{"id":35564,"date":"2023-07-17T03:30:45","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T10:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=35564"},"modified":"2023-07-13T13:24:17","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T20:24:17","slug":"july-17-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2023\/07\/17\/july-17-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"July 17, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The Master\u2019s Bouquet<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cFor we are God\u2019s Masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.\u201d <\/em>Ephesians 2:10 NLT<\/p>\n

A beautiful bouquet of flowers was brought to me on Mother\u2019s Day. I admired with awe each unique blossom in the stunning array, beautifully blended by a gifted eye, in artful design. We are God’s beautiful array of people. As different as we are on the outside, we are also different on the inside. We hold different thoughts, opinions, values, beliefs, and moral standards. We process emotions differently. Yet God is at work orchestrating and creating His masterpiece in all the different variations of people that make up the bouquet of nations, states, communities, families and each of us individually. We are the bouquet that God created. We are all God\u2019s artwork.<\/p>\n

I was recently given a beautiful bouquet of tulips. I notice petals are now falling.\u00a0I thought about the patterns of life of each flower in the bouquet.\u00a0Each had a prominent place in the bouquet at one time, but as time passed, some began to lose their petals of life. I noticed one in full bloom, and one tulip down to its last petal. That’s me. I only have one petal left, but I will hang on until the LORD pulls it away from what gives it life. I may not look so good on this side of heaven, but in heaven I will be in glorious bloom. However, as long as I am earthbound, living and breathing,\u00a0I have a purpose. Philippians 1:6 reminds me that God began a good work in me, and He will faithfully continue to complete His work until the day Christ returns. I am His created masterpiece until my last petal drops.<\/p>\n

You are His masterpiece as well. We are an arrangement created by the artful hand of God. We are all together for a reason. Just as the beautiful arrangement of flowers, we are \u201carranged\u201d by the hand of God to interact with each person and community that He places in our lives, whether for a moment or for the rest of our lives. Let\u2019s show off God\u2019s artwork by loving each other well and reaching out, loving others well, no matter their differences, and bringing them into God\u2019s masterfully created arrangement for eternity.<\/p>\n

Lord, help us to be patient with ourselves and others, realizing that each of us is still Your work of art in progress. In some, You are just beginning, and others almost completed. Help us live in patience and loving forgiveness toward each other as You continue to complete Your work in each one of us until You return.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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