City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For 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,

Romans 1:19-20 (NKJV)

Reflection

Christ Clearly Caused Creation Creatively Conveying Compassion for Convicted Creatures on Calvary’s Cross.

All good things begin with “C,” like coffee, community, Christ, church, and (Chris Pate?). 😉

Ever since I was young, writing has been an outlet to express my feelings and thoughts about God and life. Creative writing come in many forms such as poems, short stories, or music and I find myself enjoying many ways of writing. It opens up feelings and brings tears, laughter, joy, anger, or any other number of emotions. It allows me to express what I feel and provides an outlet for reflection. I’m sure many of you are the same way. How could we live without words to express ourselves and our feelings to others?

I’m sure God felt exactly the same way. He created a world for us and all the amazing gifts that come with it. He created us to enjoy His creation and the talents and skills He gave us to use. We find order in disorder and create amazing technology, research, and breakthroughs. We draw and paint works of art that last for millennia, and hymns and music that span over centuries. God expressed Himself so we can see His goodness and turn to Him for our joy and happiness.

His invisible attributes… dwell on that for one minute. What invisible attributes do you think God would show and are clearly seen? The world for one, and even if you look at the most insignificant organism, it is beautifully made and fits so well together that it cannot be from chance. It takes more faith to believe that we weren’t created! Think about it. We are the only creature on this earth that writes books and creates arguments about how we cannot be created. We try to argue that order was created from disorder by using ordered arguments when the Creator already created order for us to argue about disorder!

Our world is beautifully made by a perfect Creator. There is very little we can do but give God the glory. We are without excuse.

Application

Take your time and dwell on all that is around you. Nothing we have on this earth is from our own hands. It is all created by God, either through nature or the gifts given to man through God’s power and creative mind (see Scott’s post form yesterday). We have nothing to give God except what He has already given us. Praise God, thank Him for creating an orderly universe and praise Him for your gifts and skills. These are given to you so that you can bless God with them. Don’t waste your gifts and creative genius. Instead offer what you have back to God and ask Him how He wants to use you.

Prayer

Father in heaven. Thank You for the gifts You have given me. The world is a masterpiece and created for us to enjoy. Your love knows no bounds! I praise You for the gifts You have given me. Help me to use these creatively for Your kingdom. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.