No Retaliation, June 3

LORD, even if the mountains walk away and the hills fall to pieces, Your love won’t walk away from me, Your covenant of peace won’t fall apart. You say so (Isa. 54:10 MSG). Thank You that You see to it that everything works out for the best (Isa. 54:17 MSG). Summing my character up in Christ, by Your grace, help me to be agreeable, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble. That goes for everyone who claims the Name of Christ, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Help me to bless—that’s my job. In that way, I will be a blessing to inherit a blessing (1 Pe. 3:8-9). In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Return to the Dust

“May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works” (Psalm 104:31 NIV).

Have you ever thought of Fungi as a servant of God?  Indeed, it is!  When living things die, fungi serves as a decomposer and life-producer to fulfill God’s Word.  Consider God’s Word when He speaks about His creatures through the Psalmist, “…When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground” (Ps. 104:29-30).  You see, living things die, they decompose (bodies break down) and Fungi help “organic matter” return to the dust.  Then, Fungi bring nutrients to the ground so that it can produce again (renewing “the face of the ground”).

In Job 1:21, Job cries out, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the Name of the LORD be praised” (NIV).  Fungi reflect this truth.  These unique creatures play a key role in breaking down “organic material” by taking the nutrients it needs (also giving nutrients to the earth) so that the soil may produce new plants revealing the truth that God renews “the face of the ground.” Consider a fungus that grows on a dead tree.  Fungus breaks down the tree’s wood so that the tree crumbles away.  The soil is now left with nutrients to grow new plants.  The old is gone and the new is come (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).  God’s resurrection power and manifold wisdom is seen here and displayed in all the earth in the simplest yet most profound ways.

Fungi are one of the planet’s most important decomposers and recyclers.  God uses them to balance the cycle of life here on earth.  Without them, once living things would “pile up” and “cover the earth” but God has ordained that they play a part in the renewal of “new generations of life.”  How great is God’s Name in all the earth.   Fungi certainly sing of His greatness. “All the earth bows down to you; they praise to you, they sing the praises of your Name” (Psalm 66:4 NIV). What other revelations of God’s truth do you see woven in the story of the Fungi?

Bibliography:

Dr. Alvin, Virginia, and Robert Silverstein. “There’s a Fungus Among Us.” The Kingdom of Life: Fungi. New York: Twenty-First Century Books, 1996.

Pascoe, Elaine. “Fungi and Decay.” Fungi. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003. Print.

Perseverance Must Finish

What’s the point of life when it doesn’t make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning? (Job 3:23 MSG).

Does life make sense to us or does it feel as though all roads to meaning have been blocked? Job cries, “The worst of my fears has come true, what I’ve dreaded most has happened.  My repose is shattered, my peace destroyed…” (Job 3:25-26 MSG).  Like Job, what if our worst fears came true?  What if something we’ve most dreaded happens?  Will our repose be shattered and our peace destroyed?  If we base our life on circumstances and fears instead of taking refuge in Christ, we will constantly be shaken.  The Psalmist writes, “God alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken” (Ps. 62:2).  Peter resolves in light of his suffering to challenge us to be encouraged.  “Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine.  When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of His victory” (1 Pe 1:7 MSG).

 Father, teach my heart wisdom to persevere through all kinds of trials (Jas. 1:5).  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

No Matter, December 17

God, You’re to be praised in all circumstances. I consider Your servant Job who in one day lost his donkeys, oxen, sheep, servants, camels, and children. Yet, in the midst, he fell to the ground and worshipped You. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the Name of the LORD be praised.” In suffering, he “did not sin by charging [You] with wrongdoing.” “Job did not hide his…grief.  He had not lost his faith in God…” (Job 1:20-22 & NIV LASB Commentary).  Jesus, no matter, help me never to lose my faith in You. In Your Name, Amen.