Shallow Tent Stakes

“That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Le 23:43 AV)

The feast of tabernacles was one big camping trip for the nation of Israel.  No one was allowed to be excluded.  They assembled at and around the city of Jerusalem for eight days.  They were to bring materials to build temporary structures.  Huts or booths in which they sought shelter until the feast was over.  It was a reminder of the foundation of their inception.  A reminder the LORD brought them out of Egypt, not that they may find comfort and permanence is this world, but as part of their journey to eternity.  This is the point of this feast.  A reminder they were pilgrims and strangers in a strange land.  A reminder to keep their tent post shallow.  A reminder that life often changes and not to get too comfortable in the pleasures and blessings of this life.

We all have that urge to find permanence.  We seek definition and security.  We want to know where we belong and that things will always be as they are.  Change comes hard.  There is a sense of peace in knowing the surroundings in which one grew up have changed very little.  I guess that is why I enjoy the woods so much.  Cities change.  Building rise and fall.  Streets are added.   Businesses go up.  Renovations and infrastructure is updated.  But when goes into the woods of which he has hunted for years, the trees may have gotten a little bigger.  There may be a few more saplings here and there.  But the terrain rarely changes.  Unless there is a super severe weather event, the hills and valleys are still there.  The creek which one’s grandfather fished in still runs.  It is a comfort to know that no matter how much the outside world changes, my tree stand will remain for a life time and deer will pass by it year after year.

Yet, as we walk with God we cannot get too comfortable.  Things will change.  Things will not always remain the same.  There is growth to experience.  There are failures to overcome.  Our families grow up and move away.  Our grandchildren grow up and cease to give us hugs.  Our health deteriorates.  Things cannot and will not remain the same.  The deep the tent stakes, the harder change becomes.  Compared to eternity, our journey here is but a speck.  It would be wise to always have the tent ready to be moved and adjust to life’s changes.  It’s just one more step.

No Private Church

“What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:” (Le 17:3-4 AV)

The instruction here is clear.  If someone tried to offer an offering anywhere but at the temple, he lost any hope of eternal life.  The tabernacle/temple was the only approved place where the ceremonial law could be observed.  There is a principle here for us New Testament Christians.  The principle of the pre-eminence of the local New Testament church.

Now, the Old Testament law was more stringent in its application than the New Testament principle.  We are not advocating someone can lose their salvation if they do not worship at church.  However, there is a principle here that there are no substitutions.  The assembly of God’s people is unique and commanded.  It cannot, nor should it be, replaced by ‘home study groups’, ‘family worship’, or ‘personal worship time’.   There is a movement afoot to replace the church and her preacher by more convenient and less obtrusive means of meditation.  It is all the rage.  It is ‘hip’.  It is the ‘in’ thing to do.  It is cool to abandon God’s command to assemble and do the ‘enlightened’ and ‘progressive’ thing of independent bible studies.  The problem is the sheep have rejected God’s ordained method of congregational worship.

What is interesting in the history of Israel is it started with independent worship.  It escalated to separate high places of worship for individual families and groups.  It ended with idol worship which condemned the nation.  We are seeing family after family leaving the sanctity of the house of worship for their own ‘thing’.  Soon, the children loose interest and want nothing at all to do with the LORD!  There is a price to pay when we leave God’s design!  Someone, somewhere, will lose the opportunity for salvation!

Obedience that Costs

“And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.” (Le 10:10-11 AV)

This statement was made right after Aaron buried his two disobedient sons.  There was a harsh reality learned here.  These two sons offered strange fire and God killed them for it.  Aaron and his other two sons were not allowed to attend the funeral service because the anointing oil was still upon them.  They had gone through the ceremonial cleansing and were in the midst of serving the LORD in the tabernacle.  If they were to leave the duties of the office, they would have defiled the office.  The LORD caused this harshness to be an example of the absolute nature of the law.  They could not do what others would be able to do because there is a difference between holy and profane.

