Do not look at stars as bright spots only. Try to take in the vastness of the universe.~ Maria Mitchell

Who created? God!

 What was created?   The Heavens and the Earth

 What is the context of these words?

 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty,

darkness was over the surface of the deep,

and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Explain how the earth was formless and empty!   [This just doesn’t compute easily, does it?]

Yesterday and today, we read in the scientific news that the“European Space Agency’s Planck satellite, capturing the oldest light in the universe, emitted when it was only 380,000 years old,”[1] [Bloomberg News]

It also stated “They also show some new features, such as a greater proportion of dark matter than previously thought, with normal matter, consisting of galaxies, stars and Earth, contributing only about 5 percent to the total mass and energy density, the scientists said. Another surprise was an asymmetry in the average temperatures on opposite hemispheres of the sky,”

Nothing the scientists have discovered is in conflict with God creating the heavens!

In fact, they now understand that the heavens (the universe) was created in a split second from sub-atomic size to what it is today. They also say it was rather formless in the beginning, a huge hot mass which they have found to be slightly less uniform in nature than they expected, although it is very uniform.

Scientists say that it is from this starting point, everything in our universe comes.

The mechanism, however is still not confirmed!

One of the key scientists, Efstathiou, said the following...” Planck shows that inflation is proving to be the best explanation for what happened just after the Big Bang, but that doesn't mean it is the right theory or that it even comes close to resolving all the outstanding problems in the theory,”[2].

The big bang appears to be confirmed, but the mechanisms explaining it are still conjecture and theory.

I have my theory...God spoke!

John 1 says “In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning.

³ All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him. ⁴ Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not understood it.”

God created all things, and nothing that has been made without him.

This has been a good few days of scientific statements. The Higgs boson (God particle) has been shown to be true. There is something giving all matter mass. Now we get further confirmation of a super fast creation.

Our God is amazing! It is wonderful to see how these aspects simply fit into the bible messages. (There is more on my site on this in the section “Science and Genesis”)

Hey, let’s have a wonderful day and realize everything we look at or experience is made by our God!

What is the core reason behind crime?

There have been many theories put forward and over time these theories have changed often and today the understanding is there are many motivators.

Some people conduct crime because they are in such deep need that it is life threatening to themselves or their family and they act to fulfill the need. In 1^st world countries these types of crimes are less in number and intensity because society has provided a safety net or catch net that supports basic needs, removing this as a major motivator.

This theory is one in the two main groups of theories. The two groups are that crimes are dependent on the types of people, and the second is that crimes depend on the types of environments.

Types of people influences consider the reasons people turn to crime, their motivation, situations that enable them, and their feelings as motivators.

The environment influences take into account different environmental factors. For example, internet crime needs the internet accessibility in an unsecured way, or inner city vs rural crime variations.

So how do we explain crime? One way is the classical approach of considering that people have free will and act to maximise their pleasure and minimize their pain. This is a selfish view and is not uncommon. Criminals will undertake crimes where they are least likely to get caught and rarely want to focus on the needs of others, particularly not those of the victims of their crime.

Strangely enough for many years we considered fear is the motivator in stopping crime. Punishments are leveled to induce the fear and we hope crime will reduce.

Does this work?

Perhaps to a limited extent, but not fully!

What about those that commit crime for the greater good?

“Nonsense!” many would say. Try reading Nelson Mandela’s "long walk to freedom" and you will find this great statesman deliberately disobeyed the law despite legal training, simply for the good of others in his nation. Think Ghandi as well!

These acts simply do not fit the model that fear dissuades. People overcome fear for many reasons, and punishment is not always a reason not to commit crime.

So we are left with preventing crime either by protecting the liberties of the citizens from criminals and having quick effective judgements and sentences, or careful long due process judgements, that protect the rights of the individual to ensure no innocents get falsely sentenced. Perhaps the best is a balance of both, but where do we place the pivot point?

These are interesting and important arguments, positions, and strategies.

The simple aspect is that crime needs to be corrected by reducing evil in society.

This is the work of Christians and the church, and not the state. I contend that the more the state ignores this fact, the more difficult it will be to control crime, and have a peaceful, joy filled society.

Loving others removes the crime motive. God is the ultimate judge, and judges from the perspective of viewing the whole of a person’s life, thoughts and actions. There is no better judgement!

Rules, laws, and regulations are not the ultimate answer! In fact for those seeking excitement, they are motivators, because the high for these criminals is being able to “out think”, or “get away with”, or “beat” the system. This is for many simply a motivator, not a deterrent.

These people will not be as keen to do crime, if they understood God is evaluating everything they do in life, and they understand  “People have to die once. After that, God will judge them.” Hebrews 9:27 NIRV.

God wants us to love himself, others and ourselves. This removes evil and motivation from crime.

Let’s pray our governments will understand this and allow Christians to do their work in this life.

Join me in praying for this please?

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” ~  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do we allow children to wander the streets today as freely as our grandparents and parents did in the past?

In most countries of the world, this answer would be no!

Do we see an increase in crime?

Again in many countries the answer is yes!

It appears as if evil is increasing in the world. Selfishness seems to be increasing and with it greed seems to multiply.

Christians in many parts of the world are killed because they love others and tell them of Jesus.

This is not unexpected since 2000 years ago Jesus said...

 Because evil will grow, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ This good news of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world. It will be a witness to all nations. Then the end will come. Matthew 24:12-14

We can expect that this world will decline in moral values if by moral values we are referring to Christian values.

