Just one breath

God made all things. And everything continues through him and for him.  (Romans 11:36)

God made all things - from the sand at the seashore to the hair on your head. Nothing exists without him. His breathe gave us life and his breathe sustains that life. His blood brings us into his family and his blood ensures we are cleansed of all manner of sin. His word puts all things into motion and sustains all things in perfect order. All things are in his care and under his careful watch - including you!

Everything continues - telling words that indicate we don't just "come to Christ" and stagnate! We continue to grow in grace. Can we become something greater than what he calls us to be in his kingdom? Nope, but some will still try to remake their own lives even when the God who made and sustains all things provided all they need to grow in grace. The grace is a gift, but the growth must be intentional. We must press into his grace each day in order to grow in it.

It isn't that his grace changes. It is that our appreciation of what it is doing within us has. We begin to see rough edges smoothed out in our character. Trust issues resolve as we press in a little deeper, willing our hearts and minds to catch up to what our spirit already knows to be true about the one who made us. God's "ask" is that we come and remain. He sustains us as we do. Nothing of worth really exists in us without his careand grace, but all manner of goodness can be birthed within us by one breathe of his Spirit! Just saying....

Creator - Creation

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. (Psalm 139:13-14)

How we come to realize the complexity of our body's structures and systems differs for everyone. Some may discover the uniqueness of their body, how it works, and why each 'part' is so important for the other parts because of illness, while others just discover it through the normal aging process. Bones that moved silently at one time are now creaky and crackle like a bowl of rice cereal. Muscles that once existed on the top of your arms are now like bat wings, jiggling about as you motion with your arms. A heart that once beat without notice may now pound out of your chest with each stair you climb. God made all the 'parts', but the most important part of our body is really our spirit - for it is the place he communes with us.

His workmanship is indeed marvelous - nothing compares to the majesty he puts on display in each and every one of us - each uniquely created to resemble him. The 'inner parts' of mankind are meant to commune with him - in prayer, meditative thought, and even in times of just enjoying the splendor of all he has created around us. Our psalmist opens this psalm with the reminder that God knows everything about us - helping us to know when to take action, and when to be still before him. When we fail to recognize the Creator, we may just be failing to fully appreciate the majesty of his creation.

"How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!" (v. 17-18) God doesn't sleep when we sleep, zone out when we zone out - he stays ever vigilant, always alert to our every need, and in tune with our every heartbeat. We are continually a matter of his 'undivided' attention. I don't have to understand that God is all-knowing and ever-present to know fully that he cares for my every need. I just have to trust the Creator that he will ALWAYS take care of the creation! I may not always like the way my body responds, but I know my body is continually in his care. Our lives are always in his focus, and we will never 'do life' alone. Just sayin!

Look again

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I like the hope proclaimed in this passage because it speaks of all that Christ accomplishes within us. His presence within us helps us to stop looking at the outside of an individual - it helps us to see the heart, to realize the presence of God within them, and to keep us away from the terrible habit of judging a book by its cover! As a result of the decision to welcome Christ into our hearts, and into our new year, we are able to move away from our past habits of judging others - seeing how they have been given a fresh start just like us. Yes, they still have hurts and hang-ups, but so do we. No, they don't always get things right in their lives, but neither do we. God's message to us today is to remember the decision to follow him gives each of us a 'fresh perspective', not only in how we see our lives, but in how we observe and interpret the actions of those we are in relationship with, as well.

We get it 'all wrong' when we only look upon the outside - because we all put forth our 'best us' for the outside world to see, don't we? We can see something quite different when we look underneath that 'best us' front! Anyone united with Christ - don't miss that - united with him means there has been a choice to enter into relationship, to remain close to him, and to afford specific opportunities for the relationship to grow. Have you ever tried to use regular white glue to hold two pieces of wood together? It works, yes, but there is something insufficient in the attachment because white glue was not intended to bind to wood. Wood glue, on the other hand, creates a bond so tight it is almost impossible to break the bond without damaging the wood it binds together! Why? It was designed to create the bond - to create a tight hold. When we make the choice to be 'united' with Christ, it is like the perfect 'glue' has been applied to our lives - we are 'bound' together and that 'bond' is not easily broken!

As I have begun to experiment with my woodworking hobby, I have done a lot of 'looking' at the underside of a project. You see, I have learned there are particular joints that work well to hold the box together, or that a screw can bind something together in such a way so as to be hidden from view. It is oftentimes what is concealed from our immediate view that betrays either the strength or weakness of an object. What is in a man's heart determines either the strength or weakness of that man - not his statement of faith - but the living of that faith. The one who enters into relationship with (united with) Christ bears the marks of forgiveness. There are clear signs of having the grace of God applied in their life - signs we don't see by merely looking at what is portrayed on the surface. Grace leaves tell-tale signs that a master 'craftsman' has been at work! You won't see where bonds have been created on the outside, but look beneath the surface and you might just begin to see how God's craftmanship shines over and over again! Just sayin!