The very last day of the Creation Revealing the Glory of God series has finally arrived. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. Truly creation is revealing the glory of God. (Rom.1:20)
So you might be wondering what's next.
Next week I am going to start a one week series on something I get super excited about. Something I think has potential to be used by God to ignite the biggest revival this world has ever seen. Social media. I am going to get very practical on how to use it to reach and influence people for Christ. I hope you'll subscribe (on the sidebar) so you don't miss even one post (and there is some exciting news).
Here's the Entire Series of Creation Revealing the Glory of God
Animal Battle; Battle at Kruger Hill
This video is amazing! No wait... AMAZING! Have you seen it? Well, if not, you will probably wonder why you are watching this most of the video but stick it out because by the end, you will be amazed.
But really, without watching it, the rest of my post just wont make sense. so push play, you wont regret it.
Did you guys catch the crocodile!? Have you seen anything like that!?
This crazy scene in creation gives us a very clear picture of what believers in Christ need to be like. What a picture of how we have got to fight for each other. The enemy wants to single us out, isolate us and devour us. But not only us, our brothers and sisters in Christ. He wants to keep us, and then from being effective and contributing the unique gifting they have to offer.
Just like the herd, we have to be willing to get out of our comfort zones and step into dangerous places to defend and protect each other.
The world will know Jesus is God by our love for one another. That is flat out mind blowing and convicting. By our love, our unselfishly choosing for another's highest good. We have got to stand with each other (even other believers we have maybe never met) and believe the best about them.
When was a time you've seen a believer defend and fight for another believer even if they didn't totally agree with the person? How did it make you feel/think?
What believer in your life is like the baby water buffalo?
How can you fight for them?
Faith Filled Friday We exist to glorify God, to display His heart and character. And I just love how we are all uniquely built to do that. So every Friday I want to give you, uniquely designed by God , an opportunity to link up your thoughts on God, art, baking, photography, parenting, marriage, writing or blogging and more if they tie into or display the the Lord somehow. So go ahead and link up below by clicking the link below and following the prompts. I just humbly ask that you please let your readers know by including a link at the bottom of your post (or somewhere on your side bar) or put my button code (found on my side bar or the Faith Filled Friday Tab) so they can find these other great people glorifying God and we can continue to grow as a community. Thanks! In effort to encourage others in their writing by faith, please take a minute to comment on the two posts linked up before you. I'm linking up with Spiritual Sundays, Getting Down with Jesus, Create with Joy, The Beauty in His Grip, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring, The Better Mom
I'm so glad you are here! Currently I am doing a series talking about some pretty amazing stuff God created and pointing to what it shows us about Him. I hope you like it! I'm kinda thinkin you will. ;) I also host a blog link up called Faith Filled Friday's. I would love for you to join us. Check out all the awesome blog posts linked up last Friday.  Leaha Shaikh serves as a sports chaplain on staff with Athletes in Action at the University of South Florida. She also has a passion to write. Check out her blog LeahasPen.blogpsot.com
“In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.” –Isaiah 61:3
"One day I awakened only to find an empty gap in my heart created by the broken places in my life. So I took a walk along a path where the setting sun dips through the trees and dances on the grass, hoping to behold God’s glory. Something about that evening made me desperately long to feel his presence the way I felt the wind whipping through my tangled hair. But as I continued to walk, I watched the trees take a bow beneath the weight of the wind, and I realized that I am like a tree whose branches do not bend. So I breathed deeply, asking the Lord to fill me, not with the disappointments of my day, or with the dirt that collects in the emptinesss of my heart, but with the hope he handed me when he died on the cross. And as I breathed a little more deeply, I realized that dirt and dust could not settle where the wind constantly blows, and where the wind blows, branches bend. So the setting sun seemed to tell me that I had a choice to make: should I allow my roots to remain buried in the dust with parts of me unyielding to his presence? Or should I plant my heart in places where the soil seems rich and the wind beckons me to bend as it blows?
Watching the sun set that evening was like watching his faithfulness unfold like a large blanket, spreading out the night, covering over me, inviting me to dream a waking dream, and to pray an inspired prayer. So I sincerely prayed, asking the Lord to fill me with his presence. And I picked up the pieces to close the gap in my heart, only to realize they were little fragments of faith, coming together to form a more beautiful me. For I am more than just His creation, I am His beloved, His daughter. What was once my brokenness has now become His, for He has made me whole.
