Category Archives: Morning Musings

The Sun, Moon and Stars….

                                    What Came Next?                             

Genesis One, Verses 14-19….

   The next thing that God put into place was the order of the heavens….something that man has never plumbed the depth of. Outer space with its myriad of stars were all put in place by God and given names. Yet puny man dares to defy this One and downgrade His wonderful creation to evolution at the worst and Mother Nature at the best!

We can but say in wonder and awe with the Psalmist, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and His wonderful works! (Psalm 107:8)   And again, “O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all!”  (Psalm 104:24)    Man never has and never will, be able to find and count all the stars in the universe…space is impenetrable! When we look up at the night sky and see all the stars there, we wonder at their complexity….all those heavenly bodies and yet they never collide or move out of their appointed places!

    Light was already in existence, but God now made it more definite with the sun and moon giving time and seasons as we know them today. They have never varied since they began, except for the two times mentioned in the Old Testament (Joshua 10:13-14, and Isaiah 38:8) and will continue until the end of time. It is amazing to see the sun move along the edge of the horizon every morning, rising in a different place each day, and with the seasons varying in their set order.    Not only that, but we know that just the right amount of sun reaches the earth for man’s existence…..any more and man would frizzle and any less they would freeze!

God has ordained the moon and sun, Given night when work is done;

The stars come out in scores galore, As man looks up, there still are more!

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                                                The First Half of Creation

Verses 1-13….

   There is a lot more to how the world began than what the modern day scientists think. It started off with no shape of any sort and was dark and empty. We are told that the world has foundations and pillars in the constructions of this globe that we live on (Job 9:6-10)…

   Science tells us (and we see it in the eruption of volcanoes) that the centre of the earth is a boiling mass. Just as Matthew tells us that God has already prepared a kingdom for His people, there is already a place prepared for the devil and his angels. This place is popularly supposed to be the centre of the earth, but seeing the outside of the globe is going to be done away with, it could be somewhere more permanent!  (Matthew 25:34, 41; 2 Peter 3:7-13) We wonder what the source of the original light was, the first thing that God created. The earth was already spinning as there was a clear definition of night and day. The waters above (mists and clouds) were separated from the waters beneath (seas and oceans) by the atmosphere, air and clouds on the second day (Job 38:4-12). The third day brought the dry land, oceans, seas and rivers, as well as the vegetation, and the earth was now ready to bear fruit.

     Then the next thing that God put into place was the order of the heavens….something that man has never plumbed the depth of. Outer space with its myriad of stars were all put in place by God and given names. Yet puny man dares to defy this One and downgrade His wonderful creation to evolution at the worst and Mother Nature at the best!     We can but say in wonder and awe with the Psalmist, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and His wonderful works! (Psalm 107:8)   And again, “O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all!”  (Psalm 104:24)

   Man never has and never will, be able to find and count all the stars in the universe…space is impenetrable! Light was already in existence, but God now made it more definite with the sun and moon giving time and seasons as we know them today. They have never varied since they began, except for the two times mentioned in the Old Testament (Joshua 10:13-14, and Isaiah 38:8) and will continue until the end of time. It is amazing to see the sun move along the edge of the horizon every morning, rising in a different place each day, and with the seasons varying in their set order.

   Not only that, but we know that just the right amount of sun reaches the earth for man’s existence….. any more and man would frizzle and any less and man would freeze!

God brought the earth from dark to light, God spoke and it burst into sight, The air and all the world around, Were put in place, along with every  bound. God has ordained the moon and sun, And given night when work is done; The stars come out in scores galore, As man looks up, there still are more!

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Who Actually Created the World?

Genesis One….(v.1-2)            

Verses 1-2….

   Verse one goes on to say, “God created the heaven and the earth”. Who actually did the creating? Many people think that it was God the Father that did the creating, but there are many verses that show the whole Trinity was involved in the creating business. Let’s look at them….

   Both the writer to the Hebrews and John say that the Son was involved in the creation and in fact, is still seeing to the upholding of the original creation….keeping it going if you like (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2-3). We also see that the Father and the Son do nothing without including the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:6-8). It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Son and God’s truths to mere mortal mankind. All this was ordained and put in order before the world began.

   No wonder Paul goes on to write that man hasn’t even begun to see and hear the wonderful things that God has in store for His people…..in fact, it is beyond our comprehension while we are earth-bound. (1 Corinthians 2:7-11; Ephesians 3:9-11).

Just as a caterpillar has no comprehension of the freedom and beauty of the fluttering butterfly it will become, so man cannot take in or even imagine what lies ahead!! And this is all part of God’s eternal plan….we don’t know yet what we will become, but we DO know that when we see our Lord Jesus we will become like Him! (1 John 3:2)

God created man to be with Him, To live on earth with Him within;

To be with Him in heav’n above, To know his peace and light and love.

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God’s Books

   Last time we talked about God’s plan, and today we will look at His books. It seems that each person has a page (or two!) in God’s books…our genes, make-up, thoughts, deeds, and words are all written down in His books long before we were ever thought of, before even the foundation of the world (Psalm 139:15-16).

   Our tears and feelings as well as our words are all written down in His Book (Malachi 3:16; Matthew 12:36). What we talk about is all recorded there, and we will have to give an account of it at the Day of Judgment….we will have to go into every detail of all the idle words we have ever uttered. If it is not written in a literal book, then it will be indelibly written in our minds, and maybe that would be even worse!

   The Book of Life is the most well known of God’s books with several references to it, and this was also written up BEFORE the world began…there are also a couple of mentions of names being blotted out of it…(Revelation 3:5; 17:8b; 22:10)

   In the light of all this, how much more important is it to read and ponder the things in God’s Book, the Bible which is so freely available to us today!

