Giving Everything to God

 

With ALL Our Heart, Soul, and Mind!

 

Matthew 22:37-40

³⁷Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Wow!  Heady stuff.  To love God with everything you have, Heart, Soul, and Mind.  Just think if we did this our body would probably follow their lead.  I could use a healthier body.

What can I do to attain this?  Read and study the word of course helps but praying is a major factor.  Do we just pray when we’re in need, or do we have an active relationship with God? 

In Ephesians 6:10-18

New King James Version

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[a]wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of ^[b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Praying for everything, all the time, even and especially when things are going well. Praise God, thank him for what he has given us all.  With the word and in prayer, we should be able to begin our transition giving our all to God. 

I don’t see us just sitting on a cloud playing a harp.  One man’s heaven could be another’s hell.  I do think in heaven we’ll be serving God still in one capacity or another and enjoying what we do.  God has a plan for all of us, it is up to us to pray and follow where he leads.

Lord, I know I don’t always follow where you’re leading me, sometimes I fight it.  Please take my Heart, Mind, and Soul and help me follow you and your plan.  We know without you we would not be. May our faith grow stronger each day and please bless us in every way. Amen.

 

In the Beginning: Rest

 

In the Beginning: Time to Rest

 

Genesis 2

 

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

 

In Genesis Chapter 1 God created everything.  A hard week of work and now God Rests.  His creation has been completed and now we begin our story.  Will it end in sadness or joy only we can decide that.  God has given us free will. The ability to decide for ourselves the path we wish to travel.

But today, the seventh day, God Rests.  God blesses this day and sanctifies it making it a holy day forever. 

The Jewish people must have really loved this especially when the day of rest was placed in the ten commandments.  These people were agrarian and nomadic, had been slaves of the Egyptians working seven days a week.  Now God gives them permission to rest.  He gives us permission to rest. 

The seventh day is a holy day because of God resting and sanctifying it. 

Exodus 20

8	¶ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Ex. 16.23-30 ; 31.12-14
9	Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10	but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, Ex. 23.12 ; 31.15 ; 34.21 ; 35.2 · Lev. 23.3 thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11	for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. Gen. 2.1-3 · Ex. 31.17

 

Here, within the 10 Commandments and part of them he gives us the order to rest. We need to remember to thank our God that he gave us a day of rest and praise him. 

Thank you, God for your day of rest. We know without you we would not be. May our faith grow stronger each day and please bless us in every way. Amen.

 

 

In the Beginning Part 7

 In the Beginning: Man

Genesis 1

 

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

 

God is on a roll here.  He makes the beasts and cattle and the creepy crawlies pronouncing them good.  Then he decides to make Man in his image after his likeness.  I’m pretty sure that It’s not our physical bodies the bible is talking about, but as I have stated before, I don’t know God’s mind.

 

So, he makes both male and female and tells us to be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth.  He wants us to subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds in the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.  Wow!  That’s a heady order!  I think we have taken his order and gone above and beyond what he intended. 

 

Subdue and have dominion over it does not include destruction I don’t think.  We have hunted animals to extinction, polluted the air and sea, calling it progress.  Wonder what would have happened if we had been more responsible in our duties.  A clean earth?  Would Eden have been lost?  Food for thought.

 

God literally and physically gave us everything in and on this world.  Then he looks at his wonders and creation including man and woman and does not stop at good, but behold, it was very good.

 

This doesn’t stop God’s creating here, He stops, and checks out his works which are very good. 

 

We know without you we would not be. May our faith grow stronger each day and please bless us in every way. Amen.

In the Beginning: Part 6

 In the Beginning: Fish and Fowl

Genesis 1

 

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

 

The fifth day. The first Thursday. God has made the earth, sky, seas, and land. He has placed grass, plants, trees on the earth (on land and in water.  I had to go back and check again.) 

God has been pleased with everything he has made before, so he continued to work as an Artist that has finished working on the background, or the Author his outlines.  Now he begins to work on moving life.  Great whales, fish, crustaceans, dolphins, Birds of every kind flying above the land.  He decides that this is good.  He blesses these creatures and tells them to be fruitful and multiply.  Fill the waters and seas and the earth.

Is he already making plans for us?  I would like to think so.  He is making everything perfect to prepare for us. 

Today’s world is not perfect.  In fact, there are dangers lurking around every corner.  Poisonous plants and animals, cliffs and deep caverns, and other men and women working with the devil to throw us off growing closer to our creator.  I believe this imperfect world was once perfect, but it was our sin that has poisoned it. 

In order for God to try to save the world, he sent the flood, killing the great sins in the world.  The earth itself paid the price breaking up as the flood started.  Causing the continental drift forcing it, not in one slow process, but all at once.  I will get to this feeling and belief in a later blog. (Not to self:  Do not forget this promise.)  It is our sin’s that have poisoned our world and helped push God to give his son to save us.  Believe me, we ALL need saving.  God has now filled the oceans and air.  The day is over and so his next day will begin in the next blog.  I am anxious to begin it.  I feel God’s plan beginning.  Stay tuned. Same time. Same web address.

