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There is something to be said for faith that neither gets bogged down in the present nor anchors itself to the past but rather looks forward to the future with longing and desire for something more. It is that forward facing faith that, while holding fast to the foundations of past blessing and past experience, presses through the difficulties of the present and reaches for the promise of the future. Forward looking faith peers into tomorrow to catch a glimpse of promises fulfilled.
This is the faith that God has been dealing with my heart about today. A faith that refuses to believe that our best is behind us. A faith that refuses to accept that our present circumstances are as good as it gets. A faith that longs for and desires after the future. A faith that enables the mind to believe that there is a better day ahead, that the best is yet to come. This is the kind of faith that I must cultivate in my life.
The foundations that we've been given are great. Our glorious past is wonderful. The heritage that we continue is a priceless treasure. But I must extend my faith to believe that God isn't finished with us yet! The past is to be saluted and honored but I still believe that the end of this thing will be better than its beginnings. I hear the words of my master echoing in my ears, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do..." (John 14:12) Greater works and better things are still before us.
The present circumstance is often overwhelming. It requires, even demands the majority of our time and attention. The details; the circumstances; the struggles; the battles; even the mundane tasks; our present demands our attention and attempts to dominate us. But forward looking faith says, "I refuse to accept things as they are." I may have to endure the present, but my hope is in the future. Forward facing faith refuses to be constrained within the limits of what can be seen and understood at this present time. It refuses to define tomorrow in the terms of today's abilities or inabilities. It refuses to trade the warmth of hope for the stark coldness of reality.
With a boldness that can only be drawn from hope, forward facing faith embraces a promise that has not yet been fulfilled. It sees the future, not through the lens of the present, but, rather, trough the prism of promise. Its a faith that invests itself in a hope for a better tomorrow. A faith that yearns for the better things that have been spoken but haven't yet been fulfilled. It's David with a king's anointing and a shepherds staff. Its the little old lady looking at the prophet and saying all is well when her son lies dead in his bed. Its that inexhaustible faith that is fully vested in the possibilities that exist only as mirages on the horizon.
This is the kind of faith that looses the promises of God. This is the kind of faith that isn't content to grow comfortable in the present but reaches into the future and pulls itself into a promise. It's the kind of faith that believes, without compromise, that if God said it, he's gonna bring it to pass. It's the kind of faith that acknowledges that God is sovereign, he's in control, and it places its trust fully in Him to open the doors that no man can open and to make a way where no man can make a way.
I find myself, more and more, being challenged to exercise this kind of unwavering forward facing faith...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A Greater Generation
When Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation, was released in 2004 it gave voice to a rising sentiment that America’s greatest moments were in it’s past. That the greatest victories have already been won, that the greatest sacrifices have already been made and that the many of the greatest heroes have already died. From that time to this, the cry has only amplified. The prevalent message seems to be that only in some generation in the distant past were there genuine heroes that were willing to stand against tanks and tyranny. The comparisons have been made and many have lamented the loss of a generation of young people who were willing to lay down the comforts and convenience of life in order to pursue a greater good.
While I have a great amount of respect for that generation and the very real sacrifices that they made to preserve our freedoms, I’m not sure I agree with the message that this wave of nostalgia sends to the current generation. It seems that we, as a nation, have already written off the young people of this and future generations. It seems as if we are declaring to them that they will never equal the dedication, sacrifice and victories of that past generation. Even more tragic, it feels as if many in the church have adopted this same sentiment. I don’t believe we could be any further from the truth.
When I survey the young people of this current generation I see a group of young people that are looking for a challenge to which to rise. I see a group of young people that are willing to make sacrifices and hungry for a cause to believe in. I don’t believe for a moment that the age of heroes is limited to the past. I believe that our greatest heroes have yet to take the stage. I believe that our greatest heroes have yet to distinguish themselves in battle. I still believe that the best is yet to come!
I am, relatively speaking, a young man. However, when I look at the generation that is coming up behind me I see a tremendous group of capable young men and women who have a genuine burden to reach their world with the gospel. I understand that, by and large, they haven’t gained the wisdom of experience and the vibrant energy of their youth hasn’t yet been tempered by the cold hard realities of life. However, I believe that their desire is genuine and that their faith is real. I believe, with all that is in me, that they are about to distinguish themselves, like no other generation, on the spiritual battlefield of life.
The word is on their side in this matter. My bible tells me that the latter rain is going to be greater than the former. Faith tells me that the end of this thing will far outshine the beginning. We are not a part of a lineage of heroes that diminishes with time. Rather, the lineage of the faithful grows stronger and more powerful with the passing of time. With every generation this message is amplified and apostolic authority is multiplied.
Perilous times are upon us. All that can be shaken will. Even the elect, if they aren’t careful, will fall away in these last days. The darkness of night has made itself prevalent even on the brightest of our days. But, in the midst of an immoral, godless, and humanistic generation there echoes a promise from the word of God that “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20 ESV) I believe that there are genuine heroes of the faith in the upcoming generations that are about to arise and confront the spirits of this end time. I believe that there are anointed young men and young women of God that are about to experience the greatest revival that has ever occurred. I believe that our apostolic heritage is in good hands!
