Tag Archives: handiwork

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Consider The Lilies

Leave a comment

Our Daily Bread

Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. —Psalm 19:1

I enjoy nature and giving praise to its Creator, but I sometimes wrongly feel guilty for admiring it too much. Then I remember that Jesus used nature as a teaching tool. To encourage people not to worry, He used simple wildflowers as an example. “Consider the lilies,” He said, and then reminded people that even though flowers do no work at all, God dresses them in splendor. His conclusion? If God clothes something temporary in such glory, He surely will do much more for us (Matt. 6:28-34).

Other portions of Scripture indicate that creation is one of the ways God uses to tell us about Himself:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork,” wrote David. “Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge” (Ps. 19:1-2).

“Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge,” Asaph said (50:6).

And Paul wrote, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).

God so loves us and wants us to know Him that He put evidence of Himself everywhere we look. —Julie Ackerman Link

Father, Your love is overwhelmingly evident, yet

so often we miss it. Thank You for the unfailing

reminders of Your grace, love, and mercy. Give

us eyes to see Your beauty in Your creation.

In God’s pattern book of nature we can trace many valuable lessons.

Bible in a year: Numbers 17-19; Mark 6:30-56

Insight

The cosmological argument (first cause) and the teleological argument (argument from design) are two of the many cases for the existence of God. David, however, did not write Psalm 19 to prove God’s existence. Rather, already captivated and awed by the immensity and beauty of the skies, he simply declares that God exists: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (v.1). Nature proclaims and praises the Creator God, who is worthy of our honor and worship. David reflects on how God has revealed Himself to mankind so that we can know Him. First, God reveals Himself through His created works (vv.1-6) and then through His spoken Word (vv.7-14).

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Spiritual Adultery

Leave a comment

greglaurie

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. —1 John 2:15–16

On more than one occasion in Scripture, the church is compared to a bride—and Jesus is the Groom. One day, there will be a heavenly wedding, and the church will be presented to Him.

Just as a husband and wife need to be faithful to one another, we need to be faithful to the Lord. When people break their vows and are unfaithful to their spouse, they commit adultery. But did you know that Christians can commit spiritual adultery? We do this by loving this world system. James wrote, “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

“World,” as it is used here, doesn’t mean the Earth. There is nothing wrong with appreciating what God has made. I think, more than anyone else, Christians can appreciate the handiwork of our Heavenly Father.

The “world” James was speaking of is a system of thought, a mentality, a way of living that is embraced by most. Yet the Bible says, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you” (1 John 2:15).

I like this paraphrase of the same verse from: “Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him.”

We don’t want to commit spiritual adultery. God has called us to be faithful to Him.