Did You Know? The Idea of Clothing Entered with Sin.

I read the funniest question this morning in the book of Genesis. I’ve read it countless times before but for some reason this morning, it made me chuckle a bit nervously.

When Adam & Eve heard God walking through the Garden of Eden, they hid from God among the trees.

They had eaten fruit from the forbidden tree & when they did, they felt immediate shame, so they sewed messily fig leaves together to cover their nakedness.

God, Who knows all, calls to the man & asks, “Where are you?”

He’s God so He already knows where Adam is, but still He asks.

Adam says he is hiding because he’s afraid for God to see his nakedness.

The next question is the one that made me laugh with nervous laughter:

“Who told you that you were naked?”😬

Again, God knew the answer. The question was for Adam & Eve to ponder. Most know the story that Adam pushes responsibility on Eve & Eve pushes it onto the serpent.

After God proclaims the consequences He does something that’s never been done before; He slaughters animals to make skins of clothing for Adam & his wife.

There is SO much here!

1) Anytime we feel shame for our sin & try to cover it up with flip-floppy fig leaves of fake security, we will continue to try to hide from God.

2) The enemy is ALWAYS the source of shame-tempting us to make choices that leave us feeling naked & afraid before our good God.

3) The idea of clothing entered with sin. Every time we get dressed, it is a daily reminder of the sin that needs covering, sin we cannot cover, & sin that can only be blotted out by shed blood.

4) The “clothes” that God provides covers our nakedness & keeps us warm, but they come at a high price - the cost of His Son’s life. Jesus’s blood was shed so that our nakedness might be covered fully with the blood of the sacrificial Lamb!

Father, as we get dressed for the day, let it be a reminder of our need for Your covering. The enemy tells us time & again that we’re naked, but Your intent WAS for us to be WITH You in the garden naked & unafraid. Let us drop the fig leaves of fake security & may our clothing become an intimate invitation to return to Your garden naked & unafraid.🙂

#OneYearBible

January 2nd One Year Bible Readings

💡GENESIS 3:1-4:26💡MATTHEW 2:13-3:6

💡PSALM 2:1-2:12💡PROVERBS 1:7-1:9

Keeping Cadence with our Creator

Genesis 1:1 starts with these 3 words:

“In the beginning…”

So appropriate for January 1st! There is something exciting about new beginnings, right?

My husband asked me how I’d rate 2021 & I quickly replied, “If I were to answer in my flesh I’d say it’s probably 1 of the top 5 suckiest years of my life.”😬

He visibly exhaled, sat back on the couch & said “Wow! Tell me about that…”

If I’m gonna be honest, I felt a little mad that he asked me to retell the hard moments of 2021…I mean he already knew them all because he walked through them with me!

When I finished the rehash of hard things he gently said, “I don’t have a memory like you, Kimberly…after hearing you recap things, I understand why it was so hard. The beautiful thing, however, is that we serve a God of new beginnings. I am confident that this next year will ‘return what the locusts have eaten.’”

If you look at the pattern of creation, God separates, forms, then fills.

Days 1-3, He separates:

1 Light from dark

2 Water from sky

3 Earth from sea

Days 4-6, He forms & fills:

4 Forms sun to fill the light & moon & stars to fill the dark

5 Forms creatures to fill the water & birds to fill the sky

6 Forms people & land animals to fill the earth

Then, on the 6th day when it’s all separated, formed & filled, He gives vegetation for food & demonstrates rest on the 7th day.

As we step into this new year with great expectation, & perhaps like me with a desire for a fresh start, how might our year end up if we followed the Creators cadence of work & rest?  He worked for six days, but also gave us what we needed on that 6th day & then ceased from all His labors on the 7th.

This past year would’ve been awful without keeping the cadence of my King! His cadence is one of purpose, order AND includes rest!

Father, thank You that You are a God of new beginnings! Help us separate from things that are distractions from the future You intend. Form in us a heart to follow Your lead & fill us with the character of Christ. When we are filled with Emmanuel, we can freely give as you’ve given & Rest In Your Peace, without fear of the future.

#OneYearBible

January 1st One Year Bible Readings

💡GENESIS 1:1-2:25

💡MATTHEW 1:1-2:12

💡PSALM 1:1-1:6

💡PROVERBS 1:1-1:6

It’s New Year’s Eve! Will You Put God To The Test?

I remember December 31, 1996 because it was the first time I read Malachi 3. It had a challenge that awakened something that was scary & exciting all in one.

Malachi writes about the coming judgement of God at the end of times. He casts vision of what’s to come while wielding the vision like a cattle prod for change.

As he describes a coming time when we will all stand trial before God, the Lord reminds the hearers of this:

“I am the Lord & I do not change.. Now return to me & I will return to you.”

He says “return” because the people wandered by cheating God of tithes & offerings. 

God is so tender & patient with us. He reminds us of His unchanging, faithful nature & of the blessings that flow when we return to His will & His ways!

Then he lays out a command & a challenge:

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse… If you do I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing SO GREAT you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! “

Wowza, right?

At the time I 1st read this, we’d just made the decision for me to be a stay at home mama. Money was tight, but the conviction felt tighter!

The Lord had pulled both of us from a life of worthless pursuit & created a unified family out of what had the potential to be a big, fat mess!

We knew the much we’d been given & both agreed that we wanted to ”Try it & put Him to the test”

The first month we took 5% of our earnings & offered it to our local church &, lo & behold, the Lord provided! We kept inching up the % each month & the Lord continued to provide!

When we take His Word at face value & follow Him with reckless pursuit, His faithfulness always proves true!

This is the last day of 2021! Of all the income you earned, did you remember that it wasn’t you, but the Lord who provided the ability, skills & talent TO earn it?

Whether it’s your local church, a non profit that shares your core values, or maybe some faces come to mind who need help, where can you test & try the Lord with giving a portion of what He provided?

If He’s Lord, it’s all His anyway! If it’s His will, it’s His bill!

Try it! Put Him to the test & see how you can take Him at His word!

#OneYearBible

December 31st One Year Bible Readings

💡MALACHI 3:1-4:6💡REVELATION 22:1-21💡PSALM 150:1-6💡PROVERBS 31:25-31