There is a cost to teaching the holy and unholy.  A cost which lends to credibility.  A cost that states the law is worth our obedience even though it may cost us personally.  This was the burden of the Levite.  This is also the burden of the child of God.

We wish to win the world to Christ but we have little desire to sacrifice our own personal liberty to do so.  We cannot see that sometimes, obedience no matter what the cost, is the foundation of our credibility to those around us.  Our children watch what we do.  If we are unwilling to pay the price for obedience, they will see the exercise of liberty as a right.  They will take our example and go one step further.  Obedience has to cost something.  It has to matter.  Obedience cannot be motivated simply because of benefits we might receive or avoiding unwanted consequences.  There has to be a time when we gain nothing. When the cost is clearly for the glory of God.  It is in those times when our children and grandchildren learn the most important lessons of life.  Submission to a holy God who deserves all our submission no matter how hard it might be.

Please Pray

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Php 4:6-7 AV)

Today is a very sad day.  There has been an active shooter at our local high school. A community is never truly prepared for something like this.  There will be much sorrow, fear, anxiety, and confusion.  At a time like this, there may be some answers, but they may not seem particularly helpful at the time.  What we need most of all is prayer!   We need to process our experience in the presence of a God who loves and cares for the very souls whom He created.  Prayer may not give the answers.  But prayer is the start of a conversation with the One who can comfort is spite of the questions!  Please pray for us!

Minimize the Mistaken Majority

“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:” (Ex 23:2 AV)

The second half of the verse is the confusing part.  The first half lays context.  As a judge of Israel, they were not to follow the majority if it was the wrong thing to do.  They were not to agree with the majority just because it was the majority.  The second half of the verse says the same thing, but in a little more detail.  The first says not to follow the multitude.  The second half says not to represent the multitude by changing righteous judgment because the multitude wishes it to be so.

This is why God does not endorse democracies.  The multitude can, and often is, wrong.  Mob rule is not biblical rule.  The multitude desired to kill Christ.  The leaders felt there was nothing they could do because the multitude wanted it. So, they perverted justice because the majority wished it so.  God uses theocracies.  The Old Testament family was led by a patriarch who was led by the LORD.  Israel was led by judges, prophets, and kings bound by the word of God and held accountable to it.  But the people did not vote.  The New Testament church, although it has the responsibility to vote in five different areas of concern, was not organized as a democracy.  She must still submit to a human authority in the person of the Pastor.  He is held accountable to the same word of God he preaches, and can be disciplined accordingly, but he does have authority delegated to him directly from the LORD.

Just because the majority wishes it to be so does not mean it is biblical.  Those with the ability and responsibility to make decisions can consider the wishes and counsel of the multitude, but if their counsel conflicts with the word of God, he needs to show leadership and lead contrary to the desire of the multitude.  This is the point of the counsel above.  A righteous leader will lead according to the confines of the word of God and if it comes into conflict with the wishes of the multitude, he cannot decline judgment simply because the multitude would entice him to.  This is the mark of a strong and principled leader.

Salvation is Ready for a Journey!

“And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover.” (Ex 12:11 AV)

The Passover meal is perhaps the clearest of types of salvation revealed in the old testament.  The statement above is the condition in which the Jewish saint was to prepare when he partook of the pascal lamb.  He and his family were to eat of the sacrifice ready to move from their bondage at a moment’s notice.  What a picture of the spirit in which the penitent should accept Christ.

Getting stuck in bad weather is a right of passage for us Yankees!  We are not unfamiliar with having to be pushed out of snow banks or pulled out of mud.  With us, it is a regular thing.  One technique that is emphasized is once you are starting out of that which has trapped you and heading in the direction in which you want to go, you never let up on the gas!  Many a time we have tried to push out a novice and they over react, stepping on the break and getting stuck even worse.  We cry out, “Gun it!”  Get the car moving.  Never let it stop!

