Nature and You

In a hectic world where everybody is running a race, has anyone ever genuinely thought of what role our nature plays in these areas where our environment continuously wastes away for thoughtless projects?

The Word of God says that a man who trusts in the Creator is like a tree planted by the river – always fruitful regardless of season. Who wouldn’t wish for abundance? Did you ever wonder why God compared man with a tree that knows no drought? Like the tree’s roots that knows no thirst our Creator wants us to place ourselves in the position where our resources never run dry.

We need to understand that our natural resources were not created after us, they were created before us, so that by the time we are brought into life, they are able to sustain us.

Looking deep into the scriptures, in the beginning we do not work to cultivate our environment to feed us. God has created everything to serve us in submission to Him. Only when man disregarded God’s favor upon him did the world turn upside down. Man was enticed by the bait of an alien who has not proven any concern for him and forgot all about the One who has the power to give what he asks for. As a consequence, God cursed the ground and through painful toil man eats from it and from animals which have became hostile. We have lost our authority over God’s creation as a result of our nullifying of God’s care for us.

When Christ Jesus came, He brought restoration to the original plan of God. He gave us His only Son to put our faith on and believe that in every man’s labor he has regained authority to speak and declare fruitfulness over the work of his hands.

We invite you to celebrate God’s restoration with us and become a part of this advancement. We bring awareness about God’s creation in relation to our existence.

You are God’s creation so come take the journey with us and follow our blogs! We would gladly appreciate your responses!

Nature or Creation?

Language matters.

A small difference in a turn of phrase or even the changing of a single letter can speak volumes if the context is right. Early in Christian history for example, debates over the doctrine of the Trinity boiled down to two words, two words spelled almost identically but for one letter. As it turns out, that seemingly small distinction would come to mark the boundary between orthodoxy and heresy.

Another distinction, which may seem small at first, is particularly relevant for our present day, the difference between “nature” and “creation.”

Though often used interchangeably, these two words in fact carry with them very different ways of imagining the world in which we live, and the shift from creation to nature has serious implications.

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, people saw the world around them as enchanted. The Christian tradition had long spoken of the world as something created and ordered by God, and filled with spiritual forces both good and evil. The land below and the sky above were, in a very real sense, understood as a gift from God, and we as His image bearers were uniquely connected to and responsible for the creation.

Yet over time, for reasons too numerous and complex to expand on here, the imagination of the Western world gradually became disenchanted.

No longer was this world around us “creation,” even if we still used the word. Instead, it was “nature.” The difference being that unlike creation, nature is just material, it has neither a meaning nor a telos, a goal.

This has serious ecological implications, because nature is something for human consumption – hence “natural resources.” The whole debate shifts. We might argue that we should use those resources more responsibly, or more aggressively, or that their use will have this health effect or that impact on the economy, but it all boils down to material that is given meaning by the ways it should or shouldn’t be used by people.

But if world is a creation, if God ordered it and placed humanity in it as his image bearers, then there is more to the story. In that case we have a calling to steward this place on behalf of the Creator whose image we bear.

Case in point, a recent survey showed that 57 percent of Americans believe “that humans are called by God to live responsibly with plants, animals and earthly resources.” These are people who are being shaped by a different story than the pervasive materialism of our day. A story in which the world is more than nature, it is creation. And that story has shaped their imaginations in such a way that it influences their day-to-day choices.

So yes, it is just the difference between two words, words that admittedly many of us use interchangeably without even noticing. But, once we start to pay attention, we soon find that its more than two words, it is two fundamentally different ways of viewing the world, it is the difference between enchantment and disenchantment.

And that enchanted creation, that place God set us over to care for and tend? It is worth fighting for.

Faith

“Faith is the substances of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things unseen.”

More and more, faith is being attributed to many different phenomena and idols, and to humanity itself, because of our oblivion to the God of creation.

Greek mythology entertains the possibility that there may be multiple deities calling for worship, awaiting to grant specific requests – especially pertaining to creation.Greek mythology also attributes creation of the earth to several gods. As Christians, we understand God, the Supreme Being, to be the sole creator of the universe. We also know from scripture that God is a jealous God and refuses to share His praises with anything or anyone. In Isaiah 42:8 it is declared;

“I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.”

The scriptures cite several events where God destroys creation, as a result of humanity and angelic creatures tampering with them. This is often done with the product of their God-given ability, as seen in many biblical events. On example of this takes place at the ‘Tower of Babel’, when men worked together to construct a skyscraper, in order to gain high repute all over the world. God took action on the tower and struck it down, and went onto flood the earth in an attempt to purge it of the disgrace that humanity had brought upon him. Of this event, Proverbs 8:21 writes that;

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

Another example which illustrates humanity’s attempts to override God was in Genesis 6 where we witness angels co inhabiting with humans and having children that the bible describes as “Heroes and Nephilims or Giants.” David later went onto assassinate one of these descendants.

In giving us the capacity for faith, God has given humanity its strongest asset. God knew very well what man would be capable of. What is important to note is that faith is so strong, humanity has been able to continually act in contempt by performing ‘marvellous works’ such as Babel, without any divine authority.

Since man has been corrupted and using his gift for his own esteem, God sent His only Son to demonstrate the value of our existence and destination.

Ephesians 2:10 states;

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

The word is now clear where we must to put our faith and for which works it must be used. While many have been considered gods, Jesus was the only person in history who showed as much compassion, strength, and masculinity as the God of the Bible. Jesus allowed Himself to be flogged by His own creation, and died for them to prove His love and commitment to humanity. While there have been numerous leaders claiming to be god-sent, not one of them has ever claimed the punishment that was meant for humanity. Only one man in history was willing to go through fatal agony for the transgressions of the world.

