed and water the area. Otherwise, the plant dies of thirst, or is choked and crowded out by the weeds. Miracles are God's doing, but we must nurture them to make it complete. 2:15 And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to do work in it and take care of it. God created you! You are a miracle! But you need to be nurtured. You need to be weeded and watered. Are you growing closer to God? Are you being nurtured from God's Word? Are you weeding yourself, so that you flourish and grow?
1:5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 1:6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages [to put it] into a bag with holes. 1:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. As you live your life as a follower of Christ, make absolutely sure you are doing what you can to allow the miracle to flourish within you.
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When I was young, I remember a couple of my sisters and I walking down the road and looking through a fence. We wanted to see the nice house that the fence enclosed. As a teen, I remember going to the local mall and looking in the display windows, wondering why I didn't have clothes like those. Even in college, we did a project based on Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Rear Window", where we imagined what it was like living in houses from looking through the windows. I believe that I have always looked at what others had and compared it to what I had. Maybe it's natural, part of our sinful nature to be envious or discontent. I know that it's not because I was poor and others had more. And even now, I want to think that I have changed. I remember a time when I would cringe to answer the phone (when I had a phone) or when there was a knock on the door. Or even when I was begging for a place to live because, again, we were being evicted. Now, as I live a new life, I am so happy to pay bills. Because I have bills to pay and I pay them! I'm so happy to be able to buy a car (any car will do) and hear the creditor say "No problem getting whatever you want. You have good credit." But every now and then the "envy" bug will appear again. Instead of being happy for having a roof over my head to protect me from the weather, I'm thinking "I hate my house and want something nicer." Or get upset because I have to work so hard to pay my bills, when I see other moms having the days to spend with their children. The American proverb says it all..."The grass is greener on the other side." It's the proverb of discontent, where other people’s circumstances seem more desirable than one’s own. I'm sure if I had a bigger and nicer house, I would be angry for having to work even harder to pay for it. Or if I had my days free, I would be unhappy because I'm not doing what I love (my job!). I can see the other side and know that even if I were to go there, the grass will always be greener on the other side. In Hebrews 13:5b-6 it says, "be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' " In Philippians 4:11b-13 Paul says, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Learning to be content isn't hard, but staying content may take a little longer. Contentment comes from within our hearts, not from what the world has to offer. When we have daily fellowship with our Lord God through Jesus Christ we learn that secret of contentment that Paul learned. I can read Paul's charge to Timothy on how to live in 1 Timothy 6:11-21. Because I want to "take hold of the life that is truly life." (1 Timothy 6:19) And learn contentment though my fellowship with Jesus Christ because I want to build my treasures in heaven. "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." 1 Timothy 6:7.
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I know the feeling of being empty. Devastated by life with no meaning...empty...void...a heart ache that had no reason. I was once the Empty Tomb. When I was younger, I had a photography class where we hand processed our own 35mm film. One feeling I remember so vividly is the feeling of being in the darkroom, while removing the film from the canister. For those who have never done this, when you remove the film from the canister, absolutely NO light can reach the film, or it will be destroyed. When in absolute darkness, darkness is over-powering. You feel the darkness closing in on you as if the walls were moving close to you: Your heart pumps sounds into your ears; Your breath goes nowhere feeling as if you can not breathe. You want to scream or burst out of your skin, but afraid it will go nowhere. Luckily, when you remove the film from the canister, you act quickly and this feeling is short. Relief comes when light fills the room. But this same feeling can take place in our being. When we are empty people. In the midst of family problems, sinful nature, sins against you and sins you've committed, emtpyness takes control. 12:43 But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation. The parable in Matthew 12 "is applicable to all those who hear the word of God, and are in part reformed, but not truly converted. The unclean spirit leaves for a time, but when he returns, he finds Christ is not there to shut him out; the heart is swept by outward reformation, but garnished by preparation to comply with evil suggestions, and the man becomes a more decided enemy of the truth. Every heart is the residence of unclean spirits, except those which are temples of the Holy Ghost, by faith in Christ." - from a commentary on Matthew 12:43-45 at www.biblegateway.com When we are empty, we cry out...many times, not knowing to whom to cry out. I CRIED OUT! But I had heard the word of God, so I cried out to God. I never felt ashamed for yelling and screaming at God. I felt that answers should come from God. Afterall, when I read the Bible, I learn of Abraham yelling at God, I learn of Job yelling at God, I learn of Moses yelling at God, I learn of David yelling at God, and I'm sure I will continue reading of other great men of God yelling at God. Being angry is not a sin. 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 4:27 neither give place to the devil. But anger without resolve can open yourself to be filled with evil spirits, and give place to Satan. I know, because it took many many years before I resolved my anger. How do we resolve our anger? We resolve this anger by looking at how our life is directed, and committing ourselves to being filled with the Holy Spirit. The "Holy Spirit Booklet" by Global Media Outreach, says that the Bible tells us of 3 types of people. 1) THE NATURAL MAN
