Month: June 2021

What’s the Smallest Thing You Can Think of?

June 5, 2021Blog, Sunday Sermons, 1 Comment

Sunday sermon 6.5.21

Think for a moment, what is the smallest thing that you can think of?

An ant, bacteria, atom?

What’s the largest thing? Go ahead, think it through.

Our sun, our galaxy, something else?

Now, please, think about you, all of you, (que up John Legend singing “All of Me”) your insides, your brain, mind, emotions. Your curves and all your edges…. 🙂

For fact seeking readers, the smallest thing that we (the smart scientist people “we”) know of are Quarks.

Quarks, the building blocks of matter are a billionth of a billionth of a centimeter in diameter. But if you zoom in a billion times more, where units run out of names and keep going 100 million times smaller still – you finally hit bottom. This is where you will find The Planck length; approximately 1.6 x 10 to the negative 35 meters. THIS is the smallest possible length in the universe. The Planck length.

Our brains can’t comprehend these sizes, we overload with the enormity of the smallness.

On the other side- the largest known object in the universe is Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall. This is a galactic filament, which is a vast cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity. This guy is a mere 10 billion light years across! Talk about Hercules??!!

Again, our brains explode even trying to comprehend 1 light year, right? But 10 billion of them? Owwie.

Now on to you, my dear. Your physical body with its 11 finely tuned organ systems, 724 trillion cells, 86-100 billion neurons, and about 1 gallon of blood works mostly perfectly almost every day. Consider too your soul, spirit, mind- those intangible parts of you that make you who you are every bit as much as your physical packaging, probably even more.

From the smallest part of you to the largest part of you; from the Planck length to Hercules… Great Wall, where did it all come from?

Ephesians 1.18-19 says, “That the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened to know the immeasurable greatness of God’s power.”

We could say it this way- that our eyes would be open to fully understand God’s OMNIPOTENCE.

Omnipotence- all powerful. That describes the creator of the universe.

Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Genesis 1:27, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; make and female he created them.”

Omnipotence. All powerful.

God saw to every detail of the Planck length, Hercules… and YOU, created it and called it forth at creation. He is omnipotent. Nothing to small for his attention nothing too big.

And yet, He is so much more.

He is Omnibeneveleant, which means he is all loving. 1 John 4:8, “God IS love”.

Psalm 86:15, “You, God are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” God’s love never runs out on us and He keeps no record of our failings. His love for us is eternal and unrestrained.

He is Omniscient, too! That means he is all knowing. He knows everything, about everything and everyone, including me and you. There’s nothing he has yet to learn or uncover or discover. He already knows about it all, from the smallest to the largest. He knows inside you, inside me, inside the galaxy, inside the known and unknown universe . He knows it all.

And to top it all off, he is Omnipresent. God is literally everywhere. He is all present all the time! He is the great I AM. Not I was, or I will be, but I am. I am present, I am now. I am everywhere, present.

Psalm 139 asks where can we run from His presence or where can we hide. If we go up to Hercules in that galaxy cluster, he’s there. If we go down, into that smallest quark and even into the Planck length, he is there, too.

But my friend, as wonderful and grandiose each of this qualities of our God is, hear this…

“ When our hearts make us feel guilty and remind us of our failures, we know that GOD IS MUCH GREATER and more merciful than our conscience and he knows everything there is to know about us.”

1 John 3:20

Dear one, when our conscience accuses us, and holds us to task; when our memory is only of our failure and shortcomings, God knows already AND HE IS GREATER and more merciful than our conscience. He loves, He is compassionate, He is gracious, He abounds in love for you.

He is with you and nothing you do will drive him away.

His power is more than you need in every situation of your life and heart, and he stands within your reach whenever you call out for him.

How could this omnipotent, omnipresent, omnibeneveleant, omniscient God take notice of me, care to assist me, love me, empower me? He manages the smallest measurements of the Planck and beyond the Hercules Borealis, yet he loves me!

Incomprehensible, unbelievable, head shaking awe… never forget who he is and how he cares for the smallest thing that you can think of.

Go with God.

Debbie

Daily Growth

June 1, 2021Blog, Encouragement, Personal Growth, Leave a comment

What’s growing that we can see and what’s growing that we cannot see? What is it that demonstrates positive growth and which things bring negative growth?

Yesterday my husband had an emergency gall bladder surgery in which they removed it. After 2 days of excruciating pain, an urgent care visit and 3:00 AM emergency run, it was finally concluded that his gallbladder was enlarged and infected. It had been growing daily.

One of the questions he was asked was, “What did you last eat?” His response, “A taquito and salad”. To which the doctor said, “That’ll do it!”

Do what, I’m thinking.

Come to find out the gallbladder’s bile helps to process and breakdown fatty foods. (I thought salads were good for you… oh… you mean taquitos are fatty??!) 🙂

Obviously, 1 taquito is not going to cause a gallbladder to become inflamed and start screaming for attention. But what had been growing daily just might.

Den & I reconsidered our “retired eating habits” and determined to reshape them, albeit if that had been done earlier he still may have his gallbladder. Humph.

Whether we see it or not, growth is natural, and that means growth of negative things as well as positive things.

One of our dear friends has a luscious garden and was sharing this same idea with us as she proudly described the daily growth of her beans, cucumbers, and squash. From small, fingernail sized stubs they grow daily into large, nutrient rich, foods.

The garden takes intentional attention, effort and time to assure that daily growth. Just as a healthy, nutritious diet requires similar attention, effort and time.

Inattention, lack of effort, or intentional ignoring of issues in our life, will lead to an infection with painful side effects. They will just keep growing daily, building up, becoming bigger and bigger until…..

There are issues in and pressing upon our life & there are events that have occurred in our past, that have been planted within us. These seeds will grow daily, starting as hidden within the soil of our heart. Then as they begin to sprout and we notice them, the actions we take will determine their fruitfulness.

Should those sprouting attitudes be of bitterness, anger, pain or hurt, they will grow daily if unattended. Until one day you have an infection that spills over into every conversation and each relationship. Overflowing from that wounded heart is an inflamed sickness that must be removed, or it could be terminal. It will grow daily until it explodes and releases poison that kills everything inside and every relationship.

But should those sprouting attitudes be on the positive side, peace, understanding, self-control, love, what blooms and grows is fruit that sustains your life and the lives of those around you.

Much is growing daily inside of you. Much is building up and perhaps even sprouting out. Give careful attention to it, tend it, uproot or cut it out as needed. Pay attention, lest the poison of infection within you cause pain and sickness.

Feed and water regularity those positive seeds. Take the time and energy needed to see your daily growth be nourishing, vibrant and beautiful.

Remember, whether positive or negative, daily growth IS happening.

Cheers,

Debbie