Second day is preparing the land to build upon
God created the firmament (Gen.
1:6-8)
And God said let there be a firmament
in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament which divided the
waters which were under the firmament from the water which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament ‘heaven’ and the
evening and the morning were the second day.
Once God found/created the place where He wanted to build He
had to first create light and dark, day and night, He then had to prepare the
“land” (creation) to accept His building. Now, in verse one we see that God had
created ‘waters as well as light and dark.
This word used for ‘waters’ comes the Hebrew word ‘mayem’. The meaning implies a single body of water,
but not just water. The word also
relates to urine, semen, wastewater. Even
though this creates an image of byproducts it also contains things teeming with
the building blocks of life. Now mayem
(pronounced mah yim) struck me as to how similar it is to ‘mayhem’, which is
chaos or disorder. So here is this pool
of water full of ‘stuff’ which would be very disorganized just waiting for
something to happen. So God does just
that. He starts to bring order into this
‘pool’ by creating a separation, firmament.
The Hebrew word used here is ‘raqiya’ (raw kee ah) which basically means
the sky, as we look up and see it. So
God separated the waters above and the waters below by placing a firmament in
between, thus using earth’s atmosphere (if you will) to separate the waters
above (outer space) from the water below (oceans). So disorder is now becoming order and God is
preparing the place to receive what He intends to build.
Once a man finds that plot of land upon which he desires to
build, he, too has to put some order to what is technically chaos. He would have to clear away any trees, bushes
or shrubs from the area where he intends to build his house. If he plans for a basement, he may have to
clear rocks in order to dig an area for his foundation. He may use bulldozers and backhoes to clear,
level and dig the land until he has that clear and open area in which to build.
Now, for me, my land was chosen the day I accepted Jesus into
my heart. Thinking back I realize that
Father has had His hand on my life, not only since that day of commitment but even
for some time before.
But, clearing the land?
Father forgave me all my sins (up to that point) the day I accepted
Jesus. I say up to that point because I
am still human. Yes, with my confession
of Jesus, God redeemed me from my ‘sin nature’ and whether I named sins or set
them before Him in a package, He cleansed me from all my sins I had ever
committed up to that moment. However, I
am still human and I find my spirit longing for the things of God but my flesh
still lusting after the things of the world (Romans 7:14-25). It is an ongoing war, so I’m still prone to
go astray. My continual redemption here is
that as soon as recognize my sin, I acknowledge it, confess it and repent it,
that is turn away from that sin and determine not to do it again and then set
it behind me, I am one again clean. King
David is my example here. Read 2nd
Samuel chapters eleven and twelve to see how this story concerning David,
Bathsheba and Uriah started, unfolded and then concluded.
Father has also shown me that this spiritual walk is like two
new newlyweds. A man and a woman are separate
and different persons before the marriage.
Before they lived separate lives and then they brought these two,
separate lives together as one. And that
includes all the baggage (from each of their lives). They struggle to maintain their individuality
but also to function as a single unit. This means clearing out the excess, unnecessary,
baggage and replacing it with unity.
Spiritually and physically we become one flesh (Eph.5:31, 1 Corinth. 6:17)
Spiritually, even though I’m saved and my sins are forgiven,
I still bring some excess baggage into my relationship with Jesus a lot of it
which needs to be shed and left by the way side. After salvation, my first order of business
is to clear out as much excess baggage that I can discover (as the Holy Ghost
reveals). The Holy Spirit will show me
what I can deal with at that time and the rest can be dealt with over
time. Fair to warn you, shedding all the
excess baggage is a lifetime venture which begins with discovery then yielding
over to God’s will and continues until the time He calls us home.
I had always done things ‘my way’ so when my wife and I
married, I first had to learn that it was now ‘our way’, what is best for both
of us, the whole. And, frankly, I’m not
sure I yet had a good grasp on this when she went to be with the Lord
thirty-four years later. Nonetheless, as
Father showed me, I would acknowledge, confess, repent and determine not to do
whatever “it” was, again. My baggage
were those things that I carried into our marriage which were not necessary for
the ‘whole’ to function well. My ego, my
selfish desires, my selfish wants. I’ve
had to learn that what I do is for the edification of the ‘whole’ body (my wife
and I) and not just mine but all those around me. (1 Corinth. 4:12, Ephesians
4:11-13, Romans 15:2)
Clearing my spiritual lot is shedding all those things that
are not of God. Some Father showed me
right up front and other things Father would have to reveal to me as I went
along (and still is). Shedding these things
is actually admitting that I haven’t been doing ‘things’ in God’s will, and
again, confessing, repenting and giving them to Him and I mean ‘giving’ them to
Him. Set them at the foot of the cross,
leave them there and don’t look back.
Not looking back involves not even considering getting involved with
‘it’ ever again. When the temptation
arises, resist, the devil will flee (James 4:7)and once we’ve repented, do what
God does, put behind His back (Isaiah 38:17) and replace it with something
better – God’s Word. (see the parable of
the cleaned house, Luke 11:24-26 & Romans 12:1-2)
God puts some order into the area He intends to put His
creation. Man clears the land and
prepares sit to build and me? I (with
the guidance of the Holy Ghost) start an elimination process of ridding my life
of the things Father doesn’t want there.
Third day laying the foundation
God lays the foundation (Gen.
1:9-13)
And God said let the waters under the
heaven be gathered together and let dry land appear, and it was so. And God called the dry land ‘earth’ and the
gathering of the waters He called ‘seas’ and God saw that it was good. And God said “Let the earth bring forth grass,
the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit each after its own
kind and whose seed is in itself, upon the earth ”and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass and herb
yielding seed after its own kind, and the tree yielding fruit whose seed was
after itself. And God saw that it was
good. And the evening and the morning
were the third day.