Such is the experience of salvation.  When the LORD saves us, we should be prepared to journey in the direction in which He wants us to go.  Many believers are saved, yet so as by fire.  They have repented of their general sinful condition, and perhaps a few specific ones, yet when Christ saves them, they retain much of that which has them stuck in bondage.  There is no full repentance.  Their feet are not shod with shoes ready for travel.  They do not have the support and strength of a staff because there is no journey ahead.  There is no weapon girded on their loins because they have no intention of going to far with the LORD!  What a shame!  When Jesus saves us, we should have the mindset of immediate and purposeful movement.  Away from sin unto fellowship with the LORD.

Cry Uncle Already

“And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?” (Ex 8:9 AV)

Moses’ way of asking Pharaoh to cry Uncle.  “when have you had enough?”  “how much more are you going to put up with?”  “are you done, yet?”  We know this was the tone because of the little phrase, “Glory over me.”  Moses is telling Pharaoh to pay him the proper respect.  Through Moses, the LORD is asserting His authority to chastise, inflicting hardship for the purpose of repentance.

The LORD is often seen as a God of grace who would never do such a thing.  However, the God of grace whom we worship is also a God of authority and justice!  This was the kind of preaching we had a generation ago.  It was abandoned because we felt it was too much of a turnoff.  So, we emphasized the grace of God to the neglect of the judgment of God.  God does not compromise.  It is His way or the highway.  Or, should we say, it is His way or the hell way.  Yet, in these questions we do see the grace of God.  How? You might ask.  Simple.  By asking the questions, the LORD is opening the door of repentance to the errant sinner.

When my father spanked us, he sometimes used the same tactic.  He would ask us if we had had enough.  His intent was to break the will so that when confronted with the same opportunity to rebel, we would not.  This was grace on his part.  Rebellion is always destructive.  In asking the question, the penitent can cry uncle.  In essence, he surrenders.  He gives in to the one inflicting the harm and surrenders to whatever is demanded of him.  He repents and surrenders!  This is God’s grace.  Not the absence of affliction.  Rather, the use of affliction to change the destructive pattern the sinner has chosen for himself.

A God who Pays Respect

“And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.” (Ex 2:25 AV)

It is a blessing to know that no matter what it might seem like, God does not forget about us!  The word ‘respect’ here means a little different that we tend to us it.  We tend to use it as showing honor towards one that is higher in authority or status.  But the word can also mean to treat something with kid gloves.  It can mean to show extra care towards something that is weaker and needs to be helped along the way.

My later hunting years are now fraught with adventures.  When I was younger, I could go into the woods and not fear whatever mishap might befall me.  I could shoot a deer three miles from camp and make it back, dragging the kill behind me.  Now, it is foolish to go hunting alone and get too adventurous without another alongside.  Such was the case this year.  While tracking a wounded deer into a shallow draw, not finding it, I had to climb out.  Not necessarily a big deal.  However, instead of zig-zagging my way of a steep incline, I went directly uphill.  I heard a pop and felt like I had been shot in the back of the leg.  It turned out I had torn my calf muscle.  Now I was in a fix.  Still severely downhill, I was minus one leg.  It took fifteen minutes to go twenty feet.  The truck was a mile away.  But my partner was there with a 4-wheeler and helped me get out.  For the next six weeks, I respected that injured leg.  I only out as much weight on it as it could handle and still heal.  This is the understanding of respect here.

God will not allow us to go through more than we can handle.  He will respect our frail frame and intervene in times of distress.  He will not forget our situation.  He will always bear in mind our trials of life and that we need Him to make it through.  This is the respect a might God pays to a helpless creature like me!

More Good Days than Bad

“And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” (Ge 47:9 AV)

Time goes by fast and we tend to remember the good times more than the bad!  Jacob had some bad days.  He had to flee from Esau.  He was defrauded by his father-in-law.  He returned only to feel threatened by Esau all over again.  His two sons, Simeon and Levi, wiped out a neighbor because his daughter had been raped.  Reuben slept with his concubine.  Rachel died in childbirth.  So on and so on.  There is never a perfect life no matter what the commercials try to tell us.  As Job said, “A man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.”  How we choose to remember those days is how we will experience those days.

