THE BEGINNING
Today’s Reading: Genesis 1-2
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
A couple sits watching the sunset over the Mediterranean Sea from under the remains of an ancient Roman aqueduct in the area of Caesarea, Israel.
Key Verse: Genesis 1:27
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
“God created,” “Elohim bara” (Hebrew). This Name for God is always plural, yet in the Hebrew language it always takes a singular verb (Genesis 1:1). Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are at work to make something out of nothing. In the rest of the story the verb is “Asah,” which is what a carpenter does when he works with material already in existence. Chapter two is an expansion of what God did in chapter one. We are made in His Image. We are not just physical beings. We have a capacity for a life beyond, for communication with God, and God with us. Like God, we are intended to live forever! Because we are made in His image, we can come to know Him more as we daily read from the revelation He has chosen to give us, the Bible! We have a free will, the freedom to choose. We can ignore Him and even reject Him, or we can learn of Him, opening our hearts and minds to Him as our God, believing in the great Creator God!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I’ve decided to believe in You. Thank You for enabling me to find this blog. Your Thoughts are expressed in Your Holy Word. Help me to maintain the committment of reading Your Word daily, getting to know what You think of me and of everything. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I marvel at God’s creation. On land we once owned, according to someone who knows, there is a 300-year-old cherry tree. Amazing! Recently a large red fox decided to have a sleep on our driveway. Norma-Jean thought it was dead, but it jumped up and ran off, it’s long fluffy tail floating in the breeze. God must love variety. In meditating on creation, my heart and mind are lifted up to contemplate the Creator God, and Jesus Himself. John writes that, “Without Him (Jesus) nothing was made that was made.” The mystery of it all astounds me. There are many things I do not understand. It would be the height of arrogance to claim to know it all. However, I can claim to know a great deal more than I did when I first heard Bible stories as a child. Almost every day, as I study the suggested reading, I’m learning more. I imagine reading Genesis 1 & 2 in eternity and asking Moses, “What have you learned here in Heaven from God about creation that you didn’t know when you wrote Genesis? When God spoke the cosmos into existence, was there a ‘big bang?’ Is that how it happened, Moses?” I expect to have a greatly increased intellectual capacity, even understanding quantum physics.
We’ve just completed reading the first book of the record of Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew’s Gospel, and we’re now beginning a book which Jesus would’ve read as a Boy in the Synagogue. Remember, at any time we or someone we know can begin this journey and in two years, with breakfast-sized readings, God’s thoughts expressed in Words will be ours, and the Spirit of God will bring to remembrance what we need to know (if we are consistent in our reading) when we need to remember for ourselves and for others.
Please feel free to post your comments. Each one is read, and I thank you for your input. However, I’m sorry that I am rarely able to reply to your specific questions. Attend church this Sunday. Speak with a teacher there if possible, asking any questions you may have. Beware of false teachers. For a New Testament reading for today, I suggest the little book of Jude (only one chapter).
Yours for learning to think some of God’s thoughts,
David
God called our world, our universe and all of life into being, and it was so. Before the “fall” all was made ideal in God’s order, as we will soon see, it wasn’t to remain this way. Jesus came however to rectify, make new, to atone for what humankind had corrupted from Adam down through the generations. By believing on Christ as our Saviour today, we can once again, through Jesus, restore what had been lost through Adam’s disobedience to God. God originally called us into being; however sin entered the world and we needed to find a new way to be reconciled to God. Jesus is the way and we can be born anew through asking Jesus to live in our heart and mind and be restored forever in Him.
The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty, let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice, rang through my head as I sat on the patio, listening to the rain fall on the trees in the dark of the early hours in the morn. I felt God’s touch of splendor on everything. What could be greater than His resounding everlasting creation of divinity on earth as it is in heaven? Oh, the presence of His gentle love! Blessings fellow saints in the Lord.
“But steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”
Psalm 32: 10b, 11 ESV
Chris Tomlin – How Great is Our God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b69CcVs8pMc
Thank you Beverlee …worshiped with the link:)
Hi David
I have enjoyed your blog for the past years, I really like the pictures of the holy land, I have never been there , but seeing them makes the historic truth of the bible come to light.
