Category Archives: Devotional Studies Through the Bible

>Rolling in the Deep

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On the same day
all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
Genesis 7:11
I remember the picture I had in my mind of the flood, the picture formed through the “story of the flood” before I had studied the Word of God for myself. This picture in my mind had the animals all nicely lined up two by two, walking up a plank into the entrance of the ark. Noah and his wife stood off to the side, watching the parade of animals and smiling at each other.
Then Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives would follow the last set of animals up the plank and into the ark and close the door. They would then look out a window and smile as the first raindrops fell to the ground.
In my picture, it would rain and rain and rain, and slowly the ark would rise and float off as the waters and the earth flooded. This is kind of a nice picture of the judgment of the earth—not at all accurate, but nice.
The truth is a little more dramatic.
First of all, it was not Noah who closed the ark door; it was the Lord (Genesis 7:16).
Second, the flood was not so slow and easy. The fountains of the great deep burst open.
Ever wondered how the Grand Canyon really was made? Let God burst open the fountains of the deep, and you’ll see a canyon. Have you ever seen the power of the geysers in Yellowstone? They can’t even compare with what must have happened on this day. If you have ever questioned the validity of the flood, just look at the real evidence around you in nature. It is there.
My husband and I visited Sequoyah Caverns in Valley Head, Alabama. In these caverns you will discover fossils of sea creatures in the walls and the ceilings. It is amazing evidence right before your eyes that the Word of God is true and that a worldwide flood did in fact occur. I am sure that these Alabama mountain caverns are not the lone evidence.
Some mighty powerful waters forever altered the earth as Noah and his family knew it. I also am pretty sure that Noah and his wife were not looking out the window and listening to the gentle rain on the rooftop of the ark. I believe they were inside the ark with their faces to the floor, praising an all-powerful God who had the authority and ability—and the right—to destroy them along with the rest, but was great in mercy and loving-kindness, and was true to His Word that He would save them if they trusted in and obeyed His voice.
Oh Father,
How mighty and awesome You are! You are He who creates, and You are He who destroys. You are He who creates life, and You are He who ends it. All things are in Your hands. All power rests in Your Word.
You are patient and You are compassionate and You are slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness, yet You will not be mocked. You will not strive with us forever.
One day we must face You—we will face You either in faith or in rebellion. Oh, how You desire that we face You in faith! You have made the way; the door is still wide open. Oh, that many would come. Oh Father, You have every right to destroy me, and yet You have chose to save me. How very good You are. How in awe of You I am.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

