Category: Creation

Man vs. Woman

​  “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening.

  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 

  “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” 

  This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” – Genesis 2:21‭-‬24 NLT 

Why did God have do go and do it that way? Creating us (women) From man? Wouldn’t it have been better done the other way around….since we women {ahem} are the “better” sex? I say this tongue-in-cheek, but the reality is this: “So God created mankind in His OWN image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” – Genesis 1:27 NIV

God created us in His image. Both male and female. One is not better than the other. We are equally special in God’s sight. Men were designed to be be providers through tilling the soil (i.e. gardening for you hard core “that’s women’s work” males) and hunting. Women were designed to be the keepers of the home; to raise up children to be productive adults. If you don’t believe me, read Genesis. Even though these are our core designs, it doesn’t mean that a man can’t- or shouldn’t – step in and assume the responsibility of keeping the home (and children) if necessary. The same is true of women. If/when circumstances require it, we are perfectly capable of taking on the “man’s” work. It isn’t chauvinistic to consider it right for a man to support his family, but it is definitely reverse chauvinism for a woman to expect to be waited on by the man. We are designed to provide for and to care for each other, doing whatever it takes to do so. Throughout the years since Eve took the fruit from the tree of knowlege and shared it with Adam, our roles and relationships and responsibilities have gotten twisted. In the corrupt world we have lived in since we were evicted from the Garden, men act as women and women act as men, and the regard for the family as defined by God is disrespected by millions of people.

I spent years supporting myself (and usually some man). There were periods where two of my husbands supported me financially, and a short period of spiritual leadership. I was in a desert of my own creation, because I had walked away from God. Let me put some emphasis on that statement. The desert was my creation,  because I had walked away from God. He did not walk away, He did not turn His back; it was all on me, and it was all about me. God doesn’t turn His back on us, and He does not cause bad things to happen to us. That’s all on us and our free will…. consequences for our choices. Sometimes, unfortunately, the sins of others that are perpetrated against us involve us in the consequences. Again, this is not God’s choice, but ours. If you are going to be angry and blame someone, claim it first for your own poor choices, then put it back on Adam and Eve. A much better choice is to lay it all at Jesus’ feet. Eliminate the anger and frustration and fury and discover what it means to have real peace for a change! It won’t change your circumstances, and it certainly won’t change the people around you. It takes crawling out of that rut we are comfortable in, in spite if the pain of getting out. Change is hard, and change hurts. Even happy change can mean more physical and emotional pain until we are out of the rut. God has great things to offer His people, and all we have to do is open our hands and accept His gifts! Why are we so stubborn?… 

You may never have the perfect spouse, or perfect, pain-free health; there may be serious consequences, even such as prison for our actions. That fancy mansion and expensive cars, and multimillion dollar lottery win probably aren’t going to happen, either. My past – and my future  – doesn’t have any of those things! I have had (very imperfect) spouses who loved me very much, and I am blessed to live in a better place now than I ever foresaw happening, with a (very imperfect) man who adores me…. and as a very imperfect female, I find that I adore Him, too. Life is not perfect. That’s a fact. God didn’t create man and woman to be at each other’s throats. It’s not Man vs. Woman. He designed us to compliment and to complete each other. He also has built in a sort of safety net for those people who are on their own. Jesus can be – is – the perfect compliment to a single’s life, if we only will allow Him in.

These are just my thoughts, and if you are offended…. I can’t – and won’t – apologize for speaking the truth.

(All scriptures are from the Bible app YouVersion.com) 

And Then, Man.

​God created the heavens and the earth… He created every living thing, and every inanimate thing. Yes, I believe in an Almighty, Omnipotent, Infinite God. The Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

In Genesis 1, throughout the creation story and up until verses 26, God is simply referred to as God, or He or Him. Singular, as you would refer to an earthly king. Then, in verse 26, His true nature is revealed: US. He made humans in “OUR” image, the image of the Triune God. We are created to be three in one, just as He is: father (or mother), Son (or daughter), and spirit, which is our soul.