I simply want to extend myself this morning and express my faith in the Godly young people that are taking up the mantle of apostolic authority in their generation. I understand that they are young; I understand that they will make mistakes; and I understand that they will have their struggles. However, I believe that, just as a past generation found their courage on the distant battlefields of history and distinguished themselves with honor and sacrifice, heroes are about to emerge from this generation as well.
This morning I applaud you. To all of the young men, to all of those that are yet unproven, I applaud your faith and zeal for the things of God and I challenge you to take this message of hope to a lost world and make your mark on your generation. I truly believe that you are the generation upon whom the ends of the world have come. And I believe that you are uniquely anointed to meet that challenge and overcome it by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony.
This morning I applaud a greater generation… Let the heroes arise!
While I have a great amount of respect for that generation and the very real sacrifices that they made to preserve our freedoms, I’m not sure I agree with the message that this wave of nostalgia sends to the current generation. It seems that we, as a nation, have already written off the young people of this and future generations. It seems as if we are declaring to them that they will never equal the dedication, sacrifice and victories of that past generation. Even more tragic, it feels as if many in the church have adopted this same sentiment. I don’t believe we could be any further from the truth.
When I survey the young people of this current generation I see a group of young people that are looking for a challenge to which to rise. I see a group of young people that are willing to make sacrifices and hungry for a cause to believe in. I don’t believe for a moment that the age of heroes is limited to the past. I believe that our greatest heroes have yet to take the stage. I believe that our greatest heroes have yet to distinguish themselves in battle. I still believe that the best is yet to come!
I am, relatively speaking, a young man. However, when I look at the generation that is coming up behind me I see a tremendous group of capable young men and women who have a genuine burden to reach their world with the gospel. I understand that, by and large, they haven’t gained the wisdom of experience and the vibrant energy of their youth hasn’t yet been tempered by the cold hard realities of life. However, I believe that their desire is genuine and that their faith is real. I believe, with all that is in me, that they are about to distinguish themselves, like no other generation, on the spiritual battlefield of life.
The word is on their side in this matter. My bible tells me that the latter rain is going to be greater than the former. Faith tells me that the end of this thing will far outshine the beginning. We are not a part of a lineage of heroes that diminishes with time. Rather, the lineage of the faithful grows stronger and more powerful with the passing of time. With every generation this message is amplified and apostolic authority is multiplied.
Perilous times are upon us. All that can be shaken will. Even the elect, if they aren’t careful, will fall away in these last days. The darkness of night has made itself prevalent even on the brightest of our days. But, in the midst of an immoral, godless, and humanistic generation there echoes a promise from the word of God that “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20 ESV) I believe that there are genuine heroes of the faith in the upcoming generations that are about to arise and confront the spirits of this end time. I believe that there are anointed young men and young women of God that are about to experience the greatest revival that has ever occurred. I believe that our apostolic heritage is in good hands!
I simply want to extend myself this morning and express my faith in the Godly young people that are taking up the mantle of apostolic authority in their generation. I understand that they are young; I understand that they will make mistakes; and I understand that they will have their struggles. However, I believe that, just as a past generation found their courage on the distant battlefields of history and distinguished themselves with honor and sacrifice, heroes are about to emerge from this generation as well.
This morning I applaud you. To all of the young men, to all of those that are yet unproven, I applaud your faith and zeal for the things of God and I challenge you to take this message of hope to a lost world and make your mark on your generation. I truly believe that you are the generation upon whom the ends of the world have come. And I believe that you are uniquely anointed to meet that challenge and overcome it by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony.
This morning I applaud a greater generation… Let the heroes arise!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Songs In The Night
In Job 35:10 one of Job’s friends declares that God is the one who “gives songs in the night.” At first glance songs in the night seems to be an odd phrase. Who sings in the night?
However, when you really begin to consider it there is an interesting theme here. The night is that dark time in your life. The night is that place far from the comfort and security of the light. The night is where bad men do bad deeds. The night is where evil lurks and enemies plot and plan your demise. The night is where your mind conjures up all kinds of fears, worries and doubts.
It may be true that monsters lurk in the darkness of the night. However it was in the Night that the angels sung to shepherds in their fields when that precious baby was born in a manger. God didn’t wait for the brilliance of day to share the wondrous good news of the birth of a savior. Instead he invaded the night with a song of praise. Peace on earth was sung in the darkness of the night and it was a song perfectly suited for the night. Isn’t that, after all, exactly what Jesus was? He was the light that shined into the darkness.
My friend, I just want to remind you today that we serve the God that gives songs in the night. Consider this, it was at midnight that the cry came to the wedding party, “The bridegroom cometh.” It was in the darkness of the night that the good news first reached the ears of those who had been waiting and watching. In the night their hopes were fulfilled. In the night their faith was realized.
This is an important little nugget of truth because you are going to have to walk through the night sometimes. There are going to be times and places where the storm clouds are going to hover low and the darkness of night is going to press in upon you. However, you serve a God that gives songs in the night!
