Welcome to MRB’s Blog!!!

Thank you for joining me in the adventure and joy of getting to know this wondrous God who not only created you, the universe and everything around you, but also placed a message in everything He made.  A message ‘without words’ that screams in every language, ‘I LOVE YOU’!!! 

Please read the following intro before reading the devotionals posted in my blog.  I know that it is lengthy, but it sets the groundwork for all the posts to come.  To date, I have written over 100 posts for you to enjoy.  I will post one a week on Sunday evenings.  Follow me as we are awed by the ‘depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!’ 

Photo by Kelly Mclintock on Unsplash

The quote above was written in the late 1500’s by an English writer named Izaak Walton, five hundred years ago!!!

Are you ‘Shut up’ to these 10,000 truths God sends us, to the song of a bird?
The purpose of this blog is to help you Open up to the ‘joy’ of these 10,000 truths.  They are all around us in everything, EVERYTHING God has created.  In every sunset, eagle and even your family dog!  They are truths about who God is and how to live the ‘good life’ as He originally intended.  They are my thoughts in Devo form.  But it is my sincere desire that you will begin, if you haven’t already, to have your own thoughts and become increasingly aware of the infinite love of God who not only created you and this beautiful world we live in but placed invaluable messages (The 10,000 Truths) in everything He made just waiting for you to discover.
The following is a collection of devos I call:

THE ROCKS CRY OUT!  Enjoy!!

They what?
They cry out!
Can you hear what they are saying?
Are you listening?

It is astounding to realize that everything, EVERY-THING God has made, you, this world and everything in it; the entire universe is continuously ‘crying out’ messages God has instilled in them!
Because they are spoken ‘without words’ and their ‘voice is never heard’ (Psalm 19), they are only ‘heard’ by those who have learned to listen.
This collection of devos is what I believe I am ‘hearing’ them say!

Think about this for a minute…you are on the earth that scientists estimate weighs six sextillion tons (that’s a six with twenty-one zeros, or 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons)!
Check out the illustration on the right!
Earth is in the middle of nowhere.

As Job put it, ‘He (God) poised the earth on nothingness’!

It is perfectly balanced and turns easily on its axis.
You are riding on a planet that rotates daily at a speed of more than a thousand miles per hour or 25,000 miles a day.  You are also riding on a planet that at the same time is traveling 68,000 miles an hour as it revolves around the sun, making the long elliptical circuit of about six hundred million miles each year!  Not only are you a high-speed traveler, but you are riding on a planet that is perfectly positioned to sustain your life.  Have you ever stopped to think about what the earth is ‘crying out’ to you?
I believe the earth is crying out, ‘GOD IS’ and ‘HE LOVES AND CARES ABOUT YOU!’

You are in a body that you didn’t create!  GOD’S MASTERPIECE! A magnificent incredibly complex machine.
You are, according to the psalmist David, ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. Psalm 139:14.
When God created the universe and ‘every living creature that moves’, He said, ‘it was good.’
When He created man, He said, ‘it was VERY GOOD!
You are the ‘very good’ of God!

Just look at your hand for a moment. Open and close it.  EXTRAORDINARY!
Scientists estimate that your body has 37.2 trillion… TRILLION cells, each cell programmed to help you to sustain your life, 73 billion of these are nerve cells in your brain!  You have 60,000 miles of arteries veins and capillaries.   Long enough to go around the world two times!  Your heart beats 100,000 times a day, 36,500,000 times a year and 1 BILLION times if you live over 30 years.

Your body has seven miles of nerve fibers and your lungs have 300 million alveoli, tiny air sacs where oxygen and blood interface.

Your eyes have 100 million receptors. Your ears have 25,000 nerve endings that transform the vibrations of 22,000 hairs into electrical impulses to the brain.
Unravel your DNA and it would stretch from here to the sun and back 190 times. Staggering stistics!

What is your body ‘crying out’?
Your body is ‘crying out’, ‘I AM, I care about you and enjoy the gift I have given you to live in!’

The beauty and variety of what He has made; the sunrise and sunsets, butterflies, flowers, mountains, clear rivers and streams, every-thing is screaming I am, and I love you!  I made all this beauty just for you!

Is that enough?  Do you believe that there is a God?  I hope so.

Have doubts?  May I recommend a movie?
The movie is called, ‘The Case For Christ’.  The movie is based on a book by the same title written by Lee Strobel, a self-proclaimed atheist, whose hard driving, award winning investigative journalism won him a promotion to legal editor at the Chicago Tribune.
His wife became a Christian!  He decided to use his investigative skills to disprove the existence of God and the claims of Christ.
Ultimately, his investigation, which took several years, backfired and he ended up becoming convinced of the historic and philosophical validity of Christianity!
Great and informative movie. Lee did our homework for us! Check out this trailer! http://The Case For Christ – Trailer

I believe that as we continue to look at the natural world, we will begin to see that there is intentionality in the messages it contains.  That these messages are not random but focus on His purposes for you and me.  If you want to know what these messages point to, just go back to the beginning.  Ask yourself, what was God’s intention in creating man in the first place?  Whether you believe in a literal Garden of Eden or not, it is a record of what God originally intended for man, why He created him in the first place. That intention has not changed!!

