I am very excited to begin a new journey to read the Bible in 90 days. It is a commitment I am making over the course of the summer to commit to reading God’s word. My prayers is that I learn what I have never learned before and that who God is becomes that much more real to me. I want to learn as much as I can. As a result of my journey, I will be blogging about what I get from the reading each day. I would encourage anyone to join in with me. If you’d like to let me know! I ideally would like to blog everyday, but when that isn’t possible, I will still be reading and will catch up the blog as I can.
Day 1: Genesis 1:1-Genesis 16:16
CH 1: As I read the account of creation, I can’t help but marvel at our amazing creator. The intricacy of his design is enough to point men to a savior. I love that when he talked about creating the animals and other things he said to create an “abundance”. You can see Him as a master creator with a vision for His creation. When he begins to talk about creating man and making him in His image, I can almost hear the excitement and love in His voice. Charles Stanley’s study Bible points out a life principle during this passage,
“Our intimacy with God – His highest priority for our lives – determines the impact of our lives.”
How true this is! His desire for intimacy with his most prized creation is clearly seen in this account of creation found in Genesis. It is essential that we deepen that intimacy more and more. Our impact in this lifetime for the kingdom is directly correlated to the level of intimacy we have with God.
CH 2: How awesome is our creator that he knows our ever need and deepest desire. He saw Adam’s need for his missing piece. The relationship God forms in this chapter between man and woman is a beautiful thing. The account of God taking Adam’s rib reminds me of a quote the pastor said during my best friend’s wedding ceremony, “God did not choose a piece of Adam’s head, so that woman would be over him; nor did He select a piece from Adam’s foot, so that he would step on her. Rather, our loving Creator chose man’s rib, so that woman was taken from his side–to be his equal…from under his arm–to be protected by him…and from near his heart–to be loved by him.”
CH 3: One thing that caught my eye in this chapter is that the end is the first time we see “woman” given a name when Adam names her eve. This deception by Satan shows his very nature. He looks for our weakest moments (Eve was alone) and uses our deep desires (Adam and Eve sought knowledge and perfection) and uses them to draw us into sin. I see Eve’s reaction when God finds out about her sin to be much like many of our own’s. She automatically blamed someone else. Isn’t is so easy to say “The Devil made me do it.” rather than dealing with the issues at hand and our own failures before God.
CH 4: I have heard the story of Cain murdering Abel my whole life, growing up in Sunday school. It is so easy to say how awful and unfathomable his actions are, but when I stop to think, I am reminded that without daily walking with God and resting in his grace, I could quickly find myself doing things I never thought I would do. My sins are no worse in the eye’s of God than Cain’s were.
CH 5: I used to think geneologies of who begat who were beyond boring; but when I take time to look at it and really pay attention, there are many things to learn from it. Here we see the family lineage of Adam, which includes Noah himself, future boat enthusiast
CH 6: My favorite quote in this chapter, “Noah walked with God.” If God were to have written about us in his word, could that quote apply to our lives? Would our name be able to be placed where Noah’s is and the word of God remain truth? Now that is something to strive for!
CH 7: Fact, it wasn’t two of every animal that went into the ark. 7 of every clean animal, and 2 of every unclean animal. However, they did enter two by two 
CH 8: I love this beautiful picture of God taking care of those who serve Him. In the midst of a world in chaos, God hand delivered his faithful people. How encouraging!
CH 11: In these geneologies, I learned that Abraham and Lot were descendants from the lineage of Shem, Noah son.
CH 13: What I find interesting about Lot’s decision of which way he wants to take his herd is that it was based solely on aritficial appeal. He did not seek counsel, but rather made a decision on the plains of Jordan because they looked good. Looks can be deceiving though, as we will later see that Sodom and Gommorah, home of so much wickedness and evil, was a part of the land Lot chose.
CH 15: I love what God says to Abram at the beginning of this chapter, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Those words are wonderful to me, and much needed at this moment!
CH 16: Sarai’s actions in this chapter show a tendency I feel many of us struggle with from time to time. She got to impatient to wait for God to complete His work in her, unfolding his perfect plan in His own time. Rather, she decided to take matters into her own hands, not trusting God to take care of things for her. Many problems start from this choice. I do it so often, I forget that there is a sovereign savior in control of every aspect of my life. There is not need to worry about tomorrow or try to work it out myself, God is already there and has everything set just the way he intends it to go if I will just follow Him and trust.
Wow, day 1 of this challenge was incredibly. I have a heavy heart about a situation, and there is nothing more encouraging than digging into God’s word and reading stories of provision and promise of God to those who trust in him. What a blessing.
I aodre you! Thank you for taking on this journey with me, I know it is as much for you, but I am just so greatful to have someone in my life who is so selfless and willing to jump with me when I jump.
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