Gen. 2:18, 20-22 And the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion to help him."….He gave names to all the livestock, birds, and wild animals. But still there was no companion suitable for him. So the LORD God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam’s ribs and closed up the place from which he had taken it. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib and brought her to Adam.
The Lord is so good; He made us male and female as perfect compliments to each other. God perfectly knows every detail of what we are like, how we think and what we need. And He made it possible for our needs to be perfectly met. God designed us for each other. He made both man and woman with a need for each other. The fact that we are male and female is no accident. God purposely made us the way we are. God made us compatible, perfectly suitable for each other. God made us as he did so that we would be able to relate to each other on a level and in a way unlike any other relationship in all of creation.
The problems that we have adjusting to life and living within the boundaries of God’s designed plan for us can be traced to unhealthy and unbalanced relationships, first with God and then with one another. Bad relationships distort our understanding of who we are and what our needs are in life. They are the breeding ground for sinful thoughts and behavior. Sin distorts our perception of what is, and is not, acceptable behavior and relationships. It makes us see through darkened eyes and causes us to accept as normal and acceptable that which God says isn’t. Sin convinces us that we can live successfully without proper human relationships. Sin causes us to experiment with and embrace that which God says is sin.
Let us today give thanks to the Lord for his wonderful creative act of making us both male and female. Let us thank Him for making us compatible and complimentary with each other. Let us thank Him for bringing into our lives those who make our lives complete. Let us thank Him for His creative genius.
And, let us repent of the sin that causes us to want to change God’s design for proper human relationships. Let us repent of the sin that causes us to accept and support man’s distorted ideas about what is and is not acceptable human relationships.
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Friday, January 13, 2017
GOD'S TREES
Gen. 2:9 And the LORD God planted all sorts of trees in the garden—beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit. At the center of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It is good to eat from the tree of life. We need to feast on that which gives us eternal life. We need to constantly feed on things that keep Christ as the most valuable part of our lives. We must never stop feasting on those things which build us up in faith. There must be an insatiable hunger in our hearts for the things of God. When we stop feeding our souls, we soon grow weak and wither away from God. Our souls need food all the time and we will feed them, whether it is with godly food or that which poisons the soul. We constantly are faced with the decision with which food we will feast on.
It is bad to eat from the tree of God, the tree that exposes us to the knowledge of evil. There is no good that comes from knowing the evils of the world. We must develop a great distaste for the things of evil. There is no limit to how evil the heart can get. We must protect ourselves from knowing too much. We don’t need to know how bad people can get. Evil behavior makes good news stories. We seem to have a desire to know how bad others behave. But, is it good to dwell on those things? It is obvious that many feed off of those things and try to duplicate it in their own lives. How many times have you been tempted to do something just because you know others are doing it? Two wrongs never make a right. We need to change the way we look at things.
Also, we must discipline ourselves to not dwell on the bad ways people treat us. It is never a good thing to know all that others may be doing or saying against us. Rather than dwelling on their negativity, we should dwell on God’s goodness and love. It is always better to focus on that which is good than that which is evil.
It is far better to dwell on those things which build us up than it is on the evil around us that may cause us to be led into sin. We must discipline our minds to not dwell on evil at the expense of the good. We can’t avoid the evil around us, but we can choose not to let it control our thoughts and affect our behavior. Feed your soul on godly things and you will not let unholy things captivate your thoughts and affect your living.
It is good to eat from the tree of life. We need to feast on that which gives us eternal life. We need to constantly feed on things that keep Christ as the most valuable part of our lives. We must never stop feasting on those things which build us up in faith. There must be an insatiable hunger in our hearts for the things of God. When we stop feeding our souls, we soon grow weak and wither away from God. Our souls need food all the time and we will feed them, whether it is with godly food or that which poisons the soul. We constantly are faced with the decision with which food we will feast on.
