#21 The Apple of God's Eye

The Book of Genesis Day 21 Ge 2:10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Although the exact location of the Garden of Eden is not given, we get a general idea by the mention of the four rivers. The Hiddekel River is actually the Tigris, and the fourth river is the Euphrates. That would put the Garden somewhere in the vicinity of modern day Iraq. It really doesn’t matter since the “Garden” is closed for the time being anyway. God has placed a guard around it and man will not enter it again until all things are restored when Jesus returns. After the Garden was planted, God took the man that He had created and put him in the Garden to tend and keep it. To “tend” is “to slave or work.” Adam was to “work the Garden! I’m not sure of the kind of work that Adam was engaged in, but we know it wasn’t pulling weeds. The thorns and weeds didn’t arrive until after Adam and Eve fell into sin. Maybe it was his job just to keep it looking nice. He was also instructed to “keep” the Garden. This word “keep” is a very important word in the Bible. It is most often used in the context of treasuring something. The word means “to put a hedge around, to protect something as if it were valuable.” So when Jesus says in Joh 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments,” He tells us to treasure His commands, and that takes all the legalism out of the equation. Of course if we treasure His commands, we will seek to obey them, but don’t put the cart before the horse! Treasure them first, then a desire to obey will follow. It is treasuring that leads to obedience. So Adam is charged with treasuring the garden and all that is in it and that speaks of being a good steward. We, like Adam ought to be good stewards of God’s creation serving as caretakers to keep it from harm. I think we have made some great strides in this area in recent years, yet we need to be careful, because sometimes we confuse stewardship with ownership and we begin to make decisions that value the earth more than the occupants. For example, unborn children, made in the image of God are regarded as disposable for the sake of “garden” management. That was never God’s intention. As stewards, we are to work with what God has given us, tending and keeping it to the best of our ability for whoever God brings along to enjoy it! He is not so cruel as to bring more children into the garden than it will support. We are the cruel ones as we fail to manage and distribute His resources in a loving and caring way. Reflect: Name a treasured possession of yours. Do you give it any kind of special care? Did you know that God treasures you? David prayed in Ps 17:8 Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings, You are the apple of God’s eye! How does this knowledge of God’s treasuring you, change your attitudes about yourself and others? Pray: God, help us when we forget how much you treasure each and every one of us. Remind us often of Your deep love for us. Help us to love You and others in return! Forgive us when we f

Intimacy With Evil

The Book of Genesis Day 20 Ge 2:8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Again, we see the specialness of the relation between God and man. If the creation of the earth was not beautiful enough, God plants a very special garden for man. In this garden, EVERY tree that was pleasant to look at, and every tree that was good for food was planted. Somehow the words “pleasant” and “good” don’t seem adequate to describe this garden. The Hebrew context of these words is closer to “desirable.” Every tree that man could desire to look at, or eat of, was in this garden. It was Paradise! Even the name “Eden” means “delight!” Two other “special” trees are mentioned at this time. The tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Did you know, that as a baptized believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will one day munch on the fruit of the tree of life? Re 2:7 says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."' God also planted the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That’s a strange name for a tree, yet very descriptive! Try to follow me here. One bite of this fruit would give man both a taste of the knowledge of evil and a taste of the knowledge of good. Their lives, and the lives of every person hereafter would be tainted with this knowledge. Had they left it alone, all they would have known was ignorantly good. Adam and Eve, in the Garden, did not need to define good, because it just was! The old sayings, “You don’t know what you have until you lose it,“ and “ignorance is bliss,” seem fitting here. But now they knew the measuring stick, the Law of God, that was contained in that fruit and it became planted in every soul that would come after them. It is just as we read in Rom 7:7 “On the contrary, I would not have known (become intimate with) sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." Original sin. Intimacy with evil. We’ve all got it in our hearts that are now deceitfully wicked Jer 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” This sin is part of all of us from conception on and it will be active in our lives until we die or Jesus returns. This sin must be dealt with if we ever want complete fellowship with God restored. It is dealt with through baptism, repentance, and enduring faith in Jesus. All three are gifts from God, use them, and endure until the end and you will be munching on the tree of life in Paradise forever. The tree of knowledge of good and evil doesn’t make the cut in Paradise and man will never be threatened by the existence of evil again! Reflect: Have you ever bitten into something and been unpleasantly surprised? What did you do? Did spitting it out get rid of the taste completely? What helped you to eliminate the bad taste? How does God help us deal with the unpleasantness of our sin? At what price? Pray: Father God, I confess to You that I am a sinner. It’s in my genes and it breaks out in my life in thought, word, deed, and lack of deed. Forgive me of my sins for the sake of Thy dear Son, and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Help me to live in Your gifts of baptismal grace, repentance, and enduring faith, so that I may be with You forever in paradise.

