Tuesday, January 8: Genesis 7- Are you connected to Jesus?.

Then the LORD shut him in (16b).

Amidst the ravages of God’s judgment, the tender hand of the Lord shut the ark, securing Noah, his family and animals safely within the ark.

What a stark and telling image. To many, God’s hand was wreaking havoc and judgment. To Noah and his family, God was kind, compassionate and caring. How can this be?

I see here the dual necessity, albeit opposite outcomes, of judgment and mercy!

God is both love and justice…

I am more terrified by this picture than I am comforted.  It is a sad day. Judgment of wicked is never pleasant.

This account foreshadows the final judgment, at that time all those who have called on the name of Jesus will be saved. They will be the ones safely protected from the wrath and judgment of God.

Are you connected to Jesus? Think about it…

Today scripture will be my prayer…

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name (Jesus) under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9-13)

Amen.

 

Monday, January 7: Genesis 6- What would I do if I were Noah?.

After reading this chapter I began to wonder what I would have done if I were Noah? What I wondered about was if I would obey God’s command if it were as strange and seemingly irrational as God’s Words must have seemed to Noah. Flood the earth… build an ark… put two of every creature on the ark… God will destroy all life except the people and animals on the ark. I mean that would be mind-blowing today. What must it have been like for Noah?

Would I have obeyed? I just don’t know.

God says, ‘Make disciples of all nations’.  What am I doing about that?

God says, ‘Love my neighbor’.  Do I do that?

If I am not particularly good at these commands, what would make me think I would have listened to God, built an ark and loaded it as God said?

Obedience, Noah is a model of obedience…

God, forgive me because I am not a model of obedience. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me.

Show me, Lord, what I should do to train myself for service and obedience to You.

This is my prayer as I begin my 2013 journey with You. Amen.

 

Saturday, January 5: Genesis 5- Awed by God.

I was fascinated by the description of the creation of humanity as the chapter opens.  This is the third such description (see Genesis 1 & 2 for the others). I think it was the simplicity of the description that caught my attention.

When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man."

Grammarians would probably have a nightmare reading these sentences, with the singular and plural pronouns growing off the word ‘man.’

I saw profoundness is all of this… man as singular, man as plural, man as ‘him’ man as ‘them, male and female.’ One constant is God and that God created ‘man,’ however you use the word.

I spent the remainder of my time contemplating God the Creator.  How God created man, as in ‘humankind’, and God created man, as in ‘individual men and women’.

As I rolled all of this around in my thoughts, a profound awe and marvel for God grew within me.

Are you awed by God? I am and my awe grows seemingly every time I spend time with Him in His Word.

Lord, I look forward to tomorrow, when I can spend time with others worshipping You and praising You. And Lord even more, there will be people gathered all around this globe worshipping You in different languages and cultures and in some mystical way I will be with all these sisters and brothers as we worship You –Father, Son and Holy Spirit- as the one true and only God.

Oh, God, what a joy that will be … Amen.

 

Friday, January 4: Genesis 4- Crouching at the door .

God’s story begins to speed up.  With sin in the world, evil rears its ugly head.

Cain and Abel, the first two born of Adam and Eve, give offerings to the Lord. Abel’s offering was the best of his herds. Cain’s was not ‘best’ quality and God was not pleased.  Cain grew upset.

At this point God spoke words to Cain that caught my attention. Here is what God said, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (6-7).

The imagery of the last sentence launched my meditations thinking.

But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door…  the image of a tiger slinking closer and closer to her prey poised in the grasses waiting to pounce, flooded my thoughts. Sin is a cunning enemy, a skilled hunter always lurking, waiting to pounce upon an unsuspecting prey. I must be diligent. I ‘know’ when I am living foolishly, straying from the safety of God’s Word and putting myself in danger. But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door!

God continues with Cain…sin desires to have you, but you must master it." Sin desires to have me… it licks its lips when it sees me.  Straying from the safety of living as God desires, puts me in danger. I must stay close to God and when He says run, I take off because danger lurks. I bear certain responsibility to live in such a way that I am out of reach of a dangerous enemy. I must master it!

Lord, though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, I will not fear for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us…

Oh, God, may I understand the wisdom of Martin Luther and place all my trust in You! Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.

