Psalm 139:13-14  For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well.
 

He's on His hands and knees, moving the very grains of sand into the curves and forms that would soon change into flesh and bone. He gently caresses with His fingers the muscles, organs, and skin that will allow this man, and ultimately a woman, to move with grace and flair in His creation. He leans over and, into the very nostrils He has carved out, breathes not just physical air that inflates the man's lungs and activates the blood that pulses through the man's body but even His very spirit into this man, and ultimately into that woman. They, the very image of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - will imitate their Creator in love and power.

He gives us all that we need to be the ones who provide care and leadership in His creation. He calls us to follow Him in His creativity and in how He cares. We, the very real modern-day 4-D image of God, are called to serve as co-caretakers in our day and age.

When we sin and cross that line of selfishly believing we don't need God to continue this work, He does not abandon us. When we sin and actively harm or neglect His creation, He enters into it Himself, redeeming us through Jesus. He restores our very body and soul by His grace and gives us faith to once again join Him in His creative and sustaining work. May we in joy follow Him well!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Colossians 2:9-10  For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

During the 2000 presidential election, the phrase "fuzzy math" entered the national vocabulary. It was used by politicians to attack opponents' positions based on numbers that just didn't seem to add up. At first glance, the Holy Trinity seems to be a good example of fuzzy math. How can 1 father + 1 Son + 1 Holy Spirit = 1 God? It doesn't add up. Even great minds like St. Augustine and Luther failed in their attempts to do the math.

Unlike politicians who use numbers to cloak, conceal, and confuse, God uses this complex equation to unveil, uncover, and unravel one of the great mysteries of Christian doctrine. Scripture is filled with passages detailing the existence and distinct role of each person of the Trinity. God the Father is the beginning and end of all creation. God the Son comes to earth as a human being to be sacrificed and resurrected for our salvation. God the Holy Spirit dwells with believers on earth to grow and sustain faith. The equation becomes fuzzy when we factor in Scripture's mention of there being only one God. Yet even in this seeming contradiction, God exposes and uncovers the root cause of sin that Satan recognizes and regularly exploits. We human beings want to be equal to God. The mystery of the Holy Trinity brings us humbly to our knees to confront and confess our own weakness. It turn our eyes to the kingdom of God, where we know all mysteries will one day be revealed.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Ephesians 3:18-19  May you have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
 

Our God is no generic, least-common-denominator deity. Ours is a very particular God who did particular deeds for a particular reason. He created us from dust and His own breath. He redeemed us through the blood of His Son, Jesus. He pours out His Spirit on us to make us members of His household and heirs of eternal life. All this He does because He loves us with a love that is both undying as eternity and dies to give us life. His love and His deeds distinguish Him from every pretender to His throne, and they give us an eternal place around His throne.

It is therefore vitally important that we be very clear who our God is. Saying, "I believe in God," is not specific enough. Many non-Christians say the very same thing. The Apostles' Creed helps us get specific. We believe in one God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe in the God who created all things, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in His only Son, our Lord, who gave His life to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil and who rose in glory on the third day. We believe in the Holy Spirit, whose divine power creates faith where there was none and warms our cold hearts. When we confess the Creed, we confess this God in all His uniqueness. It is this God alone whom we confess, because it is this God alone who saves.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 147:10-11  His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor His pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love.

Fear is a word most of us would like to obliterate from the Bible. It is easy to believe that it has no place because of our grace-based vantage point in Christ Jesus. Luther helps us to understand the proper place of fear in his writing on the Close of the Commandments. Like everything else that is both overtly theological and also experienced tangibly in some way in our daily world and lives, fear is best understood from a Law-and-Gospel perspective. We wouldn't really dessert with no dinner; we'd be left hungry ten minutes later. And we wouldn't really like a life with no dessert either; then we would miss the sweetness gifted to us by God. Like dessert, fear has two sides. Fear creates images that are uncomfortable for us. However, throwing it off all together, removing it from our experiences, would leave us with less intimacy with God, less understanding of His holiness, His omniscience, and His richness.

