Reading January 1 - January 4, 2009 Gen 1-11

I am having a little trouble getting started with this post, I don't know why. As I read Gen 1, I was again struck by how orderly God is, He did everything in the precise time and order in which it needed to be done. If we live in His timing, listening to Him, our lives will be much more ordered without being so structured or legalistic there would be no joy or fun. We are created in His image, Gen 1:26 -27 tell us:

26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.

We need to live like we believe we are created in His image...who needs self-esteem when we know we are created in the image of the Lord God Almighty!

Gen 2: 5 No shrub of the field had yet [grown] on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. 6 But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land. 7 Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

I am looking at this through a New Covenant perspective, but I read Gen 2:5-7 and was really impressed if we do not water the seed which the Lord plants, there will be not fruit because nothing with sprout. We must abide and remain in Him and He will abide and remain in us, the Living Water and the breath of the Holy Spirit will produce fruit in our lives.

As I read Gen 3, I realized sometimes all it takes is 1 word or look to lead us into sin. It's not always a lengthy seduction into some type of sin, it can be 1 sentence...No! You will not die," the serpent said to the woman. Then the blame game began.

Gen 4:7 really caught my eye: If you do right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it." I never thought about sin crouching at my door...just like a lion crouching before it springs into action to kill it's prey.

Gen 5:22-42 stood out to me as well, I want to walk with God like Enoch did. A goal of mine this year is to fellowship with Him all day not just during time in prayer and in the Word. I want to walk with Him.

I never noticed in Gen 7 that the Lord shut Moses in the ark. I suppose I decided when I was young that Moses and his family climbed aboard after the animals were loaded and slammed the door shut like it was the family station wagon and off they went, and as I read Gen 7 over as an adult many times, I never noticed until now, the Lord shut them in the ark. After they were shut in the ark and the deluge came, there is no indication the Lord spoke to Moses until Gen 8:15 and when they left the ark, Moses immediately built an altar to the Lord and God made a covenant with man, later in chapter 9 we have a little family trouble, it doesn't take long does it. You have this huge event - the flood, you follow the Lord in all His instructions, you leave the ark, set up an altar, He makes a covenant with you and blam, sin strikes just like it does today.

Nothing really jumped out at me in chapter 10 other than Babylon and Assyria were mentioned, both were prominent in the Old Testament and prophecy.

Gen 11: Men were at it again, wanting to be God and building a city and tower, it was all about pride which was their idol and we are the same way, we must be so careful not to let any idol creep into our lives. Then in v 27 we are introduced to Abram and Sarai.

I will try to keep it short next week, I was so long winded tonight. Have a blessed week.