One who has not received Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14) 2) THE SPIRITUAL MAN
One who is directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:15) 3) THE CARNAL MAN
One who has recieved Christ but lives in defeat because he is trying to live the Christian life in his own strength (1 Corinthians 3:1-3) We can be Christians, but still not be filled with the Holy Spirit. As with the photography darkroom, we need to let the light in and be filled with the fulness of God...the Holy Spirit. 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God. Dr. A. B. Simpson explained being filled with the Holy Spirit is like a bottle in the ocean. "Being filled with the fullness of God is like a bottle in the ocean. You take the cork out of the bottle and sink it in the ocean, and you have the bottle completely full of ocean. The bottle is in the ocean, and the ocean is in the bottle. The ocean contains the bottle, but the bottle contains only a little bit of the ocean. So it is with the Christian." When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are no longer the Empty Tomb. So I pray, please dear LORD, come fill me with Your Light...The Word...The Holy Spirit. Let my self move off the center seat and make room for You to take center stage and direct my life, so I may never feel the emptyness of the tomb again. Direct my life to live as you intended my life to be lived...with Your Will over-riding mine. LORD...Come Fill Me!
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3:1 Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts. 3:2 But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap: 3:3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness. I was told how "so glad that you HEARD God through all the other noise!" And I'm thinking, how can I NOT hear God!!! At about the same time, I received an email [source unknown] with a "story" about Malachi 3:3. The story is why I could hear God, and is so wonderful that I wanted to share it, because.... Well...read further and you will see why! Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiousity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were the hottest, as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. The man answered, "Yes, not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he also has to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed." The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy, when I see my image in it." If today, you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
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During the Maundy Thursday service, Rev Bills stated that the reason given to him for why people do not take part in communion was because people thought they were not worthy to come to God's table. That got me thinking... Am I Worthy? So am I worthy to come to God's table? You know, and maybe most do, before I take communion, I reflect on my life. What have I done for Jesus? How did I handle what came my way? Who do I still need to forgive? Who have I wronged? Was I positive? Did I say something to give someone hope? Did I make a difference? Tonight, as I reflected, I thought about my life. A child from a divorce with a father who wasn't a part of my life. A controlling step-father who molested me and physically abused my siblings. A mother who cared only about her. Step-grandparents who insisted that I was not family. An uncle who wasn't allowed to visit because of his sexual preference. With a life like that.... Am I Worthy? Am I worthy to come to God's table? Then I thought about my reaction to my life. Depressed and hated life. Attempted suicide. Turned my back on God. Sexual promescuity, trying to find love. Physically abusing myself with cutting, drinking, drugs, and abortion. Calling on gods and dark powers to protect myself inside my salt drawn circle. With a reaction like that... Am I Worthy? Am I worthy to come to God's table? With my head bowed and tears rolling down my face, I again gave my life to God. Please God, take this life and turn my sins into good for You! Only you, God, have been by my side throughout it all. I never would have came to where I am alone, without you. So, please, take this broken body and make it whole, use me for what you need for your kingdom! So... Am I Worthy? Am I worthy to come to God's table? Therefore this is what the LORD says:
"If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Jeremiah 15:19 I repent and want to be restored! I want to utter worthy words and be a spokesman for God! I want to take up my cross and follow Jesus, that is I want to live with a martyr's attitude...willing to suffer and/or die for the cause of Christ! For I already died. I died on the cross with Jesus. I died the day I asked for forgiveness and asked Jesus to take control of my life. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that `life' which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, `the faith' which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. Therefore, by the blood of Jesus Christ... YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES...YES I Am Worthy! I am worthy to come to God's table!
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