God is big. God is perfect. God is jealous. He fills all time and space. We do not want to remove the sweetness of all of this by obliterating the fear included in these attributes. Instead, we embrace the reality of a great, big, powerful God over the universe through the Gospel truth of His plans and purposes in sending Jesus Christ, His dear Son, as our Savior and Redeemer. Jesus stands as Advocate for us. We see God through a Jesus lens. We see even fear through Christ alone.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Isaiah 57:17  Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid My face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.

They say, "You can't take it with you." I can't argue with that. I can get what I can in the meantime though. Who else will look out for me and my household?

God sees through our self-justifications. We cannot hide, even within our own dark house. Through these commandments, He slips in and flips the switch that shows our greedy, self-reliant, discontented soul. He dissects "the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12)

We see God's provision, but our bodies and souls are insatiable. We refuse to rely on God to give enough. We cannot stand to see our neighbor have more or better things than us. We imagine ways to feel content for a moment. But God has assured us it won't last (Ecclesiastes 1:2; Romans 8:20).

When we consider Christ, we see someone preoccupied with a home in this world (Luke 9:58). He relied on the Creator with eyes wide open to the needs of His neighbors - to my needs. He was content with the "house not made with human hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Made new in Him, we have eyes to see that we belong to the household of faith as a living stone within God's eternal Church (Psalm 51:10; Galatians 6:10; 1 Peter 2:4-5).We have eyes to see God's gifts to us and our neighbors. We have contentment in Jesus, God's free gifts and our priceless treasure. Through Him, we have a place in the Father's house (John 14:1-3).
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

James 3:5-6  So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Stories abound of forest fires destroying thousands of acres. Investigation often finds the cause to be a spark from a campfire or a cigarette. James knew of great blazes coming from small fires. He knew how similar our tiny tongue is in causing raging havoc for our neighbor. Have you started any such "fires"? Have you said untrue things about others? Have you said true things about others with intent to harm? Take some time to reflect, to repent, and then to rejoice in God's forgiveness.

Now start some good fires! Firefighters sometimes use fire in a controlled burn to eliminate fuel from the approaching flames. This creates a barrier to further damage. Our tongues can prevent further damage when the latest rumor reaches our ears. "I don't think we should be spreading this around." Our tongues can prevent further damage by a positive word. "Well, I don't know about that, but..." and then say something good about the person. Our tongues can prevent further damage by following that Golden Rule of Jesus. "How would we like it if such things were said about us?"

Speaking of Jesus, we can learn from Him. "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth" (1 Peter 2:22). Speaking of Jesus, His tongue was silent before His accusers so He could win forgiveness for the sins of our tongues (Mark 14:61). He forgives the destructive fires our tongues start. He moves us to "speak well" and start good fires.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Ephesians 4:28  Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

The Seventh Commandment, like all the Commandments, is foremost an offense against the First Commandment. To steal from another is to place our desire for something above God Almighty, the giver of all good things. In other words, we worship what we intend to steal. We look for satisfaction and security in the materials of this world rather than in our heavenly Father. This is the most eternally devastating aspect of stealing. So consumed in the anticipated joy of what we believe we must have, we underestimate the value of knowing God through His Son, Jesus Christ. The result is the loss not only of whatever we esteemed so highly as to steal but also of the everlasting life, peace, and joy of God's presence in heaven.

Additionally, stealing leads us away from the ministry of Jesus Christ. Paul explains in Ephesians 4:28 that our labor is intended to produce something valuable for our neighbor in need. Jesus came into the world needing nothing. He set aside the goodness of heaven in order to work for sinners. His entire life on earth was a labor of love, from which His Holy Spirit gives to us. Each day, Jesus resisted temptation and obeyed His Father so that, through faith, we could be counted sinless and perfectly obedient. He suffered and died innocently on the cross, from which we receive full forgiveness. Jesus did indeed work to share with those in need!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,