The Pale Blue Dot and the Holy Spirit

No, that photo is not a distorted image that screwed up when I uploaded it to my blog. It is the famous Pale Blue Dot photo. On February 14, 1990, NASA commanded the Voyager 1 spacecraft, having completed its primary mission, to turn around to photograph the planets of the Solar System. One image Voyager returned was of Earth, showing up as a "pale blue dot" in the grainy photo. The photograph was taken from over 4 billion miles away from earth.

Carl Sagan said, "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives...on this Pale Blue Dot...suspended on a sunbeam."

I was made aware of this photograph by Louie Giglio. His series called "Indescribable" is a wonderful talk on how amazing God is and how small we are. All I can think about is Psalm 8:

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

There seems to be a lot of tension out there--academic arguments about evolution and creationism. There is Ben Stein's Expelled movie, Richard Dawkins and his book and lectures, blogs and websites. It's almost to the point of a religious war between these two sides.

While I am aware that these battles may need to be fought in the educational arena, from the local school board to the Capital, I can assure you that a logical argument, slick movie, or scholarly book will not ultimately convince many people that there is a God who sent His Son to die for our sins because He loves us and is mindful of us.

Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35-36) I think this is the path to bringing utmost glory to God. Sacrificial love illustrates the amazing transformation power of the Holy Spirit.

God, you are love.
God, I am weak.
You said that rivers of living water will spill out of the depths of me if I trust you and drink of You. You said that the Holy Spirit would allow Christ's life to live through me.
Why are we so selfish then? Why am I so selfish? Why are we as Christ-followers so weak?
Paul's words, "And they glorified Christ in me," seem so lofty and unreachable on most days.
Father, I pray for more or You in me today so you may be glorified!
I want my existence on this pale blue dot to count!
Thank you for life!
Of all the great people who have lived out their lives and died here., their time to make an impact of this planet is over, regardless of how great they were.
Yet I am alive! I have this time and how much ever more You so graciously give me.
I want maximum impact for Your kingdom!
I need You, Holy Spirit to fill me up today and everyday.

Amen