Can’t say for anyone else, but that creates a beautiful picture. We may not procreate on this earth for a multitude of reasons, but that fatherhood, or motherhood, is deep in our DNA. Our “children” could be a pastoral flock, a life of service to the old or young, the sick and dying, those with difficulty living in society, even caretakers of the earth and her creatures.

  “Then God said, “Let Us make human beings in Our Image, to be like Us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals in all the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

  So God created human beings in His Own Image. In the Image of GOD He created them; male and female He created them.

  Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 

  Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.”

  And that is what happened. Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.” – Genesis 1:26‭-‬31 NLT (http://bible.com/116/gen.1.26-31.NLT)

He loves us so much! Even now, as I sit on my little patio in the early August Oklahoma morning, I am in awe of His creation. It is quite easy to praise Him, even in the middle of a typical subdivision with other houses and yards around me. Just look up. Here, the clouds are covering the sky – but not quite thick enough to keep out the blue sky from peeking through. Streaks of clouds where the upper winds are pushing and pulling make such fascinating pictures. Freshly mowed yard, flowers blooming, dogs at my feet. How can I not feel humble and blessed? God’s Creation is right in front of us, whether you live in the inner city or in an isolated.cabin high in the mountains. He gave it to us with all that He included to manage and care for. How are we doing? 

He also created us humans to be His companion. That hole in your heart that you are trying so hard to fill up with shopping, sex, alcohol, drugs, work, even family? Nothing will fill it except God. Worshipping Him is what we are made for. Sarcasm, negativity, hate, jealousy, worry, frustration… this things are all from Satan. He thought he could do a better job than the Creator God, so he rebelled and was cast from heaven with his followers. In retaliation, he went to Garden in the guise of a beautiful serpent to temptation Eve. Because she fell for his promise and assurance instead of remembering God, we now live in a fallen world and get to deal with the devil every minute of every day. 

There is a way out of the destructive cycle Satan has manufactured for us. His Name is Jesus, and He sacrificed His life as a once and done atonement for our sins – past, present, and future. All you have to do is accept His sacrifice and allow Him to be Lord of Your life. Just open the gift!!

Remember we are made in His image. He created ONE race, the human race. We have split into many cultures and our skin colors have changed along with the split. I don’t know the physical appearance of Adam and Eve, but it doesn’t matter. We are ALL God’s children, subject to the same judgement in front of the Most High God when we die. I am so thankful to know that Jesus died for me and that He rose from the grave in order to cleanse me. He did it you, too. I’m not very good at following His commandments, but I keep trying. Not because I have to, but because I want to. Sure makes for a peaceful heart!

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” – Ephesians 5:1‭-‬2 NLT (http://bible.com/116/eph.5.1-2.NLT)

Thank You, Jesus! (Artwork by my friend John Lawton- thank you,  John!)


Nothing New

Solomon wrote “​History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.” – Ecclesiastes 1:9‭-‬10 NLT (http://bible.com/116/ecc.1.9-10.NLT)

There really isn’t anything new under the sun. All of the discoveries and inventions, while new to us, are just finding and putting together the information and materials God provided for us from the beginning of time. Perhaps we should be a bit crestfallen that it has taken us thousands of years to figure it all out….. go back and read Genesis 1. Consider the order and the precision. First, we have the heavens, the stars and the planets. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” – Genesis 1:1‭-‬2 NLT

It strikes me that here is where God, the Creator of this incredibly complex universe, chooses the earth to be His focus. The earth?? This little, unassuming planet on the edge of this incredible thing He has just created. Not the center of the the universe, and not a big, impressive planet. Just a little thing, off to the side. I need to ask about that when I see Jesus. 

So here He is, “hovering over the surface of the waters,” and He decides to light things up. “Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.” – Genesis 1:3‭-‬5 NLT

WOW. He just flips the switch, and there it is. Light; day. If you continue to read carefully, you’ll see that the author is describing a world full of mists and fogs. There doesn’t seem to be any dry ground at this point, until verses 9-10. It’s still a barren planet; no plants or bird or animal life, but that’s coming. 

“Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day. Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good.” – Genesis 1:6‭-‬10 NLT

So far, the difference in creationists and evolutionists is how the beginning happened. And “accident” of the cosmos (although I challenge any evolutionist to explain where the “space particles” that presumably collided to generate the earth and life came from) or creation by God? 

