take a look around

"Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing." Isaiah 40:26

We ought to be steadily reminded and encouraged of his great love for us from all that we see. It is clearly evident in the Bible that God created the world to reflect his story for us. The gospel is displayed continuously throughout creation! Jesus taught the gospel in parables with earthly examples about harvesting crops, mercy rising like the sun, flowers blooming and many many others. He had endless creative power when presenting His message of life and the gospel, and he used examples from things that we see all around us. He created this world to reflect Himself. Psalm 19 says that the heavens declare his glory...day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they reveal knowledge! He created this world to reflect Himself. When we stand at the grand canyon and see the massive cuts in the earth stretch farther than our eyes can see, we think of Him and how endless and deep and long and unending his love is for us! The sun rises in the morning and so does his mercy for us (Lamentations 3:23).

His reflection in His creation continues far beyond landscapes and picturesque sunrises. He created in us the many facets of his personality. We were created in His image (Genesis 1:27), so that we might reflect His love to each other. Every good thing you see in your neighbor is a reflection of the one who created you and knows you better than you know yourself.

I have been praying recently that God would uproot the distorted images I have of Him in my mind. I want to see God for who he is, not what I have made Him out to be. If He is a father to the fatherless and a shelter from the storm and our stay and our hope and the ultimate encourager that the Bible says He is, I want to see Him as that. I want to pray to and trust in a God that I truly embrace as a friend, a father and a companion. Through answering my prayer, He has opened my eyes to see His character, love, encouragement, and faithfulness being directly fulfilled by people in my life. His unwavering and unconditional love to me is displayed through his children here on earth. If the whole world was created for His glory, and it reflects His glory, then so do we. We are his love and compassion to each other here on earth.
Lets embrace each other as Christ does us. Love and encourage each other along the way, just as He continuously pursues us.

He loves us regardless of what we've done, and despite what we will do. He doesn't credit His love to us based on what we will become for him someday in the future. This is the kind of love we all seek on earth, because it is the Love that we were created for!

Show your friends and neighbors that unconditional, unwavering, committed, lay down your life kind of love; we will be so positively affected that we will be left with no other options but to surrender daily to what He has been pursuing us with since before we were born. Unending like the heavens and deeper than the oceans is His love for us. Take a look around and embrace what He has done for you. He has displayed himself in all of creation, in the world and in each other.