The Preciousness of Life
Part 2

Because we each are unique, our lives our precious.

I was behind a city bus recently and noticed a bumper sticker displayed on its back. While they are seeking to avoid accidents and lawsuits, they show they value your uniqueness. The sticker said:

“DON’T CHASE THE BUS. THERE’S ALWAYS ANOTHER BUS.
THERE’S ONLY ONE YOU.”

Made in the image of God, He created us unique. Every single one of us. Modern genetic research has proven that even identical twins are not identical. We are each special, we are more valuable than the rarest of gems. We are irreplaceable. The thoughts and ideas we have belong solely to us. Our voice is ours and ours alone. Our appearance in its entirety is like no other. And while some the above may similar to others elsewhere, nowhere is there someone who mirrors everything we are. The craftmanship of the creator is beyond the understanding of any man that has or ever will live, except for Jesus Christ, who was God Himself! And his creation is a miracle! His skill for creativity is beyond imagination. Even things that are not living are unique. Not even two snowflakes are identical! Our God is an Amazing God!

Realizing all of this, how can we NOT love and appreciate all life He has created? Every life is one-of-a-kind and once it is gone, it is gone forever. You couldn’t help but love Louis Armstrong because of the happy expressions on his face, his scratchy voice and his great jazz trumpet playing. He shined and brought out his soul when he sang the song, “What A Wonderful World.” The song by George Douglas, George David Weiss & Bob Thiele begins with

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The song continues on to paint pictures that portray the beauty of the world shining in people’s faces and saying I love you. This song personifies God’s creation in such a wonderful way, and love of life warms the soul!

But as we cherish life, we find the Paradox of Christianity.

Matthew 10:39 (NIV)
Whoever finds their life will lose it,
and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Yes, we cherish life. And this is the paradox. We must lose something we love in order to truly find it. But the life Jesus was talking about here is a greater life, eternal life. Lose your life here as you know it for eternal life with Him.

John 3:16 (NIV) 
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

Having given our lives to Him, we then strive to become more like him.

Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

As we become more like Jesus, we will see so clearly how Jesus’ life is so precious, and He gave it up for us! As we grow in our faith in Him, and our wisdom grows with the help of the Holy Spirit, we understand this paradox more completely. We give up our lives in many ways and we should give Him ALL of our life!

What in your life were or are you holding onto? Anything that comes between you and Jesus is what needs to be sacrificed. Alcohol, drugs, pornography, or maybe something even simpler, such as not honoring your spouse as Paul laid out in Ephesians 5.

Ephesians 5: 21-33 (NIV)
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Work to give up your WHOLE LIFE to Jesus! Your WHOLE LIFE is precious to Him!

We know that our life is precious. We know ours is especially precious because we are His!

Thank you, Lord, for this gift of life!

© 2018 Marty Hill – Administered By Quaddot Productions – All Rights Reserved

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The Preciousness of Life
Part 1

Hate. Kidnappings. Murders. Suicides. Wars. I don’t know about you, but I am getting tired of these happening almost every day. It seems that the outlook of how people treat each other as well as themselves just gets worse and worse. If terrorists are not waging war trying to escalate their cause, they are taking it to the streets in car bombings. Mass shootings have been on the increase which usually end in the assailant killing themselves. Domestic murder suicides happen more frequently more couples have relationship issues they don’t seem to be able to resolve and one of them decide this is the only way to fix it. Then kidnappings, many times ending with the victim’s life coming to an end, seem to be on an increase. Too many times, the perpetrators of those crimes are not caught.

As the list goes on and on, it appears that the value placed on human life continues to diminish.

Life should be cherished because it is a gift from God.

Genesis 1:26 (NIV)

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

When God created man with those words, no other part of creation was created with those words. This sets man apart from the rest of creation. Only man was created in God’s image.

Man had intellect, self-awareness and abilities. He was able to learn, change the environment and communicate. Physically, he appeared similar to animals, but there was a difference. He had a soul.

1 Corinthians 2:11 (NIV)

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them?  

With all of this, there is one more thing that God added in creating man, and that was the ability to multiply and making each person unique. Of all of the most precious gems on earth, you are more precious than diamonds and silver, more precious gold. While these are considered precious gems, you can walk into any jewelry story or pawn shop and find them there. While they are considered precious, they are not considered rare.

Psalm 139: 14 (NIV)

“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Life is more precious than any precious gem. Your life is more valuable than any as well. You were created by God in his image. And he only made one of you. As Max Lucado said in his book, Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot, “You are the only you God made… God made you and broke the mold.”

Matthew 22:37-39

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

  • Love your life. Cherish it.
  • Love the lives of those around you. Their lives are just as precious!
  • Love the life of Jesus Christ that He gave for you! He died on the cross so you would not have to. This means that for all who believe in him as Lord and Savior, He is their intercessor on judgement day.

John 3:16 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Thank you, Lord for the precious gift of life!

© 2018 Marty Hill – Administered By Quaddot Productions – All Rights Reserved

 

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The Father’s Eyes

Matthew 19:14 Jesus said,

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Have you ever walked a mile in someone else’s shoes?

Have you ever looked at others through someone else’s eyes?

This is the last lesson I learned from my mother before she died. I learned to look at my children though her eyes. I learned to see their innocence as she saw them. Later I sensed the Lord telling me to look at everyone not through my mother’s eyes but through His, to see everyone as He sees them. Doing this can change your entire outlook on others. People who had habits or mannerisms that pestered you no longer do. You do not see that. You know their hearts and the individual as Christ loves them.

