...and he died (Genesis 5)

Notice the pattern...(I italicized just in case you didn't catch it!)


⁵ Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.


⁸ Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.


¹¹ Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.


¹⁴ Altogether, Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.


¹⁷ Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.


²⁰ Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.


²⁷ Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.


³¹ Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.


It's interesting to me that these men lived all these years and the last thing that was said about them was that "he died."  Well, all except for Enoch...


²³ Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years.²⁴ Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.


Now there's something to put in your obituary.  Could you imagine reading that...


   "He lived a full 75 years and had three wonderful children.  He was a strong    Christian who walked with God closely.  According to witnesses he was taken into heaven after a giving his wife a tearfully happy good-bye kiss."


...I mean c'mon.  How many of you would believe that?


But Enoch, Noah's great grandfather, was simply just taken away by God.  I'm not sure I know what that kind of relationship with God feels like...and honestly that makes me a little sad.


Lord, I want to know you today more than I knew you yesterday.


Goodnight and Godspeed

A Thought on Cain--(Genesis 4:1-15)

Was Cain as evil as we tend to make him out to be?  I know, I know...he killed his brother.  But I must admit, there have been times where the thought crossed my mind also.  Of course I would never follow through and those times were because he was being mean to me or wouldn't let me hang out with him (and of course  I was only 7).


But let's take a quick look at Cain.  He was the first born of God's first humans...no pressure there.  He had all the attention of both his earthly parents and heavenly Father...until Abel comes along.  He brings his offering to God first and then tag-along Abel copies his older brother and Abel does it better.  I'm sure there were some (or a lot) of jealous feelings.


Then look at the beginning of verse 8 after God talks to him (wow moment there--to speak directly to God!) about sin.  "And Cain told Abel his brother."  He went to talk to Abel about what God said.  How did that conversation go?


Then sometime later Cain killed Abel...


The one thing Cain was lacking...righteousness.


      ¹²not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.  ~1 John


Here we go again with human beings having a direct, audible, and physical contact with God.  And still letting sin take hold.  How much more must we protect and guard ourselves against sin!


In reading this passage I've had to ask myself, "What are my intentions?"  We are human, we are prone to wander as the song says.  But, no matter our intentions, we must always come back to God; because, as He was with Cain, God is always there seeking us out and looking for repentance so that we may experience His love in the fullest.


Brothers and sisters in Christ...please don't let your deeds be evil, but be full of righteousness that we may truly experience who and what God is together.


Goodnight and Godspeed

Shhh...Did You Hear That?! (Genesis 3)

They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day... (Genesis 3:8)


Adam and Eve just committed the first sin ever.  They purposefully disobeyed a direct command from God.  Not a command sent down on a tablet through a mediator, but a command straight from the Big Guy himself!  


(Side note: Sometimes we think it would be easier if God would just talk to us in an audible voice, but would it really?)


But despite this direct disobedience God still came to commune with His creation, and Adam still heard the sound of God...(insert awestruck moment here).  Adam sinned, God sought him out, and Adam heard God...and so can I.


Sin is direct disobedience to God's commands, but I still do it.  Fortunately we have an all powerful God (see Genesis 1-2) who sees these bad choices we make and still looks to commune with us.  It is up to us then to hear God and answer when He calls.


God, thank you so much for loving me and still wanting to spend time with me even though I've made, and continue to make, bad choices.


I was wondering about a time when you you heard God.  What was it like?
Also, what did God say to you as you read Genesis 3?
(Remember, keep the conversation going by commenting here and on Twitter using #ot2nt.)


Goodnight and Godspeed

In the beginning... (Genesis 1-2)

Courtesy of Radical Reformation

This journey begins where all other journeys begin...it the beginning.

Looking at the creation account there are so many things one can glean from these 56 verses.  So many sermons, Sunday school lessons, and midnight Bible studies have used these two chapters as their subject matter.  Why?

I believe because this account, whether you believe it to be allegorical or factual, is the basis to who we know God to be.  He is the one who created what we know as our existence...our very life.  He is the one who was there at the beginning of time and the one who cares for us so much that he would give us other people to live out and share our lives with.


As I begin this journey from the Old Testament through the New Testament I pray that these two chapters give me a looking glass to see God through.  A litmus test to judge what I'm thinking was given to me by God or of my own conjuring.  If you have decided to join me in this journey I implore you to read these two chapters over several times before moving on and begin to understand the might and power that God possesses.  


(And yet he still cares for us as individuals...wow.)


This is a new step in my walk with God.  I have never read the Bible through from cover to cover.  And understand that it is not my goal to do this in a year, it is my goal to allow God to guide me through this reading and speak to me as He will.  If that means I only read two verses in one day...then that's what I do.


I hope you will join me on this journey and read with me.  Let's converse together through comments on this blog and on Twitter using #ot2nt to keep up with the conversation.  It is my prayer that this journey will bring me closer to God and, prayerfully, you also.


Goodnight and Godspeed