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March 23 Devotional

Today we’ll be looking at Matthew 6:9-13, The Lord’s Prayer:
 
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.
 
The first thing of note is the communal nature of this prayer OUR Father. This is a corporate prayer that we all participate in together. And, this is the first time in Matthew’s Gospel where we are included in referring to God as Father. He’s not only distant and “in heaven” he’s near and close as our Heavenly Father. And because of that we hallow, or honor, or respect His name. This beginning is vitally important, for it reminds us to focus or gaze on God instead of ourselves. It’s a reminder that He is in charge and we are not. And part of our submitting to him is the next part of the prayer, that His Kingdom will come and be established here and now. This is what theologians call inaugurated eschatology, that is, the end times have already begun, but they have not been completed. Jesus is the King on His throne already, even though we don’t see right now the outworking of that reign. 
 
I’ve been listening to a podcast recently called ’This Cultural Moment’ that was turned into a book called ‘Reappearing Church’ in which Mark Sayers (the author) states that what most people want today is all the benefits of being a part of God’s kingdom without submitting to Jesus as the ruler. Or to quote him directly: they want the kingdom without the king. So people look to other things (politics, economics, education, science) as the end in and of themselves, and what we find in all of them is the same thing God has commanded us to do! In so many of these areas, we as Christians should want the same thing others want, but our means and justification of those desires are vastly different. 
 
With all that background focusing on God, we then finally turn to ourselves, where we are to ask for our daily needs. Notice it says bread, not cake! One commentator I read once said: we are to ask for our needs not our greeds! Trust that God will provide what we need for each day, especially in this time of difficulty we’re experiencing! Look for ways that you can be generous to those around you with what God has given to you! We also need to ask forgiveness for our sins and actively forgive those who have sinned against us. A lack of forgiveness means we don’t truly understand the gospel message. Who may you need to forgive today? 
 
Lastly, we are to ask for God’s provision to not give in to temptation, but through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, we are to daily fight against our sins! We also are to pray that God will deliver us from evil, or another way of translating that is the evil one, which creates interesting bookends to this prayer! We begin with a focus on God, and end with a focus on the evil one, and we live right now in between those two. We know God is supreme and has already won the war, but the daily battles are still difficult, which is why we need to pray this prayer! So take some time today to pray this prayer, not just for you, but for all of us as church, that as we bunker down in our homes we can remain faithful in our calling as Christians!
 
Our song for the day is called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is a fun arrangement of the Lord’s Prayer! You can listen to it on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
 
FREE STUFF: 
Crossway (a Christian publishing company) is also giving away some free ebooks, podcasts, and other resources on their website that you can find HERE. The price is right, so why not give it a try?
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by mikethestrand on March 23, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on March 23, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/03/23/march-23-devotional/

March 22 Devotional

Today, we’re going to take a look at Hebrews 10:23-25:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
I wanted to dive in to this one today as it’s the first Sunday for at least a couple Sundays where we AREN’T meeting together! So are we being disobedient to the Bible? But let’s start at the very beginning of these verses. The first exhortation here is to hold fast to the confession of our hope. This hope is seen back in Hebrews 6:19-20 “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inter place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” This hope is Jesus, and our confession is in Him. Think of the role that an anchor plays in a boat. I’m not much of a sailor myself, but I know how anchors work! They keep the boat anchored in the midst of the storms and trials going on around them, just as Christ does for us! And the reason He can be our hope is because He is faithful. So even in the midst of the coronavirus spreading around us, God is faithful because He cannot change. I was messaging a friend last night about his area going on lock down for the next 30 days on Tuesday, meaning he’s not allowed out of his house! But in the midst of that he’s still hopeful!
And that hope is contagious, as the author goes on to say “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” When we’re hopeful we can remind each other to remain hopeful! And that is made manifest in our love and good works toward each other, which is most evident in our gathering. So what do we do with that verse of not neglecting to meet together? One thing this reminds us is that what we’re experiencing now is not normal. The church has met regularly for millennia, and not meeting is not the norm! But what we need to remember is that we’re not willingly choosing to forego the corporate gathering. There should be a sense of mourning today that we can’t meet together, and create a longing in us for the day when we can finally meet in person again!
And beyond all of this, because of the access we have to technology, we can continue encouraging one another. I’d encourage you today to reach out to the people you normally see at church and see how they’re doing. Find someone you can pray with and for, and continue encouraging them to continue clinging to Christ as the anchor of their soul in the midst of the storm swirling around us.
Today’s song is called ‘We Will Feast in the House of Zion’ which talks about the day we can all look forward to where we will see Jesus face to face and never be separated by sickness or death again! You can listen to it on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
One other note today, many organizations are giving content away to keep you busy during this time, so I’ll occasionally recommend some as I come across them. One that I use often is all the study material that Crossway gives away at esv.org. The English Standard Version is the translation we preach from and use at Grace and is my favorite for studying, and they’re letting anyone anywhere access all their study materials (commentaries, notes, etc) for free here: https://www.crossway.org/articles/free-digital-resources-during-coronavirus-9-study-bibles-original-language-resources-and-more/ I’d strongly recommend using them for the next couple months to dig in to God’s Word!
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by mikethestrand on March 22, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Relationships, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on March 22, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/03/22/march-22-devotional/

