Genesis 11 Thoughts

Genesis 11:4-5 (The Message)  Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth."

The tower of Babel was a direct act of disobedience and rebellion towards God Almighty. God asked Noah and his sons to replenish the earth- the entire earth-

The Believing Bible Study states: "Notice that it starts with defiance to God’s commandment to replenish the earth and to emmigrate and form different nations. Instead of travelling to separate lands, they stopped in one place together."

It wasn't about the tower- or reaching the heavens-

it was about their heart- their intentions- and their motive. 

"The people wanted to be “one people” and did not want to obey God’s will to  spread across the earth. They wanted a single name for themselves. (I suppose they all figured they were “citizens of the world” and not of nations!)"

God help us to find obedience- as far into our souls as we can find it!

 

Genesis 10 Thoughts

 

In this chapter, we read "This is the family tree of the sons of Noah as they developed into nations. From them nations developed all across the Earth after the flood"

and we know that the promises God made to Noah came true. Noah was obedient in building the Ark and listening to God's still small voice- and in that, God saved Noah and his family and fulfilled every promise he made to them.

Obedience- it is so important.

Genesis 9 Thoughts

 

Genesis 9 says, "You're here to bear fruit, reproduced, lavish life on the Earth, LIVE BOUNTIFULLY."

The power in this one statement.

All good things for us- in abundance! That's his goal.

Live BOUNTIFULLY.

The definition of BOUNTIFULLY is: liberal in bestowing gifts, favors, or bounties; munificent; generous, abundant; ample.

God wants us to have a life FULL of favor- full of His generous love!

This is speaking to me. 

I live a life of fear and I'm trying my hardest to break those chains because I know he wants me to have a bountiful life full of all good things from Him!!!!

Accept it today-

I'm going to!

Genesis 8 Thoughts

 

Genesis 8:20-21 (The Message)  Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, “I’ll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I’ll never again kill off everything living as I’ve just done.

Reading this hit me like a ton of bricks.

He knows we have a bent toward evil from an early age. We are born into sin. It just is what it is. And he knows this and understands this!

He gives GRACE. 

I saw a great definition of "grace" yesterday while reading that called it "credit" and what an interesting thought. He gives us "credit" because he knows what we were born into and what we are fighting every day. Human nature. It's a battle every day to die out to the flesh and live in the Spirit. 

He gives GRACE.

Genesis 7 Thoughts

 

Chapter 7 of Genesis says "Noah did everything commanded him...." and we know by reading the precious Word that Noah was obedient and God spared his life (and his family's lives) when the flood waters came.

Obedience. Such a beautiful gift we can give ourselves and our families!

And look what blessings flowed for Noah when he listened- despite how crazy it sounded to be obedient (I mean, God was telling him to build a 450 feet long ship for a flood that would cover the entire Earth! That takes faith!)

Let's cherish the gift of obedience today and the doors that it can open for us. <3

Genesis 6 Thoughts

Genesis 6 (The Message) states, "

God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil - evil, evil, evil from morning to night. 

God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. 

God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds - the works. I'm sorry I made them." 

But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah. 

We read that God saw human evil was out of control. It broke his heart and he regretted ever making the human race. BUT. BUT. BUT. God saw Noah! "Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah." When all else fails- be different. Be kind, be generous, be giving, be loving, be compassionate.... be different. Be that person that stands out like Noah did!

 

Genesis 5 Thoughts

 

Genesis 5:2-  When God created the human race...... He created both male and female and blessed them, the whole human race.

He. Blessed. Us.

I know going from Genesis 4 where we talked about disobedience and obedience and how obedience is the breeding ground for blessings may be confusing, but go with me here-

He blessed us because we are alive, breathing, and get the privilege to live this amazingly beautiful life. 

It's a blessing, no matter how we slice it.

Obedience obviously follows His plan for our lives as opposed to following our urges, wants, and motives. And following His plan leads to His favor. He works things out for our good! 

But being alive, breathing, and getting the opportunity to live out this life is a blessing in itself.

He created us- and blessed us.

He sure did.