God’s books were written long ago, With names and deeds all there to show,

So let’s make sure that we read, His Book today and to it heed!

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What WAS God’s Plan?

Genesis One….Verse 1….

   We have seen that God had a plan BEFORE He began His creation work (and is still working to it !) From God’s viewpoint, the whole plan was as good as accomplished….now He is just waiting for it to work itself out. After all, He created TIME….ETERNITY is timeless, without time! Time didn’t come into being until the sun, moon and stars were created for without them, there is no measuring rule…..

   God knew before He began, how He would bring salvation to man….that His only beloved Son (part of Himself) would go to earth to live a sinless life and then be qualified to die to pay the penalty of sin…a Person with no sin of His own (1 Peter 1:20). He knew BEFORE time began, all those who would come to Him in repentance, and wrote their names in the Book of Life (Revelation 17:8b.) He had even prepared a kingdom for them all BEFORE the foundation of the earth was laid  (Matthew 25:34). But all these things were kept a secret from angels and principalities until AFTER Jesus Christ had died and brought salvation to mankind. (Matthew 13:35). It was then that God’s Holy Spirit revealed these truths to His Apostles who wrote them down for us to read today in the Holy Bible. Let’s make sure that we not only read all about these things for ourselves, but that we make sure that our name is in the Book of Life!

God’s plan was written and early made, Before the world’s foundation laid;

Before the sun e’er showed its face, Or time began, God made our space.

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How Do We Stack Up?

     We had a baptismal service at our church recently when four young people were baptised. Each of them gave very clear testimonies as to why they wanted to be baptised, and how they had come to know the Lord for themselves. To them God was not just a force “up there”, but He was personally their Father in Heaven.

    How many people say the Lord’s prayer today starting with “Our Father which art in Heaven”, and they don’t know God as their Father at all! We wouldn’t dream of approaching just any man out there, and calling him “Father”  and asking Him to supply our daily food. Yet so many people do this without even thinking what they are saying. Let’s hope you aren’t one of these!

   The speaker after the baptismal service, made it quite clear to the congregation that what these young people had done was not to gain favour with God to get them to heaven, but were going through this rite in obedience to what God had asked them to do. It is something that Jesus Christ told His disciples to do before He left this earth….”Go and teach all nations,  baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and see, I will be with you always”. What a wonderful promise this is, that He gives to all who do as He asks!

We have to make sure that we KNOW why we are  going through this baptismal rite before we do it. We don’t just do it because it is expected of us, or to please our parents, or because our friends are doing it….we need to know the reason for it. We should be going through it because it is something that the Lord is asking us to do. After all, look what He did for us on the cross….and all that He went through for us!  Surely we can do this for Him!!

    

My Heart, God’s Home…(10) The Rumpus Room…

The Rumpus Room

He asked me if I had a rumpus room, where I went for fun and fellowship. I was hoping He would not ask about that, There were certain associations and activities that I wanted to keep for myself.

One evening when I was on my way out with some of my buddies, He stopped me with a glance and asked, “Are you going out?” I replied, “Yes.’ “Good” He said, “I would like to go with you.” “Oh,” I answered rather awkwardly. “I don’t think, Lord Jesus, that You would really enjoy where we are going. Let’s go out together tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we will go to a Bible class at church, but tonight I have another appointment.”

“I’m sorry,” He said. “I thought that when I came into your home, we were going to do everything together, to be close companions. I just want you to know that I am willing to go with you.” “Well,” I mumbled, slipping out the door, “we will go someplace together tomorrow night.”

That evening I spent some miserable hours. I felt rotten. What kind of friend was I to Jesus, deliberately leaving Him out of my life, doing things and going places that I knew very well He would not enjoy? When I returned that evening, there was a light in His room, and I went up to talk it over with Him. I said, “Lord, I have learned my lesson. I know now that I can’t have a good time without You. From now on, we will do everything together.”

Then we went down into the rumpus room of the house. He -transformed it. He brought new friends, new excitement, new joys. Laughter and music have been ringing through the house ever since. The old things passed away, and all things became new!!

My Heart, God’s Home….(9)…The Workroom…

The Workroom.

Before long He asked, “Do you have a workroom in your house?” Out in the garage of the home of my heart I had a workbench and some equipment, but I wasn’t doing much with it. Once in a while I would play around with a few little gadgets, but I wasn’t producing anything substantial.

I led Him out there. He looked over the workbench and said, “Well, this is quite well furnished. What are you producing with your life for the Kingdom of God?” He looked at one or two little toys that I had thrown together on the bench and held one up to me. “Is this the sort of thing you are doing for others in your Christian life?”

“Well,” I said, “Lord, I know it isn’t much, and I really want to do more, but after all, I don’t seem to have strength or skill to do more.” “Would you like to do better?” He asked. “Yes, I certainly would,” I replied. “All right. Let me have your hands. Now relax in me and let my Spirit work through you. I know that you are unskilled, clumsy and awkward, but the Holy Spirit is the Master Workman, and if He controls your hands and your heart, He will work through you.”

He stood around behind me and putting His great strong hands under mine, He held the tools in His skilled fingers and began to work through me. The more I let Him do the work and trusted Him for it, the more He was able to do with my life. I had to learn to realise that the work was not mine, but His, and He was allowing me to have a part in it! What a blessed thought this was, and what a difference it made in my attitude to the work He was calling me to do!!

Not only that, but He reminded me that I was spending too much time playing games on my computer instead of producing something worth reading, something that would point others in the right direction towards Him. I was convicted within myself, knowing that He was quite right. I had to confess this to Him, and ask Him to help me do better. He is the only One Who can keep me focused and take my mind off these worthless things that are only time wasters!