March 21 Devotional

For today’s devotional, we’re going to look at one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 19! David writes: 
 
The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
   which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable in your sight,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
I love the way this Psalm begins, because it’s a reminder that everything we see should point us back to God! Creation itself is the canvas upon which God painted his creation, which He described as good way back in Genesis 1. As I’m writing this it’s pretty foggy out, so I can’t see either the sky or the mountains that I love seeing so much, but I know they’re out there! And the fact that I know that reminds me that God’s love and faithfulness will similarly always be there. The fact that we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the sun will rise tomorrow points to the consistency of God. One commentator stated “If you are a believer, God has surrounded you with a hymnbook. Wherever you are, day or night, you can look up and see the majesty and power of your God. And you can praise him.” (James Johnston, Preaching the Word: The Psalms Volume 1) As of now, we’re not confined to our houses, so if you’re able to, I’d encourage you to take some time today and walk outside (keeping at least 6 feet between anyone you run in to!). But don’t ignore them or pretend they aren’t there 🙂!
 
But that’s not the only thing God has given us! The Psalm tells us that we have two things that point out the grandeur and goodness of our God to us: the skies and the Scripture. David says “The law of the Lord is perfect.” What word! Perfect. Yet all around us we see things that aren’t perfect. We see the brokenness of sin, we see the way today that this virus is running rampant around the globe. A tiny little virus that we can’t even see is completely changing the way we function. Yet over all that, God’s law is perfect. This was one of the first theological truths I remember being taught as I was growing up! God’s revelation has 2 parts: general revelation and special revelation, and this Psalm has both of them! General revelation is the created order, which this Psalm tells us points us to God, but it’s not enough for salvation (Rom. 1:20). That’s where special revelation enters the frame. Special revelation is God’s Word, and the Word became flesh (John 1:14). This special revelation is so critical to the life of the believer that it is described as “reviving the soul,” but not just the soul, the body as well where David goes on to compare God’s Word to be more desired than your favorite desert! (Mine isn’t honeycomb, I prefer a delicious cake, but that’s besides the point!) Jesus even reminds us that we don’t live by bread alone, but by God’s Word. Therefore, if we aren’t spending time in God’s Word we’re anemic Christians, missing out on a feast the Lord has given us. During this time of social distancing, Pastor Ben is having his students read a chapter of Hebrews a day and use the SOAP method to study the Bible. SOAP is an acronym that stands for: Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer. If you’re a normal human being who struggles to dig in to God’s Word, I’d encourage you during this time of a forced new schedule, to commit to reading through a book of the Bible. Hebrews is one of my favorites, but the Gospels are another great place to spend time, particularly John! And as you’re reading, if you have any questions, please let me know! I love learning more and studying the Bible together!
 
Today’s song expresses gratitude for how God has created everything we see, it’s called ‘All Shall Be Well’. You can listen to it on YOUTUBE or on SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on March 21, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Music, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on March 21, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/03/21/march-21-devotional/

March 20 Devotional

While there are no passages of Scripture that specifically address COVID19, there are some passages that give us great comfort and strength no matter where we find ourselves! We’ll begin our devotional looking at Philippians 4:4-7:
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
 
Joy is one of the unique markers of Christians. It’s even included in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5! Let’s think about where Paul was when he was writing this exhortation. He wasn’t (as I am!) sitting in a comfortable chair at his house drinking a delicious cup of freshly brewed coffee. No! He was under threat of persecution, not knowing if or when he’s be killed for his Christian faith. Yet in the midst of that, he exhorts Christians throughout the centuries to be JOYFUL! How joyful are you right now? As you perhaps wrestle with your kids at home 24/7 now, or with trying to figure out what “social distancing” looking like, or worrying if you’ve got enough toilet paper stocked up, are you able to rejoice in God’s goodness?
 