Day 3 – God creates the vegetation to cover the earth; grasses, flowers, trees of all varieties. He called it good and completed the day. Now, this part is fascinating to me. Day 4, God makes lights. Do you realize what this says? Before this day, all of the light was from…what? He doesn’t make the sun or moon or stars until the fourth day. Before that, HE is the light. There is nothing new…. before He created the universe, He was the Light. During the creation of the earth, He was the Light. He provided us with the sun and moon and stars to give us separation of light and dark, and to give us hope when we are in dark times. Just like I believe the sun will rise every morning to light the earth, I know that Jesus rose the third day to Light the world through the darkness.

Things were starting to get exciting.”Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.” – Genesis 1:20‭-‬23 NLT

Sea creatures; fish, mammal, vertebrae and invertebrate, reptiles, all things of the water, God created them all. He made all of the birds on the same day. The earth was coming alive with His creatures. I especially like verse 21: “So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries or swarms in the water…”

Imagine! The whales and the other water creatures we now call dinosaurs, spouting water and diving and leaping, frolicking with their Creator. Can’t you just see it? The fifth day, He creates the land animals. “Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.” – Genesis 1:24‭-‬25 NLT

He saw that it was GOOD. He made ALL of the animals, great and small. From the Titanosaur to the pygmy shrew, He created them all. ALL. (I mean, really, looking at the incredibly diverse numbers of animal, plant, insect, fish, etcetera….. it just happened spontaneously? REALLY?)

Okay, so I got a little off track from the beginning of of today’s thoughts, but what’s new? It’s all about God, anyway. And wait until later when I get started on the rest of the story! (I sincerely hope I am meeting Einstein criteria….) 

Social media and God 

​”The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9 NIV (http://bible.com/111/2pe.3.9.NIV)

I read this and immediately the thought popped into my head of how impatient we have become. My computer/tablet/phone are all too slow. I was up in the mountains of northern New Mexico for several days, staying in a log cabin. Thankfully, there was indoor plumbing and electricity! No cell service, no Internet, no television…. but there was a landline for essential communication and a radio to listen to, and a post office and few miles down the road. I could have chosen to be frustrated about the lack of my devices after a couple of days and gone to a neighbors to use their broadband, or I could choose to embrace it while I was in the mountains. Had I  gone to broadband, it would have been very slow compared to my normal WiFi. 

The way I see it, I have very similar choices with God’s Will. For many years, I chose to ignore Him. I used the world’s means of communication, insisting that whatever it was, I “needed” it to be done now.  It seems to me that Peter’s message is intended for us, God’s children, to slow down. We don’t need the instant gratification the world teaches. We (I) need to take a breath and look at God’s need instead of our own. The only thing He ever needs or wants from us is our love. It’s true that our love should include acceptance and obedience, and those giving their love should be slowing down to be able to hear Him. That’s how we can know His Will for our lives.

I confess that I don’t slow down enough, or often  enough, to hear God’s voice in my life. God will never let me down. He always has my best interests at heart. His time is not my time, and His thinking is not my thinking – after all, it was/is my best thinking and impatience that gets me into trouble!

God is real, and He is good, ALL the time.

My Strength

“I can do ALL this through Him who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13 NIV (http://bible.com/111/php.4.13.NIV)

No matter what I am facing, I can rely on the LORD. David faced lions and bears as a shepherd, and he faced a giant of a man whose stated goal was to kill David and devastate David’s nation. Noah faced crowds of jeering people for years as he built his ark. Joseph faced Pharaoh and spoke truth that should have gotten him killed; Daniel did the same to Nebuchadnezzar. He faced lions in a pit, and he was thrown into fire with his companions for not bowing to the king. Abraham was told to kill his son Issac and offer his body as a sacrifice. Job lost everything. The Apostles were hunted and killed.

God delivers us! No matter what is going on, no matter what we are facing in our lives, God is good. Sometimes it means that we lose our physical health, or even our lives, but look at the big picture. Regardless of what man can do to this shell, I belong to to the Most High God, King and Ruler of the entire universe. Whatever I suffer on earth will be more than compensated with an eternity with Jesus.