Jesus explained the start of these times would be when...

“You will hear about wars. You will also hear people talking about future wars. Don’t be alarmed. Those things must happen. But the end still isn’t here. ⁷ Nation will fight against nation. Kingdom will fight against kingdom. People will go hungry. There will be earthquakes in many places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Yet, despite all this we gain as Christians! God works in a special way in our lives, we grow despite the circumstances. We can teach our children how to be free in limiting circumstances, how to have purpose in purposeless times, how to love despite being hated, how to have joy when those around us are complaining about everything.

The thread of life is weaved into the actions of a Christian who loves Jesus and walks by Holy Spirits power.

We enjoy love and excitement! We find peace in turbulence! We find God among the Godless!

What joy is ours! What privilege!

Each day is an adventure of discovery, a lesson in listening to God and a purposeful existence.

Our only sadness is that so few want to understand and experience this. Maybe today we can pray for an opportunity to tell one more person. How about doing that?

Have a wonderful, Christ filled day!

Life is a celebration of God’s ingenuity and the realization of his promises.

Have you considered that purpose in life is difficult, if not impossible to find, if you are not connected with God?

Life arrives from a mother and fathers desires, and we ourselves come to a realization of it’s existence in the first few years of our own existence.

Before we know of God, we never seem to have any way to know exactly what it is that leads us on, but instead are expected to find our way in the myriad of options and decisions facing our existence.

Mom and Dad try to help guide us, but they are as adrift in the sea of life as we are and if they are without God, as lost!

Without God as a compass, Jesus as the light, and Holy Spirit providing a constellation of reference points to guide us, we simply circle around searching for selfish satisfactions.

Not exactly a rewarding existence is it?

Yet each and every one of us has a golden path to walk through life’s despairs!

We are to connect with the loving hand of God and once aligned with heaven, we can find a very clear path to walk.

No longer aimless, we can face life with knowledge and have faith that God will take us where we are needing to go. We can go where we can have true value and impact on the lives of others around us. We will go where we can make a difference in our environment and do the tasks of the Father that have heavenly eternal purpose.

What makes the difference?

How do we unleash the cork on the heavenly champagne of true life?

The cork is released by understanding that Jesus is the son of God, that we cannot live correctly without God, and that trusting in Holy Spirit will lead us in the paths Jesus taught and showed us while on this Earth.

We need to have confidence that Jesus is at the right hand of God in heaven and has our interests at heart.

We need to pray and ask God to guide our feet today and every day.

We need to step out in faith into life and fully experience our true purpose. This is not necessarily a comfortable purpose, or one that we feel qualified to work out, but it is the one that we are, by our very being, uniquely qualified to follow despite the difficulties we will face.

Then, our life will become full of excitement, a joy will fill our heart, our minds will clear and we will know the direction to go. Selfishness will be discarded, amazing people encountered, and the world impacted for God.

That’s the type of living we are all entitled to have!

What type of living are you experiencing?

“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 11:21 ASV

This is a verse that is often quoted, but not really as well understood, as it is quoted.

Many want to use this verse as a universal manipulator of some type of God delivery system. A trigger of a delivery towards selfish desire fulfilment.

Sort of like, “Give me a Ferrari please?” or “Let me win the loto!”

Should God deliver on these types of prayers?

Our wants sometimes extend past our needs and even when they don’t, they often are not aligned with God’s heart.

Selfishness is not an attribute a Christian should possess, and so selfishness is not positively qualified in the “if you have faith” statement that is part of the promise.

Yet, there are times when we do ask in true honesty and faith for something. Quite often the something could even be a fruit of the Spirit!

Fruit like,  “love, joy and peace”...”being patient, kind and good “...”being faithful  and gentle and having control of oneself.”

These are all referred to in Galatians 5 and God wants us to have them.

However, it is very important to remember we get these by life experiences provided by God.

Consider that  if you pray to have love, that true love is agape love. This is love that is given despite being unloved in return. God’s type of love!

How do we learn such love?

By being in circumstances where all we can do is love, despite being unloved. These are the circumstances we can find ourselves experiencing if God wants to fully give the gift of love.

Or Joy! Joy is that inner gladness or pleasure, despite being in very difficult circumstances. To learn true joy, one can often experience some of the toughest experiences that humans can experience.

Okay, so what about peace?

“I leave my peace with you. I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And do not be afraid.” John 14:27 NIRV explains that peace is not being in peaceful circumstances, but finding peace despite being in difficult circumstances. So true peace is not found in comfortable times.

Can you see that to gain some of the true treasures of life takes courage, willingness to experience hardship, and a determination to stick with God through the toughest of times?

Next time  we are having a tough time, let’s check what we have been praying for and desiring. God delivers to the faithful what will build them, but not the way we always desire to have the gift delivered. The wrapping can come in the pains of life.

Let’s pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in these testing circumstances today. Let us know that God is great, and let us know he is a wonderful God and will give us endurance to get through the difficult times with powerful eternal gifts.

Let’s also understand that if we ask in truth, we will receive, but let’s also be careful of what we ask for because how it gets delivered may not be exactly the way we think it should come.

May God bless you today, answer your prayers, build you in eternity and allow his love to overflow in your life.

Peace be to you!

May the God who gives hope fill you with great joy. May you have perfect peace as you trust in him. May the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope. Romans 15:13