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Today’s Reflection: Tuesday, January 18, 2022
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
In English, the first verse of the Bible is a simple sentence containing ten words. We can divide it into its grammatical parts of subject and predicate:
- Subject: In the beginning God
- Predicate: created the heaven and the earth.
The believer believes these simple words. We can also ask the who, what, where, when, and why questions.
Who? God
What? Created
Where? Heaven and Earth
When? In the beginning
Why?
That last question is wonderful to contemplate. God tells us the answer in Revelation 4:11.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
“Thus all creation acknowledges the supremacy of God,” writes Adam Clarke. “And we learn from this song that he made all things for his pleasure; and through the same motive he preserves. Hence it is most evident, that he hateth nothing that he has made, and could have made no intelligent creature with the design to make it eternally miserable. It is strange that a contrary supposition has ever entered into the heart of man; and it is high time that the benevolent nature of the Supreme God should be fully vindicated from aspersions of this kind.”
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Tagged Bible, Bible Commentary, Bible Reading, Daily Bread, Daily Devotions
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Today’s Reflection: Monday, January 17, 2022
“In the beginning, God…”
The Bible begins with God, for it is the story of His person in relationship with His creatures. The word God in Hebrew is the plural Elohim. However, the plural does not refer to numbers but greatness. It’s a figure of speech called the “plural of majesty, or quality.” God is one, says Scripture, but the plural signifies that He is great; it speaks of His qualities and characteristics revealed in the Scriptures. The word God is an English word. In the Saxon language, God and good are interchangeable, for our English ancestors saw God as the benevolent being. God is good!
God is the good and benevolent being Who is to be served with reverence and godly fear. Additionally, He is worthy of our love, for God is love. The Apostle John declares that God is both light and love, a perfect combination of qualities. Those qualities were on full display at the cross. There, God, as light, dealt with our sins, and as love, He saved humanity. God is our comfort in a trial and our help in weakness. He frees us from guilt and makes us joyful regardless of circumstances. The Apostle Paul calls upon us, His beloved children, to imitate God by walking in love and as children of light.
Let us bow before down before Him, love and adore Him, and walk worthy of Him.
Weekly Zoom Bible Study Announcement.
We meet every Sunday morning at 9:30 A.M. Central Time. If you are interested in joining us, e-mail me at danielwsheridan@gmail.com, and I will send you the invitation.
Unfortunately, I no longer share the invite link publically since we recently experienced someone hacking into the meeting saying vile things.
I look forward to seeing you on Zoom soon. Don’t forget to bring your Bibles.
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Today’s Reflection: Wednesday, January 19, 2022
The heaven and the earth…
God created both. Heaven is all that is over and above us, including our immediate atmosphere and beyond. The earth is the ground on which we tread. God is the architect, builder, and maintenance engineer, for “he upholds all things by the word of his power.”
Dear reader, please pause and think about the heavens above. Look out your window. Think about everything that is over and above you; innumerable bodies of immense size constantly in motion – God creates and sustains these. “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth,” declared Isaiah. Now pause and consider the earth. Think about everything above the ground: humans, animals, trees – things large and small. In your imagination, consider the innumerable things below the ground and in the depths of the seas.
We’ve scanned the heavens with our imaginary telescope, looked around us with our binoculars, uncovered the earth, and submerged the depths of the seas. The telescope and microscope say, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.” “To whom then will ye liken God?”
However, that greatness is meant to encourage and not repel. God shows us His greatness to demonstrate that His love is an unstoppable force. God cares about every detail of your life, even the mundane. The Israelites thought God had forgotten them, so God told them about His infinite power to gently rebuke the accusation. God would never forget His most precious creation – humanity. The God Who measured the world’s seas in the hollow of His hand, Who comprehends the dust of the earth, and Who spanned the heavens and numbered and named its hosts, that God cares about you right where you are.
Please read very carefully Isaiah 40:12-31. The God who created the microscopic and the gigantic is there for you when you are tired and weary from youth to old age.