It is another one of those milestones in life that reminds me how fast time is flying and how fleeting this life is.
I can remember like it was yesterday, the first time I met Amanda. I went to see Becky (I was in love...still am) and she crawled up on my lap, looked me dead in the eye and said: "Are you Jim Burton?" She was 2. That was 20 years ago.
Now Amanda is a mother!
Her daughter's name is Jaelynn Isabella Rivera and she is beautiful and healthy, by the grace of God.
For more pics of our trip and to see Jaelynn click on my wife's blog: http://www.beckums.blogspot.com/
Amanda and Josh (her husband) are doing well. Josh is an officer in the Army and currently stationed at Fort Carson. They hope to be moving much closer to Virginia before too long but for now they live in beautiful Colorado Springs so we got to go there.
So while we were in Colorado Springs last week, we visited a couple of popular sites. Garden of the Gods and Pike's Peak. The above picture was taken from about 13,000 feet, near the summit of Pike's Peak. In the clouds. It was awesome.
We were "in the clouds" all week, literally, spiritually and emotionally. God is awesome. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1: "His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made."
He made it all. Pike's Peak. The Garden of the Gods. Amanda. Jaelynn. Me...and you. He made it all and it (you and me included) all belongs to Him. Psalm 24:1
"The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein."
Have you acknowledged your maker? The One by whose will you live and move and have your being? This awesome Creator has revealed His eternal power and divine attributes in the things that He has made and He has revealed His divine love through His Son Jesus Christ.
Even though mankind saw the mountains, the sea, the stars and the miracle of new life, we rebelled against God.
We all went our own way. We all broke His Holy Laws. We all alienated ourselves from the very God who created us...but He still loves His creation so He made a way for us to be reconciled unto Him.
Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through Me."
The Bible says there is no other name given under heaven by which men might be saved other than the name of Jesus.
He took our sins. He took our rebellion. He took our shame. He took it upon Himself and went to the Cross. Laying down His life. Shedding His blood. Dying a criminal's death and paying our price. He rose again on the third day, defeating death and He has ascended into heaven and has all authority in heaven and on earth and one day all will know this.
The Bible says that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. The One who made those peaks. The One who knit together Jaelynn in Amanda's womb. He is coming. What will you say when you stand before Him?
Look at His creation. Look at your life. Look at your heart. Confess your sins and your need to be forgiven. Repent and trust Jesus to save you. He will lift you from the pit into the clouds!
