08-06-20 I recently asked a friend “do you know me well enough, that if I start to forget, that you can remind me who I am.” It was kind of a trick question and serious question. It been a rough season of life. And the enemy has tried at every turn to distort the way I see myself. I know the Truths, but he is trick in the lies about me and who I am. He wants you to focus on this temporary earthly identity. He wants to point out and compare us to the norms of our current society. This cannot be our measuring stick. As Christians our identity is not wrapped up in the norms of our current society. Our identity is found in God our Creator. We carry the very breath and image of our Heavenly Father.
09-27.21 It’s been over a year since I started this draft. And what a year it has been. Lots of life has happened. Lots has changed and a lots has remained the same. But the fact remains that we must get a picture of what God has to say and what He sees when He looks at us. All the things going on around us are not surprising to God. He knows, He knew and He already planned for it.
Ecclesiastes 1 (ESV)
1 The words of the Preacher,[a] the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity[b] of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3 What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens[c] to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things,[d]
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things[e] yet to be
among those who come after.
Genesis 1 (ESV)
26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Matthew 6 (ESV)
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
I recently saw a chart that showed the number of average breaths per minutes by age. As a newborn the range is 25 to 66, with a normal range being 34-57 breaths per minute. As an adult the range is 8 to 24, with a normal range of 13 to 19. Lets say the average number is 15. That’s 15 times per minute we breath in the very breath of God. The chart also showed the number of heart beats per minute, average being 65 beats per minute. We need God every second of every day.
We need God. Whether intentional or not, we rely on God for our most basic signs of life.
You are made in the very image of God. You breath His breath in and out of your lungs. And our hearts beat to the rhythms He set in motion. Our friends may fail to know us. Those closest to us may disappointment. But God is there. He know You, He cares for You. He is there with every breath and heart beat to sustain and guide through this life. You are here for a purpose. You are not an accident. You were created for such a time as this.
You are His.
AP
actively pursuing 