Thank you for the effort you put into this, I pray that many may come to know Christ through this ministry.
Please continue this good work.
Harold
Amen! Thank you David for your comments and your postings Scottt and Beverlee. Please pray for me for the next two days, visiting hours today and funeral tomorrow that the Lord will give me grace, strength and make me a witness of Jesus to those I meet which will be many. Thanks and God bless you.
I went on a bus trip to Port Dover with a Christian group and we ate at a restaurant on the beach which had about 10 Palm trees growing in the sand. I asked an employee there how they survive the winter. She said they hire flat bed trucks in October to take them to Florida for the winter. They bring them back in May! They are beautiful, healthy, trees! Amazing. I love to look at the clouds and the stars also. On board for the 3rd time with you, David. Thanks all who contribute.
Hi David, just read Gen1&2, my question is on verse 1, it’s only Heaven and earth were mentioned, what about the galaxies and other planets of the universe , are they part of the heavens ? Thank you.
I believe Heaven and Earth includes all the Heavens and the Earth! I believe that God created all the galaxies, I believe He created these all at the same time! I chuckle when it mentions a new star has been found! It was there all the time! I belive God put it there from the beginning!
If you don’t get an answer from David Mainse, I would suggest to phone 1-866-273-4444 to find out more details.
God bless and thanks for asking…..
Can just imagine Adam and Eve sitting enjoying the sunset…I wonder if it did rise and set…in the Garden of Eden:)
Your vlog and prayer…such an enlightening and encouragement …thank you for your words of wisdom Pastor David. Always grateful for your guidance!!
Geraldine, may the “Peace of God that passes all understanding guard your heart and mind” during this trying time. Be at peace in the “Arms of Jesus”!!
In agreement with Irene for you, Ger. May the Lord give you strength and wisdom beyond all understanding. May you speak to the heart of those around you and be a vessel of light of God’s love. Peace be with you at the funeral.
Just read the Crossroads newsletter–awesome to hear about Lorna Dueck!!!!!
Great choice.
Geraldine God is walking RIGHT beside you! He will give you strength above and beyond your expectataions! Your Love for the Lord and for others will shine! Sometimes you need only to smile, listen to others speaking or maybe even say a word or two! The memory of this event will remain with you for years to come! I truly believe that God created that grieving time; because we as human beings need that time to remember, think about past memories with someone special; God grieves also….He grieves for those who turn away….10 came and 5 went away…those who stayed celebrated the LIGHT!
Today on the TV show Dr. Phil (McGraw) Dr. Phil testified that he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour many, many years ago! PRAISE THE LORD!
What a blessing throughout all the world who heard him say this on his program!
I coudn’t help but think about Mr. David Mainse and how his teachings and his relationship with Jesus Christ has gone throughout the world and the people who have heard his testimony have given thought to about their views of the Triune God!
This blog brings many testimonies to the forefront. PRAISE AND THANK THE LORD!
PRAYERS NEEDED PLEASE
CONGRATULATIONS TO: LORNA DUECK…THE NEW CEO OF CROSSROADS COMMUNICATIONS AND YES TV!!!
PRAISE AND THANK THE LORD! CONGRATULATIONS TO LORNA DUECK! MAY GOD CONTINUE TO GUIDE AND LEAD THIS PRECIOUS CHILD OF HIS, THANK YOU LORD THANK YOU IN JESUS NAME WE PRAY AMEN AMEN
Thank you Irene, Beverlee and Sah for your prayers. they are much needed and appreciated. God bless you!
I believe in March of 2013 on the show CONTEXT Lorna dueck interviewed Senator Hugh Siegel and he admitted on TV that seniors did not receive enough pension money to live on and Lorna Dueck asked him about this fact, he stumbled and went on to another topic! HE DID AGREE THAT PENSION FOR SENIORS WAS NOT ENOUGH TO LIVE ON AND THE SAD PART THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT DONE ANYTHING ABOUT THIS ISSUE! MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON THEIR SOULS!
Great to receive the good news that Lorna Dueck has been chosen as the new CEO of Crossroads. What a choice! I believe this will add an exciting dimension to the Crossroads Ministry. Congratulations on this choice!