Paul goes on though, and his second exhortation is “let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” Another way of translating that is gentleness. This is another marker of Christians! Being gentle no matter how people may malign you! What do you think being gentle looks like right now? Maybe it’s bringing your extra toilet paper over to a neighbor. Maybe today it’s shoveling their driveway or sidewalk! (Yes, I realize it’s heavy!) But look for ways that you can be gentle today!
 
Next, we see a pretty short phrase that I don’t want you to miss! Paul said “The Lord is at hand” God NEVER has to practice social distancing! We’ve seen that a couple times as we’ve been studying the Gospel of Luke together on Sundays. Jesus didn’t have to distance himself from anyone, his cleanliness abolished the uncleanliness of those he came into contact with. Now, I’m not advocating we then run into places where the COVID19 is known to be affecting people, that would be foolish! But we trust a God who is sovereign even over viruses, so while we’re being careful, wise, and obeying the governing authorities God has placed over us, let’s pray that God will bring an end to this current global crisis. 
 
So with these three things in place, we then can read the rest of these verses. We’re commanded to not be anxious. If there ever was a time I’ve lived in to start being anxious, this is it! My retirement accounts are NOT doing well. I can’t find paper towels anywhere (I’ve looked at 4 stores so far!). People are holding toilet paper, some states are even forcing people to stay in their homes! Yet in the midst of that, we don’t need to be anxious! Instead we can pray! God is with you and will continue guiding you.
 
Then, the outworking of that is a sense of peace that the world will never know. We have peace because God has saved us from spiritual death, which means death no longer holds power over us! The Lord has numbered our days from before we were born, thus we can trust Him implicitly! 
 
An almost brand new song I’ve been listening to gets to this hope we have in Christ. It’s called ‘Christ Our Hope in Life and Death’ and you can listen to it HERE.
And if you’d like to hear the story behind the writing of this song, you can listen to it HERE.
I’ve been posting songs regularly on Facebook and Instagram as a way to encourage people during this time, I’ve been compiling them into a playlist on Spotify that you can listen to HERE if you’d like!
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by mikethestrand on March 20, 2020  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on March 20, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/03/20/march-20-devotional/

The Need to Ask Questions

I have read a couple articles a while back about Rob Bell and the fallout from his book Love Wins that came out 5 years ago. Bell was most popular for asking really good questions about things many Christians assumed to be true, but either didn’t have the confidence or desire to question what they’d been told their whole lives. There seemed to be a resurgence in asking questions when I was growing up. Rob Bell was hitting his stride, Donald Miller was Blue Like Jazz, and youth group was where we’d go to have fun. I agree that it’s an incredibly important aspect of our faith to ask questions, God will NEVER be fully understood, but there are some things that are true, and will remain true, and we need to remember to proclaim.

In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This is a statement we can be sure about. It’s so easy in churches to get bogged down in the confusion of eschatology or blow small comments out of proportion instead of keeping our focus on Christ. One of the most impactful verses for me in my biblical interpretation over the past few years has been Luke 24:27, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” The point and purpose of the Bible is to point us to Jesus. It’s a book for him and about him, and he should be the focus of all of our lives. This also needs to be the focus of our corporate times of worship. If Jesus is the focus, it shouldn’t matter what kind of music we sing, how long the services are, how long you stand or sit, or how many people you’re forced to interact with. The point and purpose needs to be Jesus.

This doesn’t mean that we can’t or shouldn’t ask questions at all! Some of my biggest times of growth have come from asking questions, or someone asking me a question I didn’t know the answer to. But, as Augustine said, “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” We can trust in the God that has chosen to continually reveal himself to us through his Word and his people. This is why it’s so important for us to gather as the body. The church doesn’t exist as a single component of the body (you can’t have church by yourself in the mountains), but when we gather, we are to remind each other of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will never completely understand everything, but we serve and worship the God who does.

