"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,for his steadfast love endures forever.Give thanks to the Lord of lords,for his steadfast love endures forever;to him who alone does great wonders,for his steadfast love endures forever;to him who by understanding made the heavens,for his steadfast love endures forever;to him who spread out the earth above the waters,for his steadfast love endures forever;to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day,for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night,for his steadfast love endures forever" Psalm 136:1-4
"It is he who made the earth by his power,who established the world by his wisdom,and by his understanding stretched out the heavens." Jeremiah 10:12
I have just returned from a few weeks of hiking in the Sierra's, Yosemite National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and the Redwoods National Park. I climbed in the Sierra's to over 10,500 feet at Mammoth Crest and saw myself rising above the tree lines and entering into alpine tundra. There I was able to see all the lakes of Mammoth Lakes from my viewpoint as well as the Minarets of the Sierra's across the way. In Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite I hiked to the Cathedral Pass and from one vantage point I could see Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley while looking back and able to see Cathedral Mountain and Lake. I also climbed the Lambert Dome and from there could see all of Tuolomne Meadows and Yosemite in its glorious splendor. At Lassen I climbed Mount Lassen and could see the entire panorama of the park from all sides. Down below I hiked to see the boiling pools, fissures of steam, and sulfur streams at Bumpass Hell. Then I hiked to the Chaos Jumbles to sit at the belly of a volcanic crater and look up at the majestic walls of the crater towering above me. What a contrast it was for me to leave the moonscape of Chaos Jumbles and walk leisurely along the pastoral tranquility of Manzanita Lake. Then there was the Redwoods. When I entered into the towering Redwood forests I felt I had entered a world of enchantment. The height of the trees seeming to reach toward heaven and the lushness of the green forest was captivating to the eyes.
In all of these places there came to my soul a sense of the glory and majesty of God that was inexpressible to me. I found myself unable to bridge the gap between the beauty that I saw and my ability to express all the feeling and emotion that was inside of me. All I could say most of the time were expressions like "wow!","awesome!", "amazing", "praise God!", "incredible", and "it is so beautiful!" Most of the time I just looked around with inexpressible wonder, amazement, and joy in beholding the immense beauty I was observing.
I thought often on how God made things for His own pleasure and glory and for our enjoyment. When He made all things He said, "It is good." Oh, how He delights in His handiwork! I mused about how many places there are that no one sees or rarely sees that are full of incomparable beauty that God delights in each and every moment.They are always there radiating beauty and God delights in each and every place He created even if no one is privileged to ever see them. Sometimes I would be all alone in one of those places and I would think as I was enjoying it how much the Father delighted in my enjoyment of His creating work. I thought about His infinite perfection, brilliance,genius, excellency, creativity, purity, love, and wisdom in all that He has made. What kind of mind could create a mountain, a forest, a lake, ferns, streams, lakes, igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, glaciers, valleys, colors,shapes,such diversity, yet such order.
God has made all things as a physical display of His beauty and the greatness of his works for all to see. God, the most beautiful being in the universe created a world where His beautiful perfections could shine. Jonathan Edwards say of God's creating beauty,
"The Lord is an infinite fountain of holiness, moral excellence, and beauty, and the earth is the basin by which his beauty is poured."
Paul writes,
"For of Him and through him, and to Him are all things" (Romans 11:36).
"For by him all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible, and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him"(Colossians 1:16)
When God made creation, His ultimate end was for us to see His glory. That is why it is both sad and blasphemous when I meet people who appreciate nature but do not believe, love, nor honor the maker of the beauty of the nature they so cherish. The beauty of the Sierra's, Yosemite, Lassen, and the Redwoods pale compared to the beauty of the one whose glory is displayed in all of His creation. As a matter of fact, his creation is like a towering neon sign displayed for all to see and enjoy, planted by God to display His infinite beauty and glory. All beauty is a pale reflection, an echo, a pointer, to the one who made and designed it and "made all things for Himself".
Creation is a love song from its creator to us! Walk in the Redwoods and you will hear the sweet chords of divine music. Hike in the Sierra's and God's sweet song of love will ring in your ears. Are you listening to the music or have your ears become so accustomed to the discordant cacophonies of technology, media, and entertainment that you have lost the ability to appreciate the beautiful things of life in their simplest forms. Oh how many of us have become so spiritually thin that we have lost our connection with nature. I would encourage you my dear readers to make a return to nature and enjoy it. Go for a walk on the beach; go to the park, enjoy your yards,go to the woods, go to the mountains, go to the desert and sing praises, laugh, contemplate the delights of all the little and big things that God has made, and commune with Him in the very realm that was made by Him to testify of Him.
But never forget that the ultimate enjoyment is not in creation but in the beautiful creator himself.
"The enjoyment of [God] is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied…. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends are but shadows, but enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean. " Jonathan Edwards
Loving the creator of His creation which I so enjoy,
Pastor Bill
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