It is bad to eat from the tree of God, the tree that exposes us to the knowledge of evil. There is no good that comes from knowing the evils of the world. We must develop a great distaste for the things of evil. There is no limit to how evil the heart can get. We must protect ourselves from knowing too much. We don’t need to know how bad people can get. Evil behavior makes good news stories. We seem to have a desire to know how bad others behave. But, is it good to dwell on those things? It is obvious that many feed off of those things and try to duplicate it in their own lives. How many times have you been tempted to do something just because you know others are doing it? Two wrongs never make a right. We need to change the way we look at things.
Also, we must discipline ourselves to not dwell on the bad ways people treat us. It is never a good thing to know all that others may be doing or saying against us. Rather than dwelling on their negativity, we should dwell on God’s goodness and love. It is always better to focus on that which is good than that which is evil.
It is far better to dwell on those things which build us up than it is on the evil around us that may cause us to be led into sin. We must discipline our minds to not dwell on evil at the expense of the good. We can’t avoid the evil around us, but we can choose not to let it control our thoughts and affect our behavior. Feed your soul on godly things and you will not let unholy things captivate your thoughts and affect your living.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
A DAY OF REST AND REFLECTION
Gen., 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation.
I am deeply convinced that this is one area that we, the body of Christ, must pay attention to. We have somehow convinced ourselves that it is okay to treat the Lord’s Day like any other day of the week. We no longer see it as a day set apart by the Lord as a day of rest and worship. We fill up the Lord’s Day with so much activity and distractions that we scarcely even know the Lord is in it. For many they have to go back to work in order to rest up from the busyness of His day. Many of the things we do are good things, maybe even necessary, but I wonder what the Lord thinks about all our busyness. How can we spend quality time with the Lord when we are so preoccupied with other things? When was the last time you spent the Lord’s Day in quiet reflection and rest?
Whether you honor the Lord on a Saturday or a Sunday doesn’t matter. Whatever your conviction is about the day to worship the Lord, do you really do it? Do you set aside a day in your week to rest in the presence of Christ for renewal? Do you focus on Him in worship? Or, do you justify yourself filling up your day of worship with activities and work that you could and should reserve for other days? When was the last time you spent quality time with the Lord for a whole day?
The Lord set aside a day for rest from his labors and proclaimed it to be holy. He told us this for a reason. He set an example for us to follow. Is it any wonder why so many of us struggle in our walk with Him? Is it any wonder why so many of our churches are struggling? If we fail to honor the Lord with a day of rest and reflection on Him, we can’t expect him to bless us in the rest of our lives.
One more thought. I wonder what would happen if the church were to set aside a day in which nothing else was on the agenda but to rest in the presence of the Lord. I wonder how many people would show up or stay around for such a day. Could we stand doing nothing for a whole day but to rest and wait on the Lord? Maybe we should fast from all of our busyness sometime and see what might happen. I suspect that we would sense God’s presence in a way we haven’t before. The Lord will not renew our strength as long as we are too busy to wait before Him.
I am deeply convinced that this is one area that we, the body of Christ, must pay attention to. We have somehow convinced ourselves that it is okay to treat the Lord’s Day like any other day of the week. We no longer see it as a day set apart by the Lord as a day of rest and worship. We fill up the Lord’s Day with so much activity and distractions that we scarcely even know the Lord is in it. For many they have to go back to work in order to rest up from the busyness of His day. Many of the things we do are good things, maybe even necessary, but I wonder what the Lord thinks about all our busyness. How can we spend quality time with the Lord when we are so preoccupied with other things? When was the last time you spent the Lord’s Day in quiet reflection and rest?
Whether you honor the Lord on a Saturday or a Sunday doesn’t matter. Whatever your conviction is about the day to worship the Lord, do you really do it? Do you set aside a day in your week to rest in the presence of Christ for renewal? Do you focus on Him in worship? Or, do you justify yourself filling up your day of worship with activities and work that you could and should reserve for other days? When was the last time you spent quality time with the Lord for a whole day?
The Lord set aside a day for rest from his labors and proclaimed it to be holy. He told us this for a reason. He set an example for us to follow. Is it any wonder why so many of us struggle in our walk with Him? Is it any wonder why so many of our churches are struggling? If we fail to honor the Lord with a day of rest and reflection on Him, we can’t expect him to bless us in the rest of our lives.
