Bible Inspiration - June 26th, 2017

Preface - Title Change, etc.

First things first, I'd like to preface this post by saying that I will not be naming my posts "Daily Bible Inspiration" anymore, simply because it is not true. I will only be posting a minimum of three posts per week from Monday to Friday! I hope that through this, I will be able to expand the topics that I will be sharing. Hopefully in the future I will be posting all 7 days, but for now, my schedule and priorities are still set on other important activities like building my church's website, working full-time, and maintaining healthy relationships.

For today's post, I will be using Our Daily Bread's amazing devotional, providing Scripture, the Devotional itself, my own input and finally my LAST health update (hint hint wink wink). 

Scripture Reading

Our scripture reading will be found in the book of Genesis 1:24-31. I do encourage you to read from a physical Bible if you have one! 

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.26 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,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Devotional:

Some days seem to have a theme running through them. Recently I had one of those days. Our pastor began his sermon on Genesis 1 with two minutes of breathtaking, time-lapse photography of blossoming flowers. Then, at home, a scroll through social media revealed numerous posts of flowers. Later on a walk in the woods, the wildflowers of spring surrounded us—trilliums, marsh marigolds, and wild iris.

God created flowers and every other variety of vegetation (and dry ground to grow in), on the third day of creation. And twice on that day, God pronounced it “good” (Gen. 1:10, 12). On only one other day of creation—the sixth—did God make that double pronouncement of “good” (vv. 25, 31). In fact, on this day when He created humans and His masterpiece was complete, He looked over all He had made and “saw that it was very good!”

In the creation story, we see a Creator God who delighted in His creation—and seemed to take joy in the very act of creating. Why else design a world with such colorful and amazing variety? And He saved the best for last when He “created mankind in his own image” (v. 27). As His image-bearers we are blessed and inspired by His beautiful handiwork.

Prayer & Reflection

This segment allows you to read what is written below, and pray that same prayer genuinely and with pure and holy intentions. 

Dear Creator God, thank You for creating the world in all its beauty for our enjoyment—and Yours. Thank You too for making us in Your image so that we would be inspired to create.

All creation bears God’s autograph.

Do we sometimes get lost in thinking about all that is wrong with the world? When we do, remember how the God of creation asked a man named Job to consider what the wonder of all nature is saying to us about His goodness and wisdom (Job 38:1–42:6). 

Personal Take & Health Update!

We are God's image bearers. What does that exactly mean? We are fearfully and wonderfully made to establish God's Kingdom and Authority in our broken, sinful world. I believe that God has appointed everything He created as an image bearer, reflective of the Power, Dominion and Reign of our God. 

As humans however, we have a special purpose. We are made to bear the image of Christ in our lives. Why? We have fallen and sinned against our Lord, since the beginning of time. Before the fall, he declared everything good. Does His goodness in us still true in spite of the Fall of Adam and Eve? Yes, I believe so. Everything He creates/created is ultimately good. 

I would like to caution you this with sin. Sin is committed by humans alone, and it is outside of God. Some may argue that God created sin if God created humans and humans sin; but, that is not true. If God is sinful, we must question every single thing He created and really ask if all that He does is good. I would definitely not worship a sinful God, even if Christ died for me because a sinful sacrifice is worthless. This is the sole reason why Jesus Christ had to die for our sins! He was perfect, blameless, and fully bearing the image of God. No animal sacrifice or other person would do.

I think it becomes tricky though when we perceive ourselves as more righteous than God. In other words, when we feel more superior to His authority over His creation, we begin to lose our image bearing status and begin seeking to bear our own image. How we look in front of others, what we say, what people think about us all come to the forefront as we turn to ourselves. This becomes an endless, vicious cycle of trying to feel accepted in this world. 

May it be an encouragement for us all to continue bearing the image of Christ in our lives, in all facets, and pursuing holiness in all that we do, so we can fulfill our calling and purpose to glorify the Lord of our lives, the Creator of this Universe. I believe that is why God created mankind. 

In terms of my health, I would say I'm hovering between 90-99% (I will never say I am 100% healthy because of course our bodies are not eternal in this lifetime, and two, I think we all have even the slightest of injuries, sicknesses at all times!) healthy at this point! I'd say in terms of my fever and cold, I do not feel any of its effects anymore. Today was the first day I felt like this, so Praise God! However, on Friday evening, as I was playing basketball with my church at a recreation center, I accidentally stepped on two people's feet, causing my ankle to sprain. It was extremely painful, and it is still inhibited from its normal mobility. Please pray for it! I do still plan on exercising this week, but not as vigorously or aggressively to prevent any further injuries on my left ankle. I ordered ankle and knee braces 2 weeks ago, but I have to wait 3-4 more weeks until I receive them! 

Anyways, thank you so much for reading! I hope it was an encouragement for you today. May God continue to work in and through your life, as you continue to bear His image. 

DISCLAIMER: If there is anything that is incorrect or inaccurate, please comment below and let me know! I accept all constructive criticism, and help from fellow believers. 

Don't forget to resteem, upvote and comment! God bless :)

Sources: 1, 2