Tag Archives: Creator God

God’s Order

Eastertide

May 20, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. –Revelation 22:1-5

I learn something new every time I read scriptures that I have read many times before. Hopefully, I grow more spiritually from my exploration. This morning when I read that there were twelve kinds of fruit on the tree of life—one for each month, I wondered when the idea of months began. I guess, I just accepted that a tree could produce a different fruit each month.  So, I googled when did months begin and was surprised to learn that it is traced back to 3100 BC by a people called Sumerians in Mesopotamia. Each of their 12 months had 29 or 30 days. The Gregorian-based calendar we use today was initiated in 753 BC. I experience a similar surprise when I think I have written something unique, but when I google for pictures to illustrate my idea, I almost always find many pictures from which to select using the same language.

God created an ordered world where generations after generations of people recreate that that existed since the beginning.  A world where rain nourishes the earth creating rivers that flow to oceans, the sun rises and sets, and plants feed on the sun’s light and produce and contribute to clean air for us to breathe. God had enough faith in us to let us enter such a place with the freedom to interact wisely or not with the world and each other. That is an amazingly wonderful opportunity that we must not take for granted. Our job is to make the most of God’s great gifts within the rule of God’s love. We get that at times, but at other times we stumble by stepping outside God’s order and stop caring for both the earth and all the people that are on it. Each day we must take stock of our living in God’s world and recalibrate when needed so that our lives flow like the water of life in our being fully the person God created us to be. We must work harder at doing that in community with all others.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for placing us in a world of wonder. Guide us in caring for it and each other. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Old to New

Lent

March 29, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 43:16-21

Thus says the Lord,
   who makes a way in the sea,
   a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse,
   army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
   they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
Do not remember the former things,
  or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
   now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
   and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me,
   the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
   rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
   the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

Change is constant. I copy and paste the scriptures I used in these posts, italicize them, and quote the source below. My computer notes grammatical and spelling errors, but I do not make corrections indicated for my quotes. I do not know the rule regarding changing the grammar in quotes, so I just do not change them. Mostly, they put commas where we no longer use them and recommend taking commas out when our rules indicate they are needed. These are usually trivial corrections but a comma in the wrong place can make a world of difference.

My sister and I were talking about etiquette changes that have occurred over time. When we were children, family members never held bridal or baby showers for a relative. It is common now. The men always passed through a buffet line first. Now children who need help filling their plates go first. I must admit I always still feel a little strange letting go of the old ways even when they make more sense.

In the Psalm above God instructs us in doing a new thing through God, letting God’s way guide ours. And that requires faith that God will provide for us in our times of need.

Prayer: Thank you Lord, for guiding us through the newness of life.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God is God of All

Discipleship

Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 40:21-31

February 1, 2021

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
   Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
   and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
   and spreads them like a tent to live in;
who brings princes to naught,
   and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
   scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
   and the tempest carries them off like stubble. –Isaiah 40:21-24

Israel’s big problem seems to have been that they got so caught up in worshipping gods made in to meet their desires that they reduced the Omnipotent God to a lower state. In this poem, Isaiah reminds the people that God is God and that there is no other even close competition. I am sure this issue has been with people from the beginning and that it rises and falls in degrees of influence over time. Just before the Exile, the replacement of the Omnipotent God with lesser gods was out of control. Sound familiar?

We find ourselves in a similar situation. While we may not worship images made of stone or metal, lust after power and greed abounds in our society. Our challenge as Christ-followers is to cleanse ourselves of such transference of faith, reconnect to the God who is manifested in love, and go into the world to help others find the God who is love who created us and loves us completely. As we follow our diverse gods, we become more and more separated from heal love that binds us together. Heal our divisions; make us one.

Prayer: Creator God, forgive us for being tempted by the ways of the world that have no substance and can be carried off like stubble. Rekindle our love relationship with you and reunited us in your love with one another. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.