Have you ever gone to an aquarium or looked inside a picture book to see different colors of fish? I remember seeing a certain kind of fish at the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky ( I don't remember its name). It is neon yellow with neon blue fins. The colors are beautiful. When I see amazing colors on fish or other animals like a peacock, I always think "Lord, you have Crayola Crayon Company beat." They imitate what they've already seen. Crayola got its ideas for crayon colors from nature, from God's creation. The Lord has the most beautiful mind, the most beautifully imaginiative mind.
Other creatures I enjoy are seahorses. Aren't they interesting? So little and curious. I think also of the creatures of the deep, creatures I'll never see but that live everyday, going about their business. Some are not so eye-pleasing as the seahorse or little chipmunks, but God created them for his pleasure none the less. And when I think of animals, I wonder if they have a sensus divinitatus. I believe that is Calvin's term for divine sense. Do they know or sense their creator? I have to think so. God loves his creation, human beings as well as animals.
One last thing, and I saw this the other day. I love watching a calf skip. "A calf skipping" is mentioned in Scripture too. Maybe in the Psalms or Isaiah. I can't remember at this moment. God gives us creation and all things for our pleasure. Creation including human beings are gifts. Trees--old, old ones that have seen many things, are gifts.
Let us take pleasure in the creation God has gifted us with. That means getting outside. Then we'll walk around in perpetual wonder and gratitude for the many gifts God has given us.
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Jun 25, 2010
Jun 18, 2010
All things bright and beautiful
Hello, my computer is down so I have to repost something I wrote in May because it is nearly impossible to see what I am writing. As soon as it is up and running again, I will resume. Thank you for understanding.
Blessings! Marlena
The other day as I was doing some research, I stumbled upon the website of a glossy women's magazine. I was thoroughly disappointed but not shocked to find the magazine unashamedly promoting porn. It's not just a men's issue anymore. Porn and talk about porn is trendy. The porn industry and its consumers are successfully marketing themselves to adults and children. Christians aren't exemplars in this area either. Many believers are trapped in the throws of a porn addiction and need support from the body of Christ to help free them from slavery. But lest you think I am merely going to rail against porn in this post, I raise the issue because something greater is at stake. I fear that many of us do not have large souls nor large imaginations. We have not tasted of the beauty and goodness of God. We salivate over vile paltry things, laying our lives down for innumerable death-filled hoaxes that consume us. But God, through the good, the true, and the beautiful calls to us. He calls us to something higher, to beautiful, good, satisfying, healthy life. He calls to us in the streets, in creation, in our lives, through beautiful music, literature, art, films, the church, and others, perhaps through this post. He calls to us most loudly through Scripture. But more often we choose death instead of life because we don't know what life looks like, what it tastes like. But we do get hints of it in the good, the true, the beautiful, in this life. All of the time. God's fingerprint and life-filled breath is all over the universe. If we cannot see, if cannot taste or feel it, perhaps our senses are out of whack. We are sick or bent up. That is the reality of sin.
So if you are drowning (whether a Christian or not) and have little hope, if you know that there has got to be more to life than this, please receive this answer: there is. God has not abandoned you to death or a meaningless, beautiless, pitiful, existence. God in Christ calls out to you and wants to set you free to live and to taste of the good, the true, and the beautiful in the midst of a suffering world. And then you too can tell others that what the ancients have been saying about God in Christ is true, because you experienced it (it is true regardless of our experience, but we are better able to explain that which we experience).
Although I am not saying that the theology in this particular song is completley accurate, I think the song Viva La Vida by Cold Play hints at what I've been talking about in the post. Coldplay hints at that which is beyond us (the good and the beautiful calling out to us). They sense it and I think we can sense it in their song. I post it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE
Blessings! Marlena
The other day as I was doing some research, I stumbled upon the website of a glossy women's magazine. I was thoroughly disappointed but not shocked to find the magazine unashamedly promoting porn. It's not just a men's issue anymore. Porn and talk about porn is trendy. The porn industry and its consumers are successfully marketing themselves to adults and children. Christians aren't exemplars in this area either. Many believers are trapped in the throws of a porn addiction and need support from the body of Christ to help free them from slavery. But lest you think I am merely going to rail against porn in this post, I raise the issue because something greater is at stake. I fear that many of us do not have large souls nor large imaginations. We have not tasted of the beauty and goodness of God. We salivate over vile paltry things, laying our lives down for innumerable death-filled hoaxes that consume us. But God, through the good, the true, and the beautiful calls to us. He calls us to something higher, to beautiful, good, satisfying, healthy life. He calls to us in the streets, in creation, in our lives, through beautiful music, literature, art, films, the church, and others, perhaps through this post. He calls to us most loudly through Scripture. But more often we choose death instead of life because we don't know what life looks like, what it tastes like. But we do get hints of it in the good, the true, the beautiful, in this life. All of the time. God's fingerprint and life-filled breath is all over the universe. If we cannot see, if cannot taste or feel it, perhaps our senses are out of whack. We are sick or bent up. That is the reality of sin.