>Grieved in His Heart

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The Lord was sorry
that He had made man on the earth,
and He was grieved in His heart.
Genesis 6:6
In the account of the flood, we see a part of the heart of God. We see that He grieves. He grieved over the wickedness of man’s heart to the point of being sorry that He had even created man. I see God’s grieving heart, and I immediately go to my own life and wonder how much grief my sins have laid upon the heart of God. How many times did I break His heart; how many times do I still break His heart?
I took a trip to Poland with the March of Remembrance and Hope in 2006 and walked through Auschwitz and Majdanek and other concentration camps and spoke with Holocaust survivors. My eyes were opened to the severity of the wickedness of the heart of man and the fact that sin is a contagious disease.
The Word tells us that “bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). I saw this verse lived out through the heart-wrenching stories of those who lived through this era of history.
Irving Roth was one of the survivors with whom I spent the most time. He also has written Bondi’s Brother, a book sharing his story. Irving shares in his book about a soldier that he met while he was a young teenage prisoner of Auschwitz.
This soldier had been wounded in battle and had been transferred to Auschwitz to recover. He had been around the world in battle. He was not aware of what these prisoner camps really were about, and he didn’t understand what Irving could have done to be there. Irving explained to the soldier that he was there because he was a Jew and these camps killed Jews.
The soldier thought this was crazy and even accused Irving of telling a fib. He knew there was a war raging, and he couldn’t understand why his country would be killing men who could be fighting for it. Irving tells how the soldier reached in his pocket and gave him a piece of candy, the first he had tasted in years.
Weeks later, Irving saw this soldier again; whip in hand, beating and cursing the Jews along with the rest of the Nazi guards. This soldier could have gone in and made a difference, but instead his morals were corrupted by the company he kept.
Oh, precious one, this is why we need Christ. God tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. This is a valid statement. If you attempt to deny it, you have never really looked at your heart.
In the account of the flood, we also see the reality of the judgment of God. He says that there is still yet another judgment to come, but this one will be final.
This is the hope God gives. He offers salvation from his judgment; salvation to those who humble themselves and walk in his ways and obey his Word. He offered an ark for a man named Noah. Noah was the grandson of Methuselah, the great-grandson of Enoch, the man who walked with God.
We must know that Enoch shared with Noah about the judgment that was to come, so when God appeared to Noah and told him to build an ark in the middle of a desert and told him that it was going to rain (something Noah had never seen) for forty days and forty nights, I am sure his great-grandfather’s words rang loud in his ears and in his heart. Not to mention the Creator of the universe, Elohim, had assured him of this truth.
God did not send His judgment without warning, just as His future judgment has not been and will not be loudly declared. We can praise God for the assured fact that just as an ark was prepared for any who would believe and climb aboard, God has sent us another ark, the Christ.
The sad thing is that in Noah’s ark there was much room. All who would believe were Noah and his family, yet God had allowed the design of the ark to carry many more, yet no more would come.
Just as there was room in the ark, there is room in Christ. There is room at the cross for all who will believe and come.
Oh Father,
Your heart breaks and grieves over the sin and fall of Your creation, yet even in our sin, Your grace abounds. You have never pronounced judgment without reaching out and offering salvation to any who would believe and come. Thank you for sending Jesus Christ, for in Him I am safe. He is my refuge and my shelter from the storm.
Thank you for not giving up on me and for sending people into my life to share with me about the judgment that is to come and about You, the God who judges sin but in His loving-kindness, has made a way for salvation from this coming judgment.
This sin, this disease, I receive at birth, I did not choose it; it just is, and in this life, my disease can become stronger and completely destroy me, but you sent the Great Physician, who can heal my disease and cleanse me.
Oh Father, I am so thankful that part of my salvation, part of the promise in the new covenant, is a new heart; a heart that no longer desires to sin, but desires to walk in your ways because it simply loves You and wants to please You.
My Jesus, be glorified in me.
In Your name I pray,
Amen.

>People Get Ready

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Enoch walked with God;
and he was not,
for God took him.
Genesis 5:24
“Enoch walked with God.” This statement amazes me. Is there any greater acclamation than to be written down in history and remembered as one who walked with God?
At 105 years old, Seth had his son Enos; then men began to call upon the name of the Lord. They began to pray, to call upon God for salvation.
One hundred and thirty years had passed since the fall of man and their being cast out of the garden. Sin was here, and its effect on mankind already quite evident.
We know this from what is written in Genesis chapter four, murders and lust and disobedience to our Creator already abounding. Yet here in this son of Adam, the one called Seth, God begins His remnant. Man began to call on the name of the Lord.
Six generations from Seth, seventh from Adam (Jude 1:14), Enoch is born, and Enoch walked with God. We learn from the book of Jude that Enoch was also a prophet, the first man to be recorded as a prophet of God.
At the age of sixty-five, Enoch had a son, and his name was to be Methuselah. Methuselah’s name means “when he dies, it will be sent.” I believe God let Enoch know that judgment was coming upon the earth. God let Enoch know when it was coming through the name of his son Methuselah. Methuselah would have a son, Lamech, and Lamech would have a son and name him Noah. In the day of Noah, God would send judgment upon the earth.
There is more for us to learn from Enoch’s relationship with God. He “walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Enoch did not experience the great judgment that would come in the day of Noah because he died a physical death, but because God took him.
Through Enoch’s experience I believe we can see a picture of the rapture of the church: “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Today the church is here. We are here walking with God. We have a relationship with God. We are calling on His name. We are to be telling others about the judgment that God has said is yet to come. We as the church are to be sharing the gospel of God, just as Enoch did, and one day before the great day of judgment comes, just as God took Enoch, He shall take His church.
My friend, if He came to catch up His church today, would you be ready?
Oh Father,
You are so good. How awesome it is to know that You are the living God. You are not made with stone or wood. You are not a God that I pick up and have to carry. You are a God that carries me! You are a God that walks with those who call upon Your name. I do not have to search You out, nor do I have to travel miles to a temple built by the hands of men, for You come to me.
Oh Father, that I would never take for granted the relationship that I have with You. That I too, will be recorded as one who walked with You and called upon Your name. How exciting it is to think of being caught up with You in the air. My Father, I love You and I am humbled to even be able to call You Father. Thank You for loving me.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen

