Monday, January 2, 2012

RADICAL COMMITMENT: Day 364

I am so very thankful for God’s blessings down here in Florida. Today I spent the better part of the day with a dear friend and we outlined our goals for the year…and beyond! We hammered out a list of conferences we’d like to attend, the books we are starting to write, discussed healthy habits and BIG dreams we have (not even the sky was the limit)!!!
Yesterday’s message of 10,000 moments really began to sink in…and I am excited for the daily reminder of opening God’s word and reminding myself that discipline in growing in knowledge of Him will allow my antennas to be tuned into those moments where he will teach and guide my life.
2012 is going to be a BIG YEAR…I can just feel it!
Here is our reading for today:
John 1: 1-3
The Word Became Flesh
 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

***What Jesus taught and what he did are tied inseparably to who he is. Jesus as fully human and fully God. When God created, he made something from nothing. Because we are created beings, we have no basis for pride. Remember that you exist only because God made you, and you have special gifts only because God gave them to you. With God you are something valuable and unique, apart from God you are nothing, and if you try to live without him, you will be abandoning the purpose for which you were made.

Psalm 8:The GREATNESS of God assures the WORTH of mankind. God, the all-powerful Creator, cares for his most VALUABLE creation – people.
How Majestic Is Your Name
 1 O LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
   to still the enemy and the avenger.
 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
   and the son of man that you care for him?
 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[b]
   and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
 9 O LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 104: Appreciating God through his creation. He not only creates, but maintains his creation. The Lord’s care is the SOURCE of our JOY!
O LORD My God, You Are Very Great
 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul!
   O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
 2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
   stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
   he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
   his ministers a flaming fire.
 5 He set the earth on its foundations,
   so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
   the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
   at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
   to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
   so that they might not again cover the earth.
 10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
   they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
   the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
   they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
   the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
 14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
   and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
 15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
   and bread to strengthen man's heart.
 16 The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,
   the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
   the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
   the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
 19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;[a]
   the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
   when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
   seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
   and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work
   and to his labor until the evening.
 24 O LORD, how manifold are your works!
   In wisdom have you made them all;
   the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and wide,
   which teems with creatures innumerable,
   living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
   and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.[b]
 27 These all look to you,
   to give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
   when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
   when you take away their breath, they die
   and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit,[c] they are created,
   and you renew the face of the ground.
 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
   may the LORD rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
   who touches the mountains and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
   I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
   for I rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
   and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Praise the LORD!

I feel no need to expand on the word of the Lord. I LOVE reading in chronological order, because not only are we studying creation, but we are shown just HOW BLESSED we are to be created by God and to have the opportunity to live out His will!
We've been singing this one at church...and it just fit PERFECTLY! Funny (or actually not at all) how He works like that! 10,000 reasons for my 10,000 moments! Wow, God....just WOW!

Where have you seen God's grace in your life today?