The wonder of that truth is that it is in the darkness of the night when your soul really falls in love with or savior. It is when the skies are black and pressing in, when the doubts and fears crowd their way into your mind, in the darkest hours of your life, that’s when the Master gives you a song of grace and comfort. That’s when you truly learn to trust him. That’s when you truly learn to love him.
In the course of this life you will walk some lonely dark roads. However, the wonderful truth is that you will never walk them alone. The one who walks with you and will never forsake you is the one that gives songs in the night.
He’s the one that gives joy in times of sorrow.
He’s the one that gives peace in times of trouble.
He’s the one that whispers calm in the raging storm.
Today I simply want to remind you that you are walking through this life in the company of the peace speaker. He alone has the power to give songs in the night. The next time that troubles and doubts and fears come crashing in on you, the next time that you find yourself lost and alone in the darkness of the night, why don’t you reach out to the one that gives songs in the night and discover just how sweet the night song is. The sweetest of all songs is born in the dark crucible of the night. That’s where joy is born, that’s where hope is revived. That’s where God demonstrates his love for you.
He, alone, gives songs in the night. How sweet his songs are!
However, when you really begin to consider it there is an interesting theme here. The night is that dark time in your life. The night is that place far from the comfort and security of the light. The night is where bad men do bad deeds. The night is where evil lurks and enemies plot and plan your demise. The night is where your mind conjures up all kinds of fears, worries and doubts.
It may be true that monsters lurk in the darkness of the night. However it was in the Night that the angels sung to shepherds in their fields when that precious baby was born in a manger. God didn’t wait for the brilliance of day to share the wondrous good news of the birth of a savior. Instead he invaded the night with a song of praise. Peace on earth was sung in the darkness of the night and it was a song perfectly suited for the night. Isn’t that, after all, exactly what Jesus was? He was the light that shined into the darkness.
My friend, I just want to remind you today that we serve the God that gives songs in the night. Consider this, it was at midnight that the cry came to the wedding party, “The bridegroom cometh.” It was in the darkness of the night that the good news first reached the ears of those who had been waiting and watching. In the night their hopes were fulfilled. In the night their faith was realized.
This is an important little nugget of truth because you are going to have to walk through the night sometimes. There are going to be times and places where the storm clouds are going to hover low and the darkness of night is going to press in upon you. However, you serve a God that gives songs in the night!
The wonder of that truth is that it is in the darkness of the night when your soul really falls in love with or savior. It is when the skies are black and pressing in, when the doubts and fears crowd their way into your mind, in the darkest hours of your life, that’s when the Master gives you a song of grace and comfort. That’s when you truly learn to trust him. That’s when you truly learn to love him.
In the course of this life you will walk some lonely dark roads. However, the wonderful truth is that you will never walk them alone. The one who walks with you and will never forsake you is the one that gives songs in the night.
He’s the one that gives joy in times of sorrow.
He’s the one that gives peace in times of trouble.
He’s the one that whispers calm in the raging storm.
Today I simply want to remind you that you are walking through this life in the company of the peace speaker. He alone has the power to give songs in the night. The next time that troubles and doubts and fears come crashing in on you, the next time that you find yourself lost and alone in the darkness of the night, why don’t you reach out to the one that gives songs in the night and discover just how sweet the night song is. The sweetest of all songs is born in the dark crucible of the night. That’s where joy is born, that’s where hope is revived. That’s where God demonstrates his love for you.
He, alone, gives songs in the night. How sweet his songs are!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
The Bones of Encouragement
I preached this thought this past Sunday night. Later on, when I get back to my notes, I'll try to post a more detailed version of the thought but here's the cliff notes version: Joseph, on his deathbed, commanded that when the Hebrews returned to the promised land they were to bury him there. The account in Genesis states that he shared with them the prophecy given to Abraham regarding the 400 years of captivity and the eventual deliverance of the Hebrews.
The thought was basically that during the 400 years that followed those old bones of Joseph were a constant reminder that, no matter how bad the situation may seem or how horrible the captivity may become, the day was coming when they would be delivered. That box of bones was Israel's source of encouragement during those long years of captivity.
The Pharaohs could pour out their fury on the Hebrews, they could try to crush the dreams and break the will of their slaves in Goshen but the fact remained that somewhere in the midst of the Hebrew camp was a box of bones that declared that "this too shall pass." Workloads could be doubled, task masters could become more violent and demanding, every male child could be slaughtered but there was a box of bones that carried a constant promise -- one of these days we are going to leave this place behind. For four hundred years that box of bones represented the hope of the Hebrews.
When deliverance finally came and the children of Israel found obstacles and armies standing in their way, that box of bones was a steady testimony that they were going to make it. When they had the Red Sea at their backs and the Egyptian army before them that box of bones said God is going to deliver you. When water was scarce and rebellion rose up in the camp that box of bones was a stark reminder that the journey doesn't end here -- we are going on to the promised land.
Eventually, the scripture tells us, they buried those bones at Shechem. The same Shechem where a dreamer was tossed in a dry well and sold by his brothers into slavery. It was at Shechem where that box of bones found their promise fulfilled. Joseph had returned home to be buried with the patriarchs and the word of God had been proven to be true once again.