>Must Be Alive To Die

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Adam had relations with his wife again;
and she gave birth to a son,
and named him Seth.
Genesis 4:25
God’s mercies are new every morning. Adam and Eve grieved over the death of Abel, and in their grief, God blessed them with Seth. Seth called upon the name of the Lord.
A distinction was now made between those who would go the way of Cain and those who, like Seth, would call upon the name of the Lord. The distinction is so great and so evident that when God inspired Moses to write the book of Genesis, there is no mention of the death of Cain or the death of his children.
On the other hand, with the generations of Seth and his descendants, beginning with Seth’s father, Adam, God made the point to say, “And he died.” For someone to die, he must first live. Cain never lived.
There are many like Cain who appear to be alive but are not connected to the life, and so therefore, are already dead.
An illustration of those without Christ can be seen in a vase. We can see a beautiful vase of flowers on a table. The flowers appear to be alive and thriving. You can even smell their fragrance and touch the softness of their petals, but if you return to that same vase of flowers a week or so later, the truth is made evident. Those flowers in that vase are now wilted and slimy, and they stink. Death has made itself evident.
The flowers only appeared alive for a short time because they had been cut off from their life-giving source. Now, someone who knows more about flowers than I do could have taken those cut-off flowers and placed them back into their life-giving source and those flowers would have lived.
We are like those flowers.
In the garden, when sin entered the world, we were cut off from our life-giving source; we were separated from our Creator. We may appear alive, but left without him, we too become wilted, slimy, and we stink. Death makes itself evident. Cain remained dead in spirit, and his children followed him. Never coming to God to receive life, they merely existed, and then existed no more.
Oh Father,
The death of your children is precious in your sight (Psalm 116:15); the death of the righteous, those who have called upon your name and waited for your promise. Even though they did not receive it in this life, they waited. Father, your Word is true, and they died believing your Word was true. They believed in the promised seed before he came in the flesh, and that faith, that belief, brought them life then as it does me now. Father, I pray that my life will count. Thank you for my life in Christ, for I did not even know I was dead until I finally lived.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.

[Since the publication of this book I have continued my research and study in the Scriptures. I would like to share some insight that I have gleaned concerning the verse that speaks of Seth calling upon the name of the Lord. At first I interpreted this verse to mean that Seth began the generation of prayer communication between man and God, but after further study, I believe it is much more. As we study further in the Word we discover that when men called upon the name of the Lord it was usually a cry for Him to move on their behalf, to deliver them from an enemy or an oppressor, it was a cry for help. If we consider the placement of this chapter in God’s Holy Word we have to notice that this reference of calling upon the name of the Lord, precedes the chapter of the flood and follows the chapter that speaks of the murders of Cain and Lamech. I believe that Seth’s call upon the name of the Lord was the righteous ones calling upon God to deliver them from the great oppression of the wicked that now filled the earth… thus the flood. Seth’s calling on the name of the Lord was much more than a simply prayer of fellowship it was the same cry we see over and over again in the Word of God clear up to Revelation 6:9-10 “I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ]

