Well guys its update time once again. I have just recently returned from a wonderful trip to a place called Iguazú where I renewed my visa again. The area is amazing as Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil border each other but are separated by a river. Yet the most amazing part has to be the famous waterfalls, Iguazú falls are truly incredible just the size and power of the falls were truly breathtaking as you can see in the photos.
We went 2 days to falls one day to the Brazil side and the second day to the Argentine side and the view from the Argentine side I think was much prettier, especially since it was sunny. It was like looking at the brush strokes of an artist just admiring God’s creation and when I was thinking of it i looked over these words in Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Yet i think the thing I took from the Brazil side was more profound. Yes God’s creation is beautiful but on the Brazil side is part where your can get up close to one of the most impressive falls called “La Garganta del Diablo” (The devil’s throat). It was amazing because the sheer amount of spray soaked you within seconds, even when wearing comic ponchos. The falls are incredibly powerful and that really struck me that the water falling was beautiful when safely away from it but terrifyingly powerful if your close to it. The sound is tremendous and the bible notes that when it talks about God’s voice in Ezekiel 43:2
I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.
When we read the bible it talks about God’s voice being powerful in fact when we look at Genesis its says God spoke and the world was created. That is power beyond compare God created this earth and its beauty just with words. How wonderful and awesome is God. Yet God is Just like a waterfall too He is beautiful and majestic but also terrifyingly powerful. Theres actually a film about Iguazu falls called”The Mission”, starring Robert De Niro, its about persecution of missionaries who were thrown down the falls. “La Garganta Del Diablo” was a place of fear and awe, as well as majesty. I think we as Christians have lost that balance in our perspective of God we love and adore Him but we lost our fear of Him.
God is not a toy to be played with or someone we can fool, He is so real and so powerful that it should scare us at times. We cannot mess with God and play with Him in Paul goes farther saying these words in 2Corinthians 7:1
let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Paul here is saying you cannot truly be holy without having some fear of God. Fear of God and the consequences of sin are important for us to see and understand. I really think this last week with seeing the powerful waterfalls and thinking of the power of God, who formed this earth with His voice, it humbled me. I also like the words of Isaiah in Chapter 66:1-2
1Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,declares the LORD.But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
We need to regain our fear of God and be humbled and scared a little by the His words in the bible. We can’t just toy with him putting Him to one side until the next sunday. His voice is like rushing waters and they are pretty hard to ignore. I also saw this short video which is worth watching.
I really hope that if any of you ever get a chance to go to Iguazu you do go. It is worth every minute but I hope more than that we all get back some fear of the powerful God who created us and made us. On a slightly jolly signing off note I did also shave my head this week due to the discovery that my kids had given me their lice so now with the joys of winter setting in its a little bit chilly.
Thanks again for reading and praying,
(also special thanks to Ballymena Academy physics department for help in my title, I knew GCSE physics would be useful in life)
Jonny
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