# 19 When Does Life Begin?

The Book of Genesis Day 19 Ge 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. When does life begin? Some say life begins at conception. Others say it begins when the fertilized egg adheres to the uterus. Others say life begins when brain waves are present, others say when the heart starts to beat, and some incredibly say that life begins when the baby is outside the womb. The day is coming, and is already here when some say that life begins only when the child is wanted. What does the Bible say about this? There are a couple of verses that come to mind that should help the Bible believing Christian settle the matter. First of all, the Holy Spirit, speaking through David says in Ps 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” This verse verifies that we are sinners, tainted with original sin from the moment of conception. The Bible also tells is that “the wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23) Think about it. If the wage of sin (and we have it from conception on) is death, how can it be exacted on the guilty party if he or she is not alive? Life begins at conception! God is the author of life as we read in Ps 139:13, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.” And in Ps 139:16, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” And in Job 10:10,11, we get a graphic look at the process of fertilization and embryonic development, “ Did you not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese, 11 Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews?” In fact, God’s hand is in the creation of life even before fertilization as He is familiar with the very sperm and egg used in the process of the creation of a new life! Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." You see, life really began here on the sixth day of creation when God formed the first man from dust and personally breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life and man became a living being! This is when life begins and it was meant to continue without unnatural barriers as man received the blessing from God, “Be fruitful and multiply!” Any interruption of that process is an attempt by man to play God and Creator. Because God breathed into the nostrils of man, we know that every life that proceeds from that man is precious to God and it ought to be precious to us as well. Just how precious? God surrendered the life of His only Son to redeem us from our sin and every time we take the life of another, we in effect say, “Big deal” and that’s what’s really wrong with abortion, euthanasia, infanticide and murder. But thanks be to God, that in spite of our misguided ideas about the origin of human life, He still sent His Son to die for our sins, and there is no sin that Jesus did not pay for on the cross. Through faith in Jesus and confession of our sins we are promised complete forgiveness. Reflect: Have you ever experienced an interruption in a conversation with someone? How about an interruption in plans? How did those interruptions make you feel? How do you think God feels when we “interrupt” the lives of others? Can we trust God to regulate the size of our families? Pray: Father, You are the Author of life and we thank You for the gift that it is. Forgive us when we devalue it, in any way. Heal our land from the scourge of legalized abortion and turn our hearts back to profound respect for all life. Amen

He Is the Potter, We Are the Clay

The Book of Genesis Day 18 Ge 2:6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Mist plus dust = clay, and God now has the mass of material which He uses to form man. The pliability of this clay gives us much to ponder. Let’s begin in Isa 64:8, “But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.” The Holy Spirit, speaking through the Apostle Paul echoes a similar thought in Ro 9:20, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" There are strong pro-life implications in these verses that we would do well to consider before choosing to end the life of a God-created unborn child! We are the pots, He is the Potter! How absurd to think that we, as pots, have the right to tell the Potter that the other pots are unwanted junk to be thrown away because we don’t want them! Do you and I really understand the implications of the Potter/clay relationship as it applies to Christian love? Do we “do unto other pots as we would have done to us?” We are all pots, none better than the other. We ought to then, love one another, and certainly, we ought to love the Potter above all things! It is to Him that we owe our very existence! Another of my favorite Potter/clay analogies is found in Ps 37:4, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” This is a veiled reference that becomes clear when we realize the Hebrew term for “delight,” is “to be pliable.” In other words, when we are pliable in the hands of the Lord, He shall give us the desires of our heart. One thing about moistened clay, it always responds obediently to the hands of the potter. That’s where you and I need to be. The more obedient we are, the more pliable we become in the hands of God as He continually works in us to conform us to what He created us to be. No need to fret about the desires of our hearts, if we are pliable in His hands He will get us to His God-planted desires. God is the Potter, we are the clay. Let us allow Him to have His way with us today. Reflect: What’s the most memorable thing you have made out of clay? How might the potter/clay analogy help you with any prejudices you might have? What is your responsibility in Ps 37:4? What is God’s responsibility? Pray: Father, help me to remember today that You are the Potter and I am the clay, and that behind every set of eyes is a soul that matters to You! Amen

