The first two days of 2009 have been full of insight into what God has given us in the Bible. One thing we have to remember as we read the Bible is that God has recorded history as well as giving us a road map to living life. In other words, not everything recorded in Scripture has God’s stamp of approval as something good. Just remember this as you read through the Bible this year.
Genesis 1: 1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
I noticed in these verses that in the darkness: The Spirit of God was there!
That reminds me that God is always present with us. When we go through the dark times of life, God is there. When it seems like we just can’t go on, God is there. We tend to get discouraged when things are not going well and we lose sight of God’s presence but rest assured, He is there.
Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
All humans are made in the Image of God: Imagebearer’s
The Holy Spirit is continually at work restoring that broken Image in each of us.
Genesis 2: 1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
God, the Creator of the Universe rested from His labor. Yesterday I rested from my labor and it felt really good. If God rested and told us we should do the same, we should listen to Him.
Genesis 2:7
7 the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
That same breath that God breathed into Adam is what we need new every morning. God is the one who sustains us, without His Spirit we would cease to exist.
Genesis 3: 12
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Adam blamed his sin on the woman (Eve) of which God had also created. The world seems to still be doing the same thing today. Whenever someone does something wrong, the blame is shifted to someone else.
“It’s not my fault.”
If you read the next few verses, it appears that Adam’s failure to own his sin and rather blame someone else (justify his wrong) cost him the greater discipline.
No one has the power to cause you to do wrong! It is always our choice.
Genesis 3:21
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
This is the first recorded death in the Bible. An animal had to die in order for mankind’s sin to be atoned for.
Genesis 4: 6-7
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
The choice is still ours today, good or evil. We must master sin, we must choose to do the right and good thing. Keep your daily habit of reading and studying God’s Word and the choice will be more clear.
Genesis 4:8
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
This is one of the saddest verses in the Bible. Cain killed his own brother! If you think that your family is the only one that suffers with dysfunction, think again. The sin of jealousy is a very dangerous tool of destruction. We witness it every day and sometimes we see it carried through to murder.
These are just a few of the things God helped me to see the first two days of 2009. My prayer for all who are reading this is that you will know the Love of God, even in the darkness. That you will choose to do the right and good thing at every opportunity you have to choose. That you will master sin and not let it master you. That you will accept your guilt and not blame others and that you will walk closely with the God of the Universe.
Take your day of rest each week. It will help to prepare you for the difficult battle you will face each and every day of this life. It will give you strength to choose the good and right over the evil. It will help to keep your mind clear and focused on God and the fact that He has already won the battle.
Ronnie
The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984
