Creator

Dear sister,

So, I tend to limit evil to specific people. Hitler is evil. Those that take innocence from women and children are evil. Government leaders that murder their own people are evil. Yet is evil only limited to those whom we deem as really, really bad? Or is evil more prevelant than we could ever perceive? Could it be that evil is actually innately in all of us?

God created ALL things good, very good even. What happened? An angel named Lucifer proudly decided he could be like God (Ezekiel 28:11-19). Quietly, Lucifer’s heart chose to do his own will instead of the will of his Good Creator. The sad fact is, his choice not only affected him, he then decided to influence as many beings as possible to join him in this rebellion. Enter Adam and Eve, the pinnacle of the Lord’s creation. Adam and Eve were created without sin, yet when Lucifer presented himself as a serpent, he tempted them to doubt God’s goodness. The bite of that fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the action that revealed their changed heart. They directly disobeyed what their Creator commanded, thus sin entered the world until the end of time (Rom 5:12). Now all of mankind are born in sin and cannot BUT sin. The bible is therefore saying that I have an evil heart, I was born with it. I rebel against God, I disobey Him and don’t believe what He says is true. My heart is tainted with evil just as those whom I deem as the most evil villain.

But I have good news for you! Why? Because this means that you and I qualify for God’s amazing grace! Only evil human sinful hearts can receive Jesus’s great exchange, where He takes our sin that deserves death, dies that death on the cross paying the cost of sin, and gives us the righteousness of God (1 Cor 5:21)! Our hearts of stones are now hearts of flesh. Those that trust in Christ will have our evil hearts replaced for all time when we enter heavens gates where we will be like Christ forever!

But take heed, those of you who don’t trust Jesus and have not made this great exchange. This evil demands eternal death, if Jesus is not your savior, you will pay this price forever. The Creator will crush evil, His holiness demands it. The good news is, this same holy Creator has made a way for you too…in Jesus! Trust Him! Believe in The Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Acts 16:31)!

Sweet believer, rejoice today in your Creator who has opened your eyes to what Christ has done for you! Your evil heart has been changed forever!!! Praise The Lord! Shout it to the mountain tops! Share this good news to those The Lord puts in your path! Evil is real and is in all those who are born. But Jesus is greater than all and is our conqueroing hero! Hallelujah!

Your thankful sister in Christ,

Colleen

This is a morning of mornings, Sweet Sister!

A tiny hummingbird paid a visit to our newly planted morning glories. The whirring wings produced a diaphanous halo around the bird as she hovered about the wide open lavender trumpets. The elegant beak moved into one flower for, what seemed, but a small eternity, and then, off she went, seeking her sugary repast from another part of the well endowed garden. This was one smart little bird!

I could not help but think of this diminutive creature, blessed with the capability to hover as a helicopter, equipped with her own built-in straw to suck sweet nectar from a magnificent bloom. She was small, but lovely, as was the flower that provided her food this morning. And, although it was my husband’s delight to plant for me such a royal garden—right outside my breakfast nook— it was certainly God’s precious grace that initiated everything—this morning, from all eternity.

As if I had no cares at all, my thoughts today continued on the bird and the flower and the whole landscape. Every portion, part and parcel of that moment was a gift from God. God enhanced this creature with a talent for suspended animation, as her tiny wings fluttered at a rate impossible to determine. Her delicate beak, light enough for flight, long enough for feeding, little enough for her lilt, was crafted by our perfect Creator.

There was, also, the morning glory, a triumph among flowers, a delicate little roadside diner for passing hummingbirds. Each bloom with wide open mouth, singing praises to our gracious Father, enticed me to burst into Doxology—to Him be the glory—alongside the roses, hibiscus, geraniums and hydrangea. What a Garden of Grace! God gives us eyes to see the color of each flower, ears to listen to the rainfall on the petals, hearts to enjoy His Creation.

At prayer, today, my eyes fell upon a cross. It is an ornate metal object, designed for beauty, a symbol to remind me of what God’s grace did for me. I thought about Jesus and His gardens. One was the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) where sinful man would first hear the Gospel of Grace—the promise of Jesus, the Redeemer. Then there was the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22), Christ’s torture chamber, where the suffering of Jesus, the Savior, would begin. But, oh, Sister, there was a third garden—the Garden Tomb—where death itself, was defeated (John 20)! Jesus, our Risen Lord, reigns eternal. Now that is Grace!

As we sing the hymns that describe Grace as amazing, wonderful and marvelous, and, ah, Grace is certainly all of these, we should keep in mind that God’s grace was expensive, is abundant, and belongs to Him alone to give as a gift. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9. His grace is bestowed on us, not earned by us.

That is what makes it so special—that a simple, little hummingbird would be designed so well to be able to be fed in midair from a flower that grows wildly in the garden of the home where dwells a sinner—a sinner saved by Grace!

~ Your sister, Mimi

Tag: Creator

The Evil Within

Gardens of God’s Grace