One more thought. I wonder what would happen if the church were to set aside a day in which nothing else was on the agenda but to rest in the presence of the Lord. I wonder how many people would show up or stay around for such a day. Could we stand doing nothing for a whole day but to rest and wait on the Lord? Maybe we should fast from all of our busyness sometime and see what might happen. I suspect that we would sense God’s presence in a way we haven’t before. The Lord will not renew our strength as long as we are too busy to wait before Him.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
WE ARE UNIQUE
Gen. 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let us make people in our own image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals." So God created people in his own image: God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.
We are unique, set apart from all the rest of creation. We have souls which never die; we are spiritual beings. We have the ability to reason and make choices based upon our reasoning ability. We have the ability to grasp who God is and respond to Him. We have the ability to know the difference between right and wrong. We have the ability to love and be loved, to accept God or reject Him. We have the ability to discover and create new things. We have the ability to subdue creation and use it for our good. In other words, we are created in the image of God.
But, man messed up his privileged status. Man made a choice to sin against God. He became knowledgeable about sin and became subject to its consequences and condemnation. Man became a victim of his choices and hopelessly out of fellowship with God. Shame and guilt were introduced to his soul. His innocence was forever taken away. His pathway to God was no longer an easy road. Life became very difficult for him to live. Pain and suffering became his lot.
God recreated man at Calvary. He made it possible for man to once again have fellowship with God. Jesus made it possible for man to break free from the bondage of sin and respond to God’s love for him. We are now able to think clearly about life and eternity. We now are able to understand how to live so that we will be able to live with God, both now and eternally.
Man was without life until God breathed into him life. Spiritually we have no hope apart from God breathing into us His life. He is the breath of our souls. If we don’t allow Him to breathe for us, we are spiritually dead, bound for an eternity in hell. It’s as simple as that. In order for Him to breathe for us, we must cooperate with Him. We must let Him into our hearts and have control of us. We can trust Him to keep us alive and healthy. Let go and let the Lord be the breath of your life.
We are unique, set apart from all the rest of creation. We have souls which never die; we are spiritual beings. We have the ability to reason and make choices based upon our reasoning ability. We have the ability to grasp who God is and respond to Him. We have the ability to know the difference between right and wrong. We have the ability to love and be loved, to accept God or reject Him. We have the ability to discover and create new things. We have the ability to subdue creation and use it for our good. In other words, we are created in the image of God.
But, man messed up his privileged status. Man made a choice to sin against God. He became knowledgeable about sin and became subject to its consequences and condemnation. Man became a victim of his choices and hopelessly out of fellowship with God. Shame and guilt were introduced to his soul. His innocence was forever taken away. His pathway to God was no longer an easy road. Life became very difficult for him to live. Pain and suffering became his lot.
God recreated man at Calvary. He made it possible for man to once again have fellowship with God. Jesus made it possible for man to break free from the bondage of sin and respond to God’s love for him. We are now able to think clearly about life and eternity. We now are able to understand how to live so that we will be able to live with God, both now and eternally.
Man was without life until God breathed into him life. Spiritually we have no hope apart from God breathing into us His life. He is the breath of our souls. If we don’t allow Him to breathe for us, we are spiritually dead, bound for an eternity in hell. It’s as simple as that. In order for Him to breathe for us, we must cooperate with Him. We must let Him into our hearts and have control of us. We can trust Him to keep us alive and healthy. Let go and let the Lord be the breath of your life.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
IN HIS IMAGE
Gen. 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves…"
Mankind is not the product of some evolutionary process. We are not some accident of nature. We are the product of God’s creative mind and heart. God made us in his image. We are like God is. We have the reasoning ability of God. We have the ability of God to appreciate beauty, to love and be loved, to make choices, and to live with the consequences of our choices. We are like God in the sense that from early on in our conception we are eternal beings. God is spirit and we are too, albeit our spirit is encased in flesh and bones. Like God, we have capacity for heart fellowship. We are like God, but we are never equal to God.
