Being that we are part of the creation and living in it we can take it for granted.  Today, get out of your daily life, Take some time to go to a quite spot in Gods creation, this could be in the backyard of your house or in some park where you can sit with these verses and look at God’s creation.  (All verses below are taken from the American Standard Version – you can read this version in our Bible Reading section.)

Day 1: Psalm 24 and Genesis 1:1-5

God created the earth on the first day and created night and day.  It was good.  He created all out of nothing, He spoke it into being.  Who is He? Jehovah, the King of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Day 2: Psalm 146 and Genesis 1:6-8

On the second day God created the heavens and  atmosphere and he is worthy of Praise.  Jehovah made the heaven, earth and sea and every thing in them.  He is worthy of Praise and we should continually praise him for what he has created and that he sustains it all.

Day 3: Psalm 95 and Genesis 1:9-13

On the third day God created the seas and the dry land and on the dry land he created all kinds of vegetation.  He created all of this for us to live on and for us to live in.  We are His and we should make a joyful noise to our God and Savior Jesus Christ for not only creating this entire world for us to live in but for saving us also.

Day 4: Psalm 148 and Genesis 1:14-19

On the forth day God created the Sun, Moon and Stars.  He created the seasons and the years.  He has made a great and complex creation for us to live in, one that is never boring.  Again, we should praise Him for his creation, he is worthy of our praise.

Day 5: Psalm 8 and Genesis 1:20-23

On the fifth day God created all the creatures of the water and birds of the air.  He made them multiply over the earth.  Look around, look at His creation and praise His wonderful name!

Day 6: Psalm 139 and Genesis 1:24-31

On the sixth day God made the rest of the animal kingdom and He made man.  He gave man dominion over all of the earth, not to do what we want with it but as a steward of His creation we should work to protect it and use it as commanded.  God is good, his creation is good and you are made in His image.  You and I are different for all of the other animals; we are made in the Image of GOD.  Praise Him for his wonderfulness and kindness to all of us!

Day 7: Psalm 92 and Genesis 2:1-3

On the seventh day God rested.  This is a pattern for our own lives, we are to work hard for six days and rest on the seventh.  This rest, I believe is to be with family and to take time to be taught in the bible, reflect on what God has done and is doing and to rejuvenate.  I do not think that it means that we have to be legalistic and not do any work, because the very act of getting out of bed is in fact work…  God is a God of balance and not of legalistic ideals…  We should keep our world in balance and use this seventh day to reflect and be with God on a deeper level.

Right now, look around you, enjoy God’s creation and praise Him for all He has done for you.  Now on the seventh day, rest and get to know Him better!

"Praise you Lord for your goodness and for you faithfulness to each of us.  Thank you for your creation and all that you gave to us for our enjoyment and use.  Help us to always give you praise for what you have done and what you are doing and to use your creation as you would want us to.  Praise you for your continued protection on this planet in your universe.  You are so wonderful and worthy of all our praise!"

Psalm 77

This is a cool Psalm, one that has a lot of information (and inspiration) for us.  Not just because of what it says, but also for why it was said and what was not said.

This Psalm was by Asaph and was written when he was troubled.  Basically he was going through something that has weighed heavy on his heart and has kept him up all night long.  In verse 4 is states “You hold my eyelids open;”, he is so troubled he is loosing sleep and he is crying out to God.

The first part of the Psalm talks about his trouble and his past.  As the psalm goes on, and the night goes on, he starts to wonder if God is even there.  Look at verses 7 through 9 where he is wondering if God has forgotten to be gracious?

Does this sound familiar with you?  That is what I like about this psalm (and many) that it is familiar.  We all go through times of hardship, where we wonder if we are alone.  We wonder if God really cares, is he out there, we feel so far from Him.  What this psalm shows us in application however, is that it is in those times that we should call out to God!  Have you ever prayed all night long?  Have you wanted God so bad that you were troubled in your spirit calling out to Him?  This is what this psalm shows us, that you should reach out to God in your problems.

Another aspect of the psalm which is a lesson for us in those times is that the psalmist did not wallow in his trouble wondering where God is, he actively remembered all of the things that God has done in the past and that God has said.  Basically after wondering if God forgot to be gracious (verse 9) he said, no, that is not who my God is!  He then started listing all of the things about God.  He actively started to put his mind back in order, and even though he was still in the midst of his trouble he will remember what God has done for him and how merciful God is.

What is also cool about this psalm is what is not said.  There is not a list of please give me this, or give me that, or do this or that.  This is truly a prayer of praise to God for everything that has been done for him. 

God is always there for us.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  God is there, there are many times that we move away from him.  We get our selves into many messes because we are not listening to Him or following His will.  Then when we get our selves into this mess many times we are only thinking about ourselves.  God wants us to surrender to Him.  In our times or troubles we still need to surrender to Him and remember who He is and what He has done for us!  God is waiting for us, will we call out to him with out stretched arms, longing all night for Him?

If you are not one of His children, He is still waiting for you.  He is longing for you to turn to Him so that he can show His love to you.  Will you let Him?  Go to our salvation page and see how you can be saved and know God!

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23 (NKJV)

This Psalm written by King David puts into perspective our relationship with Christ.  We are sheep and he is the shepherd.  Yes, being called sheep is not a very flattering thing, but it is comforting to know that we have a shepherd, one that is capable of protecting us and keeping us out of danger. 

Let's look at a few characteristics of sheep and see how they pertain to us.

·        Sheep have virtually no defenses.
Most other animals in Gods kingdom have some time of defense or tricks to get them out of danger.  Some are fast, some blend into their surroundings, some have claws or teeth, but sheep have nothing.  They are slow and awkward creatures and are ripe for any predator that may come along.  The only defense a sheep has is its shepherd.

