Genesis has reminded us of how, in God's plan, we would
spend time with Him, perhaps walking alongside Him inside
the Garden. Genesis 3:8 says, “
And they heard the sound
of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the
day, (but) the man and his wife hid themselves ... among the
trees of the garden.”
• Take some time and stroll to one of the benches or spots to sit in our Roosevelt Community. Try to imagine you are strolling along with The Father. You can pair up with someone or find a private spot alone. Look around and notice the people; Each one is someone made in the image of our Creator.
“So God created Human in his own image, in the image of God created he him"; The Hebrew phrase for “image of God” is tzelem elohim. Every person you come across or see today is just that: Made in the Image of the God who created him.
Our world is heaving in all sorts of pain now. The reports of Afghani people falling from the sides of aircraft as they clung on as the cargo planes leaving the Kabul Airport is disturbing. Parents looking for their children after the earthquake in Haiti this last week pains our hearts. Flash flooding happened in our own state that overtook families. A gas pipeline that explodes kills a father and daughter. And then we see how Covid is cutting lives short and overwhelming the healthcare workers. People are looking for a chance to argue with someone.
One can only imagine that pain it brings our Heavenly Father as He sees Man's choices leading us down this road to these consequences. This present picture is a sad contrast to the original path that God created for us. If only Adam had admitted his sin and asked for forgiveness!
But he didn't.
Perhaps we should learn from Adam's omission.
• Take ten minutes, breathing slowly and asking God for His forgiveness of your own sin. Think back over this last week, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, to discover the sin you need to own up to. Remind yourself of the words we discussed last week from Psalm 51, this time reading from the Amplified Bible translation.
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned
And done that which is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]
And faultless in Your judgment.
5 I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
7 Purify me with [a]hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted and return to You.
14 Rescue me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will sing joyfully of Your righteousness and Your justice.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O
God, You will not despise.
18 By Your favor do good to Zion;
May You rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Footnotes [a] Psalm 51:7 Evidently, hyssop was a bristly plant which was useful as a kind of brush.
Some of you also have personal agony or anxiety in your lives. You have plans that have yet to come to fruition. There are goals in your life that might not be realized. Again, take a moment and breathe before the Lord. Imagine you have the full attention of our Heavenly Father that knows the very hairs on our head and has numbered each one; He knows us more intimately that we even know ourselves.
• Then read; praying as you read these words.
Look to these words written by The Psalmist.
Psalm 121 translation from the Complete Jewish Bible
1 If I raise my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from *Adonai, the maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip — your guardian is not asleep.
4 No, the guardian of Isra’el
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 Adonai is your guardian; at your right hand
Adonai provides you with shade —
6 the sun can’t strike you during the day
or even the moon at night.
7 Adonai will guard you against all harm;
he will guard your life.
8 Adonai will guard your coming and going
from now on and forever.
*What is the meaning of the name Adonai?
Adonai ( אֲדֹנָי, lit. "My Lords") is the plural form of adon ("Lord") along with the first-person singular
pronoun enclitic. As with Elohim, Adonai's grammatical form is usually explained as a plural of majesty. In
the Hebrew Bible, it is nearly always used to refer to God. Imagine our Lord as One who is our Master
and Protector.
God the Refuge of His People. Psalm 46 Amplified Bible translation
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to soprano voices. A Song.
God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable],
A very present and well-proved help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains be shaken and slip into the heart of the seas,
3 Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains tremble at its roaring. Selah - Pause and think ....
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her [His city], she will not be moved;
God will help her when the morning dawns.
6 The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered and were moved;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah - Pause and
think ....
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has brought desolations and wonders on the earth.
9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah - Pause and
think ....
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