I want to begin by saying that I am becoming that person that has a ton of bibles, but the last two that I bought are really good resources. one is King James's Version and it is color coded...not just by chapter but by verse. each verse is highlighted according to the subject matter that it talks about. it also includes a year long plan to read the entire bible and maps, etc. I also bought bible tabs color coded by book type, so the Pentateuch is red, history books are orange,etc.it is a good bible to take with me to China because I will really have to learn to do my own bible studies and my own bible devos since I won't have really have the same type of church in China that I have here, with the campus ministry and events and devos, etc. And since I won't have Brent Bailey around to give my verses or stories in the bible to go to, and since I don't have a lot of in-depth bible knowledge since I'm relatively new to bible studying, I am glad I found a bible where I the verses are color coded and I love the tabs because it completes the color coding. now I will learn which books are what type; I will know the history books, the wisdom and poetry books, the letters, the prophets. going along with that, seeing the color coded tabs shows you how the bible is laid out: the Pentateuch comes first, then history, then wisdom and poetry(which there are not a whole lot of) then the prophets and the the Gospels, and then finally the Letters. it is very...logically laid out. I am really glad I found this resource, it is unique and a good training tool for me to learn the Bible. the other bible that I bought is also unique. there's this movie and book called "letters to God" which is based on a true story of this little boy with cancer who starts reading his dad's bible and is inspired to start writing letters to God. I haven't seen the movie or read the book, not yet anyway, but I've seen the trailer for the movie. anyways, they are selling the dad's bible, with the dad's notes and comments that he wrote in his bible as a collector's item and/or bible edition. it even has the same cover that his dad's bible had. there are comments written on pretty much every page! it does look like a used bible and in a way it is. I thought it was awesome and I think that its good to have a bible with the comments of someone else so that it helps me think about something in a new way or something that I've never thought of before. it is really cool and I love it! anyways, these are the two bibles I am mainly going to use on this bible reading journey and I think that I picked two good bible editions. I know the King James's version is supposed to not be the best, but for some reason I love that old-fashioned way of speaking.
Genesis 1 is the story of Creation. It is a chapter that I am familiar with, so no big huge surprises were there for me. however, I did have some thoughts while I was reading it and that's what I am going to share in this post. the first thought I had came in the second verse: "now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."(Gen 1:2). I was truck by this verse. dark. shapeless. empty. Earth doesn't exactly sound like a beautiful paradise. it certainly isn't somewhere that any one of us would enjoy visiting or living in.yet God was still there. I really found that cool and awesome. if God was there when Earth was dark, empty, shapeless, then He will for sure be there when we hit those points in the road that are the same way: dark, empty, without any shape or form. I think it's very fitting that from even before the beginning, God was there. We don't have to be beautiful or lead awesome beautiful lives for God to be there. His presence is constant, regardless of circumstances.
The other thought I had was reading the story of God creating Creation, it really stuck out to me how God did not create everything at once. He could have. He could have snapped his fingers and everything would have been created, including us, in less than a nano second. yet He did not. He created everything one day(whether or not "day" is 24 hours of not is not important. it's not a crucial thing to be debating: God created Creation in 7 days, or maybe even 7 years or thousands of years. doesn't matter to me. at least not at this point) at a time. He created one thing, and then the next day would build on what He created. one thing led to another. Step-by-Step. it seemed so different that the way we do things today. today, people have TVs that allow them to watch more than more channel at a time, phones that allow us to talk and text and internet surf all at once, students in university major in multiple majors, and I even know a friend that is going to ACU's Graduate of Theology school, and he is doing two of their degrees at the same time. we do all these things at the same time to save time, because it'll save us time. not that there isn't anything wrong with saving time,yet...God did not "save time" when He created Creation. He devoted a day to everything He created. Maybe we should follow God's example and slow down, and focus on thing at a time. after all, I would rather live my life than to live it saving time.
Whenever He finished creating something, God would see that what he had done was good, and at the end "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."(Gen 1:31). I found this confidence...good. sometimes I feel that we are all trying so hard to be humble and modest that we sacrifice our confidence. I believe that it is okay to see something you have done, know that you are good at it, and did an awesome job on it. I also believe that its okay to know that you are better at something than most people are. the problem I believe, is when people get arrogant about it and start thinking this makes them superior to other people and/or put people down or brag about it. God saw all that He created and KNEW it was good. so maybe it is okay for us to know that what we have done or do is good. humble and modest does not mean you stifle your confidence.
Those are my thoughts that I had for Genesis 1. Even though I am familiar with it, I still learned from it and I am very much looking forward to continuing!
Genesis 1 is the story of Creation. It is a chapter that I am familiar with, so no big huge surprises were there for me. however, I did have some thoughts while I was reading it and that's what I am going to share in this post. the first thought I had came in the second verse: "now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."(Gen 1:2). I was truck by this verse. dark. shapeless. empty. Earth doesn't exactly sound like a beautiful paradise. it certainly isn't somewhere that any one of us would enjoy visiting or living in.yet God was still there. I really found that cool and awesome. if God was there when Earth was dark, empty, shapeless, then He will for sure be there when we hit those points in the road that are the same way: dark, empty, without any shape or form. I think it's very fitting that from even before the beginning, God was there. We don't have to be beautiful or lead awesome beautiful lives for God to be there. His presence is constant, regardless of circumstances.
The other thought I had was reading the story of God creating Creation, it really stuck out to me how God did not create everything at once. He could have. He could have snapped his fingers and everything would have been created, including us, in less than a nano second. yet He did not. He created everything one day(whether or not "day" is 24 hours of not is not important. it's not a crucial thing to be debating: God created Creation in 7 days, or maybe even 7 years or thousands of years. doesn't matter to me. at least not at this point) at a time. He created one thing, and then the next day would build on what He created. one thing led to another. Step-by-Step. it seemed so different that the way we do things today. today, people have TVs that allow them to watch more than more channel at a time, phones that allow us to talk and text and internet surf all at once, students in university major in multiple majors, and I even know a friend that is going to ACU's Graduate of Theology school, and he is doing two of their degrees at the same time. we do all these things at the same time to save time, because it'll save us time. not that there isn't anything wrong with saving time,yet...God did not "save time" when He created Creation. He devoted a day to everything He created. Maybe we should follow God's example and slow down, and focus on thing at a time. after all, I would rather live my life than to live it saving time.
Whenever He finished creating something, God would see that what he had done was good, and at the end "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."(Gen 1:31). I found this confidence...good. sometimes I feel that we are all trying so hard to be humble and modest that we sacrifice our confidence. I believe that it is okay to see something you have done, know that you are good at it, and did an awesome job on it. I also believe that its okay to know that you are better at something than most people are. the problem I believe, is when people get arrogant about it and start thinking this makes them superior to other people and/or put people down or brag about it. God saw all that He created and KNEW it was good. so maybe it is okay for us to know that what we have done or do is good. humble and modest does not mean you stifle your confidence.
Those are my thoughts that I had for Genesis 1. Even though I am familiar with it, I still learned from it and I am very much looking forward to continuing!
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