A wonderful design

 He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:4-5

 

God is the intelligence behind the wonderful design of all creation. The creation of space is His wonderful design. Every galaxy, universe, star, planet, meteor, and asteroid is a result of His intricate wonderful design. He designed the craters on the moon so we could compare it to cheese. He designed the rings around Saturn so we could marvel at its majestic beauty. The tilt of the earth’s axis He designed to sustain life, but not spin out of control. He positioned the sun at just the right distance from Earth so it would warm, but not destroy. He knew all the planets’ gravitational pull toward the sun would be needed to orchestrate one big simultaneous swirl. Every flickering light in the sky, the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and the North Star, are all embedded in the intelligence of His wonderful design.
   
His wonderful and intelligent design is rational and logical. The Lord’s intelligence is astounding and all encompassing. It cannot be measured or completely understood, but it can be adored and praised. His intelligent wonderful design is a facilitator of faith in Him. Intelligent design is an act of the Almighty,  more proof of His profound power and might. The pure snow-capped peaks of the highest mountains point in praise toward their divine designer in heaven. Their rugged stone faces are a reminder of the rock solid dependability of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Anyone who has ever scaled a mountain, knows the intimacy and exhilaration of caressing the rugged face of God.
   
When we engage with the intelligence behind the design of creation, we begin to dance with its creator, for His wonderful design is not meant to be an end in itself. It is not just a lot of impressive scientific facts and statistics, but is His coming-out party that complements His visit to earth in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was enamored with the intelligence of His Father’s design as a metaphor for life. He spoke of the birds of the air, the lilies of the valley, and the stature of man. He described the Holy Spirit as a calm and unseeing wind. The new birth was contrasted with physical birth.

Above all else, Jesus was the “Word” in the beginning with God, installing intelligent design throughout all creation (John 1:1-3). His wonderful design is God’s invitation to faith. Anyone serious about their religion and equally serious about intellectual honesty, will trawl the depths of God’s design. The sincere search for truth will most likely lead them to Christ. Sincere seekers of a Savior through science will not be disappointed, but amazed, by engaging with the Creator Himself. Use intelligent design to galvanize your faith and give your evangelistic effort credibility. The truly intelligent invite Jesus Christ in as the interior designer of their soul. His outward and inward design is matchless and magnificent.

Gracious God

 But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them. Nehemiah 9:17

 

We serve a gracious God who does not desert us in our time of need, or reject us when we walk away. He knows our secret sins and still loves us, in spite of our indiscretions. Our sin breaks His heart, but it does not disqualify us from His grace. David felt this when he prayed to his gracious God, “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted” (Psalm 25:16). Your need  is God’s opportunity to extend you grace.

You may ask, “How do I qualify for God’s grace?” Breathe. If you are alive, you qualify. His grace reaches a wife who feels worthless because of the verbal and physical lashes from her husband. The grace of God goes out to a brain-cancer victim who waits in major uncertainty on an unproven clinical procedure. Your gracious God offers buckets of grace at your point of fear, rejection, anger, dismissal, job loss, divorce, and addiction.
 
Indeed, we are all candidates for God’s grace daily; so take the time to appropriate His great gift. In prayer and by faith, receive what your Sovereign Lord offers in abundance. Isaiah says it beautifully: “O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress” (Isaiah 33:2). In your bankrupt business and broken soul, His grace is sufficient to see you through. Gulp down gallons of grace.

Moreover, because you have the grace of God at your disposal, be a dispenser of grace. In the heat of relational conflict, it is not about you and your way. It is about the Lord’s way. His remedy for relational angst is grace. Give grace to the ungracious, and God will bless your efforts with healing and understanding. People who live in fear have no concept or understanding of faith, but your gracious response gives them a glimpse into grace.

