Reflection, by Gary Rose

I wonder what is in this glass? Water, possibly. Perhaps alcohol, for this glass does appear to be one that is used for drinking spirits. Whatever it is, it reflects the light around it beautifully. And the that light; sunset and almost twilight – simply beautiful.

A second thought… If I were a glass, what would I reflect and display?

Would my imperfections make my the resulting reflection better or worse? I wonder?

Then, I thought of something I read this morning as part of my daily Bible reading…

Psalm 8 ( World English Bible )

1 
For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David. 

Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 
You have set your glory above the heavens! 


2 
From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, 
because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger. 


3 
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, 


4 
what is man, that you think of him? 
What is the son of man, that you care for him? 


5 
For you have made him a little lower than the angels, 
and crowned him with glory and honor. 


6 
You make him ruler over the works of your hands. 
You have put all things under his feet: 


7 
All sheep and cattle, 
yes, and the animals of the field, 


8 
the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, 
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 


9 
Yahweh, our Lord, 
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Jesus said...

John 14 ( WEB )

15 If you love me, keep my commandments.

16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever:

17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive, for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

21 One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.” 


 

What the glass contains, it reflects. Hopefully, that reflection is beautiful. The picture above reflects God’s creation at sunset. I wonder, Gary, do you reflect Jesus?

This last question concerns not only myself, but all who read this post. Question: Do you reflect Jesus ( because he is in you ) or something else? Right about now, a little introspection just might be very beneficial.

Not interested, then, your reflection just might look like this….

The whole world by Gary Rose

This picture reminds of the song: “He's got the whole world in his hands”. I found a nice version on the net; below please find the link. I hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNrpun-SOPo

The above led me to think about God and the creation of all things. Naturally, I started at the beginning. The Bible says...

Genesis 1 ( World English Bible )

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning, one day.
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
8 God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.
10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;” and it was so.
12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.
16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky.”
21 God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so.
25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.
31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

This is a chapter of the Bible that most people have either heard of or know or have studied. However, I have a few thoughts I would like to share with you for your reflection:

There is a creator.

Everything that you can perceive with your senses ( and more ) is created by him.

Everything that He made is very good.

There is a pattern that he made in his creation.

God made it in HIS own time and HIS own way, according to HIS desire.

Human beings are the pinnacle and stewards of God’s creation. We are not the product of the theory of evolution. We are special in this world and are caretakers of all creatures, by God’s decree.

If God decides that tomorrow he will destroy any or all of his creation- it is HIS right to do so.

Because God created everything; HE is therefore in everything.

These are but a few thoughts, but even considering one of them is worthwhile and time well spent. The more that I consider the nature and actions of God, the more I begin to grow as both a person and as a follower of Jesus ( a Christian ). It is my prayer that you will too!

Victory by Gary Rose

No matter who you are, you are growing older with every minute. This is an undeniable F-A-C-T. You might be a very nice person or the complete opposite. Young or old, rich or poor, someday your earthly body will fail you and you will die. Depressing isn’t it?

However, one of the reasons I follow Jesus of Nazareth is hope. Hope that someday I will be victorious over death and decay. I WILL BE VICTORIOUS BECAUSE JESUS WAS VICTORIOUS! Because Jesus lives, I will live. His resurrection from the grave is what is in store for me. This past Lord’s day, I heard an excellent lesson about the resurrection of Jesus. The good news is: It was the first of several lessons on the topic from the 15^th chapter of the book of 1^st Corinthians.

The Bible says...

1 Corinthians 15 ( World English Bible )

¹ Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,

² by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

⁶ Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.

⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

⁸ and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.

¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

----------------------------------

⁵⁴ But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵ “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

AND

1 John 5 ( WEB )

⁴ For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.

If you believe the documented fact that Jesus died for our sins and that he now is living, your faith will be rewarded at the moment of your demise. And that reward is not temporary, it is permanent! Until that day, I will live in the knowledge that with Jesus Christ, I WILL BE VICTORIOUS. Can you say that? If not, then put aside whatever is preventing you from obeying the Gospel and become a Christian NOW!