This week's parsha is:
Gen 1:1-6:8, Isa 42:5-43:11, John 1:1-14
The Beginning
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.- Genesis 1:1-4
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When we don't rule over sin (Gen.4:7)...we are hurt, others are hurt and God's heart is filled with pain (Gen.6:6 NCV.)
Is it possible that our hurts & frustrations are more than something that just happens to us? Is it possible that it is not about what is happening around us or even what has happened to us - but that it is all about us?
We must continually ask God to show us where we have sinned, where we have hurt others and where we have grieved Him. Could it mean that we are "frustrated" for a greater purpose and "not allowed to move forward" until we finally get it?
Israel, you have seen much, but you have not obeyed. You hear, but you refuse to listen.( Is.42:20)
God will allow us to stay frustrated until in our broken desperation, the dawning of the "truth" breaks upon the horizons of our hearts and the proverbial light bulb goes on.
When we accept and believe Him, we will move forward by His grace, forgetting the past; traveling on new roads of redemption in the desert and drinking from thirst quenching rivers of life in the dry land (Is. 43:19, John 1:12 NCV.)
And so, let us...
Have the Attitude of Christ
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
Philippians 2:1-4 NLT
Gen 1:1-3 we are introduced to God as a community, not just as one being alone.
Thats all I have right now.
The first thing that really stuck out to me was the river that flowed from the garden (Gen. 2:10-14). Have you noticed that wherever God's Spirit lives rivers of living water flow forth? (Genesis 2:10, Ezekiel 47, John 4, John 7:38, Revelations 22).
The second thing was this:
Isaiah 42:20 "You see and recognize what is right but refuse to act on it. You hear with your ears, but you don’t really listen.” (NLT)
How many times do we recognize the lies, deception, traps, etc. of the enemy but choose not to take action? We have been given power over sin.
Do you hear the amazement/excitement in the voices of the 72 as they report to Jesus "When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!" "Yes," he told them, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you."
Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil so we know right from wrong, but when are we going to start acting on it? We can not be passive or chose to ignore the enemy. We must stand firm and be alert. And we must be humble.
“But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world… Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” James 4:5-8, 10
“…And all of you, serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.” 1 Peter 5:5-9
michelle bondanza
Genesis 4:6- And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.
Okay, so can I say wow!! So that's exactly how I feel sometimes, like sin is crouching at my door, pawing to come in. Sometimes on days like today when I am not "doing so well," when life is over busy and my time for God is pushed to the back burner, I open the door and invite sin to just walk right on in. Sin's desire is for us to be weary, heavy burden, tired, and lonely so that when he knocks on our door we will promptly open it without looking through the peep hole. Why then am I so stubborn about sabbath? Why do I continue to feel like I have to much to do to give God a day in my week? Surely if the God who created all things took a day off, so can I. I can feel God tapping me on the back saying, "turn and look at me, for I long to breathe my breath of life back into your weary bones." So why don't I turn and say "yes Lord"? Why do I insist on running full force ahead? Cause I am not kneeling at the foot of the throne of my Maker. I continue to stand upright...when I should be face down. How long will it take for the weight of the world to push me to my knees or my face? Good news...I think I am getting closer to my knees...it is just unfortunate that I have to be pushed to that position. It is Christ's burden to carry the weight of the world, not mine...so let us cast off this weight and run free with the Creator of the Heavens and Earth.
Beginnings are alway exciting and beautiful, aren't they? Just the first few lines give a glimpse of the mind of G-d. He brings...Order from chaos...creative abandon...passion...drama...contrasts....
We are given a character picture of Him starting with something lacking boundries as being something untouched by his hands. The most dramatic of which is (in my opinion) the separation of darkness and light. Two things that are apparently in co-existance from the very beginning. His hands separating the two implying the original plan for His idea of Eden. It seems almost as if darkness is serving the light by enhancing and providing a frame for His beautiful display and handiwork. Whether great or small each light appearing like a beautiful jewel. The greater the darkness the brighter the smallest light appears to become.
How can these two things(darkness & light) possibly coexist? Yet they do! Darkness cannot hide from light yet it can always search out more darkness for company. Contrast!
The only thing that can cause darkness to retreat is more light. The only thing that can make light appear more intense is more darkness.
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1Tim. 6 - For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
(Encourage one another)
C.R.
Philosophers and Theologians have been debating for years about the inherent nature of man and the thing that came before man.....except they have stated it way more poetically than I just did.
It can all be summed up in one adjective and one noun
"Holy Dirt"
From dust we came to dust we shall return....dirt, it is the epitomie of nothing special, everything fragile, something temporary, but something WORKABLE
"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love"- eph 1:4
"Holy" it screams of everything big, unfathomable greatness, something infinite and eternally good. something PERFECT and right.
God breathed his spirit, his life and breath into a dirt clod...and this big wheel of breaking, birthing, dying...and doing it again...has happened ever since Adam was brought forth from "Adamah" and given this mysteriously beautiful "ruach."
"When we leave the solar system, we find our star and its planets are just one small part of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is a huge city of stars, so big that even at the speed of light, it would take 100,000 years to travel across it. All the stars in the night sky, including our Sun, are just some of the residents of this galaxy, along with millions of other stars too faint to be seen."
That is freaking big!!! I think that it is cool that the text said "and he said"...that sounds to me like he is so big and powerful that all he has to do is talk... It didnt say he groaned or strained to say rather just "he said". That is power.
Some other thoughts:
1) his voice can bring order to "formless and empty" spaces in our lives. our we living our lives in such a way that we want to hear his voice?
2) how big the universe it...and how small we are.
3) "spirit of God was hovering over the waters" - AKA the Holy Spirit.
4) "Let there be light, and there was light" - also in 1 John 1-2.
5) I was reading someone that the whole bible could be summed up in this one verese. "He separated the light from the darkness." - that the whole text is about seperating light from dark in our lives. "Jesus is the light of the world" - "a city on the hill" - "live as children of light"
Hinkebein OUT!!!!
Here is a another picture for you Meg.
The depths of the seas where always considered to be place where the evil one was to reside. Thus, the inference of a millstone being tied around ones neck and thrown in to the abyss.
Think about this. The land was hidden within the water below the sky and He raised up land from the depths and created man with his own hands from something that had been touched by both sea and sky. Sort of a picture of resurrection so to speak.
how about ...
"HOLY poop?"
when hink and the youth crew spend some quality time at the david crowder concert on sunday night, take note of the song, "wholly (holy) yours!" crowder sings, "i am full of earth, and dirt and YOU...!"
gotta love IT!
shalom
ryan
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