The Story of a Spider

This is a short story of a spider. The story begins yesterday afternoon at my desk in my office. I was working away when I noticed several little spiders on my desk. I looked up on the wall and saw maybe 15 to 20 more little bitty spiders all over the wall...most of whom I mercilessly smashed (heartless, I know).

This morning I am sitting in my office on the couch studying for my sermon this weekend. The blinds on window are up letting in the beautiful sunny day. I looked towards my desk and dropping from the ceiling to my desk was a single strand of a spiders web. It must have been from one that escaped yesterday's assault on the spider population in my office. However, looking at that single strand caused me to pause and think.

This silky strand of web was weaving gently back and forth. The light from the window was glistening off the silky strand. I have to admit, as much as I don't like spiders, it was beautiful. I sat there amazed at the creative power of God! This little spider dropped from my ceiling to my desk leaving behind a line of silk that was mysteriously created inside its own body. This silky strand is both very soft and surprisingly strong. God's creative power is unmatched!!

“O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (Ps 104:24 ESV)

How have you seen the wonderful creative work of God lately? Share a comment for others to read and join together to give glory to the Lord of all creation.

IOU'S

I got the idea for this blog from another youth pastor friend, Brian Sharpe. My heart behind this blog is to reflect on what God has been doing in my heart through the study of His Word and through life in general. I likely won't post here daily or even weekly. But hopefully what I share will be a blessing to you in causing you to reflect on the things of God and your walk with Him.

I got the idea of the blog title from my favorite Bible teacher, John Piper. He has a routine in his devotional and prayer life which he calls his IOU'S. In his personal prayer times and in his prayers for others he prays that God would...

I - Incline my heart to your Word - “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!” (Ps 119:36). There are many things pulling for our hearts attention. Money, sex, popularity, success. What is your heart inclined towards? What draws your hearts attention? I pray your heart will be inclined towards the Word of God and not towards selfish gain of any kind.

O - Open my eyes - “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Ps 119:18). We need the work of the Holy Spirit to shine the light of the truth in our hearts when we read and study the Word of God. All too often our sight is clouded by sin, by selfish interests, by our own perceptions and even our cultural influences. There is aslo a strong belief that the Bible is an irrevelant piece of acient literature. Rather, the Bible is the living, active, purposeful, inspired Word of the Living God and is powerful and sufficient to bring us to salvation and affect change in our lives. We need our eyes opened to see the wonderous beauty and power of the Word of God!

U - Unite my heart - “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” (Ps 86:11). Our hearts are easily divided. We have dozens of concerns in life, worries and fears, passions and interests. Our hearts are often very fragmented. We need God to supernaturally unite our hearts to a single concern, a single purpose - fearing the name of the Lord. A heart that is united to fear the name of the Lord is a heart focused on bringing honor and glory to the name (the reputation) of the Lord. It seeks to do what pleases him; it seeks to avoid what displeases him; it's single concern is the honor and glory and exaltation of the name of the Lord. What fragments your heart?

S- Satisfy me with your love - “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (Ps 90:14). What truly satisfies? I hope Snickers is not the answer. We seek satisfaction in lots of things other than Jesus. What would your life look like if it was totally satisfied by the love of Jesus Christ? What would it look like for you to seek and treasure Jesus Christ in your daily life? Don't let the stuff in this world be your treasure! Stuff rots, stuff breaks, stuff disappointments. Jesus endures, Jesus fulfills, Jesus gives real satisfaction.

I have been really encouraged by incorporating the IOUS into my prayer times. I hope it will be a blessing to you as well. To read more about this and about how to fight for joy and satisfaction in Jesus Christ, I recommend two books by John Piper. "When I Don't Desire God" and "Don't Waste Your Life". Both are easy reads. They can be found in the recommended reading section to the right. As with any of my posts...I welcome your comments and feedback. Let me know if it has caused you to think, question or grow or all three =)