Genesis 1 : 26—2 : 7
(1:26) “Then God said, ‘Let Us (The Trinity) make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness; let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds, of the
air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’
(1:27) So God created man in His own image; in the image of
God He created him; male and female He created them.
(1:28) 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.’
(1:29) And God said, ‘See, I have given you every herbs 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.
(1:30) Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air,
and to every thing that creeps on the earth, in which
there is life, I have given every green herb for food’; and
it was so.
(1:31) Then God saw every thing that He had made, and indeed
it was very good. So the evening and the morning were
the sixth day.
(2:1) Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them,
were finished.
(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.
(2:3) Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it,
because in it He rested from all His work which God had
created and made.”
(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,
(2:5) before any plant of the field was in the earth and before
any herb of the field was grown. For the LORD God had
not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man
to till the ground;
(2:6) but a mist went up from the earth and watered the
whole face of the ground.
(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.”
“Can you imagine the fellowship of the Trinity on the seventh day? As they rested and looked upon the very good work they had accomplished, one planet had been tended like no other to our knowledge. Perfectly placed in the universe with adequate distance from sun, moon, and stars to sustain human life, it was chosen for divine infiltration.
“For God loved the world.” Scripture doesn’t tell us He loved the sun, the most impressive of the heavenly bodies we can see. Nor are we told that He loved the stars, even though He knows every one of them by name. John goes out of his way, however, to tell us that God loved the world.
In a universe so vast, so incomprehensible, why does God single out one little planet to love? Beloved, absorb this into the marrow of your bones: because we are on it. As despicable as humanity can be, God loves us. Inconceivably, we are His treasures, His prize creation. He can’t help it. He just loves us. So much, in fact, that He did something I, with my comparatively pitiful love for my children, would not do for anyone. He “gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 HCSB).
Dear one, let it fall afresh. I myself am overcome with emotion. Elohim is so huge; we are so small. Yet the vastness of His love–so high, so wide, so deep, so long–envelopes us like the endless universe envelopes a crude little planet God first called Earth.
My Amanda was one of the dreamiest, most tenderhearted toddlers you can imagine. I often stooped down to talk to her so I could look her right in those big blue-green eyes. Every time I squatted down to talk to her, she squatted down, too…and there we would be. The gesture was so precious I always had to fight the urge to laugh. I dared not, because she was often very serious about those contemplative moments between the two of us.
Of his God, the psalmist wrote, “Your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.” (Ps. 18:35). The Amplified Version says it this way: “Your gentleness and condescension have made me great.” I don’t think the Scripture applies to us in the modern world’s terms of greatness. I think it says of us, “You stoop down and make me significant.” Yes, indeed. And when the God of all the universe stoops down and a single child recognizes the tender condescension and bends her knee to stoop as well, the heart of God surges with unbridled emotion. And there they are. Just the two of them.”
Beth Moore
Portraits of Devotion
Remember as a small child laying out in the yard or some other open space late on a summer night gazing up into the heavens. Remember how dark was the night and how bright the stars shone. I certainly can. I can vividly remember thinking about how far out the universe went, and what was on the other side of whatever its outside boundaries were. It was beyond my human comprehension to envision what was really in the heavens and how far away were the lines of separation between the finite and the infinite outer edge. For this very reason, in order to understand and comprehend what God has in store for us, one has to live out his life on the basis of total faith, trust, and obedience to the Creator of the Universe. Such a manner of living can only be accomplished through total and committed obedience to His Word.
How vast is the creation of God. How much greater it is than the tiny little mind of man.
Now think about it for a moment. Here you and I are, living and struggling on this earth fighting for almost everything we have earned or obtained and battling everyday just to try to hold onto those things. But they (those physical things) are all only temporary. They never last and they cannot be taken on over to “the other side” when we finally pass on into eternity. Temporary physical things can, in one instant of time, be taken or eliminated from our lives. We can lose all of what we have or possess in a split second. Our possessions or accomplishments can be taken from us by some sort of thief or adversary. Life is indeed like a vapor. I appears quickly and disappears just as fast.
Because life is fleeting, it just makes good sense to have an anchor to our life. We need a point of security in our life onto which we can link up and moor ourselves so that we can weather the storms of life safely in the security of our own harbor of peace and rest.
God the Father, Almighty God, Creator of the Universe, is such an anchor for all we humans. He created us. He loves us. He tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. But in order to have such comfort and protection we alone must first slow our pace of life way down,…come to a complete stop so as to fully quiet ourselves,…and then truly contemplate what and who we really are and what it is that we really want to accomplish with the use of our own life. Using this means, a person can halt the chaos erupting around themselves and create some precious quiet time in which they can think for themselves.
Creator God communicates with a person through their own mind. You alone are the “gatekeeper” of your own mind. Carefully guard that which you permit to enter it.
Since God created everything on and in the heavens and the earth, He alone is the person who can lead and guide you through the throes of life from where you are today to where you want to go tomorrow. Since God loves you, and since He designed you for success, you can rest assured that He wants you to accomplish the purpose for your life that He preplanned for you. Believe in Him. Trust Him to help you. Become totally obedient to His Instructions as given you through the Holy Word of God, The Holy Bible….And then go to work. Complete your life’s mission, and you will make it,…you will accomplish your life’s God-designed purpose.
Adopt and then live out your life’s mantra: If it is to be,…It is up to me.
God’s Greatest Blessings to All of You…………