I have been to many funerals.  There is one thing that is common to them all.  The collage of pictures which is shown at the viewing and prior to the funeral service are pictures of the good times the deceased had had in life.  Pictures of their marriage.  Kids and grand-kids.  Family trips or times of family fellowships.  A picnic here.  A camping trip there.  Playing corn hole or horseshoes.  There are pictures of sports teams.  Pictures of meals shared.  What one doesn’t see are pictures of layoffs, food stamps, empty cupboards.  They don’t see pictures of car wrecks, shut off utilities, divorce proceedings.  We don’t see pictures of a wayward child in the midst of his or her frivolity.  We don’t see the pictures of an argument that was so heated a spouse left for a few days.  We don’t see those pictures because the evil days are few.

God is good to us.  He truly is.  Even those who reject Him have good days.  Not all the days are bad days.  What the world wants us to do is be focused on those bad days.  It wants us to seek drugs, material things, vacations, a new pill, etc that will make are life a virtual utopia.  In reality, those who know Christ shall suffer, but few and evil will our days be!  It all depends upon that which we choose to dwell!  The good, the bad, or the ugly!

Find the Undo Button

“Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?” (Ge 37:28-30 AV)

My question is: why didn’t Reuban, or anyone else for that matter, repent and go after Joseph?  Why didn’t they try to buy him back?  Even if it was a few days later, why not try to redeem their brother and admit to their mistake?  That Midianite caravan couldn’t have gotten that far away.  Surely a couple of the siblings could have pursued and tried to purchase their brother’s freedom.  The point is, there is never a point of no return where something cannot be fixed.  There is always opportunity to undo a wrong.  Things may not return to exactly the way they were before, but that is no reason to let it go and get worse.

I work with graphics on my computer.  My favorite button is the “undo” button.  Or, the “back one step” button.  These features are great!  If I am working with a photograph I can adjust one feature at a time and undo it if I don’t like it, keeping the previous adjustments in place.  Sometimes, while preparing a sermon outline, the ‘undo’ button works great as well.  When pasting formatted text into my outline, I am really particular that it looks just like the typed text.  Sometimes, I have to undo a paste and redo with the correct formatting.  The undo button is awesome.  Working in Photoshop, one can undo on style while keeping others.  One can even go back to the original image negating all the changed which were made.  However, when the user clicks ‘save’, the undo feature goes away until more modifications are made.  Once ‘saved’ is clicked, you are stuck with the changes.

There is rarely a ‘save’ button in life.  Errors can be reversed.  One can ‘undo’ a choice even though the code is still hidden in the background.  Yes, there may be residual effects left behind.  And it may not return exactly as it once was.  I have some scars to prove it.  But we are not necessarily stuck with it as it is. Doing wrong is bad enough.  But avoid undoing the wrong is worse.  The eleven brothers could have taken a tongue lashing and returned Joseph.  Instead, they were in for major humiliation and fear.  Better to fix something early then reap additional problems because we ignored the consequences of our choices.

A Strength is not Always a Strength

“And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.” (Ge 34:30 AV)

Just a few chapters earlier, the angel of the LORD said to Jacob that he was a prince with God and man.  His name was changed from Jacob to Israel.  Jacob had the gift of diplomacy.  Since leaving for his life from Esau, he learned that not every deal has to be made in subtlety.  He used Esau to his advantage to gain his birthright.  He used the blindness of his father to gain a blessing.  Now, 14 years later and having been ‘had’ twice by his wife’s father, he has learned a little humility.  When fleeing from Laban and being in the wrong because Rachel had stolen idols belonging to Laban, Jacob strikes a deal at Mizpah.  On the way to Isaac, Jacob is confronted by Esau who is greater in number and resources.  He appeases his older twin brother.  Jacob has learned some skills.  And he has become very successful.  Even to the point of dwelling in peace among other people.

