Daniel Fast

By Steve Mills

I remember growing up in the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo space flight era, watching all the work leading up to Neil Armstrong’s “One small step for man” speech on the lunar surface. This young boy’s eyes were wide watching what he later saw of his Creator’s universe. Stuff he could see in microscopes, telescopes, and from his own eyes.

Have you considered how awesome your and my Creator is? Our finite minds have a tough time grabbing hold of and defining anything infinite…. Infinitely small like germs and cells, infinitely big like stars, planets and galaxies. Consider what Psalms 8 and John 2:1-11 show of this very Creator whose creation listens to His voice and follows Him.

As you read Psalms 8 you see how it speaks of the many facets of His creation. From the mouths of babes (v. 2) He shows His strength to His enemies, so that even the smallest of us that are created in His image show His glory to the world. All the creations in His heavens (v. 3), the stars and the moon, show His plans in how they move exactly as He ordained. His crowning jewel, man, made in His image, has also been made to show His glory as we rule within His creation (v. 3-8).

John 2:1-11 speaks of a creation that still listens to His voice. When called upon, He provides exactly what is needed and more, converting one thing (water) into another (wine) by just His word.  

One may ask, in looking at God’s creation, “exactly who am I?” Creation is so vast, God is even more vast, and I am so small. Yet here, in Psalms 8, we hear echoed similar thoughts that was stated in Genesis 1:26 “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” He created us like Himself, much more complex than the rest of creation. Complex enough that we can actually interconnect with Him and develop a relationship.

 As an adult, I’ve been able to purchase my own telescopes and look at God’s creation from afar. It’s given meaning to Psalms 8:1 “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!”. It has spurred my heart to praise Him for all of creation. And yet when I look, I wonder like Psalms 8:3-5 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!” It humbles me to consider that as small as I am, He meticulously made me so I could commune with Him.

Take some time to consider this, that you ARE made in His image. He loves you. He desires more than anything to hear from you. Join with me and let Him hear your heart.

Oh Lord God, You are the creator of all things great and small. Yet in my smallness, You created me greatly…..in the image of You Great Yahweh!!!! I pray, Lord, for the humility Your Son showed to be manifest in me, so that Your greatness may be shown in and through me.

By Patti Basin

John 1 opens the Gospel by showing us who Jesus is — the Word who was with God from the beginning, who brings life and light into a dark world. Even though He came into the world He created, many did not recognize Him. Yet John reminds us that those who do receive Jesus are given the right to become children of God, not because of family background or effort, but because of God’s grace.

This chapter also tells us that the Word became flesh and lived among us. God is not distant; He came near in Jesus, full of grace and truth. John the Baptist points people to Jesus as the Lamb of God, and the chapter ends with ordinary people responding to Jesus’ simple invitation to “come and see,” beginning a life of following Him.

Psalm 1 describes two different ways to live. One way is rooted in God — delighting in His instruction and choosing not to follow the patterns of the world. That person is compared to a tree planted by streams of water, steady and nourished, producing fruit in the right season. The other way leads to instability and loss, like chaff that is easily blown away. Psalm 1 reminds us that a life grounded in God’s truth leads to growth, stability, and blessing.

John 1 tells us who we are in Christ, and Psalm 1 shows us how a life rooted in that identity grows and bears fruit.

John 1:12–13 talks about being received and given the right to become a child of God — not because of where you come from or what you’ve done, but because of God’s grace. As someone who was adopted, John 1:12–13 brings me a great deal of comfort. For many years, I struggled with feelings of being alone and not truly belonging. These verses speak directly into those thoughts and gently wipe them away. They remind me that my identity is not defined by birth or circumstance, but by God’s choice.

I know I’m not alone in this. Many people today wrestle with the pressure to fit in, to be accepted, and to feel like they belong in a world that often ties worth to appearance, success, or background. John 1:12–13 offers a different and lasting truth: we are received and chosen by God, and our belonging is rooted in His grace, not in the world’s standards.

Because of my experience with adoption, this passage invites me to live with confidence in my identity as God’s child. I don’t need to question whether I belong or strive to earn my place. Instead, I can rest in the assurance that I have been received by God. Practically, this means allowing my identity in Christ to shape my daily choices, my relationships, and my response to challenges. This verse offers each of us the same invitation — to live rooted and secure in God’s grace, like the tree described in Psalm 1, planted and nourished by Him.

Heavenly Father, thank You for receiving me and calling me Your child through Your grace. When I struggle with questions of belonging or feel pressure to measure myself by the world’s standards, help me remember who You say I am. Teach me to live each day rooted in You, drawing life and strength from Your Word, and trusting that my identity is secure in You. May my life bear fruit that reflects Your love, and may I walk forward with confidence, knowing I am chosen, known, and deeply loved by You. I pray all this in the name of Jesus, Amen.