For awhile there, I was lost in the chains of depression and couldn't see the beauty of just being alive. And then I saw a picture the other day of a younger person's hand next to an elderly person's hand and it said, "The ride is short, make sure you enjoy it" and it hit me like a ton of bricks what a blessing this world- this life is. 

I am blessed.

I might not have it all- but with Him, He's ensuring I have all His goodness!

Genesis 4 Thoughts

 

Genesis 4:7 "...sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.”

Sin is lying in wait for you. It's out to get you.

The important thing to remember here is we were born into sin. God Almighty knows this. He knows it's sitting there waiting for us. It knows we are weak to it- bent towards it. It's unfortunate, but it's our human nature.

HOWEVER-

God is telling us here- it's waiting for that weak moment. Sin is waiting to pounce on us....

YOU'VE GOT TO MASTER IT.

To master something means to be dominant; to conquer; to overcome.

We have to be dominant over sin. We have to conquer sin. We have to overcome sin-

otherwise sin turns into more sin. 

Just like in Genesis 4 when Cain's jealousy and anger turned to murder.

Sin breeds more sin. 

We've got to master it! 

Genesis 3 Thoughts

 

Genesis 3:17-19

He told the Man:

“Because you listened to your wife

and ate from the tree

That I commanded you not to eat from,

‘Don’t eat from this tree,’

The very ground is cursed because of you;

getting food from the ground

Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;

you’ll be working in pain all your life long.

The ground will sprout thorns and weeds,

you’ll get your food the hard way,

Planting and tilling and harvesting,

sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk,

Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried;

you started out as dirt, you’ll end up dirt.”

In this chapter, we read about the preciousness of obedience. 

God asked Adam and Eve not to eat from one tree- and they listened to the serpent and disobeyed the one request from God Almighty.

And after disobedience, God cursed the ground.

Our obedience is directly tied to our life- and where it takes us.

I'm not saying that every bad thing that happens to an individual is because of disobedience, but- obedience is the BREEDING ground for BLESSINGS. It can only push us further in this life. Obedience opens the door to so much beauty in our lives and the lives of others. 

I am starting to understand this concept. And work it into this life of mine. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying my hardest to do better than I did yesterday. 

Adam and Eve gave us a map of what not to do in some circumstances. Their life may not have been as difficult as it turned out to be (i.e working the land, childbirth, etc.) had they been OBEDIENT. God isn't anger and bitterness fueled, but if we follow HIS path- instead of doing what *WE* want all of the time- it may turn out better than we could have ever imagined and not as difficult.

Have you ever went ahead and did what *you* (speaking to myself here) wanted as opposed to listening to His Word and it was just a complete mess? 

ME TOO.

This chapter taught me so much about obedience. And I am forever grateful.

Genesis 2 Thoughts

Genesis 2:18- "God said, “It’s not good for the Man to be alone..."

It is not good for man to be alone.

It just isn't.

There are moments when alone time is crucial. 

I get my peace from those still moments when I can listen to music, relax, read a book, write my feelings, paint...

but God didn't intend for it to be this way all of the time. 

We need the power of positive influences, friends, and family.

We need to cultivate precious friendships that push us to be the best that we can be.

It is vital.

It is necessary.

Today- let's work on that!

Genesis 1 Thoughts

 Praying and listening to music the other afternoon-

I felt God tug on my heart to read His Word the entire way through-

and find something beautiful to grow from in each chapter. 

Dig deep- find it- find a nugget of truth- something to cling to.

So, we started that journey and I wanted to share it with all of you. 

This is all part of my journey to a healthier, happier me. 

Genesis 1:3-5

God spoke: “Light!”

And light appeared.

God saw that light was good

and separated light from dark.

God named the light Day,

he named the dark Night.

It was evening, it was morning—

Day One.

The message from this chapter:

The power of our words- our voice.

There is power in speaking things into existence.

All God did was SPEAK "light" and it was here.

We have the same power in our lives as God Almighty.

SPEAK things into existence.

What do you want from this life?

What do you need?

SPEAK IT.