As time goes on, miraculous ‘signs and wonders’ take place, as the Bible foretold, but we must be careful where we are putting our faith in these situations. Faith has been given to us as the foundation for our future, and our tool for discerning what is of God, and what is not. We must constantly test signs and wonders against scripture.

The fact that we can only water plants and trees and God makes them grow, indicates that only He deserves the credit for man’s triumphs.We may tend the garden, but someone else has to push the button.

Colossians 3:17 states;

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Aspiring Leaders

Since the beginning of dynasty, our concept of leadership rested on the lineage of influential personalities who are born to govern its constituents. Even in the corporate world today, the succession of CEO’s would automatically come from the owner of the business. While the system has been the culprit to people being discourged to pursue leadership, it is also responsible for incumbents who fail in governance due to lack of experience and passion. They have only been given the authority without meaning. Another thing is that when we think of leadership we overwhelm ourselves with this huge image of responsibility that it gives us the impression that only influential people would have the resources to fulfill what is required. It is not to imply that passing the baton to your bloodline is a bad idea, for as long as the successor is determined to serve then all falls into place.

Experience and passion being considerably the two main essentials to leadership, the difference between them is that experience can only be as diverse as possible, whereas passion allows you not only to hear people out but to hear what God says about his people. Passion draws not only from your deepest desires but from the will of the Father. It gives us the yearning to serve and teaches us the essence of valuing people rather than valuing the plan. It enables you to surrender your plan in exchange of His and rouse people to seek God with you. It motivates rather than command. Passion pushes you to go that extra mile to begin with before sitting in control.

Jesus is the quintessential of true leadership. The scripture records that while Jesus claims to be the Son of God, He managed to eat with crooks, touched the lepers, and healed on Sabbath day. All His works did not actually reveal the leader material in Him but these gained Him much influence, way more than the king and high priests in that era and up to this moment, considering He was only known as the son of the carpenter who had not much. Not only because Jesus is Lord and therefore has the power to persuade, but because He begins His day with a Word with the Father in Heaven.

Hebrews 3:15 says “Today, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” The desire and ability to lead and delegate task wisely come from having the heart to seek and acknowledge the voice of the Divine Leader. A true leader recognizes that his calling is a revelation from the Creator, the One who has the game plan of the entire universe that moves by the rules of the One who has preordained it. We ought to receive instruction that comes from the Father that we may realize what we have been created for, and to see the value of creation in His eyes in order to have the capacity to oversee all that He has entrusted to us.

While you might wonder what relationship leadership has with creation, God wants us to be the CEO of His masterpiece by first having the right character. As most dream of initiating an advocacy and celebrate victory, we are in fact given the opportunity to take the lead right now in preserving God’s work in our own little way and celebrate its fruitfulness as a humble beginning.

The Word again says being faithful in small things will put in us charge of greater things. For some it might have to take a little courage to consider a good habit and make a difference by simply keeping a clean environment as a first step towards that leadership climb. But it will definitely give you that discipline you need to get to the peak of your highest potential. For those who are already leaders, you have been blessed to have the influence to stir your people to take initiative in being mindful of what God has created to benefit the entire race. The question is, would you take the privilege?

The Need for Care and Compassionate Use of Earth’s Resources

There is need for us to recognize how important our environment is. It is the platform or foundation on which we live. If we do not take care of our environment we will all suffer for it, hence it is the joint responsibility of everyone to contribute to the sustenance of our environment.

We should take cognizance of the way we use earth resources because they are limited, they will not continue to be available forever, which is, water, gas, oil, trees, animals, forests, air, etc. Many people use these things as if they are unlimited in supply. Many species of animals, birds, fish, plants, and other organisms have gone into extinction as a result of this, yes many do not realize that they need to change in the way they use earth resources.

God created all of these resources for our use, and He even make them in a way that they can be regenerated if they get exhausted, but the truth of the matter is that the rate at which they are being depleted far outpaces the rate at which they are being regenerated. Many times, regeneration can take up to over hundreds of thousands of years before it fully takes place, hence many of these resources will never be allowed to get regenerated.

The earth and all its available resources are being used without any respect for the law of nature. Many people don’t find it difficult to believe there is God, but they don’t understand that He who created the earth wants us to use it in His way.

We need to ‘see’ God in our environment because He is not restricted to heaven alone. He is in the trees of the forest, among the animals in the bush or fishes of the sea. The works of Jesus are not restricted to saving souls alone, but to reconciling all things to God.

The time has come for us to begin to do what God created us for, that of care and compassionate use of the earth. God gave to Adam the special task of continuing the beautification of earth by making use of its resources in the way ordained by God. We are descendants of Adam and the same task extends to us. We need to harness the potentials in the oceans, forests, sky and other available places and use them for God’s glory.

When we use earth resources in a way that problems like pollution, oil spillage, killing of wildlife results, we are doing the damages directly to Jesus.

If God who created the earth is still sustaining and investing in it till today, it only shows that He values His creation, and if He has put us in charge; to dominate, to multiply, and to subdue the earth, then it also means that He holds us with high regard.

If we hold a special position in the creation of God, if the Almighty can entrust us to keep and care for His creation, then we too should reciprocate back by appreciating Him for it.

We should devote our lives to worship, serve, and obey Him all the days of our lives, at least for the earth’s resources that He has given to us.

A day for this purpose has been set aside already, it is called the creation day, and it falls on the first Sunday of March of every year. It is a day that we all ought to offer praise and worship to God in recognition of His great love for us, but unfortunately many do not know about this day talk less of giving it the recognition it deserves.

Here we are pushing forward the idea of making this Day of Creation a fully recognized holiday, and will like you to join us just by registering here.