Caring for God's Creation

“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”  (Psalm 24:1 KJV)

*Note: This is an edited post from April 17, 2015 titled Caring for God’s Creation

From http://www.deafhope.org/assets/images/theatre/world3.jpg 

From the opening verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, we see the creative power of God—“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth”. God designed the earth for a purpose. Likewise, He created mankind to care for His creation—the whole of it. 

Photo Credit P. Whitlach

Photo Credit P. Whitlach

Once sin entered into the picture (Genesis 3), the whole of God’s creation began to suffer as the result of mankind’s decision to live in a way that God had not planned. The beauty was marred. Creation has beauty but within that beauty lies danger too—danger from various elements, as well as animals.  

How have you seen danger within the beauty of God’s world?  

Photo Credit P. Whitlach

Photo Credit P. Whitlach

God expects us to care for the environment and the world He has given us. This is a sacred trust, in fact, Ecclesiastes 1:4 states: “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.”  

We have only one planet…let us care for it! How are we doing at caring for our environment?  Are we helping or hurting it? 

It would be so easy to take the easy way out and flippantly think: “Jesus is returning. Why should I do anything to help the environment?” While Jesus is indeed returning—likely soon—we still need to use care in what we do and how we do it. Creation is fragile; therefore, we need to handle it with care.

Photo Credit C. Meissner

Photo Credit C. Meissner 

We can do many things (such as recycling paper or plastic, or planting a tree, or walking instead of driving), that will make our world a cleaner, healthier place to live. 

It was not all that long ago, during the Great Depression, that our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and others learned to recycle/reuse/repurpose almost everything. They were on to something that many of us in this disposable culture have seemed to have forgotten: there is not an unlimited supply of resources, eventually things run out, disappear. We would be wise to use its resources with care.

How do you repurpose/reuse things? 

Our world—the whole of creation—is crying out. Crying out in desperation for a change, for help—help that is found in Jesus Christ alone. The whole of creation groans as even it awaits the return of Jesus (see Romans 8:22). Are we crying out as well? 

From https://completejoy.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/jesus_holds_the_world1.jpg 

Check out this article on The High Calling website for some ideas of how you can care for the environment. 

Somewhere I read that we borrow the earth from our children; therefore, we should give to them an environment that is as healthy as possible.  

Take some time to soak in the beauty of God’s creation and praise and glorify Him for it!  

What can you do today or this week or this month to help the environment?  

What are you already doing to care for God’s wonderful, beautiful creation?

Please join with me in prayer:

God of Creation, thank You for Your beautiful and fragile world. We recognize many times we have not cared for it as carefully as we should and have taken its resources and beauty for granted; please forgive us. Grant us the wisdom to protect Your world and use its resources with care. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.  

From My Heart to Yours,

Kim

The Names of God: Elohim—God, Mighty Creator

In the beginning God [elohim] created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 KJV)

From https://babethebeka.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/genesis1_11.jpg

Last week, we began to ponder the names of God and how learning His names would deepen our experience of Him and cause us to have a deepening love for God. The introduction to this series within the Believing God series can be found here: Knowing God Through His Names: Introduction

Elohim (hear elohim in Hebrew) is the first name for God in the Bible—it is found in the very first verse of Genesis chapter 1 (see above). Even here we discover the triune God (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit)—elohim is a Hebrew masculine plural pronoun, el is the singular form. To see Genesis 1:1 in interlinear form (English with Hebrew below, please click here). Jesus, while on the cross used yet another form of this word: Eloi (read Mark 15:34).

Photo Credit: P. Whitlach

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 KJV)

In John 1 we learn that Jesus was the One who spoke all things into existence—things seen as well as things unseen. Jesus has always existed and will always exist. How amazing is this?!

Photo Credit: C. Meissner

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him. (Colossians 1:16 KJV)

Photo Credit: P. Whitlach 

To do this, to create, truly shows God’s power, might, and authority. His is amazingly creative! Why do we not have more moments where we sit in awe of God’s miraculous creation?

The Name that is above all others is ultimately the safest place to land—He is our provider, protector, creator, and so much more!

Can you imagine, the One who created the world and everything in it, came to earth in the most humble of ways; lived an incredibly humble existence, walking the world He created? Mindboggling! Amazing! Jesus came. He came to this world—the very people He created did not accept Him. Instead, they reviled and rejected Him. Ultimately, He lost His life to give us meaningful eternal life by rising again and returning to the Father.

Photo Credit: P. Whitlach

If we have eyes to see; we can see God’s creative power in our lives today. He sustains our life; He sends blessings of many types as we journey through our lives. God continues to create even today.

Just think the power that is God and within God is still available today! How do we know this? We know this because God never changes (read Hebrews 13:8). This being true, should be immensely comforting as we live in a world that grows increasingly dark each day.

Stand strong! Stay true! The smallest light shines brightly even in deep darkness. Remember how much light a single candle gives a dark room.

The beauty in our world should cause us to pause and thank and praise God for the beauty in the natural world. If we have eyes to see, there is beauty to be found in haze that covers trees resplendent in green foliage. Likewise, we can see beauty on a bitterly cold, snowy winter day.

Photo Credit: C. Meissner

I am so glad I serve such an amazing, creative, powerful God! What about you?

Spend some time this week pondering Elohim—Creator God. What does it mean that God is Creator?

What part of creation do you most enjoy?