Then the leaves clapped as the wind whipped through the night, begging for an ovation. For with the morning, I remembered He makes all things new. And as He ushered in His presence, just like He ushers in the light of a new day, I awakened only to find a new creation where an empty gap once remained.
Are you feeling the strain of living life with branches that refuse to bend?
Do you find it difficult to yield when God’s presence invites you to respond to His movement? Perhaps it is time to take a walk and behold his Glory in ways have never experienced before?"
Check out the rest of the series I have just loved this series (it is so fun learning about God's creation) and I can't believe there are only 2 more days left! But starting next week I am going to start a series on another thing I get super excited about. Something that I think has potential to be used by God to ignite the biggest revival this world has ever seen, social media. I am going to get very practical on how to use it to glorify God. I hope you'll subscribe so you don't miss a thing.
I'm so glad you are here! Currently I am doing a series talking about some pretty amazing stuff God created and pointing to what it shows us about Him. I hope you like it! I'm kinda thinkin you will. ;) I also host a blog link up called Faith Filled Friday's. I would love for you to join us. Check out all the awesome blog posts linked up last Friday. We planted a peach tree about a month ago and I just love seeing the tiny little peaches already growing. I had no idea there would be fruit the first year we planted it! I feel like that sometimes with girls I disciple and my kids. I remember a girl who gave her life to Christ and that same day she went back to her dorm room and shared the gospel with her roommate and they put their trust in Christ too! Or like Asher (4) and Uriah (3) asking the pizza delivery guy if he knew Jesus and handed him a tract. The pizza guy said he didn't want it and Asher got very serious and said, "But your in DANGER!" The delivery reconsidered his answer and took it. A few minutes later students came into our house saying they saw the pizza guy sitting in his car reading the tract. Sometimes I am shocked by how quickly God can start bearing fruit through someone.But at the same time I am shocked at His pruning of fruit in our lives. Why in the world would He want to pinch off perfectly good fruit!? Why would He not want a certain place or position for us that seems to be opportunity for more fruit for His glory? Why would He say No to something so good? Well, since we just planted our first peach tree I had to learn how to take care of it. And what did I learn but that you have to pinch off some of the perfectly good growing fruit because if you don't there will be too much fruit and it will break the branches, rendering the fruit a ton less fruitful than if you just snipped a few peaches. You have to think big picture/long term with peach trees. "With any fruit-bearing tree, early shaping leads to a maximum bounty... Peach trees generally bear fruit on year-old limbs, so pruning you do now will result in fruit next year. In a commercial setting, old trees are often replaced with young ones to produce more fruit; but as with most things, old does not mean unproductive. Your older peach tree will continue to produce fruit as long as you prune for new growth." 1 I've heard the older you get the more specialized you get. You better know and understand you're unique contribution. In order to specialize, you have to say no to other really great things. It gives opportunity for each of the body of Christ to thrive since you're not trying to do everything but saying no to the things others can do so you can say yes to what God has built you to do. Peach trees show us how wise the Lord is. First of all how He can even bear eternal fruit from an imperfect source. But also how He knows exactly how to direct our lives to make us the most effective to have maximum results for His glory. He knows the end from the beginning and is not waiting just to smash us when we finally get an opportunity to do something we love. He is patient seeing the effectiveness of pinching the good fruit to save us from brokenness and bring about the best fruit. "Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter." Francis Chan Which ones have you missed?
There's only two more days of the Creation Revealing the Glory of God series. Next week I am going to start a series on another thing I get super excited about. Something that I think has potential to be used by God to ignite the biggest revival this world has ever seen, social media. I am going to get very practical on how to use it to glorify God. I hope you'll subscribe so you don't miss a thing.