#17 Organized Vegetation

The Book of Genesis Day 17 Ge 2:4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. Chapter one of Genesis gives us an overview of creation and chapter two gets more into the detail of creation especially as it relates to the beginning of man and woman. We might say, “this is the way it went down.” Vegetation had come forth from the earth on the third day of creation, but it was not organized. There were no gardens, no fields of corn, oats, soybeans, rice, or hay. The use of the phrase, “plant and herb of the “FIELD” indicates a cultivated plot of land. Regular crops from the field would require the addition of man to tend them , and a cycle of rain. This rain is referred to in the Bible as the former and latter rain, or we might say the spring and fall cycle of rain necessary for producing a yield. Jas 5:7 says, “ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.” These rains are vital and are a gift from God and something farmers have prayed for since the beginning of creation. Zec 10:1 Ask the LORD for rain In the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, Grass in the field for everyone. Before God created man, the beasts of the field grazed on the land which received the moisture needed for growth from a steady (I would imagine,) morning mist. But once man was on the scene God planted a garden and gave Adam the charge of tending it. “This is how it went down.,” This is the history. I love driving down the rural roads of Wisconsin when the crops begin to appear in late spring and early summer. Row after row, neatly arranged, cultivated, and set in a pattern designed for easy harvest by our modern day “Adams.” The patterns that we see in our fields today have their roots in what we read here today in Genesis, and ought to cause us all to pause and reflect and give thanks to God our creator. He created it all, He organized it all in the Garden, He saw it all, and He pronounced it very good. We ought to do the same. Reflect: Consider what must take place for you to have a bowl of cereal in the morning. How much of what you eat is dependent upon God. How much does man contribute? Pray: Thank You Father, for Your care of the earth and Your care for us. Help us to be good stewards of what You have given us.

#16 The Self-Existent One

The Book of Genesis Day 16 Ge 2:4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, It is here in this verse that the name Yahweh (LORD) is first found in the Bible. The word is used a total of 6823 times in the Old Testament! It means, “self-existent one,” (Try to wrap your brain around that thought!) This is the name God gave to Moses at the burning bush when Moses asked who was sending him to the children of the Israelites. God identified Himself as I Am (Yahweh) The name is especially associated with God’s holiness, His hatred of sin, and His gracious provision for redemption. Yahweh, the self-existent one who is holy, hates sin, and yet, has a gracious provision for redemption! All four of these attributes are vital to understand in man’s relationship with God. We need to understand that God is the active self-existent one, He desires to be actively involved with our lives. Php 2:13 says, “ for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” We need to understand that God is holy. The essence of the word is “other.” While you and I are tainted with sin, He is totally not! He is other! We need to comprehend how deeply God hates sin. Sin separates us from God! Isa 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; “ Finally we need to understand that He has a gracious plan to restore our fellowship with Him, forgiving our sins, blotting them out, so that we might be in holy fellowship with Him again. This removal of sin and restored fellowship was made possible by the cross, where God’s only Son, Jesus Christ satisfied the anger of God against sin and paid the price, so that “whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It is fitting that these attributes of God be brought out at the dawn of the creation of man and woman, because with the free will of man, they will be needed to be understood sooner than later. Reflect: Look up your name on the internet. What does it mean? Is it fitting? Can you fathom something that is self-existent? Name something that seems like it’s always existed. Why do you think it is important for people to know that God is actively involved in their lives. Give an example of His active involvement in yours. Pray: Father, I truly can’t comprehend Your eternal existence. Thank You for Your desire to spend it with me and others. Guard my faith that I may one day be with You forever.

