Page 20 - Living light - The Psalms

Wednesday June 19 - Loving Creator who made me For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made... Psalm 139:13-14
Genesis 2:7 relates how ‘God formed the man from the dust of the ground...’ Our physical bodies apparently consist of only 25 chemical elements, yet they are totally amazing and unique. Human eyes can detect ten million different colours. The heart beats 100,000 times a day, pumping almost six litres of blood around the system. Our brain is the centre of an incredibly complex computer system, sending billions of pieces of information throughout the body to control every action. One scientist compared the number of cells and synapses (the gaps between them) in our brains to the number of stars in the universe!
It is hard to grasp the sheer complexity and abilities of the bodies we walk around in, never mind the inner life of thought, emotion and personality, and above all our immortal souls. The Bible says again and again that in all our imperfections, we are precious to God, who delights in how we embrace his gifts and look to him as we live, to grow, achieve and love.
In this fallen world our full potential is unachievable, but because we trust that Jesus redeemed us from sin and the Holy Spirit works within us, one day ‘when he (Christ) appears, we will be like him...’ (1 John 3:2) and will live in the presence of our loving Creator in a new resurrection body – whilst still being the same person he made us to be.
Thank you, Father, for making me, rescuing me, and preparing me for eternal life with you forever. Amen.
Thursday June 20 - Compassionate Father
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!... Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand... Psalm 139:17-18
God thinks about us continuously. Jesus said, “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Luke 12:7). In 2005, National Science Foundation research suggested that the average person has 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts daily; 80 per cent of them are negative and 95 per cent repeats of yesterday. I have no idea how they worked that out, but it is unimpressive compared with the perfect mind of the Father! The psalmist, David, reckons God’s thoughts are countless. Because he is holy, full of mercy, steadfast love and wisdom – with many other perfect attributes – the quality of his thoughts is also ‘off the scale’!
What do you believe God thinks about you? Many fear that he feels angry, disappointed, frustrated and fed up with our failures, sins and weakness. It is true that until we humbly admit our need to be forgiven, we fall far short of being able to please him. But once we trust in what Jesus did in his life, death and resurrection, Paul promises that ‘now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). Isaiah 55:7-9 urges us to ‘turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy... he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts... As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”’ God’s precious, innumerable thoughts towards us are of pure, forgiving, steadfast love.
Lord God, I am overwhelmed by your loving thoughts and by all that Jesus did for me! Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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PRAYER FOR TODAY