I'm so glad you are here! Currently I am doing a series talking about some pretty amazing stuff God created and pointing to what it shows us about Him. I hope you like it! I'm kinda thinkin you will. ;) I also host a blog link up called Faith Filled Friday's. I would love for you to join us. Check out all the awesome blog posts linked up last Friday. “In God's creation, there exists a "Divine Proportion" that is exhibited in a multitude of shapes, numbers, and patterns whose relationship can only be the result of the omnipotent, good, and all-wise God of Scripture. This Divine Proportion—existing in the smallest to the largest parts, in living and also in non-living things-- reveals the awesome handiwork of God and His interest in beauty, function, and order.” Fred Willson Like a shell whose spiral gets larger yet stays in identical form. Since the body of the organism grows in the path of a spiral that is equiangular and logarithmic, its form never changes. This is commonly called the "golden spiral."
This mathematical spiral is also seen in hurricanes, spiral seeds, the cochlea of the human ear, ram's horn, sea-horse tail, growing fern leaves, DNA molecule, waves breaking on the beach, tornados, galaxies, the tail of a comet as it winds around the sun, whirlpools, seed patterns of sunflowers, daisies, dandelions, and in the construction of the ears of most mammals.
This spiral follows a precise mathematical pattern, the Fibonacci numbering sequence. Each succeeding number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. The sequence of these numbers is 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,233... How incredible that this same number pattern exists throughout all of nature.
When the smaller number of this pattern is divided into the larger number next to it, the ratio will be approximately 1.618; if you divide the larger number into the smaller number, the ratio is very close to 0.618.
"Not only do we discover this pattern in leaf arrangements, but it is also commonly found in the arrangement of many flower petals. Examples: a lily has 3 petals, yellow violet 5, delphinium 8, mayweed 13, aster 21, pyrethrum 34, helenium 55, and michaelmas daisy 89. With such a great variety of spiral ratios in leaf and petal arrangement, no one has any reason to get bored with God's creation.
When we realize that the information to produce these spirals and numbers in living things is stored in the DNA, should we then be surprised to find that the DNA molecule is 21 angstroms in width and the length of one full turn in its spiral is 34 angstroms, both Fibonacci numbers? The DNA molecule is literally one long stack of golden rectangles.4
In the area of very large phenomena when the time period of each planet's revolution around the sun is compared in round numbers to the one adjacent to it, their fractions are Fibonacci numbers! Beginning with Neptune7 and moving inward toward the sun, the ratios are 1/2, 1/3, 2/5, 3/8, 5/13, 8/21, 13/34. These are the same as the spiral arrangement of leaves on plants! A most interesting divergence in the chart is that of the Earth. As the next planet in the series after Mars, its number should be 8:21, but it isn't. This number "skips" over Earth and connects to Venus. Even with this divergence we find that the Earth's period compared to Mars and Venus are Fibonacci numbers (8/13, 13/21). It is my opinion that this anomaly is evidence of God's showing the uniqueness of planet Earth in relationship to the whole cosmos. (It also accomplishes another fact, for this "anomaly" shatters the big bang and nebular hypothesis, for if all the planets formed from a whirling cloud of dust and atoms, this feature would not be present. To think that the times of revolution of the planets around the sun correlates with the arrangement of leaves around stems on plants is also an amazing phenomena.) It is one more example of God's marvelous mathematical arrangement of His creation. The fact that it is not perfect reveals that although Adam's sin affected the whole creation (Romans 8:22), yet God in His goodness has not allowed sin to overcome all the marks of His great handiwork (Psalm 19:1). These shapes, numbers, spirals, and the divine proportion are found in living and nonliving. Their symmetry, beauty, and mathematical preciseness are evident in every aspect of nature. Through this God reveals Himself as the Creator of the universe, a personal, intelligent Being, who created these things as a visible fingerprint of His invisible, yet personal existence. This great, wise, powerful, creative, and sovereign God of creation is the One revealed in the Bible." Fred Willson “What is this universe but the lavish demonstration of the incredible, incomparable, unimaginable exuberance and wisdom and power and greatness of God! What a god he must be!” John Piper I'm linked up with the beautiful ladies at A Holy Experience, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring, The Better Mom, Homestead Revival, Pause on the Path, Create with Joy,Carissa Graham, Finding Heaven, Women Living Well, Good Morning Girls, Deep Roots at Home Mind Sharing?
