WONDERFULLY MADE!!

  ‘Ruby Beach Washington’ by Landscapes in The West is Public Domain 1.0.

Ocean waves crashing on the rocks are mesmerizing.  Relentless in their pursuit of the rocks.  Constant, like your own breathing or heartbeat.  I was blessed to grow up in Seattle with access to places like ‘Ruby Beach’ shown in the photo above.  It features ‘sea stacks’, geomorphic structures that are the isolated remnants of the headland which are now detached from the mainland.  They are fascinating to see.  Mesmerizing by their very presence.  Why is that? 

Perhaps it is because it took thousands or MILLIONS of years for the wind and ocean                     waves to create them!                                                                       

Or because they have resisted the wind and waves all those years and are still standing! 

We are also called to ‘stand’.  To stand against the ‘devils’ schemes’ which, like the wind and the waves relentlessly try to wear us down.  The scripture admonishes us to, ‘Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.’  Ephesians 5:11-17. 

And another of Paul the Apostles admonitions found in 1 Peter 5:8-9, ‘Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.’.

How might he devour us?  He is ‘the father of lies’.  John 8:44.  He will lie to you, saying that your faith doesn’t work, that you have some disease, convince you that you are weak and worthless, that what is bad is good and what is good is bad and you become ineffective servants of God.

Thank God that the devil prowls around LIKE a roaring lion.  He isn’t one.  As a Christian, we have power over him ‘standing firm in the faith’.  Faith in God’s word that makes it clear,

if we ‘Submit ourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, he will flee from you.  James 4:7.

These rock formations are also mesmerizing because they have been formed over time into something beautiful.  We also have a relentless one who is shaping and forming us into something beautiful, the Holy Spirit.  ‘Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’  Philippians 1:6.

Watching the waves crashing on the rocks I wrote: (Regarding the Holy Spirit:)

Oh Relentless One
Wash over me
Bring me life
Sustain me with your beauty
Forever
Shape me
Make me
What you want me to be.   MRB.