Mercy Not Sacrifice

The Book of Genesis Day 15 Ge 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. The observance of the Sabbath was a huge bone of contention between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees had become the self-appointed guardians of the Israelites and had taken it upon themselves to see that the Israelites would never suffer a Babylonian style captivity again. That captivity was due in large part to the Israelites ignoring God’s prescribed Sabbath year for the land. So the Pharisees sought to guard the Sabbath zealously. So zealously that they created a myriad of prohibitions against any kind of lifting of a finger on the Sabbath Day. By obeying these little nit-picking rules, they felt that the larger rules about the Sabbath would be adhered to. They underestimated the power of legalism to snuff out grace and mercy. (Don’t we all!) For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor 3:6) Let’s look at an incident of this collision between the Pharisees and Jesus as found in Mt 12: It was the Sabbath and Jesus’ disciples were going through a grain field and picking grain and eating it. The Pharisees charged His disciples with breaking the Law of the Sabbath. Jesus in essence replied that there was more at stake here. His disciples were hungry, and while it may be against the Law to work on the Sabbath, it is never against the law to engage in mercy. He then told the Pharisees to figure out the meaning of this Scripture! “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” (Mt 12:6) Then Jesus went into a synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand and of course this upset the Pharisees even more, but Jesus said to them, It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” In Mk 2:27,28, Jesus reminds us all that “the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, therefore the Son of Man is also the Lord of the Sabbath.” In other words, the Sabbath was meant to benefit man, not for man to lord it over others with man-made rules and regulations. God’s only rule concerning the Sabbath is that it is to be a day set aside, it is not to be a common day like the others. It is a day to be remembered. What better way to remember God than to worship Him and engage in acts of mercy and goodness to others as the need arises. Every instance of Jesus being charged with working on the Sabbath involved an act of mercy on His part. In all other ways He observed the Sabbath. Mercy ought to be our only exception as well. We ought to strive to observe this day as God originally intended. It should be a day of resting in Him except on those occasions when compassion is needed. Think of the man with the withered hand. Jesus lifted His finger on the Sabbath, that the man would henceforth be able to lift his! Reflect: Think about a time when someone extended an act of mercy to you in a time of need. Have you ever helped someone in need? How did that feel? Is there anyone in need in your church family? Natural family? Neighborhood? How might you be able to help? Pray: Lord, it is so easy to walk on the other side of the street while my neighbor lies in the ditch. Help me to keep my eyes open for opportunities to extend mercy to others through Jesus. Amen

The Sabbath Year

The Book of Genesis Day 14 Ge 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. The seventh day, the Sabbath. This was and always has been a very special day to God. Not only were His children to rest on the seventh day, but other days were set aside as Sabbaths as well! There were special holy days and feast days set aside. Sometimes, entire weeks were set aside as Sabbaths, indeed even a Sabbath year was established by God! This “year” was celebrated every seven years and it was a time when the soil was given complete rest. The people were not to sow seed, nor prune their vineyard. ( Le 25:3,4) in that year however, anything that grew on it’s own could be gleaned (not systematically harvested) and eaten by those who had need. God took this Sabbath year very seriously and according to the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary, the Israelites were justly punished for ignoring this Sabbatical year for 490 years! (from the reign of Saul to the reign of Jehoiakim.) Add them up! That’s a total of 70 years of missed Sabbath years! Jeremiah prophesied of the punishment that would come to the people for their neglect of the Sabbath years in Jer 25:11 'And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. God was telling the people, “if you don’t give My created land rest….I will!” And He did! Rest is important to God and Sabbaths are meant to be a blessing for His creation! As Jesus said in Mr 2:27 "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. In light of this, why do we seemingly have such a flippant attitude about this day? It seems to be the forgotten command of the Ten! We remember the Sabbath for one hour on Sunday and then treat the day as any other. Has God changed? Have the Ten become Nine? God knows His land needs rest and He knows we need it to. The Sabbath is a day of rest, not a day to get caught up with our work from the rest of the week. “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy!” (Ex 20:8) Reflect: What’s your favorite holiday and why? Do you think God likes celebrations? How might a gardener practice the principle of a sabbatical year? What kind of boundaries do you need in your life right now so you can get adequate rest? Pray: Lord we live in a fast-paced nation. It seems we have to have everything and we have to have it now! Teach us to rest. Teach us to live in accordance with the way You created us.

