In This Issue:
Our Mighty God
Whose Coop Is It Anyway?
It’s Father God, Not Mother Nature!!
Volume: 823 August 16, 2021
Theme: Our Mighty God
Devotions, Bible Studies, Sunday School lessons and printable versions of The Bible View (including church bulletin insert and large print versions) are available at https://openthoumineeyes.com/ and http://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/.
All should daily read the Bible! While at your computer, go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read.
Our Mighty God
Bill Brinkworth
Psalm 29 is a Hebrew poem that perhaps was put to music. Hebrew poetry is not like modern poems with rhyming words. Their poetry, as is this one, often repeats a thought from different angles.
This poem is about a storm. It was not a weather anomaly sent from the fairy tale character “Mother Nature.” It was provided and controlled by Father God! Outbursts that only God commanded got the attention of even powerful people (Psalm 29:1). They recognized where the winds, lightning, and rains came from — God.
God showed His mighty power in the torrential rains and exploding thunders (Psalm 29:3). His voice bellowed across the countryside, letting all know of His great power (Psalm 29:4).
His voice ordered the lightning to attack a tree that all admired to be strong and resilient against whatever it faced. The towering cedar fell cracked and splintered (Psalm 29:5) on the forest floor.
Even the pregnant cattle were so frightened that they gave early births (Psalm 29:9). Nature even bowed down in fear of the display of the majesty of mighty God.
The Almighty’s voice sent down to His Earth lashing lightning (Psalm 29:7) that sent much aflame. He shook the Earth with His powerful commands (Psalm 29:8).
With all the chaos and frightening display around the people, the Creator was still in control. His strength can do such powerful things for all to see, but He will give strength and protection to His people.
He is a great God! He is our God. We have no reason to fear. He is always in control! With storms of trouble and conflict all around us, we can still have His peace that surpasses all the world’s understanding.
“There is a God. The plants of the valley, the cedars of the mountain bless His name. The elephant salutes Him with the rising day; the bird glorifies Him among the foliage; the lightning bespeaks His power, and the ocean declares His immensity. Man alone has said, ‘There is no God.’” — Vicomte de Chauteaubriand
Whose Coop Is It Anyway?
Bill Brinkworth
“Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3
For the last few years, I have had small flocks of chickens to provide us with eggs. The current flock is the first we have had with a rooster.
In the beginning, “Rocky” was like the other birds. As he got older, he has been more aggressive to me. Whenever I would approach, he crowed; I supposed to warn the hens that I was coming. Sometimes, trying to be friendly and keep on his good side, I would crow back.
However, lately, after I would crow, he would charge me. I suppose I unknowingly was challenging him. The other day, I had to push him away to thwart his aggressiveness.
I thought and even explained to him, “Now, Rocky. Let’s get some facts straight. This is my chicken coop. I built it myself. I bring you water every day. It is also me that makes sure you get your food every day. When I hear an unusual commotion up here, again, it is me that comes up here to make sure a coyote or dog is not trying to get at you.”
I realized that is how so many treat God. This Earth is His. He made it in six days. He put the sun in place to shine and warm this planet. It is God that created the plants, all creatures, and even us. Yet, as mighty as He is and all that He has done, too many want Him out of “their coop.”
They want God and His commandments out of their lives, out of their education, and out of any explanation as to how we got here. In many situations, His name is not to be uttered, nor His son, Jesus. Even his rule book, the Bible, cannot be mentioned. In so many circles, the things of God are taboo, although all types of evil, perversion, and sin are allowed.
People try so hard to kick God out of His own “coop.” He feeds them, makes sure they have drink to drink, air to breath, and even so many luxuries that man can do without, but because He still loves them, he grants them those extras.
Rocky, the rooster, may have had his authority challenged when I tried to “talk” with Him. Perhaps when God is mentioned, people are also reminded that they are not in charge of the “hen” house. Most likely, that is why their feathers are ruffled when He comes to mind. They fail to acknowledge they are just living here with His permission and help.
