Lift up your eyes
and look to the Heavens:
Who created all these?
Isaiah 40:26a
Road tripping this weekend with the family to St. Louis this weekend, I was able to somewhat escape the usual scenery of flat fields and houses, office buildings, and shopping centers. I always look forward to taking in the new lanscaping multi-state drives have to offer. This trip was no different. Many of the miles are flat and peppered with the random cow, goat, horse, or even llama (we saw at least two this trip). Amidst a study of Ephesians and gazing upon God's beautiful creation, I remember:
As if God's creation isn't breathtaking enough, you, me, I, we were chosen before the world came to be! We were not chosen for destruction. We were not chosen to be this life's punching bag. We were not chosen for continual defeat. We were not chosen for perpetual failure. We were not chosen for unending thoughts of dread, sorrow, anxiety, or woulda/coulda/shouldas. We were not chosen to focus on our next purchase. We were not chosen to drown in the flood of loneliness. No! We were chosen to be holy: Dedicated and devoted to God; Godly; Spiritually pure. We were chosen to be blameless: Innocent; Guiltless.
Before seeds and trees,
before clouds and oceans,
before sunrises and eclipses,
YOU were chosen!
You were thought of.
Not merely your existence,
but your purpose.
Not just your bloodline,
but your calling.
Not only your name,
but your legacy.
Oh the splendor
if all the chosen
choose Him too. . .
Are you a road-tripper?
What scenery makes you marvel?
OH I love scenery of the mountains and the oceans. Not much of that in Texas though. YOur blog is beautiful, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe mountains and oceans simply take my breath away. Not much of it in Oklahoma either. :) Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your morning to leave a comment with us.
DeleteHow about a different perspective? I posted a pic of a ball diamond on Laura's fb page. I'm sure she thought it was funny. However, it was more than that for me. My childhood summers were spent in the library, in the church and on the baseball diamond. Nearly all of my significant learnings happened in one of those 3 places. I learned unconditional love; the importance of excellence and authentic living; and how to be self-motivating, along with many other lessons I won't go into here. Among all 3 places, I learned that God interacted with me in different ways to teach me different lessons through different people. The baseball diamond, among the three, was the place that captured me most. So when I see a diamond, it isn't a sport, it was a childhood full of learnings.
ReplyDeleteOh I love this!! Thank you for contributing to the conversation, Joe! Always love your perspectives!
DeleteIt always amazes me to see the different ways God speaks to different people. God speaks to you through baseball. Nothing wrong with that at all! Yes, the picture did make me smile....but only because of the memories of giving you a hard time about the Reds:) As Fred spoke of a couple weeks ago, everyone has a "thin place" where they are close to God....mine is music...Joe's is baseball! Thanks Joe!
Deletei am a back road traveler!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sobering thought to ponder. The Creator of the universe chose each of us, created us, for
ReplyDeleteA holy purpose. Of course we should all know this but love how you put it and reflect on it. Lovely. Wonderful photos.