When they lash out, listen. When they accuse, forgive. When they are angry, stay calm. When they are critical, pray for them. When they give up, be there for them. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). Grace is the governor that keeps the relational engine running smoothly. Be a grace giver, and you will never lack people to love

Money's distraction

 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Mark 10:21

 

It is easy for money to become a distraction. Just the making and management of money takes effort and focus. Indeed, money becomes a subtle master if it is not held in check. Our affections gravitate toward what we think about. If the majority of our waking moments are consumed by the thought of making more money, then we are distracted.

Yes, we need to do our work with excellence as unto the Lord. However, if making money becomes our consuming focus, then its devotion competes with God. Billions of people wake up every day to make money, but are they making money or is money making them? If my life is consumed by money, very little is left for a life well spent.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13).

Time and energy for others become scarce in the wake of compulsive money making. You may think that your current obsession with making money is for the long-term purpose of autonomy. This is flawed thinking, because a follower of Jesus Christ is never totally autonomous, they are tethered by trust to the will of God. We have a built in eternal expectation in our community and to Christ that results in accountability and service.

Yes, finances afford you options, but only options that are under the purview of God’s will. A life of unshackled leisure and self-indulgence is not a life well spent for the Lord. He may free you up to serve Him and others, but not to sit and soak. Too many options can be a distraction. So, where is the balance? How can you avoid money’s distraction?
 
Stay close to Christ and let Him love you. He will love you away from money’s allurement and into heavenly investments. Let Him love you away from the seduction of possessions. Then you will want to reciprocate love to your lover. If your love quotients are met by stuff, then your affections will gravitate to the moneymaking mistress.

When you allow money to love you, you feel a debt to materialism. Your emotions and energies feel obligated to love back. An affair with money and possessions leaves nothing for the lover of your soul. And, without an intense love relationship with your Creator, you will become sad and dissatisfied. Loving God satisfies the soul.

Fortunately, there is a solution to money’s distraction. Let God love you—then you are compelled to love Him. Money’s distraction is derailed by a love relationship with Jesus. When you love Him wholeheartedly, there is no room for money to distract. Then give generously to whom He loves, especially the poor. Generous givers love God, not money. Eternal rewards await those who send ahead what they cannot keep.

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:19-21, NLT).

Regularly Replenish

 A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.  Proverbs 11:25

 

Everyone is in need of encouragement. Each day life issues extract courage from everyone. Indeed, all are candidates in need of receiving courage from a caring soul. They need to hear, “Job well done”, “You can do it”, “You are a blessing”, “You are a gift from the Lord”, “I need you” and “I love you”. Like the gas tank in an automobile, people need a regular fill up of encouraging words, kind deeds, a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear.

Spouses need encouragement so they feel loved, accepted, and respected. Children need encouragement so they feel love and the security around well defined boundaries. Work associates need the balance of many more  “well dones” to balance out the “why didn’t you?” All restaurant servers deserve a sincere smile and most deserve a generous tip. Encourage those the Lord sends your way each day; these are His divine moments.

“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3).

Furthermore, the replenishment of others is reciprocal. When we take a short amount of time to extend kindness and care, we receive the blessing of a thank you, a gentle hug, a grateful email, or the satisfaction of representing Jesus well. What a privilege to be a conduit for Christ and connect two people who grow to love and appreciate each other. Encouragers decrease, while others increase, and all are filled with joy by faith in God.

When you give others hope, you become hopeful. When you give others peace, you become peaceful. When you give others faith, you become faithful. You give others comfort, you become comforted. When you give others encouragement, you become encouraged. When you give others Jesus, you become like more like Jesus.

Who needs a handwritten thank you note? Perhaps you set a goal of writing two or three caring communications each day. Give a new Bible to the maintenance worker at your office, ask him or her the names of their children and give them Bibles. Invite a couple to dinner to love on and listen to how they are doing. Drop by to see a family with a special needs child, just to see how they’re doing, and pray with them. No one normally complains of too much encouragement, so be a regular replenisher of courage. Most of all, lead others to be refreshed by the Lord, His refreshment satisfies best.

“He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3).

