1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 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. 3 And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.
In the Hebrew Bible, the Spirit is written in the Hebrew feminine as…
moreGenesis 1: Creation summary:
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* God speaks words of permission: “Let there be ….”
* What God permits then occurs “And there was …” “And it was so”
* God separates - and makes things different and distinct
* God gives names to what is created so that they can be part of our lives
* God sees that creation is good
* Creation follows a rhythm :”there was evening and there was…So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)James Finley says:
This is a paraphrase of Meister Eckhart: Imagine you’re standing before a full-length mirror, and imagine the image…
moreHeavenly Father, give me grace to finish the work that I have been doing and rest for one day.
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
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2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had…Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life-giving water in all its forms: mist, rain and rivers.
* Thank you too that “back in the day” you gave us the breath of life - that which makes us humans conscious living beings.4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[…
morePrayer: Heavenly Father,
* give grace to those we know who are married to be at one with each other.
* give grace to those we know who seek to be married to discern who it is right for them to marry
* give grace and comfort to those we know whose marriages ended in separation, divorce or death
* today and everyday18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
19 Now the Lord God had…
moreBut for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said,
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…When Genesis says that God created the heavens (what is unseen) and the earth (what is seen) it means that God created absolutely everything
When Genesis says that there was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is talking about the knowledge of absolutely everything.Why is it that the knowledge of absolutely everything leads to death?
- is it that knowledge is power, and that “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”?
- is it that the beauty of life is that we don’t know everything? If we knew what others are thinking, we…
Prayer: Heavenly Father, when I make foolish decisions give me grace to hear your voice calling me;
and when others act foolishly and are afraid give me grace to call out to them in your name.7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day…
moreHeavenly father, give me grace today to be responsible for my own actions (rather than playing the blame game)
11 And the Lord God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you…
moreHeavenly Father Thank you for your many kindnesses to us
* for giving us clothes to help us feel less vulnerable
* for making temporary our lives which have so much difficulty and pain and suffering arising from our misuse of free will,20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.22 …
moreHeavenly father give me grace to turn to you when I am disappointed at life and at myself.
I repent of the unkindness which arises from my jealousy of others.
Give me grace to rejoice with my brothers and sisters when they succeed, particularly when I don’t.4 Adam[a] made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.[…
moreHeavenly Father, pour out your grace on me so that I may be attentive to the needs of others
* so that I may look after their interests
* and so that I may hear cries of injustice.
* What I ask for myself I ask for those who fail to see the humanity in those affected by their actions.9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 …
moreHeavenly Father
Make me a channel of your grace to those whose self inflicted misery is more than they can bear.10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its…
moreHeavenly Father
* When things go well in my life and I have the benefits of food, leisure activities and technology,
* may I call out to you for the grace to see what is not good,
* particularly in any disproportionate, oppressive or ungracious response to those who have hurt me.17 Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.
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Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.
18 …Heavenly Father
* Give me grace to all people as being in your image
* and give me grace not just to live, but to walk with you, as Enoch did.1 In the day that God created people, he made them God’s likeness, both 2 male and female, and blessed them.
3 Adam then became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him SethThe first humans lived a long time. The male…
moreHeavenly Father, when I see the wickedness, corruption and violence of human kind, and am grieved in my heart, and wish that such wickedness should not exist; I thank you that you feel the same way.
Thank you that you are able to see what is good in human kind and that you desire to live in covenant relationship with us.
Give me grace to walk with you today.5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, & that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart…
moreHeavenly Father
in amongst all the destruction that takes place in this world,
give me grace to do what is right
and give me grace to allow you and others do what I cannot do (e.g. “close the door of the ark”)Genesis chapter 7
1 Yahweh said to Noah (6 who was 600 years old) , “Come with all of your…
moreHeavenly Father
in amongst all the destruction that takes place in this world,
give me grace to do what is right
and give me grace to allow you and others do what I cannot do (e.g. “close the door of the ark”)1 Yahweh said to Noah (6 who was 600 years old) , “Come with all of your household into…
moreHeavenly Father
In the storms of life, give me grace to know that you remember me and grace to be patient as I wait for the flood waters to subside.
In the face of evil, give me grace to smell the sweet aroma of the love that is also in humankind.1 God remembered Noah and all the animals that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided. 3 The waters continually receded from the earth. 4 5…
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