I remember sitting my biology lab where the lab assistant taught about the ear and the way that it captures sound waves with these intricate bones that send signals through our nervous system to our brain where it distinguishes between music, sounds, and conversation and translates into emotions, meaning, and sorts through millions of possibilities to identify the origin of the sounds heard.
"Wow!" I exclaimed. "That certainly did not happen by chance. This definitely confirms that there was an intelligent Creator in the beginning."
The blueprint in our DNA from conception that determines everything for so many systems and parts of our body is simply amazing. I am convinced that behind all of this is an omniscient God with super intelligence. when you consider all of the systems in place that work to keep the earth on course, the air and water purified, all the ingredients in the earth for us to grow foods, supply us with animals, plants, and materials to build and design inventions of our own.
To quote a recent meme a friend posted on social media, "To be an atheist, I would have to believe:
-nothing produced everything
-non-life produced life
-randomness produced precision
-chaos produced order
I simply do not have that kind of faith."
Neither do I.
To think that the complex blueprint rooted in DNA evolved separately from an infinite intelligent Creator is difficult to swallow. To think that we exist by chance with no definite purpose. To believe that order came from chaos, which came from nothing is too hard to fathom.
To think that the complex blueprint rooted in DNA evolved separately from an infinite intelligent Creator is difficult to swallow. To think that we exist by chance with no definite purpose. To believe that order came from chaos, which came from nothing is too hard to fathom.
I have no alternative but to acknowledge the Creator who called himself, I AM. For his great works and for his messages to us written down in the Holy Scriptures recorded in the Bible of his creation, the fall of man, and God's ultimate plan in love to spare us an eternity of pain and suffering. For this, I worship Him.
After the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they reaped the consequences of their sin against their God who intimately spent time walking and talking with them in the cool of the day.
After the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they reaped the consequences of their sin against their God who intimately spent time walking and talking with them in the cool of the day.
The first couple lost their provisions in the lush garden and had to leave it behind. Instead of a ready harvest of fruits and vegetables, they had to plant their own crops by the sweat of their brow. Because of their sin, God could not be present with the couple as in the past, but he did not totally abandon them.
God loves all that he created. He loves all mankind. We have the imprint of God in our very DNA. He took a chance by giving us free will to choose our destiny, but that was not the end of the story. God also had a plan B in mind to redeem all mankind back to himself if necessary. We were never left alone to our own devices.
David, the Psalmist, in his lyrics portrayed God as a shepherd and we as his sheep. Centuries later, Jesus too called himself the Good Shepherd. Growing up in towns and cities I know very little about raising sheep and their characteristics, but in reading A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, by Phillip Keller, the author shared information that opened my eyes to better understand the gentle caring overseer that David was alluding to.
David, the Psalmist, in his lyrics portrayed God as a shepherd and we as his sheep. Centuries later, Jesus too called himself the Good Shepherd. Growing up in towns and cities I know very little about raising sheep and their characteristics, but in reading A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, by Phillip Keller, the author shared information that opened my eyes to better understand the gentle caring overseer that David was alluding to.
Throughout my life, through trials and suffering, I have come to know God in a more intimate way. I always felt His love not his condemnation. He constantly cared for me and my family. I know from experience that God provides when I have nothing more. God never failed me. He has always been with me. Nothing separates me from his love and mercy.
People are like some of the sheep Keller raised. They wander off and need to be drawn back to the flock for safety. They hurriedly drink from dirty rancid puddles rather than waiting for the pure cool streams that the shepherd is leading them to. They cause discord and frustration in the flock and need to be removed or better, reoriented so that the rest of the flock can flourish.
One type of sheep however will perish if not for the intervention of the shepherd: the cast sheep. Cast sheep are sheep that due to being too fat, having too much wool, or just lying down in a soft hollow, end up rolling onto their back, helpless to right themselves in order to stand on their feet again. Their rumen expands cutting off circulation to their legs which further interrupts any path of escape from this situation they are in.
People are like some of the sheep Keller raised. They wander off and need to be drawn back to the flock for safety. They hurriedly drink from dirty rancid puddles rather than waiting for the pure cool streams that the shepherd is leading them to. They cause discord and frustration in the flock and need to be removed or better, reoriented so that the rest of the flock can flourish.
One type of sheep however will perish if not for the intervention of the shepherd: the cast sheep. Cast sheep are sheep that due to being too fat, having too much wool, or just lying down in a soft hollow, end up rolling onto their back, helpless to right themselves in order to stand on their feet again. Their rumen expands cutting off circulation to their legs which further interrupts any path of escape from this situation they are in.
