Image from us.toluna.com
Listen to the devotional here: https://bit.ly/31apSmx
1 God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name. 2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs That drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble. 3 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. 4 Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way? 5 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden's dawn light. 6 You put us in charge of your handcrafted world, repeated to us your Genesis-charge, 7 Made us lords of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild, 8 Birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps. 9 God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the world. (Psalm 8 The Message Bible)
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth! Thou whose glory above the heavens is chanted 2 by the mouth of babes and infants, thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; 4 what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? 5 Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor. 6 Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea. 9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth! 8 Birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps. 9 God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the world. (Psalm 8 Revised Standard Version Bible)
Happy Thursday, dear ConCafe Family! May the last Thursday of 2021 bring you renewed hope and joy for life, and for the arrival of a New Year, dear Friend. Let us continue to pray for those who are in need, and let us renew our commitment to serve the Lord by serving those who are in need. Pray for one another. Pray for your own needs.
The older I get the more I reflect on myself and the world in which I live. Each day brings me renewed faith in God and a longing to better serve Him. And as I ponder things I speculate on the why behind some of the things that don't please God and that qualify as sin. And I'm more and more convinced that a root cause of sin is immaturity. I said "a," as there are more root causes, but as we read this passage, let;s see where immaturity plays in this. By immaturity, I speak of our making decisions based on our own needs, wants, and desires. all without regard to thinking about anyone else, last of all, God. It is the exact opposite of what the psalmist wrote in this beautfiul psalm. An example would be to take every name and reference to God and replace it with our name and you will see what I am talking about. Imagine, "O Me, Sweet me, how precious and awesome is my name in all my earth..." You get the picture quickly. This is all about God and not about us; it is our self-centeredness that gets us into trouble and into sin. We are invited by God to get to this point of surrender and converstion into a right relationship with Him.
King David was, like you and me, not perfect. He was, after all, "a man after God's own heart." Yet, it was in a moment of temptation that he surrendered into the desire of wanting the woman he saw bathing on her rooftop. That encounter led to her pregnancy and that drove him further into sin, but asking the hustband of the woman to return home and tries to lure him into being with his wife so that he would believe the child was his. Uriah, the husband, was a good and faithful soldier, and would not allow the comforts of home to stand between his loyalty to the king and to his fellow soliders. It was then that the king orders the death of Uriah, to free Bathseba into becoming the kings' wife. A visit from God's prophet, Nathan, allowed David to see the error of his ways leading David to write Psalm 51, a psalm of repentance. Here are some verses from this psalm: "2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment. "
As we draw to the point of closing out this year, it lends itself to an honest and thorough reflection of just who we have been, and what we have done. We do not have to confess to anyone our sin, except to God; as it is only God Who can forgive us and restore us. May this psalm in which we see the heart of one who truly loves and wants to be in right with God, guide us to the right relationship with our Lord. May we be led to see others in their praising of God, such as "nursing infants (who) gurgle choruses about (God); and toddlers shouting the songs that even defeats offensive talk against God, and gaining a new perspective on creation and all the beauty of the earth. And lt leads to an honest re-evaluation of ourselves and our relationship with God. And that would lead to new forms of praise and worship of our God. God has given humanity a special place in His creation, but it is a place of great responsibility and privilege. It is meant for us to be stewards of creation, caring for each other, and caring for those creatures over which we have dominion. When we come through with our doing what God has asked, we indeed then give God's name majesty in all the earth. Make God's name echo around the world with your faithfulness!
PRAYER: Loving God, as we pray, we lift Your name on high. May we do more to that praise by doing what You have asked of us. May we care for one another; love one another, and care for those creatures over which we have dominion in ways that bring You more praise. Forgive for those times when we have strayed from Your path and sought to glorify our immaturities. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a good steward of love and care for others.
Receive my blessing of wellbeing and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