>Attitude Adjustment

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But for Cain and for his offering
He had no regard.
So Cain became very angry
and his countenance fell.
Genesis 4:5
I have to admit that on a casual reading of this particular passage of Scripture, one could easily think God was a little unfair. I have to confess that I once held that thought. However, what I have learned in my walk with God is He is never unfair. Taking a closer look at this passage, at this famous story of Cain and Abel, so very much can be seen.
God is our Creator, and He will be honored.
God had regard for Abel’s offering because his offering came according to God’s way. In the garden after the fall, God slew an animal to cover Adam and Eve. This animal was slain to cover their sin. Here God showed them that “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Abel brought God an animal from his flock as his offering. Abel also brought Him the firstlings. God is deserving of our first priority and deserving of our best.
For Cain’s offering, God had no regard because he did not come with a blood sacrifice, and he came in the course of time and not with his firstfruits. Yet even in Cain’s blatant disregard and lack of respect, God’s hand of mercy extended out to him.
God remained patient with him, and He gave him guidance and encouragement. He instructed him on what he needed to do, how he needed to do it, and gave him a warning concerning the sin of his heart.
Oh, precious one, our Creator is still patient with us. He has instructed us on what we need to do. We need to come to Him through the blood of Jesus Christ. He has instructed us on how we need to do it. We come to Him by grace through faith. He has given us a warning concerning the sin of our heart. God’s Word, His commands and precepts, show us the truth, and by them we are warned because by them we see that our way is different from God’s way. We then must choose to heed God’s warning and submit to his way or disregard this warning and experience the consequences.
Cain continued to disregard God and His word of warning, and in this he hardened his heart. This hardening led to jealousy and hatred toward his brother, which ended in Cain murdering Abel.
When we ignore God’s warning, when we blatantly disregard his commands, our hearts grow hard. When our hearts grow hard, we lose our sensitivity to sin, and in this state we can do things we never dreamed we would be guilty of doing.
God cast Cain from his presence. Even in this judgment we see Cain’s hardness of heart. He showed no remorse or repentance, only concern for the greatness of his own judgment. Cain was self-centered, not God-centered. His offering and his reaction toward Abel demonstrated the state of his heart.
In the book of Jude we read, “But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain” (Jude 1:1011). Cain did not understand why God would only accept the offering if it came according to His way. Cain wanted the offering to be according to his instinct of what was right. Cain refused to accept God’s way by faith. He chose to act according to his own understanding, and by this he was destroyed.
My friend, we may not completely understand God’s ways, but let us accept them by faith and trust the Holy Spirit to bring us into understanding.
Oh Father,
You are God. You are holy, and You will be treated as holy. You will be honored, and You will be exalted. You know my heart. You know my coming and my going.
Oh Father, may I always give You my best. May my walk with You always be priority in my life. When I fail You and Your Holy Spirit convicts me of my sin, may I always be quick to confess and repent. May my heart always be soft and eager to be molded by You. Thank You, for Your mercies are great and Your love endures forever.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.