Notice that God declares Himself to be more than one. We know He is three distinct personalities in one: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are like God in His entirety. We have characteristics of all three personalities of God, blended together to make us unique and wonderful creations.
When we try to explain ourselves apart from God, we rob ourselves of any logical reason to exist. Only in God’s creative act do we find cause to believe we are special and life is worthy to live. Only in God’s creative act do we find reason to have hope, joy, and peace. We are made by God’s design in His likeness. Think about it. We are more than our existence on earth. We are eternal spiritual beings who have the capacity to enter into a relationship with God. We have the capability of living a holy life like God who is holy. We can be who God created us to be; it is our choice to make.
"Thank you, our Father for making us who we are. Thank You for making me, me. Thank You for your thoughtful design. Thank You for making me a mirror image of yourself. Help me, Lord, to live up to your expectations for my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen."
Mankind is not the product of some evolutionary process. We are not some accident of nature. We are the product of God’s creative mind and heart. God made us in his image. We are like God is. We have the reasoning ability of God. We have the ability of God to appreciate beauty, to love and be loved, to make choices, and to live with the consequences of our choices. We are like God in the sense that from early on in our conception we are eternal beings. God is spirit and we are too, albeit our spirit is encased in flesh and bones. Like God, we have capacity for heart fellowship. We are like God, but we are never equal to God.
Notice that God declares Himself to be more than one. We know He is three distinct personalities in one: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are like God in His entirety. We have characteristics of all three personalities of God, blended together to make us unique and wonderful creations.
When we try to explain ourselves apart from God, we rob ourselves of any logical reason to exist. Only in God’s creative act do we find cause to believe we are special and life is worthy to live. Only in God’s creative act do we find reason to have hope, joy, and peace. We are made by God’s design in His likeness. Think about it. We are more than our existence on earth. We are eternal spiritual beings who have the capacity to enter into a relationship with God. We have the capability of living a holy life like God who is holy. We can be who God created us to be; it is our choice to make.
"Thank you, our Father for making us who we are. Thank You for making me, me. Thank You for your thoughtful design. Thank You for making me a mirror image of yourself. Help me, Lord, to live up to your expectations for my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen."
Monday, January 9, 2017
IN THE BEGINNING, GOD
Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
God never set out to prove himself to us. He doesn’t give us any more information about himself other than He is. He tells us exactly what we need to know, in the beginning God. If we don’t get it here, the very first book of the Bible, we are going to have a very hard time getting much of anything from the rest of the Bible. God is. Period. He always has been and always will be who He is, God. We can’t understand God’s origin, because He has none. We can’t understand His power, because He has the power to create all things. We can’t understand His mind, because He is the one who thought of all of creation’s details--from the minutest to the most majestic. We can’t understand His goodness because it is cloaked in His holiness. There is nothing about God we can know or understand about God apart from what He reveals to us. And, what God has chosen to reveal to us is only what we can handle. He cannot be contained by our limited ability to comprehend.
God begins his Word with the declaration of His existence. We start with faith. God is and He has created all things. We don’t depend on man’s knowledge about where we came from or how we came into being. God conceived us and brought us into being. We are the workmanship of His hands. We are who we are because we are His, the product of His design, not some accident of nature that evolved over millions of years. God exists independently of man’s understanding of Him. He always has been and always will be, God.
Everything that exists has the thumb print of God on it. It is what it is because it is exactly what God intended for it to be. There is no part of creation that does not have a reason and purpose for its existence. What we don’t know God does. By faith, we rest in God, the creator of all things.
God never set out to prove himself to us. He doesn’t give us any more information about himself other than He is. He tells us exactly what we need to know, in the beginning God. If we don’t get it here, the very first book of the Bible, we are going to have a very hard time getting much of anything from the rest of the Bible. God is. Period. He always has been and always will be who He is, God. We can’t understand God’s origin, because He has none. We can’t understand His power, because He has the power to create all things. We can’t understand His mind, because He is the one who thought of all of creation’s details--from the minutest to the most majestic. We can’t understand His goodness because it is cloaked in His holiness. There is nothing about God we can know or understand about God apart from what He reveals to us. And, what God has chosen to reveal to us is only what we can handle. He cannot be contained by our limited ability to comprehend.