Yet, there are times when one’s strengths can also be a weakness.  Jacob’s skill of appeasement does not apply well in the arena of justice.  I believe Dinah as partly to blame for her predicament.  I do not think Dinah was forced.  Yet, the sons of Jacob felt what was done was not right.  Motive means everything.  The people of the Hivites, Shechem and Hamor, saw intermarriage as a means to attain the wealth of Jacob.  Not a means of merely dwelling together.  When Simeon and Levi took to the sword, it wasn’t just for Dinah’s honor.  They realized these people had no real intention of co-inhabiting the land.  These people wanted to assimilate Israel into their culture and in so doing, defeat by assimilation.  They were out maneuvering by diplomacy the prince of God’s people and he could not even see it.

Simeon and Levi understood there is a time to use your strength.  But clearly there are other times when that strength isn’t the strongest tool in the tool box.  There was a time for diplomacy.  Then there is a time of force.  Knowing when our strength is no longer a strength, shifting to other ways of accomplishing God’s will is essential.  Knowing that just because we are good at something doesn’t always mean we must stick with it.

The Root of Blessing is God!

“And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.” (Ge 30:14-15 AV)

For years, I have read this and wondered what the big deal was over these mandrakes!  Why was Reuben harvesting them?  Why was he harvesting them for his mom?  What did Rachel think they were so valuable she was willing to trade a night with Jacob for the harvest?  Then I began to research this root.  Very interesting!  It is no wonder the wife that had and issue with idol worship also was the one preoccupied with mandrakes!  They have a heavy history with the underworld.  Not that Rachel was a devil worshipper, but, the root did and does have wide medicinal and recreational drug use applications.  One of them is a treatment for infertility.  Some of the lore surrounding this root comes from its appearance.  It is not out of the ordinary for the root to take on the appearance of a screaming human.  Lore stated these roots would scream when pulled from the ground and kill the one harvesting them.  People believed this so deeply, they would tie a dog to the root and run, hoping the dog would follow and pull up the root.  Really weird.  None of that has anything to do with this event though.  I don’t see Jacob’s family involved in witchcraft or superstition.

What we can learn, though, is Rachel decided to put up her chances of pregnancy with a medical treatment rather then seeking opportunity and leaving the results up to the LORD.  As a result of this trade, Leah was found with child and after he was born, another came along.  At least two years later, Rachel (with or without the root) was still without child.  It would have been one thing if she was using the mandrake for her own health (which it often was).  But it appears she was using it to improve her chances of receiving a blessing from the LORD.

One cannot manipulate God’s will for oneself.  It was obvious God’s will for Rachel was to be a mother.  Not just of Joseph, but also of Benjamin.  Yet, Benjamin came along two years after the whole mandrake trade.  No credit was given to the supplement.  Only to the LORD!  God is the one who bestows blessings and purpose.  Sometimes He may choose to use a root.  Other times, perhaps not.  The point is, if it is not God’s will, then manipulation is not going to work.  If it is, He will either cause it or allow it.  Whatever the case, God is always in control.

Greater than the Cost

“After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” (Ge 15:1 AV)

At first glance, the fact the LORD is a reward doesn’t seem so right.  The Hebrew word for ‘…reward…’ here means a wage.  Something that is earned.  Not a prize to be bestowed out of mere luck.  So, the question arises; what was it that Abram did that caused God to give Himself to Abram and just compensation?  The answer is in the previous chapter. 

Lot was taken captive by five kings of the near east.  Abram joined with other five kings that he might assist in conquering the enemy and rescuing Lot.  The LORD blessed the effort for Abram’s sake.  Particularly for the covenant and what it would mean to the other five kings to see the LORD bless Abram.  When the king of Sodom offered a portion of the spoils of war, Abram turned him down.  His concern is the unbelievers would credit themselves for making Abram rich and not the LORD.  So, Abram turned down certain wealth for the sake of the LORD’s testimony and as a result, God because very real and close to him!