We are a visual society. Television, movies, computers and other sources constantly bombard us with images of one sort or another. The movie “BIG” is an older movie with Tom Hanks. This is the story of a boy who wishes to be big, and overnight, his wish is granted. He goes to sleep as a boy and wakes up the next morning as a physically full-grown Tom Hanks.

I remember standing over the bed of each of my children when they were little. I would try to imagine what they would look like when they would grow to be a teenager. What would their voices sound like? What things would they like to do? I would then ponder the same questions again looking at them as adults. As they have grown older, it is heartwarming to glance back and see how far they have come.

Obviously, a visual person, it makes sense that when I attempt to look at others through Jesus’ eyes that I tend to visualize that person, as a child of God, standing before the Lord and personally seeing His acceptance and outpouring of love toward them. Imagine looking at an elder of your church, sixty or seventy years old, and then seeing them as a child, standing before the Lord. Envision their reaction and His. This little exercise I have repeated often, and it has deepened my appreciation for those around me, regardless of their demeanor and actions. As children of God, they are forgiven of their sins; therefore, they will stand before the King with childlike innocence. Matthew 18:3 quotes the Savior in this way,

“And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”

I visualize those elders, and everybody else that believes in Christ Jesus, standing there looking up into His eyes with awe, as a child who deeply admires their father. They will be reaching with outstretched arms to hug their loving Father and feel the protection of His arms around them. They are indeed children of God and are deeply loved by Him. As we strive ourselves to be a child of the King, we should also love and view at our brothers as nothing less.

© 2018 Marty Hill – Administered By Quaddot Productions – All Rights Reserved

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The Master Artist

Public Domain Image

Francois-Auguste Rodin, a french sculpturer, once said, “I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don’t need.” That is the art of sculpture in a very simple, but astutely wise observation. Anything that does not represent itself as part of the final picture is deemed unnecessary and removed. However, common sense would also dictate that once a chip is removed from the block, it is impossible to replace it. The deed is done. In the case of sculpture, one bad chop and the whole piece can be ruined.

We deal day to day with different stresses in our lives, and not all things go perfect. As we work to navigate the rivers of a successes and trials in our lives, we, as Christians, pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us through this. We hope that with the master artist above that our lives will be carved with the beauty that blesses the Lord and the bad, ugly chips are minimal.

However, because we are human, we naturally worry too much about things and the events of the day. Trusting in the Lord in this area of our lives is often one of the most difficult things for Christians to learn, much less put into practice. Moreover, while some people base their level of joy in the lack of catastrophic events in their lives, therefore concluding they must be living right, others base their joy in their possessions. The downside is their lack of joy is stimulated by what they do not have. If they cannot “keep up with the Jones,” they feel inadequate and so their joy wanes.

Joy is an ongoing condition of the soul that does not change with circumstance. It is the sense of contentment in that we have what we need, both in possessions, attitude and spirit, and that if new possessions are deemed necessary by life’s constant changes, then there is peace in the knowledge and acceptance that God will provide, and then not fretting about it. Again, more simply, it is a peace that one can make do with what is at hand, or that God will offer an alternative. It’s this kind of joy that makes James 1:2 truly possible:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,”

James recognized that people in general learn from not only their mistakes but also from the trials they endure. As we learn, we grow. So, James says to be glad when you encounter these testing moments, for even in failure, you win because as you trust in the Lord through these trials, you will grow stronger in Him. It brings you closer to a true sense of joy and peace. Momentary gladness is not true joy. True joy is the presence of the Holy Spirit in your being that brings about the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Romans 15:13 says,

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Finding complete joy is one of the great secrets of life. Only through seeking Christ can this be accomplished.

With the analogy of the artist chipping away at the marble block, and the realization that once a chip is chopped off, how can we ever be restored? The given fact that the chip can never be returned to the carving block is not true for believers and is documented in the scriptures. God can restore joy in our lives, long after it has been carved away. Sure, a man can superglue the piece back into place, but the crack of imperfection remains, and many times the piece will fall off again later. God alone is the master artist. Only He can fully undo what has been done, perfectly and permanently. Only He can restore the chipped-off pieces in your life with absolutely no cracks or scars, making new what is old or damaged. Paul presents this in 1st Corinthians 5:17,

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creature;
the old things passed away;
behold, new things have come.”

Through this spiritual renewal in Christ Jesus, we live each and every day with hope, which generates peace, which generates joy. May the Master Artist continue to bless you as He carves you into His perfect sculpture!

© 2018 Marty Hill – Administered By Quaddot Productions – All Rights Reserved

 

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How God Speaks to Us

How does the Lord speak to you? Have you taken notice of how He does?

In the movie Bruce Almighty, there is the funny scene of where Bruce is at his wit’s end. He is finally turning to God, because he figures that he has nothing to lose. So, he asks God to give him a sign, and of course this truck full of street signs keeps getting in his way slowing him down, frustrating him more and more. All he sees is the truck blocking his path. Not the message of the signs in his path.

Many people think God doesn’t speak to people anymore. That was just an Old Testament thing. This John 14 verse explains why this is:

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17 (NIV)

People who do not understand Christianity at all really have a hard time with this. That is understandable. With Christianity under attack these days, nothing there should surprise us. But as Christians, we should always be striving become more like Christ EVERY HOUR OF EVERY SINGLE DAY.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

105 Your word is a lamp for my feet
a light on my path.  Psalm 119:105 (NIV)

And in doing so, we WILL hear him.

27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28 (NIV)

And God’s wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit to those who believe.

 9as it is written:

 “What no eye has seen,

what no ear has heard,

and what no human mind has conceived”—

the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

 “Who has known the mind of the Lord

so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16 (NIV)

© 2018 Marty Hill – Administered By Quaddot Productions – All Rights Reserved

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