RUMINATION means:
1 : to go over in the mind repeatedly and often casually or slowly
2 : to chew repeatedly for an extended period.
Intransitive verb definition is
1 : to chew again what has been chewed slightly and swallowed : chew the cud
2 : to engage in contemplation

This page will be a little different from now on. I will be posting WEEKLY scriptures for us all to RUMINATE over. Think upon, Ponder, to chew on it. We as Christ Followers are called to Read, LISTEN, AND APPLY the Word to our lives. I desire to give an opportunity to you for personal growth along with me. Take what you read here and meditate upon it and find ways to apply it to your everyday life. I invite you to leave your comments, corrections, concerns, whatever they may be I want to hear from you!!!


Tuesday, March 16, 2010

In The Beginning

So God created human beings in His own image, in the image of God He created them, male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27 NLT
The creation story of Gen. chapter 1 is one of my favorites. It never ceases to amaze me that in verse 3 it begins to show the awesome power of who God truly is. The earth was non-existent, and by the words of God everything we see was created. Can you imagine the extreme power of the words of God?! All He has to do is think something and it is done, speak a word and that which was nothing becomes something! That is the amazingly powerful God that we serve, He truly is the Breath of Life. An awesome thing is we were created in His own image. Let me unpack this verse for you a little bit. First off it tells us where we come from. There is no way to deny that "God created human beings." That is only the beginning, the greatest part about each one of us is the fact that we're created in "His own image." There isn't anything about us that hasn't been thought through LONG before the creation of the heavens and the earth. God was speaking into existence everything and then on the 6th day He says I want to make humans in my image. I can just picture God saying "I will make each one uniquely different, placing inside each and everyone my own characteristics. I will give them each gifts and talents, and I will be a part of them. There will be nothing lacking in any of them." I can't tell you how many times I have thought about myself and thought God sure messed up making me. Even though I read these words there are times I feel inadequate to do certain things. Desiring to be better in this area, or if I could only be like that, I would be so much better. HOW DARE I SPEAK, and EVEN THINK LIKE THAT! When I begin to doubt who I am and how I've been made I am basically telling God that He messed up. Which in case you didn't know totally contradicts who God is. In order for God to be God He must be perfect, lacking nothing. All knowing, all powerful, and in control of all. When I doubt the person I am physically, emotionally, any part of me, I might as well walk into the throne room of heaven and stare God in the face and tell Him how imperfect He is and how much He stunk in making me. We are calling Him a liar because in verse 31 is states: "Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good." If there was anything lacking in man He would not have saw it as being "VERY GOOD." He would not have been satisfied, nor would He have left us in an unfinished, imperfect state. Read chapter 1 and find the difference in all the other days of creation and day 6. God makes it very clear that creating humans is more pleasing to Him then anything else because all the other days conclude with God seeing it as GOOD. On the day He creates Humans He sees it as VERY GOOD!

I think there are so many times where we forget to turn to God and ask the questions of who we really are. It is important to find our identity, everyone has things that make them them. We must not get caught up however in the way most people in the world do, and be so concerned about finding our identity in things, people, POSITIONS, anything. We must go back to the basics of Gen. 1 and remind ourselves we are "made in God's own image." We must seek Him daily to reveal to us who He is and who we are in Him. That is the only way to truly live out our lives is to figure out what makes us us. Honestly we must remember that apart from Him we are nothing and will never be anything, but In Him we are EVERYTHING and will ALWAYS BE SOMETHING! Our identity must be securely rooted in God, we cannot forget how we were created. Made in the image of God, that means that because we have God's own image composition that we must show others the characteristics of our creator. We must lovingly accept all those around us, we must live our lives in such a way that other peoples attention is directed towards God. As Christ Followers, people that have come to the point of recognizing who God is and the necessity of having a personal relationship with Him, we must daily live out our faith in God. It all begins with taking time sitting quietly at the Lords feet and asking Him to reveal to you who you are in His eyes. When you hear His loving words cling to those, run with those, and by all means do not believe any lie that contradicts the words of your creator. This week go back to the basics, read the creation story and take time to quite yourself and all things around you and listen to the Lord speak to you about your true identity.