Father, thank you for filling the air and seas.  We know without you we would not be. May our faith grow stronger each day and please bless us in every way. Amen.

In The Beginning: Part 5

 In the Beginning: Sun and Moon

 

Genesis 1

 

“14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”

 

For those that may not realize it, I’m using the King James Version of the Bible.  I like this version because of its almost lyrical or musical way of speaking and teaching. I began with Genesis 1 for several reasons, the first was that since I’m just starting out on blogging, why not start at the very beginning.  I am a Christian and believe that Jesus is my Savior, and that God has plans for each one of us.  The second reason I started with Genesis is I was not sure where to begin.  The start is an exceptionally good place to tell any story.

 

So now we’ve made it to the first Wednesday, the fourth day of the week.  God has already created light on the first day, but not he’s getting into specifics.  God is lighting up the sky.  He makes the Sun to rule the daylight and the Moon to rule the sky at night with a sprinkling of stars to give us some glitter. (Can never have enough glitter. 😉)

 

Wait? Didn’t he make the plants yesterday?

 

Yes, he did.  There was light to help the plants grow along with water.  Remember, “with God, ALL things are possible. Not some things, ALL THINGS. Wow, ultimate power without restrictions.  We humans tend to try and humanize God and we shouldn’t.  God is without definitions or understanding.  We literally have no “earthly” idea how God thinks. So just let him be, know “It is he that hath made us and not we ourselves.” (Psalms 100 verse something.)

So here he has created the sun, moon, and stars further defining night and day and he is happy with it.  It is good.  He sets them in the heaven to give light on our world. 

 

Father, thank you for the lights you have given us.  We know without you we would not be. May our faith grow stronger each day and Bless us in every way. Amen.

In The Beginning: Part 4

 In the Beginning: Earth

 

Genesis 1

 

“9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.”

 

When I read this I think, Pangea or Pangaea.  That is what scientists call the super continent that supposedly existed 335 million years ago.  I don’t know how they dated it, but it’s interesting.  (I see Pangaea breaking up and becoming the continents we know today about the time of “The Flood”, but that’s another story.)

Now god begins to create life for the first time: Grass, herb yielding seed, and trees yielding fruit. Here God is a farmer planning out how our world would feed us.  Neat.

Here we have the seas and dry land.  Plants of every kind growing.  Eden in the making.  God planning to set us up before our creation.  You can see and feel this when you read about this day.  This is just the third day, that would make it the first Tuesday.  😊

God has plans for us, just as he planned out everything we would need before our creation.  He has a plan for each of us, we only need to let him do his work.  Me?  I’m a work in progress myself.  That God continues to show me/us what he can do.  All we have to do is open our eyes, ears, and hearts.

May your faith grow stronger each day and God Bless you in every way. Amen.

In The Beginning: Part 3

 In The Beginning: Water

 

We have made it through the first day, so let’s continue and see what we can make out of the second day.

Genesis 1

6 And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

 

Okay, What the heck is a firmament?  I looked it up on the internet.

firmament

[ˈfərməmənt]

NOUN

literary

firmament (noun) · firmaments (plural noun)

1.     the heavens or the sky, especially when regarded as a tangible thing.

"thunder shakes the firmament" · "one of the great stars in the American golfing firmament"

synonyms:

the sky · heaven · the blue · the wide blue yonder · the azure · the heavens · the skies · the vault (of heaven) · the celestial sphere · the empyrean · the welkin

·         a sphere or world viewed as a collection of people.

"one of the great stars in the American golfing firmament"

synonyms:

the sky · heaven · the blue · the wide blue yonder · the azure · the heavens · the skies · the vault (of heaven) · the celestial sphere · the empyrean · the welkin

ORIGIN

Middle English: via Old French from Latin firmamentum, from firmare ‘fix, settle’.

 

I understand now. God made the heaven’s or universe as we know it.  Forming or firming it up.  (The expansion of the universe as it expanded from the big bang?)

This is cool.  Reading this is like seeing it in my mind. Watching the stars move outward.

Now God gets even more creative, he divides the waters.  Putting water in the sky and below the sky and above it.  Is the universe surrounded by water?  I know ice has been found all over our little solar system.  I suspect some of what is considered the asteroid belt that surrounds our system has a lot of ice.  Least from what I have read there’s lots of water out there. We already know that the earth we live on is made up of water.

Isn’t God Amazing?  You can already tell he’s got a plan and is putting it together.

God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.  Heaven has been made on the second day of creation.  I’m beginning to feel that these were earth days.  Call it faith. 

 

God is telling us how long his day is.  Not thousands or millions of years, but the evening and the morning.  Isn’t it amazing how God works and is working?

May your faith grow stronger each day and God Bless you in every way. Amen.