More home spun philosophy from the keyboard of me

Good morning journal,the time is now 6:10am,I have been awake first at 3:55am,then again at 5:30am,both times by our dogs needing to go out.On the second time of being awakened,I decided that it would be a waste of time to try and go back to bed,so I made coffee and came here.Keeping me company is our oldest dog Buttons,who now sleeps soundly on our sofa,our other two canine children preferring to sleep with my wife in our bedroom.I haven't been here for two days,my pain levels,and a general feeling of ill health preventing me from sitting too long at my desk,so I am glad to have the opportunity in the quietness to type a little.This morning,I would like to talk about my faith,it has been very important to me since I was a child,the God of my mother was a God to be feared,a vengeful God.It was only when I got a little older,in my late teens and early twenties,that I became familiar with the God I know and love today.My all time favorite part of the bible is in the Psalms,Psalm 139 explains my relationship with God,and His own relationship with me.

Psalm 139

 





1 Lord, you have examined me and you know me. 2 You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. The first two verses tell me that he knows me totally,faults,good points,everything.It also tells me that everything I choose to do in my daily life,He knows I'm going to do them before I do,He understands every thought I have ever had,because He installed the mechanism in me.
3 You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. 4 Even before I speak, you already know what I will say.These two verses tell me that there is no area of my life when He is not with me.Whether I'm working or resting,reading,watching television or sitting here right now,He sees me,he knows every action before I make them.Even before I speak,He knows what I will say,He's not just hazarding a guess,He knows exactly,the mechanism,remember?.
5 You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. 6 Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.This part tells me that no matter where in the world I may be,He is there,surrounding me with His protection and His everlasting love.He knows every part of me,every muscle,every sinew,bone and organ,every thought process;and that is why it is beyond my understanding,I'm not meant to comprehend the power He has,I just have to accept that it is so.
7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.These two verses tell me that,even if I wanted to,I could not find a single place in the whole universe where He could not find me,He is always with me,even when I don't feel Him,He is around me.In life or in death,He is there,why?,because He made me,He is my Father and I am His child.
9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me.This tells me in no uncertain manner,that it doesn't matter where I am,or when,distance means nothing to Him,or time;He would be there,with me as always.That is His promise to me,His promise!,it doesn't say He might be there,or I'll show up if I'm not too busy,it says He would be there,and God does not make promises He doesn't keep.He also makes a second promise,He will be there to help me,doesn't matter what kind of help,He doesn't ask,He simply says He would be there to help me,that's His second promise to me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you.These two verses let me know that I can't hide from Him,I might want to at times,if I've done something wrong or feel that my life isn't worth living.It doesn't matter the reason that I may want to hide from Him,He is telling me that I can't,it doesn't matter if it's dark or light,day or night,remember He made the dark and the light,He knows every element in their construction,so nothing within them can hide from Him,it's another promise.
13 You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart.Here,God is telling me that I am meant to be here,I wasn't some accident or mistake,He is telling me He made me because He means me to be here,the reasons I am meant to be are known only to Him,but there IS a reason,otherwise He wouldn't have taken the time to put me together in my mother's womb.I praise Him every day,not because I fear Him as such,what I feel is gratitude and love,but I am struck dumb with wonder at times when I witness for myself the strange and wonderful workings of a Creator who loves without limits.
15 When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - 16 you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began.This part of the Psalm really shows God's power.He is telling me that when He was making me,He didn't just throw me together with a bunch of spare parts,He tells me that He put me together CAREFULLY,He also tells me that even my mother didn't know I was there,I was growing in secret,but He knew I was there because He made me,He saw the result of His handiwork before I was born,even before I took my first breath in the world,I was alive to Him.He demonstrates His power again when He tells me that every day of my entire life,has been allocated to me,my birth until my death,are written in His book,were written before my very first day had ever begun.He's also telling me that my name,once entered in His book can never be erased,I belong to Him forever,now THAT is a promise.
17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! 18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.In this part,God is telling me that no matter how hard I try,I will never understand Him;He is the Lord my Father,it is not for me His child,to understand His thoughts or workings,it is enough that He has loved me from the very moment that He made me,and will continue to love me for evermore.He also tells me that his thoughts are impossible to count,so why try?,it's easy when you keep it simple.
