PSALM 90 : 17 NKJV:
(17) “And let the beauty of the Lord be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.”
ECCLESIASTES 3 : 11 NKJV:
(3) “He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Also He has put eternity in their hearts,
except that no one can find out the work that
God does from beginning to end.”
1 PETER 3 : 3–4 NKJV:
(3) “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days,
walking according to their own lusts,
(4) and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of creation.’ ”
PHILIPPIANS 4 : 8 NKJV:
(8) “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things
are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are
pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of
good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy–meditate on these things.”
“I have found a profound need for beauty, but I don’t live in the garden spot of the world. Nevertheless, I decided to try the Apostle Paul’s advice for a day and meditate on what was lovely around me.
A big truck was backing up in our lane to deliver a load of gravel. Steve, our friend, guided his fifty-thousand-pound truck deftly to its target, tilted up the bed, and then pulled slowly forward, laying down a seamless river of white gravel. When he got out to take my money, I couldn’t help noticing how handsome he was.
“Steve, you are a regular da Vinci with that truck!”
He laughed. “I’ve had a lot of practice, Dan.”
Then I was off to get a haircut. My barber, Kelly, a smart brunette, was struggling with a boy who didn’t want his hair trimmed. He screamed, and twisted like a snake, and made threats, but Kelly’s gentle voice charmed the little serpent and turned him into a beautiful little man. “Kelly,” I said, “when it comes to children, you are a virtuoso.”
She blushed, “It’s just part of the job. I’m used to it.”
In the evening, I stood in the doorway of my wife’s sewing room, where she was working on a quilt. Hundreds of quilt pieces were stacked in small piles, awaiting her assembly into yet another beautiful tapestry like the ones that grace our walls and cover our beds. Sharon is an artist in thread.
At the end of the day, I had to admit that there was a lot of beauty around when I looked for it. I need to make every day a tour through the gallery of life, looking for the elegance that gilds the world around me.
Lord, I see Your beauty in everything and I love You for it.”
Daniel Schantz
Daily Guideposts
Oh my, how busy and rushing we tend to get as each day comes and goes with all of its demands and pressures. Appointments, dropping off or picking up the kids from schools, or sporting events, church meetings, family gatherings, holidays, and special events all seem to stack up. There never seems to be an end to these type demands on our precious time. Why aren’t there more hours in the day?
God must laugh (and cry) a lot as He watches us run or jump from one immediate but arguably unimportant place to another. Our priorities seem to get totally out-of-hand as we just run errands, meet schedules, or attend unimportant or superfluous meetings every week.
No matter how you attempt to measure or count the available hours an individual has during any given week, there never seems to be enough of this precious commodity called time. The facts are that just as God designed the earth and all that is in or on it, each and every day is comprised of no more than 24 hours. He left the pace of travel in your own hands. You can rush, speed, or race through those wonderful daily moments, all the while missing the important things in life,…or…you can slow down, get under emotional control, and begin to enjoy the beauty of the created world around you as God designed it for your personal enjoyment.
A life lived in chaos, a life lived at too much of a rapid pace, or a life filled with stress, strain, and anxiety,…always turns out to be a too short life, ending in a premature disaster.
Slow Down. Smell the roses. See the beauty in all things around you.
You were only given a certain specific number of days to live from the moment of your personal birth. The God who designed you pre-numbered the days you will live here on earth. Scientists tell us we all have an approximate 75+ years to live and enjoy on this earth, pending some unexpected or tragic death. When you are young, that seems to be a very long time…seventy plus years. But after your 65th birthday, things begin to tighten up. The realization has to be dealt with that an individual has more days behind them than they have in front of them. Death is inevitable. Everyone eventually passes on from this earth into eternity. 100% of all people eventually die.
For certain, you do not want to come to the end of your days on earth wishing you would have done something different or something more than what you did with the use of your life. The truth is that you only get one chance to live, one chance to create, or one chance to do something important, significant, or even excellent with your life.
The Holy Bible tells all readers what they should do with their lives while they live on this earth. Its instructions are very explicit. God gives us commandments not suggestions. However, in order to be happy and productive and to be able to see the beauty in everything as you live here on earth, you must be totally and completely properly prepared for your personal life-after-death. You must be prepared for your eventual eternity.
God (Jesus Christ) clearly tells us in His Holy Word in the Book of John, Chapter 14, verses 1–6 NKJV how to be properly prepared for heaven and its eternity.
(1) “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe
also in Me .
(2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
(3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be
also.
(4) And where I go you know, and the way you know.
(5) Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are
going, and how can we know the way?’
(6) Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
man comes to the Father except through Me.’ ”
So, you see, special friends. Beauty surrounds you. And the rewards and blessings that you will receive from everything you think, do, speak, or see here on earth will depend on how well you have prepared yourself for the eternal life that you will live after your date of physical death has been achieved. Once your eternal salvation is assured and properly in place,… through belief in and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ, then will you be ready to receive and enjoy the real beauty that surrounds you. Oh the Joy that comes to you once Christ becomes your personal Lord and Savior.
God’s Greatest Blessings to All of You…………………