I'm so glad you are here! Currently I am doing a series talking about some pretty amazing stuff God created and pointing to what it shows us about Him. I hope you like it! I'm kinda thinkin you will. ;) I also host a blog link up called Faith Filled Friday's. I would love for you to join us. Check out all the awesome blog posts linked up last Friday.  Have you guys met Sara? She is one of my favorite people! Her blog, The Nutt House at SaraMcNutt.blogspot.com will give you a glimpse of just how awesome she is. She has this incredible ability of being super wise and funny at the same time. I just know you'll love her, so stop on over to say hello. I am honored to have her share for the Creation Revealing the Glory of God series.
"Here’s how this went down. In my inside voice. Laura asked me if I’d be interested in doing a guest post. No way, man. I can’t take that kind of pressure. I’ll stink up my own blog, thank you. Crap, she put me on the spot and gave me a timeframe. I can do it. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. Ok, what could I write about that would make people like me? It’s supposed to be about creation displaying the glory of God. Ok, I hardly understand that in English but still, how can I write about it in a way that makes me likable? I like likable. Likable is good. Oh, the sweet (but really not sweet) irony. And oh how sad that it took me a lot longer to get it than it took you. The real question is, What could I write that would offer a tiny glimpse into the magnificence of the Lord, put on display by his own creation? With that in mind… Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to this guy. He’s a shy guy, likes walks on the beach, zebra patterns, not shaving, Hyena-esque hairdos, and wearing white after Labor Day. Otherwise known as Okapi. Like, seriously, what is happening right now? How awesome, how incredibly awesome is it that the Lord of all creation, the God Most High, the Beginning and the End, made this? He spoke this guy into existence. When I see this, I can’t help but see God the Artist. God, who has a wild imagination, who has stored up for us discoveries beyond our wildest imagination as we spend Eternity with him. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1st Corinthians 2:9 My mind couldn’t’ve conceived of this guy if he’d frolicked to and fro with flamingos in my flower garden. And yet Eternity contains infinitely more and greater? Think of the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Eternity contains greater beauty. Think of the most amazing piece of imaginative Nature that you’ve ever seen (like our friend, Okapi). Eternity contains greater splendor, greater displays of imagination, greater attestament to the unreachable awesomeness of a God so personal that He’s named the stars. And numbered the hairs on your head. And engraved your name on his hand. And rejoices over you with singing. You are his wildly imaginative and personal creation. And he’s chosen you, in your custom-made uniqueness, to display him. His character, his life, his beauty, his grandeur, his holiness. He’s got a wild imagination, and he loves you more deeply, more personally than our wildest imaginations can fathom. Do you know this God? #474 Students taking huge faith steps at Crush Fear#475 Coffee #476 All our needs met, emotionally, mentally, physically... #477 Adventure #478 Awesome churches who support us I'm linked up with the beautiful ladies at A Holy Experience, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring, The Better Mom, Homestead Revival, Pause on the Path, Create with Joy,Carissa Graham, Finding Heaven, Women Living Well, Good Morning Girls, Deep Roots at Home Mind Sharing?
I'm so glad you are here! Currently I am doing a series on some pretty amazing stuff God created, pointing to what it shows us about Him. I hope you like it! I'm kinda thinkin you will. ;)
Glow Worms I saw these beautiful glowing worms talked about on Planet Earth and was totally facinated. But after researching and asking the Lord how these guys reveal His glory, He showed me something pretty crazy about them. These guys live in caves in Australia. Basically they have glowing goo they let down to lure insects. So get this, they let out a light to deceive the prey they want to devour. Said another way, "When night falls, glow-worms lure insects into their fishing lines using their bioluminescent taillight. The blue-green light is produced by a chemical reaction between luciferin - a waste product produced by the glow-worm - and the enzyme luciferase, in the presence of oxygen and a form of energy known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate). When an insect is caught, the glow-worm reels its catch upwards using its mouthparts, and attaches it to the mucus tube to prevent escape." 1Does it strike anyone as weird that this worm that parades as light to lure and kill has a chemical reaction between luciferin a waste product and the enzyme luciferase?! If this isn't a warning in creation, I don't know what is! Satan, the great deceiver offers what seems like life and pleasure, just as this worm, but in the end it leads to death. Let us be wise and recognize glowing goo and not be lured in the by the attraction. Let's flee temptation by the strength of the Holy Spirit so we don't get trapped in a death machine. Death starts with just one glance. which starts the progression James describes in 1:13-15, "...each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." Death begins at conception of desire, in the thought life. And whatever you feed grows and death is never satisfied. I am helping to lead a summer project for college students right now and we just finished up doing soul to souls. Basically that is when a small group of girls share their life stories. The goal is vulnerability so many times girls share things they have never shared with anyone. Yet every time I hear girls stories I am struck by the similarities of struggles. No two story is the same, but there truly is no struggle or temptation that is something no one else struggles with (1 Cor.10:13). We are all in this battle together. The lure, the tailor fit scheme of the enemy is strong. The lie of just one bite, then I'll be satisfied is so easy to believe. But that bite is the beginning of death.
