On April 22, more than one billion people around the globe will take part in Earth Day 2012 and help Mobilize the Earth™. People of all nationalities and backgrounds will voice their appreciation for the planet and demand its protection. Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations, and governments to do their part.
Attend a local Earth Day event and join one of our Earth Day campaigns as we collect A Billion Acts of Green® and elevate the importance of environmental issues around the world.
The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters. (Psalm 24:1)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:1-5).
A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. (Proverbs 13:1).
It seemed like his father was always picking on him about something. “Do this.” “Do that.” There was never a time when he left him alone. Sometimes the boy thought it would have been better if he did not have a father. He could not get away with anything, and if he was caught doing something he was not supposed to, his old man was on his back in a flash. It was not fair.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6)
But when the boy grew up and had a family of his own, he realized that his father had kept after him to teach him how to live properly. He wished there were some way to thank his father; but he decided the best way was to be a good father to his own kids.
Often we scorn instruction and rebuke because it isn’t what we want to hear. But there comes a time when we are glad that we had instruction. The words come echoing back to us, and we begin at long last, to understand why they were offered. Too often we reject the words without actually paying attention to them. We need to listen to instruction no matter how much we do not want to hear it. It takes maturity to realize that others may know what is best for us.
Proverbs 4:20-27
My children, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh. 23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life. 24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established. 27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.
There was an actor who was fond of telling everyone how wonderful he was. His house was a museum of memorabilia from his career. His rave reviews were framed and hung in every room. Awards graced shelves and tables, and copies of his movies were played on large screens when visitors came by. He took such delight in rattling off his achievement that no one else ever felt compelled to praise him.
“For whosoever exalted himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11)
Too often people seek after honors when they should be thriving for humility. Honors are not something that we deserve. They are gifts and should be given by others, not by ourselves. When we praise our own efforts, we slip into the sin of conceit. The good book tells in James 4:6 that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” God is most pleased when we commit ourselves to doing what is right. Even if no honors come to us in this life, God will honor us richly in the life to come.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). It is the humble man who is able to keep his sights set on God and in doing His will. Thomas A. Kempis said it best, “It is good for me Lord, that thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy righteous Judgments, and may cast away all haughtiness of heart and all presumption. “
If we use our time doing the things that God has asked us to do, we will not have time to brag about our accomplishments. God has given us plenty to keep us busy all the days of our lives. If we stay committed to doing what is pleasing in His sight, He will bless us all our days.
Keep me humble, Lord. Help me to remember that I am nothing without You. You have given me everything I have and everything I am. You have blessed me with so many wonderful things, and I praise you. Amen!
Let’s be realistic, everybody struggles with something. Heavenly religious or earthly secular, personal weaknesses are real. Furthermore, you cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ and not struggle with demons. The Apostle Paul calls his, a “thorn in the flesh.” And while Simon Peter never admits this publicly, he hated the Gentile.
Here is how Paul describes his personal weakness: “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. . .” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
Jesus knew that personal weaknesses or borne out of self-indulgence and there are no shortcuts around them. Perhaps that’s the reason He declared: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
God does not want you to carry anything that He has not asked you to carry. Everything that He has asked you to carry, He will give you the grace to carry.
If you try to carry something that God wants someone else to carry, they will be given the grace to carry it, but you will not. If God has not asked you to carry something, do not pick it up.
Although taking up your cross involves denying yourself, the main focus is about following Christ. The cross you carry has to do with the choices you make with your will, the responses you have in your actions, and the attitude you have in your heart.
God has called you to carry your own cross. His cross for you is something that you can take up daily, because grace will be in your hands to lift the cross, grace will be on your shoulders to carry the cross, and grace will be in your heart to live out the cross in your daily life. It is grace that makes bearing your cross possible.
Your cross means that you are putting to death every decision, every response, and every attitude in your life that is not consistent with the love of Jesus Christ.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:28).
In his letter to the Church in Galatia, the Apostle Paul compared the old Jewish customs and tradition (Moses law) to a yoke of bondage. He contended that the law was so rigid and burdensome, no man could keep it. According to Paul’s reasoning, (and he would know because he was an enforcer of the law) it was useless to even attempt to keep the law.
“Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love” (Galatians 5:2-6)
What is a Yoke?
A Yoke is a bar of wood, so constructed as to unite two animals (usually oxen), enabling them to work in the fields, drawing loads, pulling instruments used for farming. The purpose of the yoke is primarily to control the animals. No wonder the Apostle Paul compared the law to a yoke of bondage.
But God is a bondage breaker. He does not want you to be under any law that is outside the law of love. Christ came to set you free from anything that is not in His will or plan for you.
Bondage is any weight that tries to slow you down, pull you down, or keep you down as you seek to walk upon God’s pathway for your life. In Christ, you are no longer a slave to any sin, and fear, or any lie of the enemy. You are a
Oxen Team: getting yoked and prepped for work. (Photo credit: Laskaris)
free citizen of God’s Kingdom and you have a rightful claim to all its blessings, freedoms, and privileges. As someone who is free in Christ, there is nothing to prevent you from fully processing and enjoying the life He has given you.
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