“For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!” Psalm 92:4,5 ESV

You are marvelous,  Lord God, and we see this in your creation, with the dizzying array of size, shape, variety, color and texture in plants, animals and landscapes. You have shared with us your love of beauty, your graceful shaping, your wisdom in practicality, your intelligence in complexity.

I think about the million optic nerve cells in a developing baby in the womb; at one point, two sets of nerves grow simultaneously, one set from the eye and one set from the brain, joining at the right place, with each individual nerve finding and joining with its corresponding partner. This perfect weaving brings to our brains an exact image of what is before us. And all this is done in the way you designed.

You made our bodies to be so effective, so compact, so efficient, creating some parts to be amazingly multifunctional: mouths for speaking, tasting, eating, breathing, smiling and kissing. Legs for locomotion, lounging, lifting, lugging and loving.

You build into our being the ability to enjoy a wide range of experiences. You give us the joy of running, of relaxing, of sleeping, of walking in a snowfall, of feeling the warm sun, the crisp cold air, the tingle of frost, the drumming of rain.

Your sharing all this with us, when we don’t deserve it is a marvelous demonstration of your love. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all the good you do to and for us.

“I pray also for those who will believe in me….” John 17:20b

He glanced sideways to make sure no one else in the restaurant was near enough to hear what he was going to say. Then he leaned towards me, his face deadly serious. Only his eyes betrayed the excitement he felt as he spoke.

“Tell me, just where and how I can apply for this eternal life!”

My mind went back over the four or five long discussions we had had earlier, and knew that this man was serious in his questioning.

God had been preparing him for years for this conversation. He had been born in a remote, primitive village far out in the East where there was no possibility of hearing the gospel. But when he was five years old, while playing in the ruins of a church, he had asked himself this question, “I wonder, is the God of this church the same as the God of our Mosque?” Then he’d spent the next 29 years looking for an answer, and I was the first Christian he had been able to find!

At our initial meeting, I had given him the Gospel of Mark, which he read extensively, memorizing portions and asking me many questions. He knew he was a sinner–“I can’t take one step without sinning”–an unusual insight, evidencing a genuine work of the Holy Spirit.

He somewhat understood the price of persecution he would have to pay for being a Christian: in his excitement of learning about Christ, he had shared with his family and friends and had been strongly opposed. Yet he was eager to “put in his application” for eternal life, and he did, entering the Kingdom of Christ!

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night…” Psalm 92:1,2

Yes, Lord God, it is good to give thanks to you and praise your name, to note the many, many blessings you give us each day:

-salvation from Satan, self and sin;

-the gifts of sight, speech and sensations;

-hands that can do so much;

-feet that can carry us;

-hearts that beat faithfully thousands of times each day;

-a brain with millions of connections overseeing the functions of a multitude of organs without us having to give a thought to them.

And along with these, you daily give us

-beauty, like the tree in the picture,

-food,

-water,

-warmth,

-a bed,

-a home,

-family,

friends,

-a church family,

-work,

-transportation,-

-protection…on and on we could go.

You are so gracious to your children, giving us such good gifts when actually, in our old selves we deserve the exact opposite.

As we begin each day, we can declare your steadfast love, trusting you to do what is best, to bring to us what is good, to protect us from what is evil.

And in the evening, we can look back and praise you, noting God sightings, seeing how you protected, provided and guided, declaring your faithfulness to all around us.

After faith, prayer is the greatest gift that God has given us.

It is God granting us the power and privilege of causality.

As it says in James 4:2, “You have not beause you ask not.”

Think of that: if we don’t pray, things don’t happen

if we do pray things happen.

And God has given this power to us broken, faulty and redeemed people.

Prayer is a way to honor God, proclaiming His power and our weakness.

It is a clear way to join Him in His work.

It is the first thing we are to do after putting on the armor of God.

It is, sadly, also often our most neglected privilege, and possibility.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,

and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Eph. 6:18

This is not a suggestion, but a command. Let’s obey it!

More on Jesus’ agonizing suffering to redeem us..

The amount of horror for Jesus in his crucifixion was immeasurably immense. It is an infinite suffering borne by an infinite heart of love under an infinite wrath. And it brought about an infinite solution for us finite beings.

Only a God who is Love could do this. Only Jesus could be our Savior, both God and man, willing to go through such suffering, which is beyond the comprehension of even the angels who live in the presence of God. And He did this to save us, we who are lower than angels, sin-warped rebels viciously fighting against Him, rejecting His way and serving Satan and self.  But now He has given us the possibility of becoming His children. Hallelujah!

Let us stand in ever-growing awe at the amazing, unbelievable, contra-conditional and compassionate sacrifice made by the Living God to save us, who are by nature captives of death, of the devil and of destruction and darkness. May this awe transform our mind, will and emotions so that we thirst deeply after God and spend time with Him every day.

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, forgive me for trivializing your immense sacrifice to redeem us, your evil enemies. I praise you for your great love, your deep commitment, your incomprehensible grace. Help me to live in the light of your love and to love you back in consistent obedience. May your light shine out of my life today, bringing you ever-increasing glory. Amen.

picture from religion news.com