The remarkable thing about the story is Joseph's forward looking faith that transmitted hope to the generations that would follow him that, although he would die in Egypt, the journey doesn't stop here. I proceeded to preach about the church. the foundation that was laid before us and the hope that has been passed down to us. This church is ordained by God and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Though Satan rages, though the economy falters, though our nation may fall into a moral abyss, this church is destined for revival. This church will be triumphant. And, one fine day, this church is leaving this old world behind. The journey doesn't end here. I've got a box of bones, the church, that declares we will be more than overcomers.
That's the view from the cheap seats on a Thursday afternoon!
The thought was basically that during the 400 years that followed those old bones of Joseph were a constant reminder that, no matter how bad the situation may seem or how horrible the captivity may become, the day was coming when they would be delivered. That box of bones was Israel's source of encouragement during those long years of captivity.
The Pharaohs could pour out their fury on the Hebrews, they could try to crush the dreams and break the will of their slaves in Goshen but the fact remained that somewhere in the midst of the Hebrew camp was a box of bones that declared that "this too shall pass." Workloads could be doubled, task masters could become more violent and demanding, every male child could be slaughtered but there was a box of bones that carried a constant promise -- one of these days we are going to leave this place behind. For four hundred years that box of bones represented the hope of the Hebrews.
When deliverance finally came and the children of Israel found obstacles and armies standing in their way, that box of bones was a steady testimony that they were going to make it. When they had the Red Sea at their backs and the Egyptian army before them that box of bones said God is going to deliver you. When water was scarce and rebellion rose up in the camp that box of bones was a stark reminder that the journey doesn't end here -- we are going on to the promised land.
Eventually, the scripture tells us, they buried those bones at Shechem. The same Shechem where a dreamer was tossed in a dry well and sold by his brothers into slavery. It was at Shechem where that box of bones found their promise fulfilled. Joseph had returned home to be buried with the patriarchs and the word of God had been proven to be true once again.
The remarkable thing about the story is Joseph's forward looking faith that transmitted hope to the generations that would follow him that, although he would die in Egypt, the journey doesn't stop here. I proceeded to preach about the church. the foundation that was laid before us and the hope that has been passed down to us. This church is ordained by God and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Though Satan rages, though the economy falters, though our nation may fall into a moral abyss, this church is destined for revival. This church will be triumphant. And, one fine day, this church is leaving this old world behind. The journey doesn't end here. I've got a box of bones, the church, that declares we will be more than overcomers.
That's the view from the cheap seats on a Thursday afternoon!
Posting Drought
I've been through a bit of a posting slump lately. Things have been extremely busy at the church in the run-up to Easter. We started a small paint project that turned into a major remodel. The good news is that I plan to put the final touches on that project tonight. Things should start slowing down a little for me now and I hope I can return to a more regular posting schedule.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Law of Sowing and Reaping.
The law of sowing and reaping is one of those biblical themes that spans the whole of scripture. From the beginning of Genesis, where God emphasizes that everything produces seed and fruit after its own kind, to the final book in the Bible, where men reap in due season what they have sown in their lives, the simple idea of reaping and sowing is underscored in the word of God.
We often think of this law in the sense that God will not be fooled, a man WILL reap what he has sown. In regard to that principle, wise parents and teachers warn our young people that if you sow the wild oats you will reap the whirlwind. However, this isn't the whole of the concept. There is a positive aspect to the law of sowing and reaping as well. If you sow in righteousness you will reap in blessings. Therefore, we advise others as well as ourselves, live faithfully and righteously and you will reap the benefits and blessings of walking with God.
For much of my life these two principles have been the foundation for my understanding of the law of sowing and reaping. However, recently, I have become aware of another simple truth contained within this timeless law. There is a statutory, binding, aspect to this simple law in both the physical and natural realms. It is simply this: Where you sow you will reap. The converse is equally true: Where there is no sowing there will be no reaping.
Why does this matter? Because, the law of sowing and reaping pertains to much more than just judgment and blessing. This simple governing principle that God put in place from the beginning emphasizes the fact that where there is sowing, of any kind, there will be reaping, of the same kind. If you sow wheat you will reap wheat. Ask any farmer. Where wheat is sown, it produces after its own kind. Even in lean years, even in times of drought, at least a portion of what is sown results in a harvest.
Jesus touches this principle in several ways in the gospels. In a notable example, He told a great crowd in Luke 8 a parable about a sower that went forth to sow seed. Later, as He explained the parable, he told the disciples that the seed is the word of God. He then underscored the simple truth behind the law of sowing and reaping, if you sow you will reap. Not every soul that hears the word will receive it and bear fruit, however, if you are faithful in sowing you will be faithfully rewarded in reaping.
Perhaps this is why Paul told the Corinthians that one plants, another waters but God gives the increase. Because there is a statutory aspect to the law. If you will sow, you will reap. You and I don't create the harvest, we only sow the seed. God gives the increase. By god's own law, if we sow faithfully, sooner or later there will be a harvest where the seed is sown.
