Welcome to the One Million Reasons Daily Devotionals. Each weekday you’ll get a key Scripture or two, and a short inspiration written by a team of Timberlake Church volunteers and staff. We’ll read through the Book of Acts this month together, too! It’s the account of the early church which fits right in with our “One Million Reasons” Series. So grab a coffee, a cup of tea, or a diet coke and join in each day for the next 4 weeks.
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Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. ~ Isaiah 64:8
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ~ Psalm 139:14
Today’s Bible Reading: Acts 1
One of my favorite things to do is to people-watch. Not in a creepy, weird way but to just sit someplace like Pike Place Market, or at UW on a busy day and simply notice how interesting people are. We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles. We have black hair, blonde hair, purple hair, and wear Birkenstocks, Nike’s and Jimmy Choos. And it’s fascinating to think about the fact we’re these amazing machines that have all these systems, cells, organs, and biological processes that somehow work together to make us able to navigate life. When the Bible says “we are fearfully and wonderfully made” a quick people watching stint proves it to be true! Humankind is fascinating!
God thinks so, too. Look at the care and skill He used in creating us. In the Old Testament tells of His creative hand forming us - and not just our physical selves but our hearts and souls, too. He endowed us with strengths, temperaments, likes and dislikes, the ability to know Him and follow after Him… The parts that make us so uniquely, well, us! We are created in the image of our Heavenly Father. As a potter forms a beautiful vessel from a shapeless lump of clay so the Lord forms us into His image.
Why would the Creator of the Universe choose to do such a thing? Because we are His, we matter to Him and He loves us. That’s the heart behind “One Million Reasons”. We matter to God - The people in the church and the people outside the church who have yet to find Christ’s love. Pastor Ben shared the statistic that there are one million people in the Seattle area alone who don’t have a connection to Jesus or His Church. Does that matter to God? You bet it does. And it matters to us, too!
Prayer: Thanks, Father that you are the Author of Life – the Author of MY life! Help me to live today in light of that, knowing that it is You who formed me, You who created me to be who I am. Help me to see the people I encounter today as your creation, loved by You! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.