>Never Without Hope

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And he said to the woman,
“Indeed, has God said,
‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1
In Genesis 1:31, God saw all that He had made, and He said it was good—very good—and He rested.
Somewhere between chapters 2 and 3 in Genesis, Satan attempted to set himself up as God. We get a glimpse of his rebellion in Isaiah 14:1314: “You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God … I will make myself like the Most High.”
God cast him out of heaven and down to earth, and one third of the angels followed him. In Revelation 12:9 we read, “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
Never again in Scripture does God say He presently rests. In fact, He now says He never sleeps nor slumbers (Psalm 121:4), but a sabbath rest is waiting (Hebrews 4:9). We now are engaged in a battle, a battle “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Satan was cast out of heaven into a serpent. While in this serpent, Satan remained not only under the dominion of God, but under the dominion of man, for man had been given dominion over all the living things on the earth. This, Satan would not have, so he came and deceived Eve. Then Adam listened to the voice of his wife and chose to disobey God. In this one act of disobedience, “sin entered the world and death through sin” (Romans 5:12), but God was not surprised.
In the fall of mankind, God shows us how great His mercy and kindness is and how far His grace extends. In the ugliness of sin, His glory still beautifully shines. We see the truth of God’s Word and the fact that His Word is for our benefit. His words are an illustration of His love, and when they are obeyed, they result in giving and sustaining life. Yet even in our disobedience, his love abounds.
God is perfect in wisdom, and He knows all things. He knew Adam and Eve believed the lie of the serpent and had disobeyed His command, and yet He gave them the opportunity to first come to Him and confess what they had done. God gave them the opportunity to repent.
He listened patiently to the blame game and pointing of fingers. When it came time for God to deliver His judgment, it was just, for He is a just God. He cursed the root first, the tempter.
Before our Creator cursed man and the earth, He first laid out His redemption plan. God did not leave Adam and Eve without hope, and He does not leave us without hope. He did not eradicate the consequences of their actions, but in their repentance, He gave them hope. God’s mercy and grace continued as He shed the blood of an innocent animal, the first blood sacrifice, to cover the shame and nakedness of a sin-aware Adam and Eve.
In his mercy He cast Adam and Eve out of the garden so that they could not eat of the tree of life and live forever in their sinful, decaying state. Outside the garden, sin would claim its wage, physical death (Romans 6:23), but also outside the garden, redemption could be found. God had promised a seed, and that promised seed was and is Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16), and all who trust in him even though they die, they shall live (John 11:25).
Satan was out to destroy man’s relationship with God, but all he succeeded in doing was showing Adam and Eve how very great God’s love was for them when he forgave them for their disobedience. My friend, do you know how great his love is for you? Do you understand that He has “forgiven you for all that you have done” (Ezekiel 16:63)?
Do not listen to the lie of the serpent: “Indeed has God said” (Genesis 3:1). Know that yes, God has said and all that God has said is true. Know, my precious one, that when God speaks, He speaks out of the essence of who He is and God is love” (1 John 4:8) and in His words are the power of life.
The same God that reached out to Adam and Eve in their sin is the very same God who is reaching out to us in our sin. His arms are outstretched, and his voice cries “come” (Revelation 22:17).
Oh Father,
That I would never forget Your great love for me, nor the open arms You hold out to me. I fail; even as Your Holy Spirit-filled child, I fail. I still stumble, and sometimes I have eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear and a mind that’s been deceived, but still I am Yours.
You promised You would never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). This is the hope I have that is in Christ; if I confess my sin, You are faithful and righteous to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Oh Father, I am so grateful to be Yours. My Jesus, I am so thankful for the hope that I have in You. I love You, my Elohim.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.

>Covenant of Marriage

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Then the Lord God said,
“It is not good for the man to be alone;
I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
Genesis 2:18
The earth was ready. The garden was ready. The man was ready, almost.
God breathed life into Adam and placed him in the garden to keep it and cultivate it.
God showed him what to do and what not to do.
God told him that he was free to eat of all the trees of the garden except one—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—and he told him that in the day he ate of it, he would “surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)
Then God brought beasts out to the man, and he took ownership over them by giving them their names.
God looked at man, and God looked at the beast, and He knew He was not yet finished with His masterpiece.
Man still needed a suitable helper.
So God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and as he slept, God took from his side a rib. From this rib God fashioned a helper. God awoke the man and presented to him his gift, and the man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called woman” (Genesis 2:23).
This woman, this gift from God, was taken from his side, close to his heart. She was not taken from his head to rule over him or to be ruled by him. She was not taken from his feet to walk all over him or to be walked all over. She was taken from his side, to complement him, to be his helper, to be his friend. The man was given responsibility over his woman, not dominion. She was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh.
Then God said, “They shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24), the first blood covenant.
Our Creator is a God of covenant.
A covenant is a solid, binding agreement that is made by passing between two pieces of flesh. It supersedes all other relationships and contracts. It is an unconditional agreement.
God created the marriage covenant. In this covenant we also see another picture of our triune God. In the book of Ephesians we read that the husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25). When God chose to create the woman he called her “a helper.” In John 14:16, Jesus tells the disciples that the Father is going to send them a helper. This helper is the Holy Spirit.
In a marriage covenant, we have God as the head, we have the husband who is to love as Christ, and we have the wife, the helper. Do you see the beautiful image of the Trinity of God that is displayed through the covenant of marriage?
Oh precious one, God provided all for man. He met his physical need, his emotional need, and his
spiritual need. He walked with him. He talked with him. I imagine He laughed with him. God’s work was complete, and on the seventh day he rested. He rested not from fatigue, but because He simply was done. His masterpiece was completed.
Oh Father,
I can only imagine how those days in the garden must have been; You and the man and the woman—no sin separating the relationship. The joy and the peace of life in the garden is almost unimaginable for me. Yet, because of Your Holy Spirit within me, I can close my eyes and fall before You in complete worship and adoration. I feel the hope of Your peace, the hope of my utter joy complete in You.
In the creation of woman, I also can see a picture of my life in Christ. On that cross a spear pierced my bridegroom’s side, and by the blood that poured out from His side, I was able to become His bride.
Oh Father, I love You, and I am so excited to be the bride of Christ.
Oh Father, may I be presented to my Bridegroom “as a pure virgin”
(2 Corinthians 11:2).
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