One thing is for certain, the exceeding great reward is far greater than the cost Abram paid!  If only God’s people could realize the same.  The LORD doesn’t ask us to give up things of this life without receiving hundred-fold in return.  He doesn’t ask a man to surrender to full-time Christian service without giving him blessings that far exceed the cost.  The LORD doesn’t ask a saint to leave the acquaintances of the old life without giving him new relationships in return.   The LORD doesn’t ask His people to expend a little time and resources to build His church without giving something far greater in return.  He doesn’t have to.  But He deeply desires to bless those who love Him!

Grace or Regret

“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” (Ge 6:6-7 AV)

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” (Ge 6:8 AV)

I think the one of the saddest verses in all the Bible is verse six and seven.  For the LORD to be so fed up with mankind that His heart changes towards those whom He has created, wishing He would never have done this, is beyond tragic.  One wonders how much we tax the LORD in our own lives.  One wonders if there is any regret the LORD feels when we dramatically disappoint the LORD.  One hopes the LORD doesn’t look upon our continued failures and comes the conclusion He wishes He had never allowed us to come into being.  I am sure that I have given Him sufficient cause to feel that way from time to time.

Then comes verse eight.  All is not lost.  There is one man and his family that strives to serve the LORD and live in righteousness.  The grace of God does not expect perfect.  It cannot.  Otherwise, it would not be grace.  What grace does do is reward those who have a heart, regardless of success or failure.  Remember, this same Noah would have way too much to drink and live immodestly in the privacy of his own home, causing the LORD to judge his descendants.  Noah failed when he became a drunk. The LORD knew he was going to do this.  Yet, the LORD still exercised grace towards a man who at least tried.

It would break my heart if I knew for sure the LORD repented that He even created me.  What a horrible thought.  Imagine if a child came to the understanding his parents were so disappointed, they wish they never gave birth to him at all.  Imagine that!  They are not angry.  They are not upset.  They are simply completely disappointed!  This is the potential of us all.  Yet, what Noah was is also a potential for the child of God.  Striving towards righteousness with a heart towards humility and repentance goes a long way in the experience of God’s grace!  We can go either way.  Which way will we go?

You Are An Expression Of God!

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Ge 1:1-3 AV)

There is something about these first three verses of God’s word that reveals Him in a way that no other passage does.  I cannot put my finger on it but as the Spirit instructs, He will reveal that which the heart needs to understand.

The LORD has not created anything.  In these three verses, there is nothing in which to interact.  It is just the three persons of the God head.  No cosmos, no animals, no humans.  God and God alone.  Just Him!  There is a divine sufficiency here.  There is no overriding need for the LORD to create.  He does not create animals because He is hungry.  He does not create plants because He needs beauty.  He does not create mankind because He needs fellowship.  He is the all sufficient God.  He creates because it is His nature to do so.  He does, not because He needs to, but rather, because He wants to!  Knowing all things that will happen and the need of His Son to die on a cross for the sins of the ones He is about to create, He still wishes to create.

Perhaps what struck me was feelings I used to have in art class.  When the instructor puts a medium before you and asks you to create and expression of your thoughts, feelings, purpose, and design, it becomes a very personal thing.  I remember every piece I ever created.  The drawing of my left hand, the horse and rider wire sculpture, the countless papier-mâché projects, and the pastel of a mountain scene.  I remember them all because it was very personal.  When the soul reads of a God who is creating, he is reading of a God who is expressing Himself in a very personal way.  The God who needs nothing or no one is creating in His image an expression of Himself.  For this we need to treasure life!  Our existence is an expression of a God who desires to be known!  A God who desires to create something of value.  Something of worth.  Something worthy of redemption!  Something that will be expression of His grace!