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24 What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. 25 Oh, look - the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon. 26 Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them. 27 All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. 28 You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. 29 If you turned your back, they'd die in a minute - Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; 30 Send out your Spirit and they spring to life - the whole countryside in bloom and blossom. 31 The glory of God - let it last forever! Let God enjoy his creation! 32 He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake, points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt. 33 Oh, let me sing to God all my life long, sing hymns to my God as long as I live! 34 Oh, let my song please him; I'm so pleased to be singing to God. 35 O my soul, bless God! (Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c The Message Bible)\
A very happy and tremendous Thursday, dear Friend! Here we are in the second day of June! Awesome! Today would have been my Dad's birthday, and how I miss him. I was sharing with our pastor that this past Sunday I sure wanted to pick up the phone and call him as was our custom every Sunday. I also miss my Mom and her prayers for me, especially during my university years. She and my grandmother were my prayer warriors. I know Dad was as well, but his working a full-time job most of his life, I knew he was still praying, but also working hard to provide for our family. Let us continue to pray for those who are still recovering from the wounds from the Uvalde shooting. The ten-year old who was in serious condition is improving and has had a series of surgeries and we pray she be healed by God's grace. Pray always for those whose hearts tell them to do evil. May the power of God's love overcome evil in those hearts and minds. Just today reports of shootings in Tulsa, OK, and other places continue to make us shudder with disbelief, anger, and shock. May God's love overcome evil in every heart, including and especially ours.
Friend, let me ask you to take a moment to celebrate the "wildy wonderful world" that God has made for you and for me. Have you noticed the beauty of a flower today? Was the sky provide inspiration to you? Did the sound of laughing children brighten your day? There are so many components to the world that we should rejoice and be glad in what they provide for us. Did you know that you, too, have made the world a wildly, wonderful place? Your smile, your joy, your outlook and contributions all count to make God look good. All of us were uniquely and wonderfully made by God, and we belong to God and should live with that mindset. We should rid our minds of those things that other people placed in you to make your view of the world more narrow and harmful. Life is too short to shorten it in destructive ways. Ours is a call to affirm and build up others. We are called to model our lives after Christ Jesus.
The psalmist has painted quite the picture of the world as he sees it. God's role is key in his view, as it should be in ours. Key to us should be our recogition of how powerful God truly is. The psalmist writes, "Send out Your Spirit and they spring to life." This was the basis of what was called, Prayer to the Holy Spirit in the Emmaus movement. Here it is, and this prayer blessed my life for many years: "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen." If your world is not yet renewed, pray this prayer and ask that your world be renewed; pray that we may indeed be wise and enjoy all of God's consolations; may His instructions and the re-kindled hearts within us be that with which we bless the Lord and His creation.
PRAYER: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Take a moment or two to enjoy the world, then use you to better the world.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