>Created For His Pleasure

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Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”

Genesis 1:26

How many times have you read God’s Word and never seen “let us” and “our image? So many times I read this phrase and never realized what it said. It does not say “let me” or “my image.” God uses plural words to speak of Himself. The beautiful Trinity is once again seen so clearly if we will only look. 

God, three persons in one, made man in His likeness. God gave us just a small insight into who He is in His creation of man. Man is body, mind, and spirit. We are in a sense a triune being.

God also illustrates His likeness to us through the dominion that he gave man over the earth. God holds dominion over all. He is the supreme, sovereign ruler over all creation, and in His likeness He created man. He created man to also have dominion, dominion under His authority; on this place he called earth.

God created earth for man. God designed it to be able to sustain our life. He created every provision we would need for life before He ever fashioned Adam from the earth. He is a God of order and detail. God forms, and then God fills.

He formed the sky then filled it with stars. He formed the water then filled it with fish. He formed the land and then filled it with beast. When he commanded the earth to sprout forth its vegetation and commanded the trees out of the ground, they came fully grown, ready to reproduce. 

When all was ready and good, God created man.

God created man to have fellowship with Him. God created man for His own pleasure. God created you for His pleasure.

Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God will exult over us with joy and will quiet us with His love and rejoice over us with shouts of joy. We are formed by the hand of a Holy God, created in His image, according to His likeness, and we are filled with the breath of His life.

This was our beginning, but as we go further into Genesis, we will discover how we lose our dominion and even more frightful, how we lose the likeness of the image of our Creator. But oh, precious one, our Creator has not forsaken us. Jesus Christ, God the Son, has come, and in Christ, we once more begin to bear the image of our Creator. 

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read that in Christ we are being transformed back into the image of our Lord from glory to glory. We were created bearing the image of our Creator and having dominion over the earth under the authority of our God, and only in and through Christ can we, to this purpose, be eternally restored.

Oh Father,

You created us with intent and purpose. You created us because You wanted us. You created me because You wanted me, and not just for a short time; You created me for eternity. You loved me so much that when mankind fell, You sent Your Son to earth in flesh to make the way for me to return to my eternity with You.

Someday, my Father, because of my faith in Christ, I’ll get to walk again in the garden with You. One day I’ll see Your face. One day I’ll be held in Your embrace. Oh Father, thank You for loving me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen.

>Elohim

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In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

Here we are in the book of beginnings; the book that has been passed down the generations since the days of Moses, the one chosen by God to write His most holy Word. In this first chapter, God reveals amazing things about His character, about who He is.
I don’t believe we can realize the depth of what God shows us about Himself without looking at the Hebrew translations of some of the words used in this first chapter.
“In the beginning God:” In the Hebrew, God is Elohim, meaning plural, more than one—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. How amazing that we see the Trinity in the very first sentence of the Bible.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Created in the Hebrew is bara ex nihilio, which means “created out of nothing.” God is the only one who ever took absolute nothing and made it something. From this verse in God’s Word we see that the first something that God created was time.

We next see the creation of space and matter. God created the universe and the very components that make it exist. Components that in themselves represent the essence of who He is, the blessed Trinity. If one component was missing, the universe would not exist—each component unique yet equally needed, all three working together to form the one universe.

