Perhaps you’re familiar with the words to the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness[1]:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be. 

God doesn’t change. His compassions don’t fail.

What He said was, was . . .
          What He says is, is . . .
                    What He says will be, will be . . .

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above;
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. 

All around us creation proclaims His abiding presence, yet most people rush past it without giving it thought.

A splendorous sunrise . . .
          A majestic mountain . . .
                    A towering tree . . .

The whole earth is filled with His glory!

The sun rises each morning; the moon and stars perpetually canopy the earth with nighttime sky.

God’s faithfulness.

The tides roll in, the tides flow out.

God’s faithfulness.

All of creation lends testimony to His enduring faithfulness.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Because of God’s faithfulness we can trust and rest in His presence today—
no matter what our today may hold.

_________________________________________

[1] The words to this song are based on Lamentations 3:22-23.
Great Is Thy Faithfulness is a popular Christian hymn written by Thomas Chisholm (1866-1960).

Copyright © 2015 Cheryl Elton

The post God’s Faithfulness appeared first on Cheryl Elton.

Forty-five years ago this summer, man landed on the moon. What the media didn’t tell us on that historic occasion was that the first food eaten, and the first liquid poured on the moon were the communion elements of bread and wine. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin chose to commemorate the awe and wonder of the moon landing in a way he found personally meaningful—by partaking of Holy Communion.

He later wrote about the experience for Guideposts magazine saying:

“. . . Neil would give the signal to step down the ladder onto the powdery surface of the moon. Now was the moment for communion.

So I unstowed the elements in their flight packets. I put them and the scripture reading on the little table in front of the abort guidance system computer.

Then I called back to Houston. 

‘Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM Pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way.’”

As the radio blacked out, Aldrin silently read two Bible passages that he had hand-written on a piece of paper:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him? (Psalm 8:3,4)

And Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

He then took communion. He reflects in his memoir “. . . I could think of no better way to acknowledge the enormity of the Apollo 11 experience than by giving thanks to God.”

What would it be like to view planet Earth from the vantage point of the moon? How could one not be awestruck by the magnificence of our God?

Perhaps it would give us just a glimpse of God’s eternal perspective.

The next time you partake of communion—or sit down at a meal to eat and drink—remember with thanks that Jesus Christ paid the price with His life so that we could enjoy relationship with our Creator.

In light of eternity, life here on earth . . . time . . . what you are facing today . . . grows small.

Draw near to His presence.

For the One who is great is in you, and through Him you can do all things.

Copyright © 2014 Cheryl Elton

The post Lunar Communion appeared first on Cheryl Elton.