So what is your glowing goo?
Lies grow in the dark but the light brings healing. Are you willing to bring your goo into the light? Are you willing to share with a close friend how you are struggling? Growth comes when we get to see we are still loved and accepted after sharing the junk in our hearts, not to mention freedom comes from lies being exposed. Faith Filled Friday We exist to glorify God, to display His heart and character. And I just love how we are all uniquely built to do that. So every Friday I want to give you, uniquely designed by God , an opportunity to link up your thoughts on God, art, baking, photography, parenting, marriage, writing or blogging and more if they tie into or display the the Lord somehow. So go ahead and link up below by clicking the link below and following the prompts. I just humbly ask that you please let your readers know by including a link at the bottom of your post (or somewhere on your side bar) or put my button code (found on my side bar or the Faith Filled Friday Tab) so they can find these other great people glorifying God and we can continue to grow as a community. Thanks! In effort to encourage others in their writing by faith, please take a minute to comment on the two posts linked up before you. I'm linking up with Spiritual Sundays, Create with Joy, The Beauty in His Grip, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring, The Better Mom Who do you know that would enjoy this? Please share
I'm so glad you are here! Currently I am doing a series talking about some pretty amazing stuff God created and pointing to what it shows us about Him. I hope you like it! I'm kinda thinkin you will. ;) I also host a blog link up called Faith Filled Friday's. I would love for you to join us. Check out all the awesome blog posts linked up last Friday.  Today I have Laurie from Saved By Grace Bible Study as my guest. She has a background in nurology and I am excited for what she has to share about how the Lord has revealed Himself through His creation.
Hard-Wired for God Not only did God create us in His image (Genesis 1:26), He designed us to know Him!
God is a three-part Being: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we reflect that Trinity in our mind (soul), body, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). As amazing as it seems, the all-powerful, all-knowing, self-sufficient Creator designed us for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11), so that His children could have fellowship with Him (Acts 17: 24-28).
About a decade ago, evidence from the field of neuroscience began to reflect these Biblical truths, showing that brain function changes and intensifies during spiritual experiences. It is as if God hard-wired us to communicate with Him! The research used a specialized type of brain scan known as SPECT (single photon emission computerized tomography), in which injection of a radioactive tracer into a vein allows it to travel to brain cells, showing areas of increased and decreased neuronal activity and blood flow within the brain during a specific experience. The photo above shows a “slice” from front to back through the brain using a similar technology, with red indicating areas of most intense activity and blue indicating areas of reduced activity.
Dr. Andrew Newberg and colleagues (1) analyzed SPECT images of Franciscan nuns at the peak moment of their spiritual experience as they entered into deep meditation and prayer, which they later described as “a tangible sense of the closeness of God and a mingling with Him.” Dr. Newberg, who is considered a pioneer in this field of neurotheology, noted the similarities of their description to that of 13th-century Franciscan nun Angela of Folino: “How great is the mercy of the One Who realized this union…I possessed God so fully that I was no longer in my previous customary state but was led to find a peace in which I was united with God and was content with everything.”
To me, these descriptions echo Isaiah 26:3: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
So what did the SPECT scans show at this moment of perfect peace through communion with God? There was an intense burst of activity in the attention association area (prefrontal cortex), the area of the brain associated with attention and concentration, near the front of the brain beneath the forehead. At the same time, activity fell sharply in the orientation association area (posterior superior parietal lobe), the area associated with awareness of time and orientation of the body in space, located in the top rear portion of the brain. One of the main functions of the parietal lobe is to draw the boundary between the physical body and the surrounding external world. The SPECT scan data therefore suggest to me that the mind is highly focused and concentrated on God, while the sense of self practically disappears.
