COTR CG Leaders Week 3 Devotional




Hello CG Leaders!

I pray you've taken time to read Genesis 1-3 and pondered….How big is my God?
What did your heart and mind reply? Is He "big enough" but not TOO big?
Don't we sometimes attempt to fit God into our understanding instead of asking HIM to enlarge our hearts to know and trust Him- beyond our comprehension?
I do. 

I struggle with trusting God, especially,  when I'm suffering, doubting, wrestling with pain or trial or loss…or even when I'm tempted and want to minimize his convicting voice….
Before we launch into Gen. 3- we need a backdrop of HOW big our God is….
If you read through Genesis 1-2, and notice- WOW! God is IMPRESSIVE!  (For more reading on the might, majesty and awesome wonder of God, read Psalm 8 and Psalm 19, Job 38-40, Isaiah chapters 40-45!!)

God created the heavens and the earth, our universe, our galaxies from nothing.
God SPOKE everything into being.  He created matter out of nothingness. God is LIFE and brings forth life on all levels.  God's literal words "and God said," brought forth life!  From the force, power and reality of GOD'S WORD came to earth and its structure; light and darkness shaped our days and nights- The heavens and the water below-  seas and dry land- the earth sprouted vegetation of all kinds- and the sun and the moon- to rule the day and the night…all by the power of HIS WORD.

Myriads of living creatures in the sea and on the land appear as God spoke them into existence.  Such order, beauty, complexity- the vastness of creativity and richness in every detail.  Such marvelous, creative, intelligence defies description and leaves man's knowledge in the dust….

And then GOD made man…male and female HE shaped and formed them-in HIS image and likeness…Gen. 1:27
And after creating, God said it was ALL GOOD. EVERYTHING....because GOD made it.

In our humanness, we ask WHY? Why did this GOD-who knows NO need, is complete in HIMSELF, suffers no lack, loneliness or insufficiencies of ANY kind….WHY, did HE CREATE ALL THIS?

Simple. To reveal Himself and to display HIS GLORY!
God is GOD and desires all creation to worship him, praise Him, know Him and love Him. And, God wants most of all, to be "SHOWN." Shown and revealed in His most loving, sovereign GLORY! All creation thunders its praise and worship for this GOD!
Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God."
The angels cry in Isaiah 6:3
"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

Creation's purpose was to DISPLAY HIS GLORY! SHOW GOD!!
It's as if God is speaking through HIS creation "THIS IS WHO I AM AND SO MUCH MORE!" The vast creative genius behind the trillions of galaxies in our observable universe SPEAKS! 
This unsearchable, incalculable, unknowable Creator then creates man and effectively says,  "man…I want you to know me. I want to be your God, and I want you to be my people." I'd like to think a "hush" fell over the heavens as God breathed life into Adam. There is NO OTHER GOD like this GOD. 

God desired man to know Him, to love Him and to reflect his image. The point of an "image" is to image! Images reflect the original! Earth was to be God's dwelling place- man was his friend, his earthly steward.  God wanted to be man's GOD! Humanity was to glitter like billions of "reflectors" of GOD's GLORY- all pointing to our amazing God and his goodness….to know him, love him and "show" GOD! 

If this is blowing your mind and unsettling you a bit- maybe that's good?  We, humans, have a way of making everything about ourselves, don't we?  Creation is meant to be all about GOD! God is the center of the story, not man.  But man IS sought and birthed by this loving God who DESIRES to be Man's God and wants man to be HIS PEOPLE. 

This unfathomable GOD, who spoke the universe and galaxies into being, tenderly stooped down to gather a handful of dust… Cupping the dirt in his hands, he breathed out His breath of life - The dust of the earth and the breath of the Living GOD- and man is born.  God's creative work culminates in this  "first birth" – this relationship of God and Man…born in such intimacy, holiness, and graciousness that the angels watch in wonder….
 WHO IS THIS MIGHTY GOD that stoops to love with such intimate grace? And, even more-who are we to bear his image? 

How does your heart respond towards this unsearchable, immense GOD who is limitless and yet desires to have us know him, love him, display his glory??  A GOD who actively seeks your heart's loyalty and affection?

This week, pray and ponder and search your heart- who is your GOD? Is your Lord God, the GENESIS GOD who formed you? Or is your GOD a god of your own or the world's fabrication?

How BIG is your GOD? He desires to be ALL to us!
He desires we see that HE is close, personal and intimately involved with us….
King David wrote in Psalm 139:13-14
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am
Fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
We cannot see the rest of God's Gospel plan unless we build on a perfect and right foundation.
Genesis is our "true" foundation because it's where we find our real identity;  in GOD, by GOD, and for GOD.

It's all about God.  And that's an excellent thing.
See you next week as we continue in Chapter 3- The Garden of Eden.
Your sister in the LIVING GOD!

Mary Kaye


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