Applied truth

 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

 

Truth applied makes us fully alive. Most people know enough truth to live a worthwhile life. They know to be honest and not lie. They know to be content and not covet another person’s house, car, or spouse. They know to be patient and wait on the Lord to do a work of grace in a loved one’s life. They know to take responsibility and not blame someone else. They know to believe Jesus and to trust Him with their life.

If we know the truth, why do we sometimes struggle with its application? Perhaps we are self-deceived to think the truth of Scripture is needed for someone else, but not for us. Truth is right and good, not just right and good for me to practice, or worse, to think I’m living it out, when I’m not. Feeling good or bad, or being educated doesn’t transform behavior. What alters our actions is an inward change of the heart expressed in outward obedience to the word of the Lord. The wonderful benefit of this practical process is that truth applied makes us fully alive.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Truth is like a vaccination, that when administered, prevents you from being infected with foolish living. It is like a life-saving serum applied to sin’s poisonous snakebite, potentially healing you from relational, emotional, physical and spiritual death. There is no downside to honestly gazing into the mirror of truth, assessing our life, better yet inviting godly friends to look with us, and then by God’s grace, applying truth for change.
 
Is there a dark area of your life that needs the bright light of truth to expose it and root it out? Are there bad attitudes and habits we blame on past pain and injustice? If so, lean into the truth and do not be satisfied until truth’s application frees you from mediocre living to abundant living in Christ. Truth applied does make us fully alive, it is a dependable friend who walks with us through wise decision-making. Dismiss dishonest living and invite  freedom in honest living. Ask the Lord to reveal truth to you and empower you to live out the truth.
 
“When you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24).

Quality of Life

 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.  Proverbs 13:20

What does it mean to have quality of life? Good health? Harmony at home? A happy heart? Financial security? Freedom of speech and worship? A fulfilling career? Grateful and content children? A meaningful marriage? A life of significance? Peace with God? Probably some of these elements and more make up a life worth living or what we call a quality life.

The quality of our lives is determined by the quality of our relationships. Who we spend time with is who we become. If we spend time with those wise in their finances, and if we pay attention, we can become wise in our finances. If we are intentional in our faith, we will worship with those of great faith. Our life is a reflection of our relationships.

“Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:16-17).

So, how is your relational portfolio? Are you diversified with people who bring value to all aspects of your life? Conversely, are you intentional to invest time and interest in those who look to you for guidance? Quality of life flows from not just receiving wisdom, but from giving wisdom. Wisdom works both directions for the good of the relationship.

Furthermore, be careful not to excuse bad behavior, because you are trying to relate to questionable company. Draw a line far away from eroding your character’s creditability. You can influence others for good, without being bad. In some situations, what you don’t do defines you more than what you do. Use business trips and vacations to model faithfulness, not foolishness. Stand for what’s right, when others agree to what’s wrong.

“Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Above all, quality of life results from our relationship with Christ. He is life itself and everything good in life flows from Him. When we grow in our personal relationship with Jesus, it affects the growth of our other relationships. Relationship building in heaven, builds relationships on earth. Ultimately, Jesus is the life to model and follow. The resurrected life of Christ gives us the spiritual stamina to experience a quality life.

“Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this'? 'Yes, Lord,' she replied, 'I believe…'” (John 11:25-27a).

Man of prayer

In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. Psalm 109:4

 

A man of prayer prays. It is his first line of defense and his most effective offensive strategy. Prayer is not an afterthought for a man of prayer; it is not a last ditch engagement with the eternal, but is the first thing to come to mind. Prayer is not just a demonstration of discipline and determination, but a dependence on God. It is conversing with Christ,  not just asking God for goodies and guarantees. The man of prayer enters into intimacy with the Lord. He realizes that God is in control and  His wisdom is needed for life and work. Prayer precludes pain by providing patience. It forecasts disaster by giving warning. It discerns clumsy and destructive decisions by cultivating understanding and discernment.

