Work on the Eternal

When you make me feel like everything is temporary.

When we see that we are smoke in the wind.

Is that when you are asking us to pray for you God to show us how to work on the eternal? For you God to show us what is eternal and what is not.

God show us the eternal

God show us how to love for the eternal

Speak your truth and help us to hear you

Speak your peace and truth unto our lives

Help us to focus on you God

Fleating

God is pressing this in on me. We are a vapor and smoke in the wind. Here today and gone tomorrow. Even though we are a vapor God tempers that with his immense love for us and how valuable we are to him.

Are these contradictory statements? They may appear to be but I believe not. We can love things that are seen only for a short while. As well when the bible talks about how our life is fleating it talks about more how short our life is and how it can be spent on things that disapear or things of worth

I guess God is trying to tell me how easy it is to spend my time on fleating things and how often my mind goes to such things.

God teach us the difference between fleating and things of eternal worth.

Help us to know the difference (your true understanding)

Help us to change our ways to the valuable

Help us to listen to you

Help us to trust you with our fleating life

Help us to get a true understanding of our lives.

Authorities

C.S. Lewis in his book The Discarded Image makes a very interesting point. The medievals were all about authorities. They were very bookish and trusted and tried to understand the books that had been passed on to them and trusted them as authorities. We would point out that the books could be wrong which is true and they would agree in theory but would most often disagree.

He then points out the we put our trust in observation. He doesn't elaborate here but in other parts he talks about how we very often find what we are looking for. How much does it depend on the observer for what is observed? How much does the interpretation depend on the observer? By depending on observation what are we missing? Is this what future generations will say about us?

God help us to listen to you

God help us to trust in you

God speak your truth

The Territories of Science and Religion

The Territories of Science and Religion by Peter Harrison

C.S. Lewis says we should not get stuck in think that our current way of thinking, world view, way of organizing the world, government structure ... etc. is the best because it is current or 'new' every way of thinking. They all have strengths and weaknesses. 

Peter Harrison points out in his book that the current 'conflict' between science and Religion is because of our current definitions of science and religion. Just like the way Europe is divided has caused conflict the way human knowledge is divided defines the conflict into existence. 

Maybe we need to change the way we think about science and Religion and maybe we need to not even think about it as science and Religion. Does this mean we remove God and Chistianity? Not at all. Just change the way we think about it. 

The middle ages had no definition of 'Religion'. They were more concerned about correct worship than correct definitions of what they believe.

God help us to trust you.

God help us to listen to you.

God speak your truth to us.

God bless us.

God help us to live for you.

Medieval World View

I have been reading two books recently

The Territories of Science and Religion by Peter Harrison

The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis

I hope to delve into them in more details on this blog but some interesting things I have learned.

First the majority of people in the middle ages did not believe in a flat earth. Just as there is today people who believe in a flat earth so was there in the middle ages. For some reason these few people's opinions have come to be understood to be the opinion of the day.

Because of the appearance of a earth centered model of the universe it would appear that the people of the middle ages thought they were important. But on the contrary they understood themselves to be on the outer fringes. Not important at all.

Our model of the universe is mostly empty. The middle ages was full of life. Spirits and Demons and didn't have the feeling they were alone at all.

God teach us to learn from you

God help us to listen to you

God help us to love one another

Sovereignty of God

 

^{Psalm 46 (NIV)}

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

God help us believe in the goodness of you sovereignty

God help us to trust in your words

God help us to believe in your ways more than our own

God help us to break the lies of this world

God help us to understand you better

God help us to listen to you

God help us to come to your throne for guidance

Smoke in the Wind

God has been teaching me we are all smoke in the wind. Everything here on earth is temporary. All houses, all ways of life will disappear. Our memories also temporary. We can hardly remember yesterday and forget what we have learnt. The books we treasure well one day will be hard for future generations to understand if they are still around. The only thing we carry is the fire, the light of Jesus in this dark world that we pass on to others that is permanent.

Help us to pass on the fire

Help us to see our temporary nature.

Help us to listen to you

Help us to trust you

Speak your truth

Speak your wisdom

Speak your discenrment

Grace

In these time of stress and anxiety let us remember to give each other Grace. Though emotions are high and things are much more difficult than they were doesn't mean we need to forget Grace. We need it all the more. So let's give each other extra amounts of Grace.

God give us the Grace we need

God calm our fear and give us your peace

Smoke in the Wind

I am but smoke in the wind. My thoughts mislead. I am a grass that is gone tomorrow.

Oh God 

Speak your truth

Speak you wisdom

Help me understand your path for my life

God Eternally Present

Let us remember you omnipresent God. Present in the future and present now. Help us to remember you are already waiting for us in the future as well as today and are in control of it all.

Let us remember that you God are worried about our eternal souls and not the things of this world. You have our souls and those of the people we love in mind and care about that more than anything here on earth. John 3:16

Let us use the knowledge, wisdom, and discernment that you God have given us to the best of our ability, leave the rest to you God, and help us to know the difference.

In our victories helps us give the praise to you God!!

God give our leaders discerment and wisdom to know what to do
God give us discerment and wisdom to know what to do
God help us to love others and how to show that love
Speak your truth to us
Encourage us
Help us to give thanks in all things
Let this time be used for an amazing time of growth in the things of God.
Help us to remember that people before us have seen much worse.