God's Copyright

For us, as creative types, a copyright is our best friend. We have exclusive, legal rights to our work. Our creations are protected; they can't be borrowed, changed, or stolen.

You wouldn't expect copyright to be an issue for a Shuttle experiment but it can be. For one of my projects, the scientist wanted to use questionnaires he'd developed to monitor group dynamics. How does the relationship between team members change over time?

Say, for instance, a shuttle crew. Commander, Pilot, Payload Specialist, and a few crew members. Confined in the Shuttle for 10 days or on the International Space Station for several months. The success of the mission depends on the crew getting along and working smoothly together.

But we ran into a hitch. NASA wanted the experiment done during the mission but they wanted to change the format of the questionnaires. The scientist protested, loudly. He'd used these for years and he knew they worked. He created them; no one else had the right to change them.

The struggle went on. Eventually, the scientist - the creator - won.

You and I - we are copyrighted creations. God created each one of us uniquely and then He recreated our minds, hearts, and lives when we believed in Jesus as our Savior.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 

2 Corinthians 5:17

God holds the copyright on our lives.

• The past can't come lumbering in and try to reshape His creation.
• Old failures can't insert themselves into new lives and alter His future plans.
• Fear can't weave into our new hearts and rewrite the truth God has inscribed there.

God protects our new lives. We are sealed in Him.

[He] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 1:22

We walk in  

assurance of our newness, 

confidence of our future, and  

certainty of God's truth.

We are copyrighted!

What More Can I Do?

One of the last projects I worked on while I was at NASA was also one of the hardest and most frustrating.

The equipment was built by the scientist and, when we received it, it had lots of problems. It didn't pass some of the tests NASA required and we had to redesign several parts. All the while, my supervisors kept hounding me:

• Did you get that re-design finished?
• Did you fix the problem with the measurement system?
• Are you going to have it ready in time to launch?

My team worked like crazy, working evenings and even some weekends. We did everything we could to ensure that it would ship to Kennedy Space Center on time.

Finally, one Friday morning, at the end of a long week, I lost my cool. I said, "We're working overtime! We're getting all the help we can. What more can we do?"

I wonder, does God ever ask that?

What More Can I Do?

I admit my prayers are often focus on questions and requests.

• Do You hear me? I've begged you to heal my friend for so long.
• I need You to fix my car. I can't afford a car bill.  
• When will my sister get a new job? She's going to kill herself working so hard.

Of course, in the NASA world, functioning equipment launched on time is the measure of success.

What is the measure of success in our walk with God?

Too often, we're tempted to measure by His answers to our prayers. 
We might define His love for us by the requests He grants.

If You loved me, You would...
How can You let this happen and yet say You love me?

And God asks, "What more can I do?"

• I sent My Son from His place of power to be born a defenseless baby.
• He traded His throne of glory for a cave of farm animals.
• I watched Him be ridiculed and called a heretic.
• I stood by while He was beaten, tortured, and murdered.

All this I did to show my infinite love for you.

I resurrected Him to life and promised you eternal life with Me.
I gave you the Holy Spirit to live within you, to be your Guide and Peace.

All this I did because I hunger to have you with Me forever.

My love is not defined by what I will do or can do.

It is sealed and delivered by what I have already done. 

Our Father longs to hear our prayers. Jesus Himself is our Advocate to bring our pleas and praise before the Lord. We are commanded to pray continuously, to bring our petitions to Him.

The depth of our relationship with Him is defined by His unchangeable character, His perfect mercy, and His indescribable grace.

We need never doubt God's love because He doesn't step into our circumstances in the way we want or when we want.

His love is proven by the cross and the empty tomb. 

P.S. Our hard work paid off and the equipment made it to Kennedy in plenty of time to launch on the Shuttle, and find it's way to the International Space Station. The experiment ran beautifully!