I had done some thinking about how God uses people. I was thinking of a number of instances where the Bible speaks of God using people as the means to do things in the world. It's really something to stop and think about. It's sort of like a painter using a brush. This is something that I am pretty familiar with, so I thought it would make a good illustration. One guy has all the fancy equipment, and yet can do little more than a stick figure. The other guy has meager equipment and yet produces a masterpiece. So it is with our lives. It's really not about how good the brush (people) is, it's about how good the artist is. And since in the illustration, the artist is God... well, we don't have to make our lives a masterpiece, God's already at work doing that. And He'll probably do a better job than we could. I chose Psalm 100:3 to sound this out. God made us, not ourselves. And He is so much more capable of painting a masterpiece out of our lives.
I became inspired by the song, "Gentle on my Mind" by John Hartford. Made me think of days gone past. I remember this moment in my teenage years, in West Virginia. I distinctly remember going up the mountain, sitting by the fence line on a path and watching the sunrise while I read my Bible. I watched deer come and go down the meadow and imagined the brilliance of the sunrise was God opening His eyes. I have never forgotten that, the majesty of the morning silence. This was a memory that was "gentle on my mind".
We were playing Uno the other night, when it occurred to me that some people just seem to enjoy giving away what's in their hand. That got the ole' cogs turning in my brain and I came up with this idea...
I was reading in Jeremiah 10 and found it to be an absolutely fascinating chapter of the Bible. Here, God pleads with Israel about the ridiculousness of their devotion to their idols. He walk them through, from start to finish, what it takes to create their gods. Somebody whacks down a tree, they prepare it and carve it into an idol, they decorate it, and finally they stand it up and nail it down so it doesn't get knocked over. After all that work, they finally put their hope and lives in the care of said wooden idol. Hmmm... sounds ridiculous (stupid in the words of Jeremiah 10) to follow such a thing. Yet we do the same thing today, don't we? Oh, it might not be a gold plated statue, but it may be a bank account, or material things. It might be more elusive, like the desires to be loved and accepted, security, or anything else that replaces our devotion to our God. I hope this encourages you. Read through Jeremiah 10 and see if God points out any idols you may be building and worshiping in your heart.
I was inspired when reading through 1 Corinthians 12, especially verses 13-22. There, Paul compares the church to a body, pointing out that every part of the body is crucial to the survival and health of the whole. So in Christ's church, each person is important the way God made them. We should help a foot be the best foot it can be, not try to make it a hand. Good things to think on...
What would happen if Darth Vader had access to email? Here's just a hint at the universal destruction that would ensue. Scratched this idea into a sketchbook and thought I should perfect it a little bit more. Here's the result!
What does an American really see walking through a market in Thailand? It amazes me, with all the delicious fresh food, grilled and fried, how an American can still think of something like McDonalds... Millions served, even in your imagination!