At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells every believer, making us His temple and dwelling place (Acts 17: 24). If we seek Him with all our heart and soul through meditating on His Word and through prayer, we will find Him (Deuteronomy 4:29), “for in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17: 28). How awesome that He designed our brain with the circuitry to experience being “in Christ” and complete in Him! (Colossians 2: 6-9).
What a privilege to have Laurie share how she has seen the Lord reveal Himself through her expertise!
Deep Sea Creatures Have you ever thought about how many creatures there are that you have never seen? Well remember when scientists thought they knew how many stars there, thinking it wasn't that many. It's pretty much the same thing with sea creatures. At first they thought there were about 20,000 sea creatures and then 230,000 but check this out.
"What variety there is in your works, ADONAI! How many [of them there are]! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creations. Look at the sea, so great, so wide! It teems with countless creatures, living beings, both large and small." Psalm 104:24-25
Did you catch that!? The sea has countless creatures. Countless! Crazy. Think about that, each one of these guys is fashioned, designed and put together by a very artful Creator.
You've got to see some of these crazy things. Ones I'm pretty sure most of you've never seen before. But, the music on the top video is just a little too crazy to watch. So here's the deal. Play and mute the BBC Planet Earth video directly below and then push play the Gungor video under the BBC one at the same time. You're gonna love it. :) The Lord's creativity is simply amazing! Unending. He could create new sea creatures for all eternity and would never run out of animals to make. His ideas, His beautifully creative ideas never come to an end. I love that about Him!
Ok. And since I said I would tell you about these guys, (though I wish I didn't) here are some sea pigs. Yuck!! All I can think about when I see these guys is when Jesus cast the demons out of the guy and sent them into the pigs and then the pigs ran into the sea. They totally give me the hebegebies! These hang out together in the deepest abyss 3.7 miles under the oceans surface (the deepest part of the Grand Canyon is only 1.1 miles down, so these guys are way down there.), in large numbers, eating mud. That's pretty much all that's known about them. But just because I really don't like these guys and just don't want to end with them. Here are some almost cute ones. Well at least little guys that make me smile.
I'm so glad you are here! Currently I am doing a series talking about some pretty amazing stuff God created and pointing to what it shows us about Him. I hope you like it! I'm kinda thinkin you will. ;) I also host a blog link up called Faith Filled Friday's. I would love for you to join us. Check out all the awesome blog posts linked up last Friday.  I am so excited to have my sweet friend Angi as my guest today. She loves Jesus a lot and has this ability unmatched by anyone I have yet met to learn. She is a sponge. She is on staff with us here in Denver so she spends her time preparing students to reach and influence the world for Christ. She blogs over at StuffAngiDoes.com
Rejection Hi! I’m Angi from StuffAngiDoes.com I do a lot of stuff. Mostly I get to hang out with Laura as we hang out with college students. I run on grace and good coffee. You might have seen this post where Laura tried to set me up on random internet blind dates :) But really, I feel so honored to be here. I just love Laura a ton and she is one of my favoritest people in the whole world. Her heart for the Lord inspires me to know Him more (as I’m sure is true with many of you!) So when Laura asked if I wanted to post about Creation declaring the Glory of God I was excited but also had zero idea what I was going to write about. I am the least nature-y person alive. But the more I processed the things God was already teaching me, the more I saw how he created our bodies to display his glory. And I saw all this through learning about dating. Sometimes in dating, and in life, we’re rejected. Nothing is always a “yes” And when you put your {heart on the line} it’s scary and the fear of rejection is real But do you know the medical definition of rejection? “an immune response in which foreign tissue (as of a skin graft or transplanted organ) is attacked by immune system components (as antibodies, T cells, and macrophages) of the recipient organism” Basically, your body rejects something that could harm it. Like for example if you have type A blood and you’re given type B blood your body will reject it. Or if you get a splinter, your body doesn’t just absorb it, it fights it off and rejects it because the splinter doesn’t belong in your body. Or when you sneeze because you have dust in your nose- that’s rejection too. If our bodies didn’t reject the things that hurt us, we would die nearly instantly. Rejection is God’s grace on bodies. When you feel rejected, take heart. It is grace. Remember, Jesus knows the pain of rejection. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses...Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and grace in our time of need” Hebrews 4:15-16 When you feel rejected, delight in the Lord’s grace. Thank Him that He loves you enough to protect you from the things that aren’t right for you. Go to him, because he understands. And receive mercy, grace and love in your time of need. Isn't this series so fun! I'm linked up with the beautiful ladies at A Holy Experience, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring, The Better Mom, Homestead Revival, Pause on the Path, Create with Joy,Carissa Graham, Finding Heaven, Women Living Well, Good Morning Girls, Deep Roots at Home Mind Sharing?
