Prove It!

The heavens declare the glory of God;

   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
   like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
   and makes its circuit to the other;
   nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Psalm 19:1-6

I am an inquisitive person. I rarely take things at face value; I almost always demand proof. I investigate. I interrogate. It seems like I’m arguing, but I’m actually testing. I want to know if the things people say are true and I want to know why they’re true. A lot of Christians shy away from talking about God because they’re intimidated by people like me. God has never been intimidated in the least.

I questioned the existence of God once. Not out of frustration or bitterness, but on a calm, rational, deeply intellectual level. I dismissed as opinion everything I’d been told was fact about God, and I opened my mind to every possibility. I studied the major world religions, read tomes of philosophy, and took many long, reflective walks in the park.

It took seven years of God revealing his many disputed characteristics to me before I became a Christian again, but God almost immediately answered my core question: Does God exist? 

I often used to walk out on a bridge in the park and stare down at a stream and look up at the sky and listen to the water fall over the rocks and contemplate the heavens and … I think I always knew that God exists in some form because the proof of the creator is in the creation.

As it is written in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Eeyore & Tigger

Psalm 148 - 150

　
　
We live in a world of positives and negatives. In chemistry you have protons and electrons. In golf you have over par and under par. In "Winnie the Pooh" you have Eeyore and Tigger. Eeyore with his sad and monotone voice always seems depressed. Tigger on the other hand, is always positive, bouncing around on his tail, smiling and very self-confident.
In math, my wife tells me, there is a teaching tool called a "number line". With zero at the center, there are increasing negative numbers to the left and increasing positive numbers to the right. Eeyore would fall at the far end of the negative side and Tigger on the positive. You probably know real people that are very positive and others that are very negative. Truth be known, we all fit somewhere on this line. In these Psalms we are not being called to be happy, but to praise the Lord for who He is and what He has done.

Psalm 148 emphasizes His creation. The beauty of God’s creation brings praise to our heart. For me, a sunset on Lake Michigan, the northern lights in the Upper Peninsula, the white sand beaches of Punta Cana, the power of Niagara Falls and the beauty of the Grand Tetons top my list. What’s on your list?

I’m not the most creative guy in the world. What I have created are mostly inanimate objects, except for my daughter. She turned 33 this year, and although she has a family of her own, I would still do anything for her. In Psalm 149 we see God who is our creator. He would do anything for us, and really He has. Therefore, let us "sing to the Lord a new song, rejoice in our Maker and be glad in our King and He will delight in His people".

And finally, think of the Buckeyes in the Shoe as you read Psalm 150. The only difference is the sanctuary is the Shoe, acts of power are the Buckeyes slamming into their opponents and the musical instruments are TBDBITL marching and proudly playing praises to the Buckeyes. Buckeye fans are passionate! How much more should we be when we serve and worship the Living God?

No matter where you think you fall on the number line, no matter whether you are more like Eeyore or Tigger - praise the Lord today in all you say and do.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20148-150&version=NIV;MSG
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Ps.148-Ps.150

Proverbs 3:34

Proverbs 3:34 (MSG)
 He gives proud skeptics a cold shoulder, but if you're down on your luck, he's right there to help. 


Proverbs 3:34 (NIV)
He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. 

Proverbs 3:34 (NLT)
The LORD mocks at mockers, but he shows favor to the humble.     

Proverbs 3:34 (NKJV)
Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble. 


What does it mean for God to give grace? It is interesting to read this line from a variety of Bible versions. The Message tells us, "he's right there to help."  NLT says "he shows favor," and the NIV and NKJV reads, "gives grace to the humble."

All those years I made fun of religion, made foolish statements like, "Oh, I can worship anywhere. Outside in nature is the best place to pray. I don't need a building filled with lots of hypocrites in order to spend time with God."  While maybe there is some truth to this it is the heart our God is looking at. My ridiculing spirit was at work.  I had no intention of worshiping in nature, I was rejecting God.

It is said that an addict must hit bottom before she can find a cure for her addiction.  Well, there came a day over 20 years ago when I hit that proverbial bottom; I recognized that life as I knew it then, was empty and not worth waking up to in the morning.  I humbled myself and cried out to God to show me a better way.  From that moment on everything changed.  Inch by inch, so very slowly, but everything changed.

There is a lot more to this powerful moment in my life, but the point I want to make is when I humbled myself enough to admit that life is no good when maneuvered alone - grace stepped in. It is too hard to make sense of the injustices and the pain, all alone.  God did not make us to do any of these things on our own.  We have Him to turn to.  We have buildings full of hypocrites (just like us) to reach out to for help.

God gives grace to the humble.