Good morning people who are grateful for the generosity of God in your life.

Genesis 1:29-30 NIV Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Our God is not a withholding God, but rather, He is a generous God.

God could have supplied a limited number of plants and fruit for food, but instead, we read that God gave every plant and every tree for food. And He not only did this for people, but He also did this for the animals and the birds.

This leads me to consider the greatest moment of generosity by God. It is found in the most well known verse in the Bible.

John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

Eternal life was made possible through God’s generosity of His best. God is a lavish giver and an extravagant God of love.

1 John 3:1 NIV See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

When it comes to what we need in order to live the life that we were created to live, once again, our generous God has supplied in abundance.

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Our God is a generous God, and if we truly need something, God has supplied it.

Good morning people who live a life that represents God’s stated intention.

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 blessed the man and the woman that He created in His own image and likeness. This is our starting point in God – we are blessed!

And then God spoke to Adam and Eve and He gave them their mandate. This was God’s original purpose for Mankind, and there is much in this for you and me still today.

We are called to reproduce the image of God on earth. We are not called to build our own thing or to make something in our own image or likeness. The primary fruitfulness of our lives is to be the fruit of the Spirit evidenced in every believer. We were created to look like God on earth.

While there are some clear biblical exceptions, the original command of God was natural reproduction; to increase in number and to fill the earth. If this never happened, the human race would die out in one generation; the race that God took time to create in His own image.

I acknowledge that this is an area of great longing for some who have been told that they are unable to conceive. Your yearning for a child is God-given. My heart goes out to you today, and I sincerely add my AMEN of agreement with the desire in your heart. Father, I ask for miracles where they are needed in the mighty name of Jesus.

Finally, our original commission from God was to exercise authority on earth on behalf of God. Please listen to these words carefully. Our authority on earth must always be on behalf of God. In other words, authority is never to be for our own advantage.

In summary, God told us to stay connected to Him, reproduce Him, increase in number, rule on His behalf and look after what He has made.

May we all live with a Genesis 1:28 mindset.

Good morning people who are created in the very image and likeness of God.

Genesis 1:26-27 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.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Mankind was created by God – by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Mankind was created in the image of God – in the image of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Male and females are created by God and in the imagine of God.

This is God’s established pattern and design, and it cannot be changed. God is the Creator – we are not.

The words image and likeness are talking about having the same resemblance. When one is seen, the other is seen – or at least, this was the intention of God. ‘Like Father, like son’ is an apt reality of what God is looking for on the earth today.

With all of my heart, I believe that these are days of a heightened awareness of our holy calling to be like Jesus, and in so doing, be like the Father. This can only happen as we submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.  

What would happen in the world today if every professing Christian actually looked like Jesus Christ?

Is this a daily desire and intention in your life?

Good morning people who accept the brilliance of God’s creation.

Genesis 1:24-25 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. 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.

As I repeatedly read the statement according to their kinds, I am drawn to the order and purpose of God in creation. Our God is a God of design.

God is not haphazard. God is not ambiguous or unclear. God is not confused.

God is a God of fine details.

A theme of the world that we live in is a blurring of the lines and a change of what has always been. It seems that according to their kinds has been replaced with according to my own desires.

No scientist or biologist or zoologist knows better than God.

Neither Charles Darwin nor David Attenborough knows better than God.

There was not a big bang, and nor has everything evolved (or descended) from a common ancestor. This way of thinking is ludicrous and it denies the reality of a Creator.

God said, then God made. God spoke, and God created. And He did so with very clear intentions and deliberate actions. This is who our God is and this is what our God does.

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.