I'm so glad you are here! Currently I am doing a series talking about some pretty amazing stuff God created and pointing to what it shows us about Him. I hope you like it! I'm kinda thinkin you will. ;) I also host a blog link up called Faith Filled Friday's. I would love for you to join us. Check out all the awesome blog posts linked up last Friday.So let's get talkin about how awesome God is. Meet the Thorny Lizard So I really am not a reptile fan. One time Austin was watching his sisters 5 foot phython and the day before he moved out of his apartment, it got out of its cage and he couldn't find it. He had to leave town the next day and a girl moved in. To my knowledge they never found the thing. That girl had guts. I am pretty confident I would NEVER move into an apartment with a loose phyton slithering around. Reptiles are just gross. But this guy... he's a wow.
Want to know why? This guy drinks drops of dew from the condensation on his skin through channels between the spines going toward the corners of his mouth. So basically this guy catches water between his thorns and drinks it off his back with built in straws. That is amazing isn't it! How smart is God!
And that's not all. This guy squirts blood from it's eyes! He can squirt a predator up to 10 feet away.
Ok seriously, would you ever believe me if I told you there was a lizard that drank off his back from built in straws and shot blood from its eyes? Just in case you just need to see it for yourself, here's a video. If you are super fascinated by this guy, give it a watch. But if you're already grossed out or faint around blood, you might want to pass. ;)
Ok, so the point. How in the world does this thorny lizard give us a glimpse into what God is like? How does he display the glory of God? The Lord tells us that we overcome the enemy, the great deceiver, through the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony; not loving life so much as to shrink from death. ( Rev.12:11) Just as this little guy overcame the wolf by squirting blood, we also can have confidence that though we are small, we have been given what is needed to be more than conquerers, being covered by the blood of the King of all creation. We are defined by His blood and His blood is enough. And the water droplets? Well, scripture compares water to the Holy Spirit many times. Like John 7:38, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." So through the thorny lizard we see not only a picture of the power of Christ but also the sustaining ability of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who teaches, comforts and enables us, the One who dwells in us and is able to produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control through us. Just as the thorny lizard always has enough, so do we. Through Christ, we have been made more than a conquerors, and He is able to make all grace abound to us, so that in all things at all times, having all that we need, we will abound in every good work through the strength of the Holy Spirit. (2 Cor. 9:8) Oh Lord, where are we not believing this in our life? It is so easy to have head knowledge and just not really get it. Show us where we are trying to be something apart from You, where we are trying to earn grace. Lord, show us where we are gripping something other than You, unwilling to yield to Your work in our life. Oh Lord thank You for the thorny lizard and the reminder that You do give us all we need when we need it, that You are enough. Lord, what other things are we looking to to find our enough? Help us trust You Lord. Counting 1,000 gifts #468 An afternoon to my self with smoothie, coffee and gift card to kohls. Wow! #469 The example of my pastor of doing a hard thing and leaving to use his gifts and maximize what he's been given for the kingdom. #470 Cute hair bows #471 Eden wearing her cute little cowboy boots #472 Things working out for the boys to meet their birth mom and sister this summer #473 Heath challenge with master plan ladies I'm linked up with the beautiful ladies at A Holy Experience, The Beauty in His Grip, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring, The Better Mom, Homestead Revival, Pause on the Path, Create with Joy,Carissa Graham, Finding Heaven, Women Living Well, Good Morning Girls, Deep Roots at Home Mind Sharing?
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