I will be your God

One of my favorite passages in the bible is when God says, "You will be my people and I will be your God." Exodus 6:7. It is a relationship between us and God that goes both ways. He didn't say that he made us to be his servants but that it would be a relationship between us and him. "I will be your God." is a covenant that he will always be there for us. He is the provider of our wealth which isn't the wealth as defined by the world. You don't need bigger barns to hold it. You need a bigger heart to give away the extra.

My simple life is designed around the premise that we should only use the resources that we need and share the rest with others. The excess is not to be hoarded as possessions. So, without this over abundance of possessions or wealth as defined by society, I have more choices to be free. I am free to go where I want and free to do many more things in life. The requirements for a simple life are met easily many more ways that the desire to have an abundance of possessions. You work less, enjoy what life has to offer much more.

You won't find the simple life taught at many churches today. No pastor stands up and reminds us to sell all our possessions and follow Jesus for he has too many possessions himself. So, will you follow the lead of society to store as much wealth as you can or adopt the principals of the simple life? If you aren't happy working feverishly for that wealth, perhaps it is time to do something different before you journey is over. Live simple and you will live free.

Let there be light

As a vagabond evangelist, I immerse myself in the scriptures and as an astronomer I love the universe that God made apart from the earth. So, I do look at the universe in relation to Genesis. Here are some of my thoughts about creation.

Then God said, "Let there be "light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that is was good; and God divided the light from darkness. Genesis 1:3-4

I used to wonder why it said God created light first and then he created the sun, moon and stars. As we have been taught for a while now, daylight originates in the sun and is reflected by the moon. Stars, although much farther away, also contribute to light. Of course, man has had artificial lights on the earth ever since he used fire. So

Science wants us to believe a lot of things and one of those is the big bang theory. This is where everything was compressed at the beginning and then expanded into what we know as the universe. This requires that the Sun and stars were created first and the planets second. Genesis does not support this sequence so how can it be correct? A little known fact about this scientific theory is the difference in age between the universe and galaxies don't match. Oh, well, for science it is back to the drawing board for a modification.

God made all the energy in the universe and it is recorded in Genesis 1:3-4. This is called light because before energy, our universe was filled with emptiness. So now God had created darkness and light. Afterwards he creates the stars and the moon and places them in motion along with the earth. None of this agrees with the big bang theory but then the big bang theory doesn't agree with the known facts. I chose to believe what my bible says to me. I will wait to let science catch up with the true facts. Some how, it always seems to be behind.

I get to see the dark night sky as I spend time away from the lights of the city. Out there you get the full measure of its majesty.

God's beautiful night time symphony

I was just thinking that I seem to feel closer to God when I am not inside a building that is located in a city. Could it be the man made structures that somehow block my thoughts because I am not seeing God's own handiwork? On the other hand, I never fail to feel close to God just by simply walking outside in the dark and looking up at the night sky. The sky is awash in the symphony of God's wonderful display each and every night. I don't know the real reason he created all those stars but for me it is a testament to his awesome power

When I am out in the wilderness or at a desert site in the Southwest, I can only feel the presence of myself and God. I then wonder how Adam must have felt when he was walking with God alone.  It makes me wonder if Jesus went into the desert so it was just him and God alone. God must love to commune with man alone because we don't have anything else to distract us. If you are feeling a distance from God and wish to have a closer relationship, try taking a few days alone and find him among the things he made in nature.

I now live very frugally with no extras. Living this way means I have more time to spend just admiring his handiwork in nature. Each and every time I hike through a forest or experience the solitude of the desert, it draws me closer to Him. An experience I would not give up to go back to my complicated life filled with wealth. I truly regret spending too many unsatisfying years chasing wealth. It never made me happy and yet a few minutes out underneath a  night sky alone in the wilderness does.

Missing the path marker of God's will

As we wander down the path of life that God chose for us before we were born, our eyes are diverted by many carnal things like a big house, that person we just have to kiss, or adding to our bank account. While our eyes are not fixed on the plain and simple path that is our purpose in life, we miss the path marker. It isn't apparent to us at first, except we get a nagging sense of something wrong in our thoughts. The Holy Spirt starts to whisper warnings along with new directions back to the main path.

If we get the message quickly, we either never leave the path completely or we turn around soon enough to need very little correction. Sometimes, for those of us that are slow learners, the warnings are ignored until our life is turned upside down. These major course corrections to get back to doing God's will is not what He desires for us to experience. I have experienced more than one of those in my life as I am sure many of you have also.

So, I have finally learned to keep my life plain and simple to make it easier to quickly recognize any missed path markers. The plain and simple life that adds value to the world according to God's will. Strip away the excess. Less to manage and less to distract. The plain and simple approach to life has turned me into a vagabond. A vagabond seeking out new adventures at each turn of the path that God has planned for me.