Good morning people who learn to listen like the fish and the birds.

Genesis 1:20-22 NIV And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”

Our God is the Word and the Word speaks. Our God is a communicating God, and there is no limit to His ability to communicate.

In this scripture, I’m drawn to the fact that God spoke to the fish and the birds and He told them what to do. I don’t want to overreach on this, but I do want to lean into what the Bible actually says.

I don’t want fish and birds to hear and respond to the voice of God more than the people of God do. I don’t want people to believe the lie that God doesn’t speak. I equally don’t want people to believe the lie that God doesn’t speak to “me”. God speaks – that’s what He does.

Psalm 22:17-19 NIV Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.

God has blessed us with His Word so that we can further hear His voice. But there needs to be a greater intentionality and priority of many if we are truly going to hear God speak. It’s time to pay attention, turn our ear and apply our heart.

Hearing God is normal. If the fish and the birds can do it, so can we.

Good morning people whose God is never ever in lack or short supply.

Genesis 1:20-21 NIV And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Our belief about God determines our approach to God. It is important that we see God accurately.

Our God is an abundant, extravagant, more-than-we-need God!

When God created the stars, He could have placed a few up in the sky to add some beauty. But no, He placed countless stars and galaxies and solar systems into the great expanse. There is no lack with our God.

When it came to living creatures who live in the sea and the birds that fly in the sky, one or two was insufficient for our glorious God. His true nature was once again seen in His abundance because our God is a God of plenty.

Don’t you love how one little word says a lot about our God. The word teem means swarm, abound, abundantly. It also has within it the meaning of increase and multiply. And this is exactly what He instructed the teem of living creatures and the birds of the air to do (let’s look at that further tomorrow).

If you have an area of need, I want to point you today to the nature of your God. My prayer is that you will receive what you truly need from our all-sufficient Father.

Psalm 23:1 NIV The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Philippians 4:19 NIV And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Thank You Father for Your faithfulness and Your kindness towards your children.

Good morning people who are God’s delegated authority on earth as it is in heaven.

Genesis 1:16-18 NIV God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:26 NIV Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 1:28 NIV God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

God’s created pattern was for certain things to govern, to subdue and to rule over other things. On the surface, this doesn’t sound right. But it is right and it is good because it is God’s declared will and intention.

The words govern, rule and subdue are similar but not exactly the same. In these words we find the following intention of God: dominion, power to rule, realm, prevail against, bring into subjection.

The sun and the moon govern the day and the night. They have God-given delegated authority to rule over in their realm of influence; in distinguishing days and times and seasons.

Mankind was commissioned to rule over and subdue the rest of God’s creation, but never over other people. Please hear this. People dominating other people for the sake of personal gain is not found in the heart of God. It must never be in our heart either.

There is God-given authority from God for people to rule on earth, not to accomplish our own will and desires, but to rule on behalf of God. Our authority is delegated.  

God rules over us in love and for our best. We are called to do the same on earth where God placed us.

Good morning people who were created to reproduce the image and nature of God.

Genesis 1:11-12 NIV Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 

Genesis 1:20-22 NIV And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”

Genesis 1:24 NIV And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.

Genesis 1:28 NIV God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Vegetation, fish, birds, animals and humans were all created and commissioned to reproduce.

At the core, I believe that God wants us to know that we were not created just for ourselves and we were not created to just exist. There is life within us. There is more within us.

While vegetation, fish, birds and animals only reproduce after their own kind, humans were created in the very image and likeness of God, and it is this image and likeness that we are primarily called to reproduce. We were created to be image-bearers of God on the earth! This is the significance of our lives my friends!

What is your life reproducing?

Good morning people who meditate on the goodness of God today.

Genesis 1:4 NIV God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:10 NIV God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:12 NIV The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:17-18 NIV God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:21 NIV So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:25 NIV God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:31 NIV God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Part of the fruit of the Spirit of God is His goodness. This is who God is. Therefore, it stands to reason that everything that God makes is good.

Whether it be light, land, seas, vegetation, the sun, the moon, the sea creatures, the birds, and the animals, everything that God made was and is good.

When God created mankind, God also declared that He made people in His image. When He saw Himself in those whom He created, He declared, “It is very good”.

Our God is a good God!