Our In the Beginning God

The Bible opens with these words. "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and the Earth was formless and empty."

The Earth was formless except in the Mind of God. In His amazing mind, the Earth and man and all things that were not yet but were to "BE!" were forming at the speed of thought. Faster than the speed of light which had yet to "BE!"

The Earth and all of it was never without substance except on the face of it. It was all, from before the beginning, carried within the One who had no beginning.

The soft milky smell of babies, the tang of lemons, the freshness after the rain, the desire for friendship, the need to mate, the longing to express affection in worship, the color of your eyes, the height of the giraffe, it was all part of Him before it was part of the world He spoke into being.

Jesus said that if we see Him we see the Father. If we look we see such exquisite carefulness for the details of our lives. Such a passion (literally) for us. He wants us to know Him, live in Him and be with Him forever. He made plans for all of that. Undeniable plans. "Plans to give you a future and a hope."

In Run with the Horses Eugene Peterson says that ..."much of our hoping is really little more than wishing but genuine biblical hope acts on the conviction that God will complete the work He has begun even when appearances, especially when appearances, oppose it...that hope-determined actions participate in the future God is bringing into being...that every situation in which we find ourselves must be included in the Kingdom that we are convinced God is bringing into being."

"Hope-determined actions" that sounds like a mighty thing to me.

Mothers of wayward children know about hope-determined actions. About hoping-against-hope determined actions. No mere prayerful wishing there. Everything in her spirit groans her agreement with the scriptures over her child. Her actions are thankful, trusting, even in the face of felonious disobedience. God has a plan and she has made her bond with Him. God made a plan from before time. She will find it in prayer and throw the full weight of her agreement into seeing it come to pass. In the time- before-time, God gave her eyes able to behold fruit on a bare branch and now that gift serves her. She hopes with fierce determination. She speaks to those things which are not as though they were. She adds land to the Kingdom.

Husbands or wives of non believing spouses, those of us who need jobs or healing or deliverance, those who need more of God's character and power demonstrated in our lives are in need of hope-determined actions. "My Father works and I work." "Be it done on earth as it is in Heaven." Jesus leads the way.

Prayer is power and communication. The scriptures tell us Christ rose early and went to a place away from the crowd. A separate place where we are alone with God stills us to hear His thoughts and plans. He will speak with us. He is our Father. When we have heard Him we act accordingly with His revelation to us and in agreement with scripture. We speak accordingly as those of faith. We trade wishing for doing. His Spirit will show us how. This may seem new to us but it isn't new to Him. He has believed in us and planned for us forever.

Today is a good day for beginnings. What is it that needs a do-over or a do-better in your life? What hope-determined steps do you need to discover? They may be baby steps at first. God is still in the beginning. What you begin today He will help you finish. What you believe for today He answered when the earth was still void.

But I will hope continually,
and will praise You yet more and more.
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
and Your salvation all the day,
for I do not know their limits. (Psalm 71)

I will hope. I will praise. I will tell. (with determination)

Your righteousness and salvation is without limit.

Take this empty life and fill it.

Today.

In the beginning of your coming Kingdom.