Did God Make a Mistake?

 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ~Genesis 1:27

We sometimes act like God makes mistakes. We would never admit to such a thing but...

Does a child show a preference to behave as the opposite sex of the body God has given them? Do we ever affirm that maybe that child should have been a boy? Maybe that child should have been a girl? 

Maybe the child is just being a child exploring all the wonderful things there are to do.  

Helping children know if they are a boy or a girl in this transgender-crazed world may sometimes be hard for parents and educators to navigate. Marty Machowski, pastor and author, shares insightful ways to address the topic with children in his book God Made Boys and Girls.

Pastor Machowski's book begins with a fictional story of children on a playground. He uses Maya, a girl who loves being a tomboy, as his example. She is teased by a boy who tells her if she keeps acting like a boy she will turn into a boy. Now Maya is worried and asks her teacher if the boy's tease is true. 

Maya's teacher wisely demonstrates through the Bible and science that, "No, God is the one who chooses your code. Gender is His gift to you. (my emphasis). The last thing God made was a boy and a girl to look after the world and take care of it. He made them to be partners in caring for his world and in filling the world with boys and girls just like them."

Pastor Machowski relates the Genesis creation story as well as the gift of God's only Son for our redemption in His death, burial, and resurrection. He also emphasizes that Jesus said we should love our neighbors even those who disagree with us.

At the back of the book is further help for adults addressing the subject matters in the book.

• Every person is specially created by God.
• All boys and girls are not created the same.
• Gender is not determined by our personality or preferences.
• Let's be careful with our words.
• The gender confusion of our culture is the result of rejecting God's truth and his ways.
• We are called to love our neighbors.

Genetic conditions are also addressed in this section.

Heavenly Father, thank you for making each of us with unique personalities and gifts. Help us remember that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Help us not to worry about our children who display different personalities knowing that you make each one in Your image and placed them here for such a time as this. May we teach each child to be thankful and accepting of who God made them to be. In Jesus's name. Amen.

Am I a Donkey?

 Come take up the cross and follow me. ~Mark 10:21NKJV

What first comes to mind when someone says donkey? What do you think about when you see a donkey? 

Just for Me

Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

~Psalms 2:8 NKJV

"Father, would you plant a sycamore tree along the road from Jericho? There will be a man who will need that tree in a few years."

"Yes, my Son. It is done."

Fifty years later - A small man scurried about preparing to leave his house. All the money needed to be secured. The expensive goods needed to be hidden. All the while he wondered how he, the shortest man in town, would be able to hear and see the great Teacher if he were trapped in the middle of the noisy moving crowd. Perhaps if he went to the road ahead of the crowd he would be able to see Jesus as He led the crowd out of town. 

Hurrying down the road he noticed an old sycamore tree. Its leaves were already large. If he climbed the tree the leaves would hide him from the crowd. They despised him anyway. He gained his riches from their taxes. Perhaps climbing up the tree would be his best option. He would be able to see without being seen. 

As he settled in the wasps annoyed him. He knew the figs drew the wasps needed to prick the figs allowing them to ripen. Otherwise, they were inedible. Still, he swatted. Didn't they know he wasn't a fig? There, just up the road, Jesus led the raucous crowd. He spoke to the people listening intently until the Pharisees interrupted with their questions. Jesus was drawing nearer. Now He stopped. Jesus looked up with a smile. Suddenly, the man felt very exposed. 

"Zacchaeus, come down. I want to go to your house today. " 

He nearly fell scrambling down the slick trunk. "You want to go to my house? Come, come this way. It's only a short distance."

The crowd murmured. They watched in shock that Jesus would go to the house of a sinner like Zacchaeus. He was a thief and a robber. "Jesus doesn't know what He is doing. He can't be the Messiah if he keeps company with a tax collector."  Many shook their heads in disbelief but they followed Jesus to Zacchaeus's house. 

Zacchaeus's heart was pricked. He knew he didn't deserve to have Jesus in his home. But he knew Jesus cared about him. He had robbed many people and needed to be forgiven. He wanted to change his ways. "Jesus, I want to give half my goods to the poor. If I have wronged anyone I will give them back four times what I have taken." 

Jesus looked about at the people. “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Each time Zacchaeus passed the sycamore tree on his way to the town, he looked up. "Thank you Father for planting this tree here just for me."

Have you ever felt like you were hiding from God? Zacchaeus wasn't the only one. Remember Adam and Eve tried to make clothes with fig leaves. Have you ever felt God pricking your heart so you could turn from your bitter sin and ripen into the sweet Christian Jesus wants you to be? 

Have you ever thought how Jesus planned to get the message of salvation to you? How he planned for everything to be in place at the right time just for you? We've all been Zacchaeus at some point. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for planning every situation for my salvation. May I continually thank you for the day you pricked my heart and brought salvation to my house. In Jesus's name. Amen.

What Is Truth?

 

 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalms 100:5

"What is truth?" Pilate asked Jesus this question. He didn't wait to hear the answer. 

The picture on this blog of the apple blossom with the bee inside tells us a truth. An apple blossom opened and its sweet fragrance drew a bee. The bee is pollinating the apple blossom by dusting the pollen from the stamen (the male part of the flower) onto its body and dusting pollen from other apple trees onto the pistil (the female part) of the apple blossom. From this pollination, an apple will form which will be food for many creatures and people. It will also form seeds that will grow more apple trees. 

That's not the end of the picture. What about the bee? It will return to the hive with pollen to be made into honey to feed the hive and allow the queen to produce more bees to replenish the hive. The honey will also be food for other creatures and people. 

This is a very simple explanation of both processes, but it is plain that there must have been a plan for this to work so perfectly in tandem. Would we just pour liquids into a vial and wait until it exploded and expect to make something? We would never attempt even the most simple of tasks without first having a plan we expect to succeed. 

Pilate asked the same question many people ask today. "What is truth?" Earlier Jesus, while praying to the Father declared "thy word is truth." (John 17:17).

So why is it that we ask "What is truth?" when we have the truth probably in our own homes. Suppose we don't have a copy of God's word in our homes. Romans 1:20 says we are without excuse. That creation itself shows us the Godhead and His eternal power. You may say, "nature has evolved over millions of years." Why not consult the truth?

 Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created...

So many people today are rejecting the truth in the name of equity, love, tolerance, etc, etc, etc. The truth is no one wants the truth because it doesn't approve of their sin. Excuse me for the politically incorrect term. I should have said agenda. Sin is sin and I said called it what it is. Anything that is the opposite of truth is a lie. A lie is a false witness. The Bible has said Do not bear false witness. Again, truth is God's word. What other truths are found from the beginning?

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ~ Genesis 1:27

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. ~Genesis 2:23,24

Heavenly Father, Help others not to think I am unkind. My desire, Lord, is to speak the truth in love so that no one is deceived by believing a lie. In Christ Jesus's name. Amen.