Our God-Space 

Recently, I discovered something interesting  that  I did not know before. 

Did you know that you have a body part called  Reinke's Space?

My mother's maiden name is Reinke, which is not a common surname.  My grandfather once had a letter sent from Europe that was delivered to his door with no address on the envelope other than his name and British Columbia. 

 The Reinke's Space is close to the vocal cords.  There is a condition called Reinke's Edema, which mostly affects smokers.  When Reinke's Space is inflamed it presses on the vocal cords and causes a hoarseness in the voice.  

It was discovered by a man in Germany named Fredrich Reinke in 1895 and hence the body part was named after him.  My great great grandfather moved from Germany to the Ukraine so ... I'm thinking we could well be related !!  . My claim to fame!  

 

I find it strange that we have a body part that most people are unaware of. There is another 'space' in our bodies that people are not 'naturally' aware of, and that is the God-space that God placed in every human being. 

Just like he gave us 'hunger' so we would know that we need to eat, so also He gave us an urge to find Him. Even though people may not be aware of their God-space they are aware of an emptiness that needs to be filled. 

Just as only food will satisfy our 'stomachs', so also only God will satisfy the longing of our God's space. 

Wealth, love, success, status, possessions, fame,  - whatever people choose as their pursuit in life to fill their 'God-Space'   will not satisfy, and the longing drives them to strive even more after the things that promise to give them what they desire.  Or, they create a God-space  -  as in the photo above -  outside of themselves - a futile effort to create a 'space' that will please or satisfy God. 

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It is interesting that the Reinke Space is close to the vocal cords and when it becomes inflamed it affects the vocal cords, changing the voice. 

When you listen to people talk, you soon find out what they have filled their God-space with. The 'voice' of people who have filled their God-space with the fruit of the Spirit, will speak words that are loving and encouraging.  If they have filled it with 'things' other than God , their words will be angry, accusing, complaining, or prideful and selfish. What we fill the God-space with will be revealed in our 'voice'. 

Even as Christians , if we don't guard what we put into our God-space,  we will be guilty of an angry word we wish we could take back, or that unloving response to someone who annoyed us, or that unforgiving thought. 

This last week I had a troubling conversation with a friend, who calls herself a Christian but her words were so accusing against  God, because He had not done what she wanted Him to do, and because He 'failed' her, she angerly declared that He did not exist.  That is a bit extreme , I know, but it made me think about how when I focus on something - even something small like being annoyed at something (like being stuck in traffic, or waiting for someone who is late) it does not take long for it to be revealed in my 'voice'.   

Pastor Matt encouraged us last Sunday,  to give out 'invitations' to people who do not yet know God and I think there are many ways we  do that, perhaps even BEFORE we invite them to church.  

Our 'voice' speaks our heart, and if our God-space is filled with the thoughts and words  of God,  then our 'voice' will 'invite' people to be willing to listen when we share our faith with them.

Colossians 1 is a wonderful chapter - read it today -   I will quote one verse .

Verse 10 - "that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

God desires that we show good fruit in our life - and we can only do that if we fill our God-space with thoughts of Him. 

A Mother's Love

 I am wishing each of you a

VERY BLESSED HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!  

Many of us no longer have a mother, and for some I know, children live far away. And sadly for some, they have experienced the loss of a child or children and I express my sympathy for your pain.  

But there is still reason to celebrate you because there is someone to whom you have shown a 'mother's love' and changed, if not their life,  their day!  

Here is my prayer for you today, and days to come! 

THE MOTHER'S HEART - A REFLECTION OF GOD'S HEART

I watched the coronation ceremonies on Saturday.  An amazing display of pomp and glory.  It reminded me to consider that if this is what man can do, then what is God's throne room like in majesty and wondrous glorious display?

One of the traditions that were part of the  crowning / anointing ceremony of the King was very significant and meaningful to me. 

King Charles had the crown on his head, the orb and sceptres in his hand, and then the Archbishop brought the beautiful Bible to present before him, with these words... “We present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; This is the royal Law; These are the lively Oracles of God.”

The crown, orb and scepters  King Charles held in his  hands are worth 1.3 BILLION dollars ...  and yet - for all the world to hear - it was truthfully declared  that God's Word exceeds the value of any earthly thing!  It is the Word of God - it is LIFE.

 

What would we do without the written word of God -- it is in His Word that God presents HIMSELF so that we can get to know Him.  He reveals who He is, what He thinks, and how He relates to us and how we are to relate to Him.

Sunday is Mother's Day, a day that is set aside to honor mothers. Why? because there is no love on this earth that outshines the love of a mother.  

Every woman has in her DNA a desire, yes, a NEED to mother... it is an instinctive drive given by God.  Why ?  Because everything we feel, everything that motivates us to do good comes from the heart of God - a reflection of who HE is.  He has put within us all we need to become in a very mini way His voice and hands and feet and heart in this dark world. 

We don't often think about God as 'mother', nor does He ever speak of Himself other than Father and we respect and honor Him as that. 

BUT .. He does show us that His love for us reflects that of a 'mother' as well as a Father. 

There is a heart wrenching passage in Ezekiel 16:4-14 where God speaks of us as an abandoned baby, uncared for, unloved', left to die....and He was filled with compassion for us, and  He gathered us into His loving care, doing for us what our 'mother' should have done ... he dressed and adorned us and fed us with royal food. He declared us beautiful and our status - royalty!  He covered us with His splendor so all who looked upon us were amazed!  

In Isaiah 49:15 God speaks of the love of a mother, and then declares His love is even higher!  He says.. "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the child of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget !!"  

Then we have Jesus reveal His heart in Luke 13:34 where He cries out .."Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ......  How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings... but you were not willing."   

If you have had a hen with chicks , you know how devoted she is to them and her insistent clucking sees the chicks dive for safety under her winds. There are reports  where, after a fire ,  a dead mother hen was found, with her little chicks alive and well under her wings.  

We may no longer physically have the love of our mother, but we have an even better love in God's love, that surpasses any love we could imagine!  And so we can celebrate Mother's Day -- remembering that the love God put in a mother's heart was taken from His very own heart.