With this principle in mind I have found myself coming back to a simple theme over the last six weeks. With the image of Psalm 126 in my mind I have constantly reminded the church that "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
I am persuaded that the harvest is in our hands! Revival is ours to have. We have, within our possession, the powerfully fruitful word of God and the law is steadfast. If we will sow it faithfully and indiscriminately in accordance with the example of the word of God, we cannot help but reap a harvest in due season.
I am reminded that a farmer once admonished me, "seed is cheap, sow it." It costs us little to share the benefits and blessings of the gospel but it gains us much in terms of harvest. I fully believe that we will each experience a revival that is directly proportionate to the amount of sowing that we have been engaged in.
I simply want to encourage you to sow the seed. Share the word of God. Share the blessings and promises of God. Tell anyone that will listen just how good your God is. The key to reaping lies in the sowing. Let me encourage you, friend, don't grow weary in well doing, if you are faithful, in due season you will reap a harvest. Your efforts are not in vain. They can't be in vain. Where there is sowing, there will be reaping, God's law requires it!
We often think of this law in the sense that God will not be fooled, a man WILL reap what he has sown. In regard to that principle, wise parents and teachers warn our young people that if you sow the wild oats you will reap the whirlwind. However, this isn't the whole of the concept. There is a positive aspect to the law of sowing and reaping as well. If you sow in righteousness you will reap in blessings. Therefore, we advise others as well as ourselves, live faithfully and righteously and you will reap the benefits and blessings of walking with God.
For much of my life these two principles have been the foundation for my understanding of the law of sowing and reaping. However, recently, I have become aware of another simple truth contained within this timeless law. There is a statutory, binding, aspect to this simple law in both the physical and natural realms. It is simply this: Where you sow you will reap. The converse is equally true: Where there is no sowing there will be no reaping.
Why does this matter? Because, the law of sowing and reaping pertains to much more than just judgment and blessing. This simple governing principle that God put in place from the beginning emphasizes the fact that where there is sowing, of any kind, there will be reaping, of the same kind. If you sow wheat you will reap wheat. Ask any farmer. Where wheat is sown, it produces after its own kind. Even in lean years, even in times of drought, at least a portion of what is sown results in a harvest.
Jesus touches this principle in several ways in the gospels. In a notable example, He told a great crowd in Luke 8 a parable about a sower that went forth to sow seed. Later, as He explained the parable, he told the disciples that the seed is the word of God. He then underscored the simple truth behind the law of sowing and reaping, if you sow you will reap. Not every soul that hears the word will receive it and bear fruit, however, if you are faithful in sowing you will be faithfully rewarded in reaping.
Perhaps this is why Paul told the Corinthians that one plants, another waters but God gives the increase. Because there is a statutory aspect to the law. If you will sow, you will reap. You and I don't create the harvest, we only sow the seed. God gives the increase. By god's own law, if we sow faithfully, sooner or later there will be a harvest where the seed is sown.
With this principle in mind I have found myself coming back to a simple theme over the last six weeks. With the image of Psalm 126 in my mind I have constantly reminded the church that "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
I am persuaded that the harvest is in our hands! Revival is ours to have. We have, within our possession, the powerfully fruitful word of God and the law is steadfast. If we will sow it faithfully and indiscriminately in accordance with the example of the word of God, we cannot help but reap a harvest in due season.
I am reminded that a farmer once admonished me, "seed is cheap, sow it." It costs us little to share the benefits and blessings of the gospel but it gains us much in terms of harvest. I fully believe that we will each experience a revival that is directly proportionate to the amount of sowing that we have been engaged in.
I simply want to encourage you to sow the seed. Share the word of God. Share the blessings and promises of God. Tell anyone that will listen just how good your God is. The key to reaping lies in the sowing. Let me encourage you, friend, don't grow weary in well doing, if you are faithful, in due season you will reap a harvest. Your efforts are not in vain. They can't be in vain. Where there is sowing, there will be reaping, God's law requires it!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Lessons From A Snowflake…
The Snowflake Man, Wilson Bentley was 15 when his mother gave him a microscope. It was snowing on his birthday, so he used his new microscope to look at a snowflake. In the fleeting moment before it melted he glimpsed its six points and the intricacies of its patterns. That day excited a passion that never subsided. During the next 50 years, Wilson Bentley took over 5,000 pictures of snowflakes.
In all his photographs of snowflakes Bentley never found two alike. In fact, he was the first to recognize and catalog this fact. Bentley said, “Every crystal was a masterpiece of design; no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”
Wilson Bentley photographed over 5,000 snowflakes and found no two identical. Understand this, there are 5,000 snowflakes in just a swipe of snow, and 10 million to a cup. There are 18 million snowflakes in a single cubic foot of snow -- and not one of them is like another. The chances of two snowflakes being exactly alike are about one in a million trillion.
This is the first lesson you can learn this afternoon from a snowflake. You are unique! Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God himself intentionally made each of us who we are. There's not anybody in the world like you. There never has been, and there never will be. The same God that calls the snow from his storehouse and insures each individual flake, trillions an hour, is uniquely formed – he crafted you in your mother’s womb. He made you uniquely you! If you were to search the whole world, you wouldn't find two people who had the same footprint or fingerprint or voice print. God fashioned you and formed you and he made you perfect according to his plan and purpose for your life.