Their only hope is that when their watchful shepherd gazes over the pasture at his flock and notices their struggling feet up in the air, that he runs to rescue it. The shepherd turns a cast sheep over, holds it upright between his legs, then speaks in soothing tones as he rubs the sheep's legs to encourage better circulation of the blood to its legs.
Even then, the sheep might falter and fall again, not yet strong enough to stand on its own, but the shepherd repeats the above process to restore the sheep until it regains the total functioning of its legs to leap around with the other members of the flock.
Cast humans are consumed with self and become fat with pride. This illusion of self-importance is a recipe for self-destruction. Some individuals consider themselves the end-all as though they are gods who turn their backs on the Creator who brought all things into being.
Just like a patient shepherd shears the excess wool from a cast sheep that is causing it to fall into the cast state of desperation, so Jesus came to shear mankind of the extreme weight of sin and death that would take us on a death roll toward eternal damnation. He said it himself, "I am the Door. I am the Way. I amd the Truth. I am the life. No man come to the Father except by Me." As simple as that.
Clipping and trimming from us this state of self-imposed separation from our true destiny which hides under all of our selfish mess, Jesus uncovers our beautifully unique spiritual DNA that perfectly suits and fulfills us.
A fresh new journey begins when anyone gladly surrendered to this new calling begins. Unexplainable joy transcends these new paths more than anything that we might have previously chosen. Deeper dimensions of joy, peace, and love burst forth and produce compassion. Armed with a vision not only for our lives but also a knowledge of how to reach out to others to bring this joyful new existence and unselfish response into other lives, spreads this goodness throughout the earth.
My heavenly Father is a good God. He is amazing and we are marvellously made in His image. He is the epicenter and source of all love. He is pure in intent and has our best interest at heart. We are his ultimate plan to bring His design back in exchange for the chaos and deprivation of this planet. I encourage you to plug into the Source today and be all that you were designed through your unique DNA to be!
Romans 8:15-17 (MSG)
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us--an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!
My references on cast sheep are from Phillip Keller* and the scripture is from The Message Bible.
*For the past two months, I have been studying the book A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller as well as Psalm 23 and a lot of corresponding truths in the Bible with a small group of women. Keller had degrees and experience in many fields and worked primarily out of British Columbia, but during his childhood, he was raised in East Africa and observed shepherds there. Then as an adult for eight years, he owned sheep so he has an insider's view of what David, the shepherd king, wrote about in this psalm. I highly recommend this book.
Cast humans are consumed with self and become fat with pride. This illusion of self-importance is a recipe for self-destruction. Some individuals consider themselves the end-all as though they are gods who turn their backs on the Creator who brought all things into being.
Just like a patient shepherd shears the excess wool from a cast sheep that is causing it to fall into the cast state of desperation, so Jesus came to shear mankind of the extreme weight of sin and death that would take us on a death roll toward eternal damnation. He said it himself, "I am the Door. I am the Way. I amd the Truth. I am the life. No man come to the Father except by Me." As simple as that.
Clipping and trimming from us this state of self-imposed separation from our true destiny which hides under all of our selfish mess, Jesus uncovers our beautifully unique spiritual DNA that perfectly suits and fulfills us.
A fresh new journey begins when anyone gladly surrendered to this new calling begins. Unexplainable joy transcends these new paths more than anything that we might have previously chosen. Deeper dimensions of joy, peace, and love burst forth and produce compassion. Armed with a vision not only for our lives but also a knowledge of how to reach out to others to bring this joyful new existence and unselfish response into other lives, spreads this goodness throughout the earth.
My heavenly Father is a good God. He is amazing and we are marvellously made in His image. He is the epicenter and source of all love. He is pure in intent and has our best interest at heart. We are his ultimate plan to bring His design back in exchange for the chaos and deprivation of this planet. I encourage you to plug into the Source today and be all that you were designed through your unique DNA to be!
Romans 8:15-17 (MSG)
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us--an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!
My references on cast sheep are from Phillip Keller* and the scripture is from The Message Bible.
*For the past two months, I have been studying the book A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller as well as Psalm 23 and a lot of corresponding truths in the Bible with a small group of women. Keller had degrees and experience in many fields and worked primarily out of British Columbia, but during his childhood, he was raised in East Africa and observed shepherds there. Then as an adult for eight years, he owned sheep so he has an insider's view of what David, the shepherd king, wrote about in this psalm. I highly recommend this book.
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