 

Thursday, January 3: Genesis 3- The blame game .

Apparently we humans have been playing the blame game since 'The Fall’.

It’s not my fault…’so and so’ made me do it! That’s the blame game, placing responsibility for my life on to someone else when things go wrong.

Adam and Eve started the game immediately, attempting to cover their culpability in eating the forbidden fruit. God turns to Adam and asks, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." It’s not my fault God, the woman YOU gave me … she made me do it!

Then turning to the women, God asks, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." It’s not my fault God, the serpent you put here… it made me do it!

We have been passing the buck ever since.

I mused about blaming others for my mistakes.  I can play that game with the best of them. And it is never good. Oh, in the moment it seems to relieve me of my responsibility but most often the truth comes out and then the weight of my mistake is greater, compounded by my lying and trying to wriggle out.

I wondered about why taking responsibility can be so difficult. I love taking responsibility when I do something right or well!

As I pondered all this, I found little comfort in the fact that Adam and Eve struggled with responsibility and so resorted to the blame game. It simply made me realize how deeply it was imbedded in the human psyche and therefore how hard it will be to overcome in my life…

Here’s to taking responsibility… ending the blame game in my life.

It won’t be easy but by God’s grace and help, it can be done.

Lord, I pray for Your grace and help to end the blaming of others and taking responsibility for my life. I pray for good and healthy communication skills as I live with and for You and with and for others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Wednesday, January 2: Genesis 2- Take care of it .

I notice a contrast between verse 15 in today’s reading (The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it) and the idea of “rule over” in chapter 1:28 (God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over …") And I found myself pondering our (humanity’s) responsibility to care for the earth.

‘Rule over’ creates images in my mind of getting whatever I want. I rule, therefore I get what I want. ‘Take care of’ is a softer image. I think of a mom caring for her baby. I just spent a few days with friends who are dog people.  Watching them take care of Rosie is a tender thing. I checked the meaning of the word and sure enough it means “to exercise great care over.” The caregiver provides for the needs of the care receiver.

When I apply this to the earth, it suggests that I have a responsibility to live in such a way as to maintain the earth and not harm it for future inhabitants of the earth.

The implications of this are huge. I decided to ponder it personally as opposed to say, nationally. How can I live up to God’s directive to take care of the earth? Some quick thoughts…

• Driving responsibly….not guzzling gas for the sake of convenience only.
• Recycling…my town makes this easy with one-bin recycling, and utilizing recycled consumables.
• Buying a water bottle and refilling it rather than going through 100s of disposable plastic bottles.
• Similarly, using a mug for coffee & tea at work rather than grabbing a paper cup each time.
• Composting when possible rather than filling landfills (which are often packed so tight that things don’t decompose naturally) with vegetable consumables.

If you have other ideas or comments and let me know.

What struck me this morning is that these practical ways of ‘living green’ are Biblically faithful and honoring to God. 

Lord, thank You for the world and the earth You have given us. In light of Genesis 2 help me to do what I can to take care of this earth you have given to me, to us, to those who will come after us until the time You return and bring with You the new heaven and new earth. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

Tuesday, January 1, 2013: Genesis 1- God! .

As I began reading I decided to count the occurrences of the name ‘God’ and ‘He’ and other pronouns when it referred to God. Thirty eight (38) was my count. Thirty eight (38) times this chapter references God creating and speaking.

Being the opening chapter of the Bible, it is clear God is the main player. This chapter opens God’s story, God’s story as God relates to the world and to humans whom God created to fill and rule over the earth.

I found myself marveling at God and God’s creation. In fact I was sitting in Colorado surrounded by mountains and beauty as I wrote this devotional and I had just left southern CA with its beaches and beauty… so the majesty of God and His creation was vivid in my mind. God created all of this and then He created us to share in it.  Wow!!…

Then I thought for a few minutes about God’s desire to connect and communicate with us, humans of His creation.

What an incredible way to start the day, contemplating the creator God, who made heaven and earth and made me and you to live in relationship with Him…

I am breathless, no words form on my lips. I am in awe of You, dear Lord. I praise You and I love You. Amen.