·        Sheep have difficulty finding food and water.
Sheep can not find food and water without the shepherd leading the way.  If they are left to their own devices they would end up eating poisonous weeds and dieing.  They depend fully on the shepherd to find the right food and a water hole where they can eat and when done lie down in still meadows for rest.

·        Sheep are easily frightened.
Sheep are frightened easily and when frightened will run, as you will see in the next point this is not a good predicament for the sheep.  The shepherd protects them and sings to them to keep them calm, He knows each by name and spends time with each one to help keep it calm.

·        Sheep have a poor sense of direction.
Sheep get lost easily, even in their own home area they do not know where they are going or where they have come from.  The shepherd must guide them out to the meadows and back again.

·        Sheep can not clean themselves.
Last but not least the sheep can not clean themselves.  The shepherd is constantly keeping their coat and ears and noses clean.  The shepherd knows each of his sheep by name and while they are talking with each one, spending time with them they are also looking over their bodies and cleaning them taking care or all of their needs.

Though this is not a pretty picture for us, I think we can all see some similarities in our own predicaments.  Jesus is our shepherd; He knows us by name and spends time with us.  He protects us and leads us to all that we need.  He blesses us and makes sure that we do not loose our direction.  He cleanses us from all of our sins by His death on the cross.  We need our shepherd and without him we will not make it.

Though none of us like to be called sheep, it is nice to know that Jesus is there for us all of the time.  He is there for you also.  If you do not know Him as your savior you need to, He is not far away in fact He has come to you and all you have to do from where ever you are is call out to Him.  Go to our salvation page and see how to be saved!  If you are already saved have you spent time with your shepherd today?  Read Psalm 23 again and call out to your shepherd for some one on one time, He is always available.

John 13: 1-5

This is a wonderful passage of the Bible, one full of quite a lot of information for our lives.  It starts out describing the scene of Jesus with His disciples in the upper room.  One thing to note is that Jesus knew what was coming next and really felt for His disciples. 

“Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto his Father, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” John 13: 1 (ASV)

He wanted to teach them the art of servant hood and wanted to do it in a powerful way.  He could have sat and preached to them, as so many of us like to do.  But He knew that they needed more than a sermon.  Let’s look at the mind of the disciples at this time.

First off we read in Matthew 20:21,22 what mind set the disciples were in. 

“Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, “What do you whish?”  She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom”.  Matthew 20:21,22 (NIV)

As you can see from this passage the disciples were positioning themselves to see who was the greatest.  When the others heard about what the Son’s of Zebedee did, they were very agree for they all wanted to be first.  You can read this in Mathew 20:24.  It is interesting in Matthew that he mentions that it was the mother of the brothers that asked Jesus this.  In Mark 10: 35,36,37 it does not mention the mother but just the brothers James and John, either way they were positioning themselves. 

Again in Mark we see:

“Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, what was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.“  Mark 9: 33,34 (NIV)

So as you can see the disciples were in need of a lesson on humility and servant hood.  But as Jesus knew His time was short, He needed to find a way to teach servant hood and not preach it.  As you will see in the next few verses of John 13 He found a powerful way of teaching this.

But there is one more element that we see from John 13 that must be understood.  Satan had already entered into Judas to betray Jesus.

“…the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's `son', to betray him…”  John 13, 2a (ASV)

The disciples are demonstrating pride and missing the point, one of them has been indwelled by Satan to betray Jesus, Jesus needs to act to break through as again time is short.

Jesus does something special to teach His disciples about servant hood, and more, as we will see further.  In John 13: 3,4, and 5, He takes off His outer clothes and puts a towel around His waste and starts to wash His disciple’s feet.  The feet are dirty and in this day and age the only person that washes the feet of another is a servant or slave.  None of the disciples volunteered for this duty, they are still wondering who is the greatest.  Jesus, God’s own Son, God of the Universe, took a towel, bent down to each disciple and washed their feet.  I am sure that the significance here was not really known by the disciples at this moment, other than humility because Jesus did this for them, but after His death and resurrection along with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit they knew what this act meant and took it to heart.

Sometimes the best way to preach to someone is by doing.  Becoming an example of God’s love to another person is the best way to show them who Jesus really is.  This may be the only way to break through some people’s walls.

Another aspect of what Jesus was teaching His disciples was a pictorial of the Gospel – or Salvation.  When Jesus came to Peter in John 13:6 Peter did not want Jesus to wash his feet.  He obviously was ashamed that he did not volunteer and did not want the humiliation of Jesus washing His feet.  In Matthew Peter acknowledged that Jesus is the Christ, so how can he now sit there and allow Jesus to wash his feet.  How humiliating this would be to allow Jesus, the Son of God to wash your feet just because you were too proud to volunteer yourself.

It was at this point that Jesus used Peters reaction for another lesson, this time on what Salvation is.

“So he cometh to Simon Peter. He saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt understand hereafter.⁸Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.⁹Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.¹⁰Jesus saith to him, He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.” John 13:6-10 (ASV)

This is a picture of salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Basically, Jesus is saying to Peter that if he does not allow Jesus to wash him then he will not be able to be with Jesus, in heaven.  Jesus is not talking about washing the feet but the washing of you Sins away.  Jesus stated in verses 10 says that all are clean except one, that is a representation of belief in who Jesus is and Salvation.  When we are saved we are clean in our spirit based on Christ’s washing of our sins away, which is symbolized by the washing of the feet, the washing of our flesh or sin.