You, as a person, are the combination of many seemingly random things. Not only are your fingerprints, voiceprints, footprints, even the design of the iris of your eye, completely unique. You are further made an individual by other factors. You are the compilation of DNA gathered from both your mother and father. DNA that was further impacted by your grandparents and great grandparents, on down the line. Your personality and character are the compilation of all of your life experiences. Everything that has happened to you along the way. Your education, your work, your skills, your talents, they all combine together to make a completely unique you.
This leads us to the second lesson to be learned form a snowflake. What stunned and motivated Bentley to study snow was the tremendous balance of order and recklessness. Whatever their pattern and variety, all snow crystals are six-sided. This fact had intrigued the German astronomer Johannes Kepler. In 1610 Kepler wrote a book called The Six-Cornered Snowflake. Why, asks Kepler in his little treatise, do snowflakes fall as six-cornered starlets? There must be a cause, he asserts, for if it happens by chance, then why don’t snowflakes fall with five corners or with seven? At the end of his little book, Kepler confesses his ignorance and leaves the problem of the snowflake’s symmetry to future generations of natural philosophers.
The riddle of the snowflake has since been partly solved. Physicists have traced the snowflake’s six-sided secret down into the heart of matter, to the form of the water molecule, and, ultimately, to the laws of atomic bonding that give the water molecule its shape. Water is a combination of an atom of oxygen linked with two atoms of hydrogen in a regular hexagonal lattice. That forms the foundation for the shape of a snowflake. But their growth as crystals has an element of randomness that gives them their individuality.
Snowflakes look stable but at the atomic level they are a frenzy of activity, as the water shifts and electronic bonds between molecules are made and broken a million times a second. Faults in the crystal jump from place to place and are repaired. “And somehow,” he says, “in the midst of this atomic chaos, the snowflake acquires and retains an ordered form.” The snowflake is one of nature’s most profound mysteries. Beauty and structure arise from a delicate balance of order and disorder.
This is the second lesson you can learn from a snowflake this afternoon. Your life may seem to be the compilation of random chance but there is a divine order to the events and happenings of your life. All of these external forces that have shaped and formed you – while they may seem random – were divinely orchestrated to order your life according to God’s purpose. God has a plan for you. You were shaped for a purpose! You're not here by accident.
God made you for a reason.
You were designed by God, and it was his idea to make you. It's not a mistake. You were planned before birth. The Lord told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." The Bible clearly teaches that you were purposefully and personally planned and designed by God. His loving hand made you exactly the way you are. Your uniqueness is what God wants you to offer to the world. God designed you to minister to hurting world. Your experiences, the seemingly random events of your life, have conspired together to make you a tool in the hands of the lord uniquely fashioned for a singular purpose. There is a work that only you can do. There are souls that only you can reach. God has blessed you with experiences, both good and bad, that uniquely equip you to minister to some individual in this world that desperately needs to know him.
We can marvel at the snowflakes, but human beings are much more complex than snowflakes. Each of us has been endowed by God with a completely unique spectrum of gifts. Each one of us can do things, say things, think things in different ways. Each of us fills a specific role in the Kingdom of God! In a hurting world every need must be addressed. And in order to accomplish that every one of us must excel at being that perfect individual that God made us to be. Today, lets learn a lesson from the snowflake. It was formed in a seemingly random and chaotic environment. However, when it finally made landfall, there was a specific, ordered and unique six-pointed design to it. Let it remind you today that you were fearfully and wonderfully made by God, for his purpose!
This brings me back around to our final lesson to be learned from a snowflake today. As I studied snowflakes last night I discovered something that I never knew about snow. Scientists have discovered that every snowflake has a tiny piece of dust at its core. Snow crystals begin their growth on a nucleus of wind-borne dust. Every snowflake has at its center an invisible grain of dust. A water molecule bonded to that speck of dust as it fell through the atmosphere. It happened once, twice, three times, and more, gathering weight, and then it was lifted again by the updrafts of the wind, each time acquiring more water molecules that form the branches and points of the snowflake. The flake keeps getting bounced back up into the atmosphere until it becomes too heavy and finally falls to the earth as a completely unique snowflake.
I must admit, I was shocked to discover this last night, particles of airborne dust provide the nucleous about which snowflake crystals grow. Without dust there would be no snow…. But what struck me last night was the fact that every snowflake has a heart of stone. A “dirty heart” if you will. The process of the formation of snow covers that heart of stone with the pure white of frozen water crystals. We have a lot in common with snowflakes. We also had a heart of stone. We also had a dirty, sin stained heart. But the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah (1:18), extended us an invitation, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”
My favorite thing about a snowfall is how it changes everything. The whole world becomes a much prettier place for at least a few hours as a fresh blanket of new snow covers all the impurities and imperfections. Everything is made brand new by the miracle of snow. The Lord, extended you and I an invitation to experience a similar transformation in the spiritual realm. When the blood of Jesus is applied to the heart of an individual, it cleanses him from all sin. God removes every stain and washes him even whiter than snow. This is why David prayed in Psalm 51:7, “…wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Wash me, David said. Cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow. How do you get whiter than snow? The answer lies in the third lesson we can learn from a snowflake this afternoon. In the Hebrew language there are two words to express the different kinds of washing, and they are always used in a distinct manner to indicate the kind of washing that takes place. One word for “wash” indicates the kind of washing which only cleanses the surface of a substance, which the water cannot penetrate. This is the kind of washing you do on your car, or your floor when you mop it. You can’t wash it through and through, you only clean the surface of it. This is the kind of washing that takes place in a snowflake. The speck of dust is covered. It is concealed. It is transformed on the surface, but at it’s core it is still dirty. Just like the pristine tranquil beauty of a snowfall. Under that snow, all the trash, and imperfections are still there and in a few hours of harsh sunlight, they will be revealed again.