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by mikethestrand on July 27, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on July 27, 2016

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2016/07/27/the-need-to-ask-questions/

3 Most Important Words in Ministry

It seems that every time I’ve caught up on my blogs the past couple weeks there’s been something new that the world needs to know about Mark Driscoll or that Christianity is falling apart at the seems. I am someone who has benefited greatly from Driscoll’s ministry in the past and am saddened that it’s gotten to the point that he needs to take an extended break from ministry-yet as I continue to read and learn and grow in my faith and ministry, I’ve discovered there’s a little phrase that is incredible important to use. I would even go so far to say they’re the 3 most important words in ministry, and in life:

I don’t know.

I’ve read before that when you preach, even if you only believe something 51% to be true, you should preach it like you believe it 100% and I think that’s a bunch of garbage. As evidenced recently with Driscoll (and Mahaney and Piper before him) those in pastoral ministry don’t seem to have a problem of thinking too little of themselves, and this is true of those in smaller churches as well. One of the most fascinating things I discovered early on in ministry is that you’re expected to be an expert on any topic people in the congregation want to talk to you about, from the latest technology and apps to social networking to politics to finances to theology. Of those listed, I REALLY enjoy 1 and enjoy 1 other. When you’re regularly asked about your advice on certain topics and have been given the room to be the authority it can be very easy to get a big head. Some of the best conversations I’ve had with people have been because I’ve been willing to admit that I don’t know.

In our culture we seem to make ourselves the experts on everything. We can read the 140 character summary of every news event and form our opinions based on the few words we see. I think more of us need to be willing that we don’t know everything and have an honest conversation where we can learn and grow from each other.

What don’t you know?

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by mikethestrand on August 28, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on August 28, 2014

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2014/08/28/3-most-important-words-in-ministry/

A Salve for My Soul

I posted a while back how excited I was for a new book coming out by Barnabas Piper simply titled “The Pastor’s Kid.” You can read some of what the book is about in Ed Stetzer’s interview with Barnabas here. I read the entire thing the day I got it and have already loaned out the 2 copies I had. So my incredibly short review about it is that I needed it.

Barnabas grew up not too far away from where I grew up and I even attended the church he grew up in after I graduated from college. While I’ve never had the privilege of meeting Barnabas I have met his little sister and parents and have benefited greatly from his father’s ministry. This book did an incredible job of revealing the temptations, weaknesses and issues inherent in growing up as a pastor’s kid. It brought some of my own sin issues to light and caused me to reflect on why I have ended up the way I have.

If you are a PK I would highly encourage reading this book, and if you are a P I would even more highly encourage that you read this book. It’s helpful for working through how to grow up in the spotlight and ways that PK’s are prone to sin that many other children aren’t. It can become so easy to hide behind Bible trivia instead of actually having a heart change. I’m grateful that God has continued to pursue me despite my lack of pursuing him, and despite my choices he still lavishly pours out his love to me.

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by mikethestrand on August 19, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Blog, Book Review, Life
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Posted by mikethestrand on August 19, 2014

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2014/08/19/a-salve-for-my-soul/

Bricks In My Foundation

Throughout my life there have been times where I haven’t been able to see how certain things could ever work out. The first “big” one in my life was after my freshman year of college when I was finally giving in to a call to ministry. Instead of working for the remodeling company that I worked at the year before, I was going to cut back to part time and take on an internship at my parent’s church for the summer which was a significant pay cut. The church graciously offered to take a freewill offering for me at the end of the summer that more than paid for me to continue the next semester at college. I stood in the garage with my dad the afternoon after I found that our bawling at how God provided for me. He said, “Michael, just think of these as bricks in your foundation of continuing to trust that God will provide.”

As I’ve mentioned before, April was an incredibly difficult month for me in so many areas, yet in the midst of it all God graciously reminded me that He will continue to provide for me in ways I don’t deserve. This happened again this past week for me as I’m looking at buying a new car to get me to seminary in Denver and back once a week. I was applying for loans and stressed out that I’d never be able to afford the payments for it and that the interest rate would kill me. I should have trusted. The third place I went to not only gave me a great rate, but is running a special where I don’t have any payments due for 100 days. And this all started with a friend from church suggesting I look at their neighbors car which is 4 years old and only have 16,000 miles on it. Isn’t the way God provides amazing?

So this week I’m needing to remind myself that I can trust God and He will continually come through in astounding ways. He really is an amazing God who loves to lavish His gifts upon us! I’ve been listening to a song off Matt Redman’s new CD on repeat this week titled “Good Forever.” The first line is “Blessings before me, blessings behind me, forever You are good.” What are some of the bricks you have in your foundation that you can look back on and trust that God will see you through everything?