A man of prayer avoids self-inflicted problems because he prays first. Prayer is medicine for the sick and refreshment for the soul. Prayer may be the best gift you can give someone. You may not have silver and gold to give, but you can give prayer (Acts 3:6). A man of prayer does not talk about praying, with a simple, “I’ll pray for you.” On the contrary, with a seriousness of purpose and responsibility, he stops what he is doing and lifts to heaven the concerns of the one requesting prayer. As you hear him pray, a peace and calm overcome you. It is encouragement from on high. His is not a stale prayer but fresh, because the man of prayer has been in prayer. A man of prayer prays for his spouse and for the spouses of his children. He leads his wife in prayer. He keeps his logical mind in check by checking in with Christ.
   
Start by getting on your knees for five minutes each morning. Prayerful posture is important to a man of prayer. His stature is humble and dependent. Therefore, humble yourself daily before your heavenly Father. Lay face down on the floor, if necessary. Then get up and consider making a prayer list. However, do not sell yourself short by feeling unqualified to be a man of prayer. This role is not reserved for the super righteous. It is for adulterers, liars, and murderers like David (Psalm 51). A man of prayer is still a man in recovery from sin. Sin does not cease to hound the man who prays, but it drives him to pray; then sin’s influence is stunted in the face of the man of prayer. It is hard to sin while you pray. There is accountability to God that bolsters the man of prayer in his everyday life.
   
Indeed, there is a direct correlation between prayer and purposeful living. “Man of Prayer” is not a title that comes with a badge to flaunt. Instead, it is a discreet lifestyle of continual prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It becomes a habit of life, like eating and sleeping. Prayer, for a man of prayer, is not an elective. It is a required course. It is core curriculum. Moreover, the man of prayer cannot be pigeonholed as to his behavior and speech. He comes in all shapes and sizes, depending on his God-given temperament. He is humorous and humble; He is loud and he is quiet; He is spontaneous and he is methodical; He is creative and he is concrete; He is eloquent and he is simple. However, there is one thing he is not: He is neither proud nor arrogant. People are his pleasure and heaven is his home, where he checks in often. Jesus is his “go-to man.”

Worship, thanksgiving, praise, and adoration permeate the prayers of a man of prayer. A man of prayer prays. 

Heart knowledge

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10

There is a very important distinction between heart knowledge and head knowledge. A person can know facts about God in their head, without applying it to their heart by faith. A man or woman can hear all the right things, say the right things, attend church, and still be 18 inches away from heaven, as that is the distance between the head and the heart.

We can play church, masquerade our true heart to others, and even fool ourselves, but God cannot be fooled. We can volunteer in ministry, give money and have accolades from genuine Christians, but has our heart truly been transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit and grace of God? Evidence of conversion is a public declaration of Jesus as Lord, and an internal confession that God raised Him from the dead. A heart engaged with eternity is saved from sin.

“The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught'” (Isaiah 29:13).

Where are you on the continuum of your commitment to Christ? Are you still seeking? Have you crossed over the line of belief by bowing in humble submission to our Savior and Lord Jesus? Be honest with yourself and God if you have not given your heart to heaven. Pray for the Lord to help your unbelief, and be bold to request prayer from others.

What life event will it take to lead you to authentic faith and repentance? Marriage? The birth of a child? The loss of a child? The loss of a parent? Health issues? Financial brokenness? When we are on our back, our heart looks to heaven for help. When we drop to our knees in humble prayer, we see the Lord lifted up, and we invite His warm embrace.

Don’t fight the hang-ups in your head, instead let us surrender our heart to Jesus. The enemy and deceiver Satan will always find an excuse for our mind to excuse eternal life in heaven. Do not dismiss childlike faith in Jesus for this is the entrance into His Kingdom. We are first born again with infant faith then we mature by grace and the meat of God’s word. Have you made this initial move of heart-felt faith? Take this first step of trust and start your walk with Jesus.

“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation” (Psalm 13:5).