However, that’s not the word that the Psalmist used. The Hebrew word used by our songwriter is one that signifies the kind of washing which penetrates completely through the substance of the thing washed, and cleanses it thoroughly. It is the word that is applied to the washing of clothes – a process where a thing is washed through and through. This is the same word that David used in verse 2 of this same Psalm (51:2) when he said "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin;" Wash me, David said 5 verses later, and I shall be whiter than snow.
This is the third lesson to be learned from a snowflake. In the matter of cleansing, we are different from the snowflake. When God washes us, he washes us whiter than snow. He doesn’t just cover up our dirty heart – he washes it through and through. My sins don’t remain, their stains are gone. I’ve been given a brand new heart! My past is forever past. It has been cast as far as the east is from the west – never to be remembered against me again!
As I looked over my yard today I was struck by the sheer beauty of the snow. But I was also reminded that this beauty is a passing thing. Tomorrow it will all be a muddy mess. Today all is pristine and white. Tomorrow things will be muddy and messy and generally worse than they were before the snow.
As I considered that, I was very thankful for the cleansing blood of Jesus. I’ve been washed in the blood – and it was more than just a temporary change. My soul was cleansed by the blood of the lamb. I’ve been washed through and through. That's the most valuable lesson we can learn from a snowflake...
In all his photographs of snowflakes Bentley never found two alike. In fact, he was the first to recognize and catalog this fact. Bentley said, “Every crystal was a masterpiece of design; no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”
Wilson Bentley photographed over 5,000 snowflakes and found no two identical. Understand this, there are 5,000 snowflakes in just a swipe of snow, and 10 million to a cup. There are 18 million snowflakes in a single cubic foot of snow -- and not one of them is like another. The chances of two snowflakes being exactly alike are about one in a million trillion.
This is the first lesson you can learn this afternoon from a snowflake. You are unique! Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God himself intentionally made each of us who we are. There's not anybody in the world like you. There never has been, and there never will be. The same God that calls the snow from his storehouse and insures each individual flake, trillions an hour, is uniquely formed – he crafted you in your mother’s womb. He made you uniquely you! If you were to search the whole world, you wouldn't find two people who had the same footprint or fingerprint or voice print. God fashioned you and formed you and he made you perfect according to his plan and purpose for your life.
You, as a person, are the combination of many seemingly random things. Not only are your fingerprints, voiceprints, footprints, even the design of the iris of your eye, completely unique. You are further made an individual by other factors. You are the compilation of DNA gathered from both your mother and father. DNA that was further impacted by your grandparents and great grandparents, on down the line. Your personality and character are the compilation of all of your life experiences. Everything that has happened to you along the way. Your education, your work, your skills, your talents, they all combine together to make a completely unique you.
This leads us to the second lesson to be learned form a snowflake. What stunned and motivated Bentley to study snow was the tremendous balance of order and recklessness. Whatever their pattern and variety, all snow crystals are six-sided. This fact had intrigued the German astronomer Johannes Kepler. In 1610 Kepler wrote a book called The Six-Cornered Snowflake. Why, asks Kepler in his little treatise, do snowflakes fall as six-cornered starlets? There must be a cause, he asserts, for if it happens by chance, then why don’t snowflakes fall with five corners or with seven? At the end of his little book, Kepler confesses his ignorance and leaves the problem of the snowflake’s symmetry to future generations of natural philosophers.
The riddle of the snowflake has since been partly solved. Physicists have traced the snowflake’s six-sided secret down into the heart of matter, to the form of the water molecule, and, ultimately, to the laws of atomic bonding that give the water molecule its shape. Water is a combination of an atom of oxygen linked with two atoms of hydrogen in a regular hexagonal lattice. That forms the foundation for the shape of a snowflake. But their growth as crystals has an element of randomness that gives them their individuality.
Snowflakes look stable but at the atomic level they are a frenzy of activity, as the water shifts and electronic bonds between molecules are made and broken a million times a second. Faults in the crystal jump from place to place and are repaired. “And somehow,” he says, “in the midst of this atomic chaos, the snowflake acquires and retains an ordered form.” The snowflake is one of nature’s most profound mysteries. Beauty and structure arise from a delicate balance of order and disorder.