In the Garden, man walked with God. They could hear His voice! They had everything they needed.  I believe that God simply wanted someone to love and to be loved in return, so He created man and the remarkable Garden for him to live in with ‘trees that were pleasant to the sight and good for food’.  Of course, man messed up and was kicked out.  But God’s original intention for man has not changed.  He still wants you to love Him and His love created a remarkable place for you to live in.  He is waiting for you to turn to Him, accept His provision for you that makes it possible for you to return to the garden relationship He originally planned to have with you!
Ephesians 2:10 says it so well.  ‘We are God’s works of Art, created in Christ Jesus (who makes it possible) to live the good life as from the beginning (back in the garden again) He meant us to live it. (The Jerusalem Bible).

It is my prayer that you stop and listen for yourself and think about what I am saying.  There are an almost infinite number of things God has made and every one of them contains a message for you.  It is not possible to contain these in a single book of devos. Many are waiting for you to discover.  Open your ears and eyes.  See what a wonderous God He is!!

These devos are inspired by four scriptures from the Bible, each scripture amplifying the other and painting a picture of a natural world filled with God who is showing and telling you who He is and how He intended us (from the beginning) to live.

I base these devos on the Bible because I believe it is our owner’s manual.
I believe that it contains everything we need for life and Godliness.
The Old Testament is historical, but it also contains 300+ prophesies regarding Jesus that were fulfilled in the New Testament record of His life and ministry.
It is the magnificent detail of these prophecies that mark the Bible as the inspired Word of God.  Only God could foreknow and accomplish all that was written about the Christ.  This historical accuracy and reliability sets the Bible apart from any other book or record. (CBN).

In addition, The Bible has had a massive influence on literature and history, especially in the western world, where the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed using movable type.  According to the March 2007 edition of Time Magazine, the Bible “has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written.  Its influence on world history is unparalleled and shows no signs of abating.  “With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, it is widely considered to be the most influential and best-selling book of all time.  As of the 2000s, it sells approximately 100 million copies annually.  Wikipedia.

They are also based on what theologians in the 15th century called, ‘THE BOOK OF NATURE’ referring to the natural world as a book to be read which would also lead to a knowledge of God.
Galileo, a 15th century astronomer, physicist, and engineer wrote, ‘We conclude that God is known first through Nature, and then again more particularly, by doctrine: by Nature in His works, and by doctrine in His revealed word.’ (The Bible).

The first scripture and origin of my title is Luke 19:37-40.  ‘Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”  But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the rocks would immediately cry out.”
Jesus is making it known to the multitude that the rocks are more than capable of crying out or speaking.  I began to wonder what they would be saying.

The second scripture, Psalm 19:1-4, makes it evident that God gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘Show and Tell’.
‘The heavens declare (they are ‘crying out’ or telling of) the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.  Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world’.
God’s creation, the heavens and all of the natural world including you, tell (are crying out) who God is!  He is showing Himself constantly day and night to all the world, telling you who He is, but without words.  Because there are no words, there is no language barrier. Those who learn to hear will hear what is being spoken, regardless of their native language, and his voice can be heard anywhere in the world!!!

Can you see Him?
Can you hear Him?

The third scripture is from Job 12:7-8.
‘But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;  or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you.’
This scripture amplifies the first two and includes the beasts (animals), birds, the fish of the sea and the earth.  What can we learn from them?  What are they telling us?  What in the world can a fish explain to us?

The fourth scripture is Romans 1:20.  It amplifies the first three scriptures, but it also carries with it a warning.
‘Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse’.
To think that God holds man without excuse for not knowing Him because ‘The invisible things of Him (God) are clearly seen in the things He has made’, you and me, the natural world and the universe itself!

Unfortunately, not everyone knows God despite the fact that He is clearly seen in the things He has made.  It is not enough to simply look at a sunset.  You have to ‘see’ beyond the sunset to the creator who made it possible, acknowledge Him and give thanks.
Romans 1:21 makes this clear.  ‘When they knew God’ (they saw Him alright), they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.’
What this is saying, is they were seeing God, but gave Him no thanks.  Why?  Because they are vain in their imaginations; they have an excessively high opinion of their appearance, abilities or worth.  The scripture calls it ‘imaginations’, because that is exactly what they are.  People imagine that they, what, created themselves?  Their appearance, their abilities and their worth is of their own making?  That the beauty of this world around them just ‘happened’!  The scripture calls them ‘FOOLS’.  And this is really scary, because He ‘darkens their hearts’ and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to ‘see’ Him.
Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “there is no God”.
Everything we are comes from God!  Our bodies, eyes, ears, the universe are all God’s inventions!
Please don’t be a ‘fool’!
Open your eyes and ears and give thanks!

I am hoping that this set of devos will help you truly ‘see’ and ‘hear’ God in what He has made.
That you will learn to have an increasingly thankful heart for all the wonder He is!
It is clear from the scriptures that we can learn a great deal from this natural world.  These devos include both my own thoughts and scripture references that reveal who God is and how He intends us to live.  As I have studied these messages, it has become clear to me that everything he has made points directly to Him and His will for all of us.  It can be summed up in two simple words.  Love God.

STOP

Open your eyes and see
What is ever before you

The invisible things of God
Clearly seen

Open your ears
And hear the heavens declare

Listen to the beasts
They will teach you

And the fowls of the air
Will tell you

Speak to the earth
It will teach you

And the fishes of the sea
Will speak to you

That God is.  

MRB

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