Please join with me in prayer:

God of Creation, when we pause to consider this world You fashioned, we find ourselves overwhelmed with Your almighty power. We simply stand in awe of You. It is hard for our finite minds to grasp how you created this world and everything in it out of nothing; clearly that is what makes You God of all creation. Help us to simply enjoy the beauty You have given us for our enjoyment; may we care for it in a way that pleases You. Turn our hearts and minds to ponder and worship You as Creator. Thank You Elohim for all that You are and for all that You do! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

While I was pondering this post, the following hymn started flowing through my mind: All Things Bright and Beautiful 

From My Heart to Yours,

Kim

The following resources were utilized in preparing this post:

Praying the Names of God: A Daily Guide by Ann Spangler, Zondervan, 2004

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Elohim/elohim.html

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/El/el.html

Knowing God Through His Names: Introduction

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. (Isaiah 43:10 KJV)

Our God is a God who is beyond knowing in fullness, completeness. He is awesome in power and in might. Our God is a God who has many names—names that describe Him, His nature and his character. One website states there are 900 plus names of God (the names of God)! Many of those names are actually titles. With that in mind, it is no wonder that it literally takes a lifetime of relationship to get to know Him. While on earth we can only know Him in part; for those of us who have Jesus as Savior and Lord, we will have an eternity to get to know Him. Exciting? I say, yes!

Knowing God will help us to experience Him in new and revitalizing ways. We will also come to believe Him more and more. (Notice I said believe Him not believe in Him.) As we learn more about who God is, His nature and character, we will find that we fall more deeply in love with Him. Ideally, we should grow in our love for God each day, week, month, and year.

In Bible times, names were more significant than they are today. In fact, the nature and character of a person were thought to be revealed in their name. A person’s name really did impact their life and the trajectory of their life.

There is a vulnerability in being known by name, so, in a sense, God has made Himself vulnerable to the people He created. Therefore, we should use His name (all of them!) with care. Using God’s name without thinking is not any better than using it to swear. We should use God’s name with reverence. How are we at honoring God by how we use His name? How do we dishonor God by how we use His name?

God first reveals Himself in Genesis 1:1 and continues to progressively reveal more of Himself—His nature, His character throughout the Scripture—from Genesis to Revelation—He reveals Himself to His people. This should cause us to seek after Him, to receive from Him all He has to offer us. God gets bigger as we seek Him. God cannot be put into a box—He is much bigger than any box; He moves when, where, and as He wishes.

What type of God are you reflecting as you journey through this life? We tend to reflect what we perceive.

The thoughts and ideas I have shared in this post come from Beth Moore’s Believing God study and Ann Spangler’s book Praying the Names of God: A Daily Guide. I recommend both of these resources.

This post is part of my Believing God series. To read previous posts see: Believing God, Believing God: Unbelief, Believing God: Those Who Believed God, and Believing God: God is Who He Says He is.

Please join with me in prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing Yourself to us. It is amazing to have the honor of being able to know You by name. Place within us a hunger and desire to pursue You, to get to know You more and more each day. May our love for You deepen as we grow in our relationship with You. Quicken to us a desire to use Your name reverently and do nothing to dishonor Your holy name. Open our eyes to how You reveal Yourself to us personally, as You woo us to Yourself. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

From My Heart to Yours,

Kim

Caring for God’s Creation

“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”  (Psalm 24:1 KJV)

From the opening verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, we see the creative power of God—“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth”. God designed the earth for a purpose. Likewise, He created mankind to care for His creation—the whole of it.

Once sin entered into the picture (Genesis 3), the whole of God’s creation began to suffer as the result of mankind’s decision to live in a way that God had not planned. The beauty was marred. Creation has beauty but within that beauty lies danger too—danger from various elements, as well as animals.  

God expects us to care for the environment and the world He has given us. This is a sacred trust, in fact, Ecclesiastes 1:4 states: “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.” 

We have only one planet…let us care for it! How are we doing at caring for our environment?  Are we helping or hurting it?

It would be so easy to take the easy way out and flippantly think: “Jesus is returning. Why should I do anything to help the environment?” While Jesus is indeed returning—likely soon—we still need to use care in what we do and how we do it. Creation is fragile; therefore, we need to handle it with care.  

We can do many things (such as recycling paper or plastic, or planting a tree, or walking instead of driving), that will make our world a cleaner, healthier place to live.

It was not all that long ago, during the Great Depression, that our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and others learned to recycle/reuse/repurpose almost everything. They were on to something that many of us in this disposable culture have seemed to have forgotten: there is not an unlimited supply of resources, eventually things run out, disappear. We would be wise to use its resources with care.

Our world—the whole of creation—is crying out. Crying out in desperation for a change, for help—help that is found in Jesus Christ alone. The whole of creation groans as even it awaits the return of Jesus (see Romans 8:22 read here). Are we crying out as well?

Check out this article on The High Calling website for some ideas of how you can care for the environment: 5 Ways You Can Care for the Environment

Somewhere I read that we borrow the earth from our children; therefore, we should give to them an environment that is as healthy as possible. 

Take some time to soak in the beauty of God’s creation and praise and glorify Him for it! 

What can you do today or this week or this month to help the environment? 

What are you already doing to care for God’s wonderful, beautiful creation?

Please join with me in prayer:

God of Creation, thank You for Your beautiful and fragile world. We recognize many times we haven’t cared for it as carefully as we should and have taken its resources and beauty for granted; please forgive us. Grant us the wisdom to protect Your world and use its resources with care. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

From My Heart to Yours,

Kim