This is the second lesson you can learn from a snowflake this afternoon. Your life may seem to be the compilation of random chance but there is a divine order to the events and happenings of your life. All of these external forces that have shaped and formed you – while they may seem random – were divinely orchestrated to order your life according to God’s purpose. God has a plan for you. You were shaped for a purpose! You're not here by accident.
God made you for a reason.
You were designed by God, and it was his idea to make you. It's not a mistake. You were planned before birth. The Lord told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." The Bible clearly teaches that you were purposefully and personally planned and designed by God. His loving hand made you exactly the way you are. Your uniqueness is what God wants you to offer to the world. God designed you to minister to hurting world. Your experiences, the seemingly random events of your life, have conspired together to make you a tool in the hands of the lord uniquely fashioned for a singular purpose. There is a work that only you can do. There are souls that only you can reach. God has blessed you with experiences, both good and bad, that uniquely equip you to minister to some individual in this world that desperately needs to know him.
We can marvel at the snowflakes, but human beings are much more complex than snowflakes. Each of us has been endowed by God with a completely unique spectrum of gifts. Each one of us can do things, say things, think things in different ways. Each of us fills a specific role in the Kingdom of God! In a hurting world every need must be addressed. And in order to accomplish that every one of us must excel at being that perfect individual that God made us to be. Today, lets learn a lesson from the snowflake. It was formed in a seemingly random and chaotic environment. However, when it finally made landfall, there was a specific, ordered and unique six-pointed design to it. Let it remind you today that you were fearfully and wonderfully made by God, for his purpose!
This brings me back around to our final lesson to be learned from a snowflake today. As I studied snowflakes last night I discovered something that I never knew about snow. Scientists have discovered that every snowflake has a tiny piece of dust at its core. Snow crystals begin their growth on a nucleus of wind-borne dust. Every snowflake has at its center an invisible grain of dust. A water molecule bonded to that speck of dust as it fell through the atmosphere. It happened once, twice, three times, and more, gathering weight, and then it was lifted again by the updrafts of the wind, each time acquiring more water molecules that form the branches and points of the snowflake. The flake keeps getting bounced back up into the atmosphere until it becomes too heavy and finally falls to the earth as a completely unique snowflake.
I must admit, I was shocked to discover this last night, particles of airborne dust provide the nucleous about which snowflake crystals grow. Without dust there would be no snow…. But what struck me last night was the fact that every snowflake has a heart of stone. A “dirty heart” if you will. The process of the formation of snow covers that heart of stone with the pure white of frozen water crystals. We have a lot in common with snowflakes. We also had a heart of stone. We also had a dirty, sin stained heart. But the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah (1:18), extended us an invitation, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”
My favorite thing about a snowfall is how it changes everything. The whole world becomes a much prettier place for at least a few hours as a fresh blanket of new snow covers all the impurities and imperfections. Everything is made brand new by the miracle of snow. The Lord, extended you and I an invitation to experience a similar transformation in the spiritual realm. When the blood of Jesus is applied to the heart of an individual, it cleanses him from all sin. God removes every stain and washes him even whiter than snow. This is why David prayed in Psalm 51:7, “…wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Wash me, David said. Cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow. How do you get whiter than snow? The answer lies in the third lesson we can learn from a snowflake this afternoon. In the Hebrew language there are two words to express the different kinds of washing, and they are always used in a distinct manner to indicate the kind of washing that takes place. One word for “wash” indicates the kind of washing which only cleanses the surface of a substance, which the water cannot penetrate. This is the kind of washing you do on your car, or your floor when you mop it. You can’t wash it through and through, you only clean the surface of it. This is the kind of washing that takes place in a snowflake. The speck of dust is covered. It is concealed. It is transformed on the surface, but at it’s core it is still dirty. Just like the pristine tranquil beauty of a snowfall. Under that snow, all the trash, and imperfections are still there and in a few hours of harsh sunlight, they will be revealed again.
However, that’s not the word that the Psalmist used. The Hebrew word used by our songwriter is one that signifies the kind of washing which penetrates completely through the substance of the thing washed, and cleanses it thoroughly. It is the word that is applied to the washing of clothes – a process where a thing is washed through and through. This is the same word that David used in verse 2 of this same Psalm (51:2) when he said "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin;" Wash me, David said 5 verses later, and I shall be whiter than snow.
This is the third lesson to be learned from a snowflake. In the matter of cleansing, we are different from the snowflake. When God washes us, he washes us whiter than snow. He doesn’t just cover up our dirty heart – he washes it through and through. My sins don’t remain, their stains are gone. I’ve been given a brand new heart! My past is forever past. It has been cast as far as the east is from the west – never to be remembered against me again!
As I looked over my yard today I was struck by the sheer beauty of the snow. But I was also reminded that this beauty is a passing thing. Tomorrow it will all be a muddy mess. Today all is pristine and white. Tomorrow things will be muddy and messy and generally worse than they were before the snow.
As I considered that, I was very thankful for the cleansing blood of Jesus. I’ve been washed in the blood – and it was more than just a temporary change. My soul was cleansed by the blood of the lamb. I’ve been washed through and through. That's the most valuable lesson we can learn from a snowflake...
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