The Sabbath Day

The Book of Genesis Day 13 Ge 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Having finished the work of creation, God rested. It’s not that He was worn out from all that creating, it’s more like a time of sitting still. If God had a rocking chair, He’d be sitting in it on His front porch taking it all in. This day was given to God’s people as a time of cessation from labor. Let’s look at some of the references to the Sabbath in Scripture to see if we can’t get a better picture of what this day is all about! For instance, when God supplied food for the Israelites (manna) in their desert wanderings, the people were instructed to take a double portion on the sixth day, so they would be able to cease from even the normal activity of food gathering. (Dare we say grocery shopping?) The Sabbath was included in the Ten Commandments, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord Your God. In it you shall do no work. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” The Sabbath is mentioned again in De 5:15 “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” This time it is mentioned as an occasion to rest and remember God’s deliverance of the people from Egypt. (We do the same thing in the church today as we set aside the Lord’s Day to remember our deliverance from the bondage of sin made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus!) In Jeremiah 17:21-27, God chastises the people for bringing their wares into the city on the Sabbath. He tells them to heed His command to observe the Sabbath and be blessed, and warns them of the consequences of His judgment if they continue to ignore His precious command to rest. In Exodus 31:12-18, God reminds Moses to warn the people to keep the Sabbath. Anyone who profaned the Sabbath, that is, treated it like any other day, was to be put to death! ( By the way, the New Testament equivalent of being “put to death,” is excommunication. I guess worship attendance is more important than many think!) The Sabbath day is serious stuff. It was a day that was meant to be a sign between God and His children forever! It is to be a billboard that speaks of His creative power and says “I am life! In Me is rest!” Our Sabbath day observance is to be a reflection of that truth. But be careful here, because when you start making hard and fast rules for the Sabbath, you turn it into just another day of works. Enjoy the Sabbath, and let grace and mercy reign! Reflection: Ps 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the LORD." If your Sabbath were a billboard, what would it say? Why do you think many churches commemorate the Sabbath on Sunday rather than Saturday. (Hint: See De 5:15) Finish this sentence. “This is the day the Lord has made we will___________. Pray: Father, thank You for giving us this day of rest. Help us to slow down and seek ways in which we may honor and remember it, for in remembering it, we honor You!

A Total Absence of Violence

The Book of Genesis Day12 Ge 1:29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. More instructions for man and a non-violent diet for animals! We see here that God’s original diet for man, animals, and birds, was a peaceful vegetarian diet. But sin entered the world and man, animals, and birds added violently acquired meat to the mix. It is as the Holy Spirit noted in Ge 6:11, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” It wasn’t until after the flood that man was given permission to eat meat. It’s easy for us to imagine man living on vegetation,(health conscious people do it all the time,) but when’s the last time you saw a vegan lion? Well, in this perfect world of the sixth day of creation, that’s the way it was, and I imagine that it will one day be like that again as we read in Isa 11:6 "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. When will that Day be? Only the Father knows, but it will be the Day of the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will restore all things to the beauty of that sixth day of creation! It will be a world void of violence, (you can’t eat meat without it!) Just imagine such a world for a moment. Oh the unending joy and peace! We live in a world of ever increasing violence, but imagine living in a world with no violence, no stomach churning gore for eternity! It will happen one day when our Lord returns. Do you want to be a part of such a world? Then heed the words of Mr 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. Perfect peace awaits those who surrender their lives to Jesus. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father (no one comes to heaven) except through Me. (Jn 14:6) Reflect: What’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite fruit or vegetable? What’s the most peaceful thing you have experienced? How do you feel when you witness violence of any kind? Who will experience perfect peace on Judgment Day? Pray: Father God, we long for the restoration of the “very good” world of the sixth day. Help us to finish the race and use us in any way to bring as many as possible with us. Amen

God Knows A Blessing When He Sees One

The Book of Genesis Day11 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Let’s continue talking about this first command given to mankind. Not only is it a command, but it is also the first blessing mentioned in the Bible, yet no one seems to regard it anymore. God says, “Be fruitful and multiply and we, (even in the church) say, “No thank You Lord, we’ll pass on a blessing from You and we’ll determine how many children we’ll have! We’ll trust You for the blessing of our salvation, but as far as the number of children we should have…..well, we think we know better than You on that one.” That is audacity! And so we plan our children by ingesting pills that many times work as abortifacients, ending the life of a conceived child! Or we voluntarily go under the knife to make sure we won’t reproduce and thereby remove ourselves from one of the promised blessings of God! It seems that we have become guided by a spirit of fear in this matter, but God has not given us a spirit of fear! 2Ti 1:7 says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. If God grants you the gift of a child, do you think He is up in heaven wringing His hands and saying, “What have I done? How are these parents going to care for this child?” That would be a very small god indeed! God’s eye is on the sparrow and surely His eye is on you! He will provide! At the very least, we ought to turn away from these unnatural methods of family planning and learn to abstain in accordance with God’s reproductive cycle design, or what is called natural family planning. It’s called self-control, and it’s a fruit of the Spirit that we all could use a little more of. Self control starts with believing and trusting God and His Word. It is seeking to comply with His word and trusting Him for the results. Trust God……..He knows what He’s doing! He knows a blessing when He sees one! Reflection: Name the family you know personally, who has the most children. How would you describe this family and their lifestyle? What kind of fears surface in you when considering raising children? How can Mt 6:33 help us overcome fear? "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Pray: Father, we are easily frightened by the world, our flesh, and the devil. Help us to overcome our fears by trusting in You, Your Word, and Your great love and wisdom. Amen.