In the beginning

I have never before been aware of my need to return to my roots.  I was almost twenty-two years in my father’s house. Now, there is a void after fifty-nine years with my husband, Jerry. But my heart is still full of the life my Heavenly Father gave me twenty-eight years ago. This is my reason for living and reaffirming “the rock from which I have been hewn” (Isaiah 51:1).

There are few who can discern the times and live in accordance with the foundation that was set in the beginning. As I continue to consult the one true source of life, I am being brought back to the basics.

As I contemplate going back, I am overwhelmed even with the words themselves. And as with other projects that concern my relationship with God, this one seems more than I can handle. But I will begin and see where He takes me.

In the beginning GOD

My dad taught me much about foundations. He had no more than an eighth-grade education, yet he was a faithful son, husband, father, brother, employee, manager of a retail store, and owner of an auto-parts store. During those times, he was also building single-family houses and built a small church. He retired in his seventies as a swimming pool contractor.

He had no formal training for construction, but following a blueprint, he physically dug the ground, poured a concrete foundation, laid concrete blocks, sawed (he did not have an electric skill saw) and nailed wood plates, joists, flooring, walls, rafters, roofing, etc.to provide a secure habitation for a family.

God, Himself, is our blueprint, revealed through His written Word. Without Him, we have no blueprint ~ no foundation ~ no concrete plans. All is left to chance and circumstances which only lead to chaos.

Those who have no blueprint for their lives only destroy what others have built and, in the end, destroy themselves and each other.

At this point, I want to share an acrostic that has helped me keep GOD in His highest habitation.

Glory ~ Himself all glorious in His person and place.

 Order ~ His constant attendance within His kingdom.

Dominion ~ His authority over all things.

In the beginning God created

I will never fully understand God. I can only read, listen to others who know Him, and pray for Him to continue to reveal Himself to me through His Word, through others, and my circumstances. I cannot comprehend His ability to create. I simply accept the words, ask Him to write them on my heart and in my mind to believe He is the Creator, “who rewards those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The first ten words of the Holy Bible are the most basic words in a human vocabulary. We can talk about everything in the world. We can talk about God and all we know about Him. We can say we believe in God, but what will that mean if we do not start with the first statement of God’s Word?

These ten words are the first words and the foundation of our knowledge of Him. These words form the basis of truth for the Christian. We cannot skip to the middle or to the end for a foundation of our faith and our hope.

God, as Creator, sets Himself first and above all else. Before anything was, He was. Reading and listening to other opinions only serve to confuse and unsettle us.

There are many references added at the end of this chapter that speak and verify the truth of these ten words. But here we want to direct our attention to the importance, the necessity, the essentiality of writing these ten words on our hearts and minds, and the minds of our children.

Without this basis ~ this foundation ~ any structure we try to build will fall or be destroyed by others. This basis will eventually lead us to the spiritual foundation ~ the Spiritual rock of our salvation and eternal life, Jesus Christ (Luke 6:46-49; 1 Corinthians 3:11).

Mentally ~ if not literally ~ print these words on each of your fingers and the fingers of your children. Print them on heavy paper and set them on your table. And if ever we needed this tattoo on our hearts, it is now (Heb. 10:16).

A few days ago, from our backyard neighbors, I heard their young son chanting the words, “I will….” over and over. I could not understand the words after the word “will” but it reminded me of the world’s chanting for what it wants. There is no mutual chant. Each person or group has its own desires which change even as the wind. While others are shaking their fists, we can show a difference with outstretched hands with the truth of God’s Word.

Now is a good time to begin to catechize your children. From the Shorter Catechism, the first question is, “Who made you?” The answer, “GOD.”

The second question is, “What else did God make?” The answer, “God made all things.”
The third question is, “Why did God make you and all things?” The answer, “For His own glory.”

“Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory;
I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
Isaiah 43:7

From this foundation, we go on to build our houses in His kingdom, to live according to His blueprint, and to show others the difference in His kingdom and the world, in life and death, truth and deception, light and darkness, construction and destruction.

“He created them male and female, and blessed them
and called them Mankind in the day they were created.”
Genesis 5:2

“Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:”
Isaiah 42:5

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”
Isaiah 65:17

Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:3; Genesis 2:4; Genesis 5:1; Genesis 5:2;  Psalm 148:5: Isaiah 40:26; Isaiah 45:7;Isaiah 45:8; Isaiah 45:12; Isaiah 45:18; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11

References to what God MADE

 “So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth?
Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind?
Have not I, the Lord?”
Exodus 4:11

Genesis 1:7; Genesis 1:16; Genesis 1:25; Genesis 1:31; Genesis 2:3; Genesis 2:4; Genesis 2:9  Genesis 2:22

Gracious Father, our Creator and Sustainer, providing all things you have prepared for us before the foundation of the world, I thank you and praise you for your order and dominion which redounds to your glory and our joy. Thank you for creating all man would need before you created him. Grant us your Spirit to know you, keep us in your Word, and through us, speak your Word to others. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
© 2020 Fran Rogers

Images: Google