We are no better than Rocky when we try to remove God from the world that He created. How foolish many are. They are angry at the holy Hand that meets their needs.
Do not force God out of your “coop,” as it is His anyway. He is temporarily letting you stay here, and He wants to take care of you.
“God, who made the earth,
The air, the sky, the sea,
Who gave the light its birth,
Careth for me.” — Rhodes
It’s Father God, Not Mother Nature!
Bill Brinkworth
Regularly, we are bombarded with terminology that is not biblical and has origins in paganism and other false religions. We constantly hear that “Mother Nature sent us another hurricane,” “Mother Nature brought rain today,” or “she” was responsible for some other earthly phenomena. It is heard so much that it is accepted. Hardly anyone gives the reference to a mythical deity a second thought, but they should!
In case you have not stopped to think about it, there is no “Mother Nature.” There exists no proof, scientific or otherwise, that there is such a “she.” Implying Mother Nature is somehow in control of the environment, atmosphere, or even how things grow is giving recognition to one that does not exist, let alone deserves any credit.
The credit for all on this Earth belongs to God, the Creator, only. He is the one that allows the rain, flowers to bloom, birth, and death of species and has created everything.
He is a He! In the Genesis account of creation alone, God is referred to as a male at least 14 times with the pronoun “he.” In the rest of the book, “he” is also used to describe a male God at least 15 times. Even the Hebrew words for God are masculine. Nowhere in the preserved, time-honored King James Bible is God referred to as female.
If the Word of God names him as male, where did the notion come from that His domain and creation are controlled by the mystical Mother Nature? Some part of giving maternal credit could be given to the modern practice of not wanting to offend anyone by mentioning “God.” The politically correct terminology has gotten our society by the tongue and will not let it go. Many have allowed the few ungodly who have gained public recognition for their dislike of God to influence what is said. Sadly, we have gotten to the point that we are concerned about mentioning God in a nation that not long ago was termed a “Christian” nation.
Perhaps giving credit to a non-existent being is easier or less embarrassing to many than saying “His” name. For a group of people that prides themselves on their intelligence, it is quite childish to give credit to a non-existent “Momma.” Well-educated television weathermen have said on the airwaves that “Mother Nature has brought us another gorgeous day” and other fictitious quotes.
Maybe man is even changing terminology to reflect his ideas of who and what God is. Pagans of the past and present certainly had no qualms in making Him anything they wished. They have even given credit and worship to trees, water, mountains, and other parts of the creation.
Women representing “mother Earth” and “mother nature” have been around for a long time. Goddesses were attributed to fertility and “nature” for many millennia. Female deities being given credit for what God has done have been worshiped in Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, Incan, Indian, and Roman civilizations, to name a few. Even to this day, “Gaia,” “Sophia,” and other female “deities” are mentioned among Christians as if they exist.
These influences, wherever they came from, are not Christian. It is the Christian that should have instilled in his own heart and should influence the thinking of others that there is one God: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3
For a Christian, God is the God of the Bible. The Bible is the window showing us who and what God is. It is from the preserved Word of God that we get the unshakable account of how we got here, how the earth was created, how God worked through time with our ancestors, and how he will work with us. Just because some have rejected what the Bible says about God and are highly rebellious against Him does not mean we have to join them in their philosophy and sin.
Some have even changed “bibles” to reflect that God is female, or that He is non-sexed. It seems that ploy has been around since the beginning, even in the Garden with Adam and Eve. It was Satan that got the first man and woman to question what God has said. That ruse is still being played today. Many are changing what the truth says in the Word of God, but they can never change what is the truth, no matter how hard they hide or distort it.
The truth is preserved in the precious Word of God. It clearly says that God is the creator and controller of all that goes on in this universe. Do not allow non-Christian philosophies and influences to erode slowly your beliefs in what the Bible says. It is Father God that created this world, and it is He that is still the one that is allowing all that happens to His Earth. May your speech even reflect what you believe. Say it was Father God that brought the rain today and that it was He that brought out the sunshine later. Give God His due glory.
“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
“Nature is the art of God eternal” — Alighieri Dante