God had created light and darkness, He found is plot. He then separated the ‘waters’ preparing His
‘lot’ and now it’s time to build a foundation for His house to stand upon.
The man looked for his ‘lot’, cleared the land and is now
ready to build a foundation upon which to build his house.
I gave my heart to Jesus, finding my ‘lot’, shed excess
baggage (as Father revealed) laying a foundation upon which to build the rest
of my life.
Laying a foundation for a place for man to live, God gathered
the waters upon the face of the earth together so dry land would appear. He then put sustenance in the sea and put all
sorts of plants upon the dry land (earth’) for man’s food. He also set the grass, trees, mountains and
everything else in place for man to enjoy.
The foundation was ready so He could finish building for His pride and
joy – man.
A man lays the foundation for his house using brick, block
and mortar with baseline framework from timbers to build a solid base upon
which to build his home. He wants his
base, foundation, solid, strong and durable so it can stand against the winds of
change.
God brought Moses to mind.
We basically know the story of Moses: Miriam watched until Pharaoh’s
daughter pulled him from the water, he was raised as a prince of Egypt then he
ducked out in the middle of the night because he had killed and Egyptian, 40
years in the making. Then he went into
the land of Midian and tended sheep for another forty years before he was ready
to do God’s bidding. As a prince of
Egypt he learned languages, warfare and how to rule and as a shepherd he
learned how to take care of what God has given him. Moses’ foundation was actually eighty years
in the making before he went out to perform God’s task (calling).
The man, again, brings in brick, block mortar and timber and
whatever else he needs to build a solid foundation. Once he’s laid out the dimensions of his
hone, he then builds that foundation.
My spiritual foundation with the knowledge that I have given
my life to Jesus but now I have to truly learn who Father is, who the Holy
Ghost is, who I am (in Christ Jesus) and I
need to obtain a reasonable understanding of my relationship with God. What does He expect of me? What can I expect from Him? I need to know, without wavering that He has ‘saved’
me and I know that He is the only true and living God who lives forever and
ever. Without wavering. Beyond a shadow of any doubt. Does this mean I live for Him as I should? No.
like shedding excess baggage, full maturity is a lifelong process.
In John chapter six, Jesus tells His disciples who He is, who
the Father is, who the Holy Ghost is and the type of relationship we should
have with the Father through Him because the Holy Ghost now dwells within
us. This is not just confessing Jesus,
but understanding the relationship we should have. And that’s not just living for Him, but
walking with Him. Once we understand the
basis of our relationship, we can move to the next step which is continuing to
build into the degree of that relationship, understanding what Father expects
from us and how we can achieve a lifestyle pleasing to Him.
Jesus tells His disciples that the Father has sent Him and
that He does nothing outside of the Father.
I’ve had to ask myself ‘do I do everything according to God’s will for
me?’ The answer is no, but that is part
of my growth which is included in the next phase of building our house.
I said my foundation is built – somewhat. I mean that I’m still learning how weak my
foundation has been over the years. From
the day I let Jesus into my heart, I’ve had no doubt that I was heaven bound
but my foundation IS the relationship, which has been building, with Father
through Jesus Christ because the Holy Ghost dwells within me. My foundation is strengthened by prayerfully reading
the scriptures, that is asking Father to open my eyes and heart so I can learn
what He wants me to learn from what I am reading. It is also my prayer time with Him. Early on I talked at God, as if He were some
mysterious entity way out of reach and I hoped He heard me. Then I learned to talk to God. I started believing that He actually heard my
prayers and would answer them. Then I
learned to talk with Father, that is I talk, then I listen to hear His
response, but I quickly discovered I didn’t know if I heard Him or not. Often He would take me into the scriptures
for my answer and I was cool with that, but as I became more involved, not just
in the Pentecostal movement, but the prophetic movement as well, Father took me
to Samuel (1 Sam. 3:1-10) where Samuel had to learn the voice of God.
Father has shown me that when He speaks to us two things are
true. What He says is always consistent
with the scriptures (duh!) and He will confirm what He has told us either via
scripture or events around us (yes we have to be aware of our surroundings) .
Back in Sept. 2014 Father gave me a prophecy which we called
the “Watchman”. In it He explained some
of what He was getting ready to do and the blessing because of our obedience to
His Word. Being in prophetic circles I KNEW
one or more of these prophetic people I encountered would give me confirmation
of what Father was doing. Didn’t
happen. I was pretty discouraged. I was ready to quit. But iIn Jan. 2015 Father sat me down and
replayed the months between Sept. and Jan. showing me how He had confirmed the
words of the ‘Watchman’ through all the events around me. You can read about this in the blog entry ‘Lessons
learned’. I learned to know that it was
Father speaking. My foundation was laid
a bit more solid than before.
Now, does this mean I’ve reached spiritual maturity? Of course not. There are still many things I need to learn
so I can be an effective minister of God’s word and to fulfill the task He has
set before me and that is no longer foundation but growth – which we experience
until the day the Lord calls us home.
God gathered the waters, brought forth the land and put
plants upon it. A man lays brick and
mortar and so forth so it will stand against nature. I had to get rid of excess baggage when I married
my wife, but we had a relationship - which
continued to build until Father took her home. My foundation, spiritually, has been built on discovering, at a basic level, who God is, who I am and what sort of
relationship He desires with me.
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