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by mikethestrand on July 1, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on July 1, 2014

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2014/07/01/bricks-in-my-foundation/

The Avoidance of Titles

As I’ve expressed before, during college I somehow found myself in the middle of those who consider themselves “young, restless and reformed.” The one time I interacted with Collin Hansen I was introduced as “one of the people you wrote about.” (thanks Dad…) I quickly embraced the title and began reading and listening to more Piper, Driscoll and Chandler and then went to as many of the “Gospel” conferences as I could (T4G, The Gospel Coalition). I enjoyed the commitment to the Word and history of the church but didn’t always enjoy the connotations that came with identifying myself as a “Calvinist.” After having the books for 2 years, I’ve finally been digging in to “Against Calvinism” and “For Calvinism” and find myself resonating much more with Calvinism than I ever have before, but still don’t always like what comes with the label.

Reading through a couple blogs today on what has been dubbed “the Neo-Calvinism” (which you can read about here and here) and continuing to reflect on where I’m at and where I’ve been I’m continuing to find myself less within the so-called neo-calvinism movement and more likely to consider myself to be an Evangelical, to which my dad has been delighted. So what do I mean by Evangelical?

Evangelical gets it’s name from the Greek word evangelion which we translate as “gospel” so the whole gospel centered movement is Evangelical in nature. I uphold Scripture as the ultimate authority in my life and daily strive to be more like Christ. In this way I am also reformed, in that I am constantly reforming my life to the message of the Bible. I can join with the early church fathers in reciting and agreeing with the creeds of the early church and go back to Christ’s final command in Matthew 28 to spread the message of the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This is also something I often hesitate to do because so many labels come with so much baggage. Calvinists tend to be over bearing and domineering without much grace extended. Many people don’t know what an evangelical is or what one believes. And reformed tends to bring to mind Luther and the Reformation. What are some labels you’ve seen in your life that have either been helpful or unhelpful?

In the same vein, some of my hesitancy to use labels to identify myself is because neo-calvinism is currently the “cool” title to use. And while there are some aspects of it I so resonate with and will whole heartedly agree with, there is some hesitancy for me to jump on bandwagons. I know things come and go so quickly in the church and don’t want to be swept away by the newest trends-even if they’re good things. I know that the truth is here to stay and am continuing to trust God to lead and guide the church of yesterday, today and forever.

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by mikethestrand on June 25, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on June 25, 2014

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2014/06/25/the-avoidance-of-titles/

A Childlike Faith

As Relevant reminded me, today is GK Chesterton’s 140th birthday. I have been meaning to get to a biography about him but have yet to actually start it, but I read a quote of his in another book (Boring) a few weeks ago that’s been in the back of my mind since that I read again today. Chesterton said

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

I am someone who thoroughly enjoys spending time with children and I never tire of the endless “do it again!”s that characterize younger children. Yet how often do I spend the same energy both physically and mentally in awe of God’s grace in my life, which is new every morning? Moving from the midwest to a state full of mountains has been quite the transition, and every time I see the mountains I’m struck again at how beautiful they are. Those who grew up here don’t seem to have the same appreciation for these things that I do, but every trip I take to Denver where the Rockies are out my passenger window never ceases to amaze me.

There’s a certain amount of repetition in all our lives that quickly becomes monotony. We tend to wake up at the same times, do the same things at work and probably even eat similar things from week to week. It can be so easy for us to get into the rut of doing the same things while refusing to be at awe at what’s going on around us. Our bodies continue to convert oxygen to carbon dioxide which allows our heart to continue breathing which allows us to continue living. Most, if not all of us, have computers in our pockets that are more powerful than what put us on the moon. We can pull it out and text or call our friends in different parts of the world and and hear back instantly. And every day the sun rises and the sun sets. When is the last time you took some time to be in awe at what God does for us on a daily basis? Even though we sin he remains faithful. Even when we ignore him, he relentlessly pursues us. He daily lavishes his grace upon us. Through the work of his son we are now sons and daughters of the creator and sustainer of the universe. And what good is dwelling on all these wondrous things if we’re not using it as an opportunity to worship God? Worship should be relegated to Sunday mornings, but should define our entire lives.

So stop.

Right now.

Walk outside.

Behold God’s wonderful creation.

And worship.

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by mikethestrand on May 29, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 29, 2014

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2014/05/29/a-childlike-faith/

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