So if you are drowning (whether a Christian or not) and have little hope, if you know that there has got to be more to life than this, please receive this answer: there is. God has not abandoned you to death or a meaningless, beautiless, pitiful, existence. God in Christ calls out to you and wants to set you free to live and to taste of the good, the true, and the beautiful in the midst of a suffering world. And then you too can tell others that what the ancients have been saying about God in Christ is true, because you experienced it (it is true regardless of our experience, but we are better able to explain that which we experience).
Although I am not saying that the theology in this particular song is completley accurate, I think the song Viva La Vida by Cold Play hints at what I've been talking about in the post. Coldplay hints at that which is beyond us (the good and the beautiful calling out to us). They sense it and I think we can sense it in their song. I post it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE
Apr 8, 2010
Nouwen on Leaving Home
Yet over and over again I have left home. I have fled the hands of blessing and run off to faraway places searching for love! This is the great tragedy of my life and of the lives of so many I meet on my journey. Somehow I have become deaf to the voice that calls me Beloved, have left the only place where I can hear that voice, and have gone off desperately hoping that I would find somewhere else what I could no longer find at home. At first this sounds unbelievable. Why should I leave the place where all I need to hear can be heard? The more I think about this question, the more I realize the true voice of love is a very soft and gentle voice speaking to me in the most hidden places of my being. It is not a boisterous voice, forcing itself on me and demanding attention. It is the voice of a nearly blind father who has cried much and died many deaths. Sensing the touch of God's blessing hands and hearing his voice are one and the same . . . . But there are many other voices voices that are loud, full of promises and very seductive. These voices say, "Go out and prove that you are worth something." Soon after Jesus had heard the voice calling him the Beloved, he was led to the seser to hear those other voices. They told him to prove that he was worth love in being successful, popular, and powerful. Those same voices are not unfamiliar to me . . . . They want me to prove to myself and others that I am worth being loved, and they keep pushing me to do everything possible to gain acceptance. They deny loudly that love is a totally free gift. I leave home every time I lose faith in the voice that calls me Beloved and follow the voices that offer a greaty variety of ways to win the love I much desire. From The Return of the Prodigal pp. 39-40.
Apr 4, 2008
Wealth . . . Gratitude . . . It Ain't So Bad
"Be anxious for nothing...give thanks... Philipians 4:4-8"
Today I told God that the one prayer he hasn't answered concerns wealth: We still have very little money, just enough to get by day to day but in the hole (because of school loans and car repairs and medical bills) even though my husband and I are highly educated. But then the Lord graciously told me that I am wrong. In fact, I am basking in wealth.
He said, "the earth is yours, I have given it to you for your enjoyment." He knows the deep pleasure I have in stepping outside, curiously observing the activities of his creatures around me--how my soul bursts with delight at the sight of rocks and trees and skies and seas--the wonders his hand has wrought. How I imagine the creatures and sights I've only read about when I am trying to fall asleep at night. He knows about my fierce desire to drink in the beauty of places I've only heard of. He knows about my fascination with trees and water. He has given me the beauty of the earth.
He said, "you are wealthy beyond measure in your relationships." I am married to my soulmate, to one who understands me like none other, like none other ever will. I didn't deserve him. No. Shawn is more than I could ever ask for or imagine (Eph. 3:18-20). God graciously gifted me with my husband. I thank the Lord for him every day. Not everyone has such a relationship.
I have four friends (aside from Shawn) that I can bare my soul to, six if I include my brother and sister. It is a measure of wealth to have one such friend.
He said, "I allowed you to attend a wonderful seminary and gain friends for life." I thank him regularly for Northeastern Seminary. Since childhoold I had dreamed of getting an M. Div.
He said, "I gave you a lifelong family at Rochester Christian Reformed Church including the youth group and pastors such as Russ Palsrok and Carl Tuyl." I have a place to call home. I know that they love me and my family. I can be myself. There I am known and appreciated.
He said, "I gave you Iliana--a beautiful healthy child. You will learn of my love for you as you love her. Children are a blessing from me." She was a seedling of our love born into a human being. And I am grateful that she has the best daddy in the world (she is truly fortunate). She delights us all the day.
He said, "I gave you my word. I gave you books. They instruct you and teach you. What knowledge, what joy you receive from your many books." I said, "this is true."
He said, "I saved you from yourself, from the mess you made of your 16th-20th year." I said, "Blessed be your name O, Lord. You have rescued me from the pit, from the pit of hell."
He said, "I gave you your parents and your dear abuela." Abuela was my dear treasure. I still mourn her death. But oh what joy, what comfort I gained from her. Not everyone has an abuela.
He said, "In 7th grade you mentioned in passing that you wanted to go to the Holy Land and to Asia. It wasn't even a prayer. I took note of your fleeting thought and turned it into reality four years later. You were in India and Israel."
He said, "I made Real-Radio reality. You couldn't have done it yourself." I said, "I know. There's nothing much I can do myself."