If you are worried and afraid, there is a way to contentment and peace. Sometimes we just have to remind ourselves of Who is in control….. and I can promise it’s not me, and it’s not you. If justice and peace were left up to us – well, look at the world as we know it, and there’s the answer to how well we are doing! I am looking forward to the new heaven and the new earth that we have been promised when Jesus returns. That’s when life becomes good!

image

He’s reaching out for your hand. Are you going to take it?

And All of Creation.

My three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” – Genesis 1:26 NIV
(http://bible.com/111/gen.1.26.NIV)

God created the heavens and the earth. Then He created all living things, both plant and animal, and finally man, to care for and tend to His creation. What a privilege we were handed! To be the caretakers and grooms of God’s Garden. Every day, we are given opportunities to step up and be His people, His servants, just as Jesus was. We can show our care for His land, His animals, and most importantly, His people. I’m not a member of the Sierra Club or Earth First, and I don’t support extremist animal organizations like the HSUSA or PETA (well, actually I am – People who Eat Tasty Animals!). God instructed us through Adam and Eve to go out and care for His creation.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it…. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” – Genesis 2:15; 3:21 NIV

We can each individually take care of what is around us, whether it is in the inner city or out on a ranch. Take care of the animals and land, even a tiny parchment of lawn, as if it all belongs to God – because it does! Look at the amount of waste you generate, and see what can be done to reduce it. It is really trash, or is it something that can be composted or reused? Note: composting is a scary subject. It shouldn’t be! Even in a tiny apartment I was making compost for my plants.

My point is this: We need to take better care of the area around us. All of us are responsible. If there is a problem, look at it as a challenge or an opportunity to do things differently.

image

God gave us a gorgeous garden patch. Let’s all pitch in and work on our beautiful world!

In The Beginning…

Sitting out in my backyard in the shade, cool breeze blowing, watching the sprinkler give the garden a big drink, little dog in my lap and another at my side. Seeing and knowing how much the LORD of the universe loves me and calls me His own daughter… Blessed in ways I never believed or imagined. Life is good.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1 NIV
(http://bible.com/111/gen.1.1.NIV)

Theory or belief?

So many people profess to believe in the Theory of evolution, the idea that the stars and the plants, people and animal, even the universe, manufactured itself out of nothing. Some say it came out of space dust, or mud. Okay, where did the mud – or space dust – come from? Something cannot come from nothing. There has to be something in order to make something. Since everything is based on atoms, don’t we need a source for the atom?

My choice, even in the years I spent running from God, has been the belief, the knowledge, that God created the heavens and the earth. I can encourage nature to bring forth beautiful and edible things. I can take what others see as trash and make functional things. I’m not capable of creating anything without something to use as a base. In the garden, we use the dirt God made and seeds He provides to “create.” In the workshop, we can take raw materials and “create.” Something from nothing? Not a chance. Something from something? Absolutely.

We did come from the earth, but not from a primordial mud soup. God created us. “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” – Genesis 2:7 NIV
(http://bible.com/111/gen.2.7.NIV)

Humans have been changing since the beginning of time, the beginning of our creation. We have changed physically, going through periods of time when humans were shorter or taller, and where our other physical characteristics have changed. We have humans in all shapes and sizes and colors, and we are all one race – the HUMAN race. All of mankind; all of the differences, all created from the dust of the earth by the God Who made it all. We are the ones who corrupted His perfect creation and caused the “evolution” of the perfection into chaos. We have evolved into selfish, self-righteous, bigots, and warmongers. We have made the evolution from perfection to ugliness and evil.

How can we change it? One person, one step at a time, and only by relying on our Creator. Despite our constant disrespect of Him, He waits for us to ask for His help, but He also doesn’t make us work for it. Just say the word, and He’s there to hold you and to carry you. One of my favorite parts of the Sistine Chapel ceiling is the part where God is reaching out to Adam. God is reaching, stretching, and Adam is just holding out his hand. God does the work for us. Pretty amazing, when you think about it.

(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hands_of_God_and_Adam.jpg to see it.)

Have you asked Him yet?