19 O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! 20 They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name.In these two verses,a certain amount of interpretation is necessary,it asks God for a reason as to why He doesn't kill the wicked,does this mean every dictator in the world today,or every murderer,rapist or child molester?,how we define wickedness isn't important,it's how God defines it that counts.For every force for good,there must be a force for evil and wickedness.The perpetrators of such evil deeds as I have mentioned were not born evil,nobody is,they chose the path they are on themselves,and ultimately,they will pay a terrible price in the life to come,because for them,there will be only hell and damnation for evermore,that is another of God's promises.As to their victims,they will sit on the right hand of God himself,for in another part of the bible God tells us that the meek shall inherit the Earth,that's yet another promise.People who do not believe in the Lord,sometimes say hurtful and wicked things against His name,this is mostly because of ignorance on their part,they have turned away from God,they are slaves of the world that man has contaminated,they are fearful of death because for them,that's it,the whole enchilada.All of us are sinners,it tells us in Romans,we've all fallen short of the glory of God,but there is a way back,all we have to do is ask;that's why Jesus died,to give us a way back to God..
21 O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! 22 I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies.Again,these two verses are open to interpretation,rather than the word hate,I prefer to use the term pity.It fills my heart with sadness when I hear people bluster on about the non existence of the Father who created them,because like it or not,that's exactly what He did,and the reason they are here is because of Him.When they choose not to believe,because it is a choice,God is terribly hurt,but He rejoices in one lost sheep returning to the fold,rather than plot some terrible vengeance against the remaining ninety nine who are lost to Him.So rather than hate these unfortunate souls,our Father asks us to pray for them,and that my friends,is exactly what I do.
23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. 24 Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way. The final two verses are plain English,God is telling us we must be vigilant,we should ask Him if we are stepping up to the plate in His eyes,we should be asking Him daily,to examine us,our souls,our hearts and our minds,and who better to examine anything built from scratch,than the builder Himself?. During our lives,we will suffer joy,gladness,sadness and pain;physical illness and perhaps debilitating ailments,although the builder has given a lifetime warranty for every part that makes us who we are,if we don't play our part in maintaining what He made,then we shouldn't be surprised when various bits break down or fail completely.That is our fault,not the builder's,every working part of us should last a lifetime,how do we know?,because our names are written in the builder's book,He's already told us that,so if part of our construction becomes faulty,it's because of something we've done,or haven't done,not because of some manufacturing malfunction.The last part says we should guard against evil,and ask God to help us do that,there is nothing in the world He made that He doesn't have an answer for, or to,and the final line asks that He should guide us in the everlasting way.That is God saying to you,stick with me my child,and when your time here is over,you can come and live with me for evermore,and THAT is the best promise of all!.
If I can turn now journal,to the argument of creation versus evolution;there are many subscribers to the so called big bang theory.As it happens,I have no problem with that at all;to my way of thinking,if something is under construction,there's usually some level of noise,it would be impossible to build a house say,without the sound of hammering,drilling and general disturbance.How much more noise would there be,if someone was building a whole world from nothing do you think?. I would imagine there would be quite a lot.When you consider God had to factor in mountains,volcanoes,oceans,forests,animals,oh,and the odd human or two,apart from a few other bits and bobs just in case,I would imagine that the noise level would be like an explosion;and there my friends,is your big bang theory,it didn't just happen,God did it,next question.When you look at the heavens,the stars aren't just scattered,they are not just strewn anywhere like a farmer feeding corn to his chickens.They are placed deliberately,they are placed so exactly,that sailors can navigate by them,and astrologers can plot their formations and paths exactly.Stand on a hilltop and look around,I guarantee you will feel God simply by looking at the beauty He created.Evolution?,not for me and I will tell you why,evolution as far as I know,is the metamorphosis of a species developing from an inferior species,an improved being if you like.As far as I know,I remain open to argument on this point,when a species evolves from another,the species it evolves from then becomes extinct,does it not?. If that is the case,and we evolved from apes according to Charles Darwin,then why are there any apes left?;were they left behind because they were not clever enough to pass the final human exam?,left behind in class while their class mates graduated and left?,I don't think so.If that great hairy baboon on television documentaries we see scratching his backside and picking his nose is my cousin Colin three times removed on my maternal grandmothers side,I don't want to know thank you very much.Evolution just doesn't work on so many levels,some scientists go even further,and say we evolved from a fish like creature millions of years ago,that crawled out of the water onto land.If that's the case,why are there still fish left today,and why can't I swim?. I can't climb trees either as it happens,but that is neither here or there,so,whether you like it or not,our world was created by the master builder and architect Himself,and you know the best part of that?,He's your God too,whether you know Him or not,He most certainly knows you.Until tomorrow then journal,peace,and God,walk with us.