In chapter one of Genesis, we are introduced to action verbs that give us insight into God. We read, “And the Spirit of God was moving.” The word moving in Hebrew is rachaph; it means to flutter, shake, move. The Spirit energized the earth, bringing it to life. The phrase “then God said” is often repeated in Genesis. The word “said” in Hebrew is “amar”, it means to command.; God commanded and it was. God always speaks with authority.
In verse four we read, God saw.” The word saw in Hebrew is ra’ah. When God “ra’ah” His creation, it meant He approved, enjoyed, and joyfully looked upon it. Genesis 1:4 declares that God separated.” Separated in Hebrew is badal; it means to divide, to distinguish, to utterly sever.

Then we see that God called,” which in Hebrew is qara. It means He named with authority, He proclaimed and called out to, and He properly addressed His creation by name. When we read God made,” in Hebrew it is “God asah” and means that He fashioned, He formed, and He finished.

In verse seventeen, God placed,” or Elohim nathan,which tells us God appointed, ordained, occupied. He appointed the occupancy of the lights in the sky exactly where He ordained them.

One of the last action verbs in chapter one is God blessed.” Blessed in Hebrew is barak. It means to praise, to salute, to adore. Have you ever considered the thought that God looked over all His creation, which included man, which includes you, and he adored it?

When we look at Genesis chapter one in light of the Hebrew translations of our English words, we can see intricate details that have oftentimes been overlooked, details that expound upon the character of our Creator. Our God did not flippantly throw the world together. He created with power and authority, with care and precision, and with great joy and adoration. My precious one, spend today resting in the realization that your Elohim addresses you by name and He adores you.
Oh Father,
I praise you, for you are the beginning of all. You created out of nothing.
You spoke, and the earth formed.
You commanded, and the light obeyed.
You control time, space, and matter.
You shape and form the very dust of the earth, every star in the sky.
You alone put the sun in its place, and by your word, it shines.

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”
Psalm 147:4 says, “He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.”

You uphold all things by the word of your power (Hebrews 1:3).
My Jesus, you are Creator of all things (John 1:3), and all things were created through you and for you (Colossians 1:16).
You are the center of the universe, the beginning and the end.

Worthy are you, my Jesus, the Lamb, standing as if slain (Revelation 5:6).
Slain for my redemption, to pay my debt, to reconcile me to you, my Father God. Slain to make me holy, to be my righteousness, to bring me life. Slain to bring me back to where God said it was good.

Oh thank you, my Elohim! You are all this and more, and yet still you adore me. Oh may your Holy Spirit fill me, teach me, guide me, and create in me a clean and pure heart. May you, my Father, be able to joyfully look upon me.

My Jesus, it’s in your name I pray,
Amen

>Introduction to Devotions From Genesis It’s Not Just Ancient History

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Introduction
With every turn of the page in God’s Holy Word there is more and more of who he is, to man , to the whole world, to those who belong to him, and to those who refuse him. His Word is so precious to us. How true the disciple answered when Jesus asked them if they were going to leave him too, Simon replied “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)
Where would we go if we had not his Word, his promises, to cling to? We would go down in a pit. We would be in darkness. We would be drowning in a world of confusion. We would be unable to decipher the top from the bottom, frantically searching for light to lead us to the top where we could breathe again.
Possibly you are already there or fear yourself on the threshhold. I understand. I have been there. Know my precious one that God has not forsaken you, nor will he ever. He is there, desiring greatly to show you his truth and to help you understand the heart of the psalmist when he wrote, “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.” (Psalm 119:50)
As Jesus walked with the disciples and explained the Scriptures, he too will walk with us. He sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. I believe our search for truth, our search for revival, should begin at the beginning.
I began my search with Genesis and the God I discovered there was one I realized I did not know. The joy of my discovery impacted my life greatly and ignited a passion within me to encourage others to leap into the pages of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament Scriptures.
My hope is that the daily bites of this devotional will only wet your appetite and create within you an unsatisifiable hunger and thirst for the Word.
My prayer is that God will open your eyes and your heart to the glorious wonders in his Word and guide you into all truth. I pray that he will give you a greater understanding of his Word and make it as a part of you as your marrow is to your bones.
To God be all the glory and honor and praise!