The Atmosphere: Our Unseen Protector

I love science; it’s one of my favorite subjects. One reason is because I love exploring God’s creation. I am amazed how he’s made our world. Everything fits together like a well machine. I love looking at His creation, or His artwork.

Recently, I’ve learned a lot about our atmosphere. Before you say, how boring, remember that it is too apart of creation and very vital to our survival. I also think by the time we’re done, you’ll be amazed about the different roles our atmosphere plays.

First, the atmosphere and the air we breathe has the right mixture of gasses to support life. We need oxygen: “A person will die if deprived of oxygen for only five minutes” (Steele & Parker 23). Clearly, we need oxygen to live, but, too much oxygen is harmful to humans and can cause “lung damage, chest pains, and even blindness” (Wile). If we have too much oxygen, it is harmful, but if we don’t have enough, we’ll suffocate. We need to have a perfect mix of oxygen, which thankfully we do. According to Bakich, earth’s atmosphere is made up of 20.9% oxygen (7). This level of oxygen is “ideal for human life” (Wile). So now we have the right amount of oxygen we need, but makes up the rest of our

atmosphere? What is diluting, or thinning the oxygen? According to Bakich, 78% is nitrogen, and 1% is other gasses, like carbon dioxide and water vapors (7). The nitrogen helps reduce the amount of oxygen so it isn’t too potent for life. Nitrogen is the perfect gas to dilute since “it does not react with our bodies in any way. We breathe in nitrogen with every breath, but then we breathe it right out again because it does not interact with our bodies. Almost all other gasses- carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, etc. - are poisonous to human life” (Wile). While most gasses are harmful to life, our atmosphere is made up of elements that don’t hurt us.

Isn’t that amazing how God’s done made this? I love it! This is just one of the amazing traits that our atmosphere has.

Hyssop

Don’t know what hyssop is? Then you’re not alone. I first time I stumbled across it was in John.

“A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.” John 19:29

Hum. That was interesting. At first I just thought John was adding detail to his account because he was there. Then, I stumbled onto the word again a few days later.

“[First Passover] Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.” Ex. 12:22

This caught my attention. Jesus’ sacrifice often ties into the first Passover, when the angle of death passed over the houses with the lamb’s blood. So, what is the connecting between the first Passover and Christ’s death? What is hyssop?

Hyssop is a common herb which grew in Bible times. Common varieties grow to about two feet tall and spread about a foot. It has beautiful purple blue flowers and a strong mint smell. If you have ever seen or grown catmint, hyssop looks somewhat similar. Hyssop was often used as a cleaning agent and was widely used to clean sacred places such as temples.

At both on Passover and Good Friday, a cleansing and forgiveness of sins was taking place. In both cases, someone else was taking our place and met death. In both cases, hyssop was used, and our sins were cleared.

In Palms 51:7, David cries out “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean!” If you have accepted the forgiveness of Jesus, then you have been cleansed with hyssop! By the blood of the lamb, death was satisfied. Our sins were gone. We are clean!

Source: http://www.hannahscupboard.com/ST-hyssop.html

Easter Designs

Here are some Easter designs I made. Feel free to use. More desktop sizes.

A+ student?

“I just to know what God wants from me.”

Have you or a friend every said that? I have. It's good to want to do God's will, but sometimes we do it with the wrong motivation. We often feel like we need to please God, and that He is disappointed in us if we don’t measure up. We need to do such-and-such, or God will be angry with us.

Sometime, we act like He’s a big school teacher.

If we show up for class, do well on the quizzes, and turn in all the assignments, then God will be happy with us. We’ll get an A. However, if we slack off and don’t do good work, God will be angry with us and give us a F. We aren’t as good enough. The A students make God happy, but God is disappointed in the F students.

Is this statement true? Does God really grade us? Of course not. His love for us never changes. His commitment to love us in not limited on our actions. If we are good, He loves us. If we are bad, he loves us just as much. John 3:16, “For God so loves the world.” Not just the good people. Not just the Christian. Not just the A+ plus students. He loves the world.

Saved by Grace

“How could so-and-so be a Christian? She’s in jail for drugs!”

Have you ever heard something like this? I have. Sadly, several times. Have you heard this one: “He’s so nice, he must be a Christian.” Again, I’ve heard that one too. Both statements are based on the same false assumption; Christians must do good deeds.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying to stop doing good things; I’m saying our actions don’t define our salvation. Scripture is very clear on this.

Galatians 2:16&20
We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

I think Paul is very clear here. We cannot be justified through obeying the law. We can’t be justified by doing good deeds. That last part of the verse is interesting: ‘Christ died for nothing.”
When we try to earn our salvation, we’re rejecting what Jesus did on the cross. We’re saying His sacrifice wasn’t good enough; we still need to live a good life. We’re rejecting His grace and His gift; it’s not enough. We’re, in short, saying, “thanks, but no thanks.”

Let’s not trade the precious gift of grace for man’s fumble attempts of trying to be good.

Just You

What can you give God? What is something you have that He doesn’t? You can’t give Him stuff; He created everything. He can make whatever He wants. You can’t give Him money; He owns that too. We can’t work hard enough; He can do it Himself. So what can we give Him?
You can give Him yourself. He wants you.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the father waited for the son’s return. He watched for his son, waiting hopefully. When the son returned, the father was overjoyed and joyfully welcomed the son back home.

God is always overjoyed when He has us. He rejoices when He has you. He just wants you. When the prodigal son returned, he didn’t have any money, or cloths, or anything of value. The father didn’t care; all he wanted was his son.

God doesn’t want your money or your stuff; He just wants you. You are His child, and He is longing to be with you. He doesn’t care if you don’t have anything else to give Him, or if you’re dirty; He just wants you.

The More I learn

The more I learn about God, the more I see how perfect He is. The more I see how perfect He is, the more I see how sinful I really am. The more I see how sinful I am, the more I see how much I desperately need His grace.

Sweet lie #1: All you need is love

You’ve probably seen this one in a romance movie. Girl is broken and unfilled. Boy is broken and unfilled. They meet, and suddenly everything is perfect. They’re life is fulfilled, their broken heart fixed. Everything is perfect! They are never broken or wanting again.

If only…

This lie states that human love is the answer to all life’s problems. This is a lie, but it’s close to the truth. The truth is that God’s love is the answer. It’s His love we need.

Human love is great, and we are called to love each other, but without the unfailing love of God in our life, we will found that human love is never enough. As my pastor likes to say, “It’s like pouring water through a grocery cart. Nothing sticks.”

Human love is not the answer to all life’s problems: God’s love is.

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."
Ephesians 2:4-5

Simple

Christianity is simple. The Bible is simple. Sometimes, we think it’s too simple, and try to add rules and complicate the gospel: you have to pray this way, you have to worship that way, you have to serve this way, etc. That’s what the Pharisees did, right? They took the simple word of God and added their own rules. What does it mean to rest on the Sabbath? Can you cook? How far can you walk? We often like to add our own rules and definitions to God’s word.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest command was, his answer was simple: Love God with your all heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Simple right? You could take this one verse and lived by it for a year, and you could change a lot of lifes.

Simple doesn’t mean easy. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is simple, but it’s not easy. Being told ‘dig a ditch that’s 1’ wide, 1’ deep, and a mile long’ is simple. Is it easy? No. That’s the beauty of God’s word: It is simple, yet not easy.