TREEHUGGER - A PRAISE

Every morning I go to the park nearby. It has become my meeting place with God over the years. I feel undisturbed and peaceful there and when I arrive I almost immediately start talking to God. The first words that come out of my mouth are usually words of praise and thanksgiving. Gratitude for the beautiful place He has provided for me. A place where I can rest and come to Him just as I am, and praise for His creation that obediently illustrates life and does what it was created to do.
Sometimes on my daily walks the vegetation seems to join in my praise and worship. And other times it seems like it's trying to comfort me when I'm in need of God's help.

The old hymn "In the Garden" comes to mind: "He walks with me and He talks with me". I can see His garden waking up in the spring and going to sleep in the fall. The colors He uses for His pictures are vibrant and comforting, and when you look closely, you begin to wonder if you have ever seen such colors before. Each season has its different sounds, smells, and images that are imprinted on my heart, soul, and mind so that I have a place to go when there is no park available.

The enemy is trying to rob us of these impressions of God. We are distracted by a world that is noisier than ever, an enemy that is more desperate than ever, and an arsenal of pleasures and indulgences at our disposal that no generation before us has ever seen. Our daily lives pull us in a thousand directions away from God's garden.

God's Word is like His garden.  When He tells us to focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8), He knows that we need these things as a shield to protect us from a world that wants to destroy us..

I want to focus on the good things around me. They are there for a reason. God is in them every day, every hour, every minute. And if there is no park for us to go to, God is still there where we are.

The beauty of creation is in the Creator Himself. My neighborhood park is a beautiful enclave for which I'm grateful, but God's garden is wherever God is.  Let Him be with you always.

ICE SKATERS

Did you know that even those who walk with Jesus still fall into sin? It may sound obvious, but it’s true: believers—Christians, disciples of Jesus—are not exempt. Every one of us sins. Yet for those who walk with Jesus, sin takes on a different shape.

It’s a bit like watching a figure skater stumble during the Olympic Games. In that first moment, the fall looks awkward and disappointing. But if you look closer, you notice something else: the way they fall is almost graceful, gliding across the ice, recovering with elegance, and rising again so quickly it feels like the fall itself was part of the performance.

That’s how it is with us. We stumble time and again—through failures, doubts, and weaknesses. And that’s okay. Because it is often in those broken places that God invites us to come to Him, to receive forgiveness, and to begin again.

Forgiveness is never something we can earn. It is the gift of God’s grace, made possible through Jesus Christ on the cross.

When we wonder if our guilt might be too great, we can rest in this truth: we are loved—no matter what. Even when we fall, God extends His hand, lifting us up to continue walking—this time with new confidence and freedom.

So we hold on to His grace and step courageously back “onto the ice.”

The performance goes on—with every step, and with hope alive in our hearts.

 “But God demonstrates
His own love for us in this:

 While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us” 

Romans 5:8

BORN TO LOSE

That title might sound like a throwback to some cheesy rock anthem from the eighties—but stay with me. It’s more true than we’d like to admit. We’re born, we form habits, and we slowly grow into someone we eventually accept as “just who I am.” Then we settle there. We tell ourselves, “God made me this way,” and use the phrase I’m only human as a convenient escape from deeper spiritual responsibility.

But when Jesus stepped into the picture, He shattered that mindset. He exposed the hard truth: if we rely on our human nature alone, we are born to lose. The world we’re born into—broken and ruled by sin—cannot produce anything but more brokenness. And that’s why Jesus’ words sound so radical.

He said that to follow Him, to find life that lasts forever, we must deny ourselves (die to our old selves), take up our cross (Mark 8:34), and be born again (John 3:3). That is not self-help; it is self-surrender. The reason so many people—even some believers—struggle with this is because His call runs against everything our ego wants to cling to.

Jesus’ teaching presses us with a choice: either grasp at our own life and lose it, or surrender ourselves to Him and truly live. Free will is a gift, but it can just as easily become our downfall. The self was never meant to be its own god.

I DON'T LIKE THE MUSIC!

Church music leaders often hear this: "Music has lost its meaning," "back in the day we used to have real worship and praise music," or "I want my hymns back." While I believe these statements are correct from a traditional viewpoint, it is similar to stating "everything was better when I was young." However, God's word, our relationship with Him, and our experience remain unchanged. On the other hand, humanity's ability to understand, act, and respond has changed significantly in the last 2000 years.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love the old hymns and I love contemporary music. However, I personally have a hard time worshiping in spirit and truth with super loud and repetitive upbeat music. But I will defend its existence.

It is sad that the human race, in its intellectual evolution, needs to simplify everything. But at the same time, I believe that those who seek God with a true heart (Jeremiah 29:13) and have a relationship with Him will never lose their longing for God and their daily expression of praise and worship. It's our root and it's systemic, but it's expressed in a different way in this century.

I believe that simply playing cool Christian songs that don't focus on the corporate praise and worship element is wrong and should not be used in corporate worship. Unfortunately, this is what is happening in our churches quite often. However, the evolutionary direction of simplifying everything in our worship culture and culture as a whole is not necessarily a means of simplifying God, it is just who we are in this day and age. We are still able to worship "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24), even though the music is not as "musical and deep" as it used to be. 

I think sometimes all this is just a bitter cry for what has been lost, bundled with a kind of "selfish" ambition to leave things as they are.

The ever-changing world has changed our ability to perceive, act and react, but the powerful and convicting truth of God, full of expression and stirring emotion, has not changed. Even though our corporate, musical praise and worship gatherings are expressed with fewer words and simpler melodies, God is still God, and His Spirit instilled in us is still the same Spirit as it was 2000 years ago. Our way of expressing it has changed.

THAT'S WHERE I WANT TO BE

I am a very creative person, full of ideas and with many desires in my life. Every once in a while, I come across a role model, someone whose life has made a difference and is a positive success. Then I go to God and say: "that's where I want to be" and He says: "I've already put someone there". 

     

Could it be that my pursuit of happiness and success should be a pursuit of contentment? Doesn't God know where I am and why I'm here? Maybe I should stop thinking about a purpose that hasn't found me yet and start seeing the purpose that is right where I am. 

 

My idea of success is certainly not God's idea of success. And while this thought may be disappointing at first, I must begin to see the divine legitimacy of where I am. When I do, I will be just as influential as my role models. In a different place, but just as important.

A life in Christ is a life in mission. Our hope is in Christ, not in ourselves. When our desires are surrendered to the desires of God, our life and mission in Christ becomes a source of peace that accomplishes many things.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life"

- Proverbs 13:12