God begins his Word with the declaration of His existence. We start with faith. God is and He has created all things. We don’t depend on man’s knowledge about where we came from or how we came into being. God conceived us and brought us into being. We are the workmanship of His hands. We are who we are because we are His, the product of His design, not some accident of nature that evolved over millions of years. God exists independently of man’s understanding of Him. He always has been and always will be, God.
Everything that exists has the thumb print of God on it. It is what it is because it is exactly what God intended for it to be. There is no part of creation that does not have a reason and purpose for its existence. What we don’t know God does. By faith, we rest in God, the creator of all things.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
COME TO JESUS
Rev. 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let each one who hears them say, "Come." Let the thirsty ones come—anyone who wants to. Let them come and drink the water of life without charge.
It is an open invitation for all, "Come." The heart of God is fellowship. He wants to have a relationship with everyone. He wants all to repent so that He can have fellowship with them. The Lord will not deny anyone who comes to Him for eternal life forgiveness and acceptance. He will satisfy the longing of every soul who comes to Him.
God created a thirst in every soul. There is a longing in the soul that needs to be satisfied. Man will always strive to quench his thirst, but only Christ can satisfy it. Everything man does is an effort to find that which satisfies. Everyone is looking for soul satisfaction. Some seek it in the things of the world, the pleasures of the world, or the religions of the world. Satan is a master deceiver and distracter. He knows how to occupy the heart of man so that he does not find his satisfaction in Christ. He knows how to convince man that other things will satisfy man’s longings other than Christ.
There is a huge price to pay when seeking satisfaction apart from Christ. All roads taken apart from Christ lead to self-destruction and ultimately to hell. The soul will never be satisfied unless Jesus is found. God freely gives eternal life through Christ to anyone who comes to Him. Whoever gets tired of chasing after those things which cannot satisfy and comes to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins will be saved and find what they are looking for. Only Jesus can satisfy the longings of the soul.
Dear friend, if you are a child of God today, only Jesus will satisfy the longings of your heart so don’t chase after the things or pleasures of this world. If you have let other affections take over your life, return to Christ who alone will make your heart content. The more you set your heart on Christ, the more content and happy you will be.
If you are not a child of God, don’t waste another moment of your life. Bow at Jesus’ feet, confess your sins, ask Him to forgive you, and then embrace Him as your Savior. You will be glad you did.
It is an open invitation for all, "Come." The heart of God is fellowship. He wants to have a relationship with everyone. He wants all to repent so that He can have fellowship with them. The Lord will not deny anyone who comes to Him for eternal life forgiveness and acceptance. He will satisfy the longing of every soul who comes to Him.
God created a thirst in every soul. There is a longing in the soul that needs to be satisfied. Man will always strive to quench his thirst, but only Christ can satisfy it. Everything man does is an effort to find that which satisfies. Everyone is looking for soul satisfaction. Some seek it in the things of the world, the pleasures of the world, or the religions of the world. Satan is a master deceiver and distracter. He knows how to occupy the heart of man so that he does not find his satisfaction in Christ. He knows how to convince man that other things will satisfy man’s longings other than Christ.
There is a huge price to pay when seeking satisfaction apart from Christ. All roads taken apart from Christ lead to self-destruction and ultimately to hell. The soul will never be satisfied unless Jesus is found. God freely gives eternal life through Christ to anyone who comes to Him. Whoever gets tired of chasing after those things which cannot satisfy and comes to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins will be saved and find what they are looking for. Only Jesus can satisfy the longings of the soul.
Dear friend, if you are a child of God today, only Jesus will satisfy the longings of your heart so don’t chase after the things or pleasures of this world. If you have let other affections take over your life, return to Christ who alone will make your heart content. The more you set your heart on Christ, the more content and happy you will be.
If you are not a child of God, don’t waste another moment of your life. Bow at Jesus’ feet, confess your sins, ask Him to forgive you, and then embrace Him as your Savior. You will be glad you did.
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