In The Beginning, God!

 

Two brothers, Wilber, and Orville Wright made their first successful flight on December 17, 1903. They sent a telegram to their sister in Dayton, Ohio with the good news. It read: “First sustained flight, 59 seconds. Home for Christmas.” Their sister was elated and took the telegram to the local newspaper. The next day the paper ran an item on page 16, under the obituaries, with this notice, “Local bicycle merchants to spend holidays at home.” Can you believe it? On of the greatest events of the 20^th century, and they missed it, though it was right under their noses! Hasn’t this seemed the case for years? * Many people have great families but do not appreciate them. At the top of most people’s things to be thankful for are family and yet we seldom appreciate them like we should. * The people in Jesus’ day did not recognize Him. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:10-11). * We take our blessings from God for granted and are unappreciative. We are all “rich” by the world’s standards, but instead of being satisfied, we have covetous hearts that demand more and more. How many great blessings are right under our nose, and we miss them every single day? May we all learn to see the blessings around us and stop for a moment to give thanks.

[Proverbs 30:5-9] “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuse in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die. Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”

How a book starts, the first words, are the most important. They set the tone and direction of every word that follows. This is why the first sentence of a book, for many authors, is the most difficult to write. “In the beginning, God” is the foundation for everything the Bible continues to teach. Unless one is open to the possibility of God, the word of God will not have much effect upon one’s life. “In the beginning, God” addresses the single most insurmountable obstacle to meaningful faith. To come to God, one must believe that “He is”! (Hebrews 11:6). There is no progress to a better life, much less and abundant life, if one does not accept that “He is”. We could all benefit from starting each day with the thought, “In the beginning, God.” Before our feet hit the floor, when our eyes first open to a new day, we should make it our meditation. Why? Because the world we are about to step into is quite successful at distracting our hearts from the desired impact of these first four words of the Bible. The world is material. God is spirit. Our five senses do not connect with the spiritual world. We cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch God. From the first physical sensation at the start of day until our head coming to rest on our pillow at the end, we must live in a material world where there is no affirmation that what is spiritual is also a part of our reality. The world we live in is not all there is. “In the beginning, God” is the introduction to another existence. Another world. Another truth, other than what the world teaches. May we all endeavor to live in the guidance of the thought, “In the beginning, God”.

A weathervane on the roof of a barn bore the phrase “God Is Love”. A stranger asked the farmer one day, “Do you think God’s love is as changeable as that weathervane?” The farmer replied, “You miss the point, sir. It’s on the weathervane to show no matter which way the wind is blowing; God is still love!” God is love, abide in Him (1 John 4:16).