Reading Plan:
Genesis 1

I danced around massive bonfires with natives singing their Kumina songs. I splashed in the ocean, floating over coral reefs, amazed by the strangest, most beautiful creatures swimming beneath me. I scaled natural waterfalls, some measuring 60 meters high. Yet, I still had one extreme quest - to hike the Blue Mountains.
To reach the summit, over 7,000 feet, it would take 7-9 hours with a two-hour trip by bus to reach the first staging area. Several hours in, with improper clothing and a lack of suitable physical training for such a journey, I began to persuade myself I was not going to make it to the top. I was trailing far behind the group, and the guide in his broken patois (Jamaican creole blend of French and West African Akan language) instructed another to watch “the little fat one”. When I could no longer hear the group in their chatter, I admitted to my failure and turned around to head back to the bus on my own, defeated and ashamed. From nowhere, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and my watchful guide asked, “Do you believe?”

In today’s reading, Moses establishes in Genesis 1, the existence of the Trinity: The Holy Father, (Genesis 1:1), His Son (Genesis 1:26), and The Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2). Before the beginning, God is in three Persons, and the Persons share a relationship of love and fellowship, “O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was…for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:5, 17:24).

God transforms the cosmos from chaotic darkness into a magnificent act of love for humankind, compatible with His great plan. Ages later, humans can still marvel at His creative power. The New American Standard Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon reveals Moses’ use of the ancient Hebrew word bara (pronounced BAW-ruh) is specific. It means to create out of nothing. Using no pre-existing material and with the vapor of His breath alone, our Creator issues a series of 29 commands across six days. In 31 verses, Moses provides the sequence of how God “breathes” order into the chaos.

The power in God’s words creates miracle after miracle in mankind’s creation story. God, a spirit, hovering over an empty, watery voice, creates the world by “speaking” and “breathing” into the darkness and “calling” into being light, sky, land vegetation, sea life, animal life, and the first human being within six days. Just his WORD alone caused all that to be. His Word and Breath accomplishes the impossible. We see other examples of the power of God’s Word and Breath - the completion and dissemination of His Holy Word in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17). With his breath, He gave us His Holy Spirit that empowers us to resist the enemy and perform extraordinary missions on God’s behalf (Acts 2:38).

What kind of words are you speaking over your life? What are you breathing into existence? Is it negative ideas or the lies of the enemy - failure, depression, addiction, bitterness, doubt in God’s love for you? Do any of those lies give you a sense of accomplishment?

On my hike up the Blue Mountains, my guide asked me if I believed. Did I believe in myself that I could reach what seemed like an insurmountable feat? At that moment, I was reminded of what I believed about who God says I am. I am chosen for a purpose, anointed, built by His hands to accomplish great and marvelous works, and that I can (with His help) reach the summit. After several hours and speaking truth over myself, I stood for a few precious moments at the summit and experienced a small glimpse of God’s handiwork.


Reflection & Response:

• What fears have seeped into your life and seem insurmountable? On paper, make two columns with the left side labeled legitimate fears (displeasing God, causing others to stumble) and the other side labeled irrational (heights, bugs, snakes). Can you locate any Scriptural truths to warrant any of your fears?
• Read Ephesians 2 and circle all the words connected with your identity. You will circle words like sealed, adopted, and chosen. For the next seven days, speak those powerful words over your life, rejecting any negative words that may have a stronghold over your consciousness.
• Identify one word from Ephesians 2 that you will use as a banner over the rest of your year.