So I realized that I am wealthy beyond measure. I mean it. Now having little money seems like a drop in the ocean compared to everything else I do have. I'll have to recall this conversation to mind when I am tempted to bemoan our lack of money. The conversation itself enriched me even further.
Today I told God that the one prayer he hasn't answered concerns wealth: We still have very little money, just enough to get by day to day but in the hole (because of school loans and car repairs and medical bills) even though my husband and I are highly educated. But then the Lord graciously told me that I am wrong. In fact, I am basking in wealth.
He said, "the earth is yours, I have given it to you for your enjoyment." He knows the deep pleasure I have in stepping outside, curiously observing the activities of his creatures around me--how my soul bursts with delight at the sight of rocks and trees and skies and seas--the wonders his hand has wrought. How I imagine the creatures and sights I've only read about when I am trying to fall asleep at night. He knows about my fierce desire to drink in the beauty of places I've only heard of. He knows about my fascination with trees and water. He has given me the beauty of the earth.
He said, "you are wealthy beyond measure in your relationships." I am married to my soulmate, to one who understands me like none other, like none other ever will. I didn't deserve him. No. Shawn is more than I could ever ask for or imagine (Eph. 3:18-20). God graciously gifted me with my husband. I thank the Lord for him every day. Not everyone has such a relationship.
I have four friends (aside from Shawn) that I can bare my soul to, six if I include my brother and sister. It is a measure of wealth to have one such friend.
He said, "I allowed you to attend a wonderful seminary and gain friends for life." I thank him regularly for Northeastern Seminary. Since childhoold I had dreamed of getting an M. Div.
He said, "I gave you a lifelong family at Rochester Christian Reformed Church including the youth group and pastors such as Russ Palsrok and Carl Tuyl." I have a place to call home. I know that they love me and my family. I can be myself. There I am known and appreciated.
He said, "I gave you Iliana--a beautiful healthy child. You will learn of my love for you as you love her. Children are a blessing from me." She was a seedling of our love born into a human being. And I am grateful that she has the best daddy in the world (she is truly fortunate). She delights us all the day.
He said, "I gave you my word. I gave you books. They instruct you and teach you. What knowledge, what joy you receive from your many books." I said, "this is true."
He said, "I saved you from yourself, from the mess you made of your 16th-20th year." I said, "Blessed be your name O, Lord. You have rescued me from the pit, from the pit of hell."
He said, "I gave you your parents and your dear abuela." Abuela was my dear treasure. I still mourn her death. But oh what joy, what comfort I gained from her. Not everyone has an abuela.
He said, "In 7th grade you mentioned in passing that you wanted to go to the Holy Land and to Asia. It wasn't even a prayer. I took note of your fleeting thought and turned it into reality four years later. You were in India and Israel."
He said, "I made Real-Radio reality. You couldn't have done it yourself." I said, "I know. There's nothing much I can do myself."
So I realized that I am wealthy beyond measure. I mean it. Now having little money seems like a drop in the ocean compared to everything else I do have. I'll have to recall this conversation to mind when I am tempted to bemoan our lack of money. The conversation itself enriched me even further.
Mar 11, 2008
Faithful and True
"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. 'He will rule them with an iron scepter.' He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." Revelation 19:11-16
Is God faithful when he seems unfaithful to you -- that is, when you've loved him and obeyed him to your utmost yet your entire world still falls apart (like Job's did)? In that instance is he true, that is, is he who he claims to be in the Bible?
Most of us would quickly reply, "Why of course he is!" But when our world actually falls apart, when what we never dreamed would happen happens, do we treat God like he is faithful and true or does our faith fall apart with our world?
If you are committed to following Christ a time will come when he strips everything away, maybe all at once. At that moment will you say with Job, "though he slay me I will trust him" (because you know he is faithful and true even though your circumstances seemingly contradict what you believe about his faithfulness and goodness to you)?
It is difficult to honestly declare that God is faithful and true when our world falls apart. But God wants to bring us to the point where we know and feel he is faithful and true despite the onslaught of slaying circumstances. More than anything, God wants us to trust that he is who he says he is.
God tests our trust.
Is God faithful when he seems unfaithful to you -- that is, when you've loved him and obeyed him to your utmost yet your entire world still falls apart (like Job's did)? In that instance is he true, that is, is he who he claims to be in the Bible?
Most of us would quickly reply, "Why of course he is!" But when our world actually falls apart, when what we never dreamed would happen happens, do we treat God like he is faithful and true or does our faith fall apart with our world?
If you are committed to following Christ a time will come when he strips everything away, maybe all at once. At that moment will you say with Job, "though he slay me I will trust him" (because you know he is faithful and true even though your circumstances seemingly contradict what you believe about his faithfulness and goodness to you)?
It is difficult to honestly declare that God is faithful and true when our world falls apart. But God wants to bring us to the point where we know and feel he is faithful and true despite the onslaught of slaying circumstances. More than anything, God wants us to trust that he is who he says he is.
God tests our trust.
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