Yet, it seems I’ve failed to read the greatest self-help book of all, with over 7,000 promises on how to make your life totally awesome, the bible.
photo credit: lissadee photography
So here I am nose deep, reading the bible for the very first time as an adult. And because I often read a book, shelf it and never think about it again, I’ve decided that I would make this more of a learning experience by capturing some of my biggest take-a-ways from each chapter and sharing them here.
Up first, Genesis – completed reading on June 22nd.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” {Genesis 1:1}
My Genesis summary:
I felt like I was reading a historic fiction book with stories of creation, floods, babies being abandoned by the river and sibling rivalries. It’s easy to look at these stories and relate them to a fiction book. And although I can say it was my first time actually reading Genesis from start to finish, I’d heard many of the stories before. But after reading Genesis and taking a step back to reflect, I’m in awe…marveling at God’s power over creation, His anger over sin, and His fulfilled promises to everyone.
My favorite Genesis story:
Although the creation of the earth was pretty amazing. I loved the rollercoaster story of of Joseph. Being sold into slavery by his brothers, resisting Potiphar’s Wife, going to prison, being Pharaoh’s right-hand man and never wavering in his faith through it all. In fact he tells his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” {Genesis 50:20} A perspective I can’t even grasp, but hope to one day achieve.
I had to share this picture from my recent trip to Vail, CO. At one point their was a rainbow in this very sky. Being in the beautiful Vail mountains put a whole new perspective on Genesis for me. It’s amazing how being in the mountains can make one feel so tiny, yet realize the infinite possibilities to move mountains with God.
“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” {Genesis 9:16}
Biggest take-a-way:
God created us for blessings and chose us to be a blessing to the world.
Genesis sets the stage for the rest of God’s plan to redeem the world through His Son, Jesus Christ.
ps – I’ve been meaning to note that while making this website, I found a fun setting that made everything lowercase. I fell in love with it. So I kept it. But the downfall is absolutely everything has to be lowercase. So please excuse the lowercase ‘g’ in reference to God {as well as all the surnames and so on}. God is great and his names deserved to be praised {and capitalized, I’m still working on figuring out how to make it work with my settings…}.
