Simple Mans Thoughts

God’s Word – Cover to Cover – a simple man’s thoughts

Author (Simple man-for now) – February 29, 2020 • Completion on Ash Wednesday. Introduction

In the beginning, there was nothing…. Darkness, the vast vacuum of space. No suns, planets, moons, galaxies nor other forms or objects. Nothing as we would know it or understand it. And yet in a moment. An instant. A fraction of time, it all began.

The vast emptiness was filled with all that is known. The heavens of our known universe. How did this happen? How could nothing create something as wonderful and as fantastic as all we see today—all and far more we have yet to discover? Galaxies with all their suns, planets, and moons made up of matter, known and unknown, traveling in complex patterns throughout space. All held together by a force no one really understands. Complex chemistries within some of the objects hurling through space, known as suns, interact to make energy. The source of light. Light that gives us the ability to see the wonders of all that has come to be. Out of nothing! Everything? Hear me, out of nothing! Everything!!! Possible? I ask you how?

In the beginning God created All!!!

You see, if we are to believe that nothing created everything (and some do), then we don’t understand that there would have been something missing. An energy. A source. A power that could not only bring all that is to be, but a source that had the ability to think of all that exists, in all of its intricacies and complexities. How they would act and interact. How they would feel, smell, sound. Generate heat or cold. How they would do more than what we understand now and have yet to discover.

I will boldly state that “In the Beginning”, throughout forever, there was something. An all-powerful something. An all-knowing something. A source. A power. An energy embodied in a spirit that filled the vastness of space completely. A form, a spirit, a complex and all-powerful being that I will state Was GOD! Is GOD!! And will Forever be GOD!!!

I can stop right there, and I would be satisfied. But I will continue, because there is so much more to state, plainly and simply.

Some would say my statement is heretical. I would say that the Word (the Bible) when read inspires thought. Thoughts of what is beyond the written page. Who is this God we are reading about? Where did He come from? How does He exist throughout time? Well, in the Word itself, it tells you that you should meditate on the Word, letting God’s thoughts infuse themselves into you. Let the spirit of God deliver His Divine messages as you read and meditate on them. That’s how my thoughts and opinions of the Word were formed, by seeking more than just reading the Word. Instead, connecting with it, seeking to understand this all-powerful being that created all that we are. Then, asking the question I think most of us have. Why?! What is the purpose? Who are we? Who is He?

So, let’s go back to the beginning… not the beginning of time…the beginning of my adventure to read the Word from cover to cover. It began with a thought—a decision that it was needed after almost 29 years of being saved and not having read the Word in this way. Not having read the Word much at all for that matter, I relied on others’ teachings to give me the truth. Not that I did not read at all…just that I read a verse here and there, and from time to time. Then, thought about what I was told or read to form my opinions. It was time…time to really read this Word that I had spent almost 29 years following in one form or another.

So, it began. And here is the treasure I discovered.

In the beginning! God was! And He decided He was going to create the universe and everything in it. The Word says He knew all that He would create before He created it. Remember that. It means something later in this summary. So… He began to form the universe we have come to know. He spoke them into existence. Hence the constant reference to the “Word”. He created the Heavens and the earth. And said it was good! He spoke the day and night into being to separate darkness and light, creating the days that would mark time (at least for us). He said again, “It is good!” He continued His creating to fulfill His intentional design. He created dry lands and separated them with oceans on His earth for the creatures He would later create. These creatures He intended to multiply and inhabit His creation, the creation He preconceived while existing alone in His vast vacuum of space. He created vegetation to cover His earth, vegetation that would feed His creatures. And it was Good! He said so. He created so much more, such as the spiritual beings He called angels. Angelic beings that would help Him in carrying out His master plan of existence in this universe He created. And it was all good! All of it–every single bit of it.

Yet, I got the impression He felt it was incomplete. Something was missing. He had it all, and it was good and perfect…in every way. Hear me! In every way! How could an all-powerful perfect being create anything but perfection? So… In fulfillment of His plan and pursuit of the perfect creation–conceived before time began–He created one more being.

From the very earth He spoke into existence, He created man. From the dust of His earth and those complex chemicals that made up the earth which He created. These are complex compounds that chemists marvel about today while conducting their experiments. They marvel at how smart they are to understand how all those chemicals work and interact, while ignoring (in most instances) giving God the glory for it being so. Yet, fact! Yes, from God’s created compounds man was created. And once again God said, “It is good!”

I surmise that now, God thought His creation was complete. He created nothing else. Wait! Before someone decides to say I am not telling the complete story. Yes, He did create Man’s companion after He created the first man. What I refer to is the first being that became mankind, and, at this stage, I perceived that He thought it was complete. For now?

You see, in my mind, God could have created the universe and everything in it to please Himself without any imperfection. All to serve Him. But how boring. God who has it all did not have companions to relate to in a manner that filled His being. If He had created perfect beings to praise and adore Him, He would have created a sterile, clinical-like environment, in my humble opinion. You would think He wanted a living being that He could provide for in His perfect creation but who could interact and relate to Him in ways other created beings could not or did not. He created man to fill that void, giving man free will–the ability to think and choose for himself. He gave that to man and his kind. And in doing so, He could interact in a way that was unlike any other created being.

It can also be surmised that God wanted more than that still. He wanted to have a relationship with this being to whom He gave free will. In pursuit of that, man would choose Him freely in return using that free will. I believe it was His intention to give and express His love to this being freely and abundantly. Man would have no desire or need for anything. What a thought. Think of how existence on this earth could have been if we had no need for anything–all being provided by God in abundance. Mankind would have a direct relationship with Him for as long as He chose to have us in existence. And man would return God’s love in abundance by freely and willfully giving truly felt love and gratitude back to Him for all His gifts.

Well, nice thought. But, it didn’t turn out that way as we read what really happened in God’s Word. You see, with this free will that He gave man was the ability to choose. This free will gave choices to man in abundance. Of everything! But… except for one thing that was the knowledge of good and evil. This one bit of something was the one thing that God did not want to give to His creation in abundance. For that matter, He did not want to give him even in small measure. Maybe I am stepping out of bounds by making this statement, but I don’t want to believe that God would have wanted to have man know of good and evil intentionally. He knew it would ruin all His plans to give His abundant Love to His treasured creation–the creation that was in His thoughts long before creation existed. It says so in the Word that He knew us before time itself. Every hair on our head was counted. Even then.

So, God gave Adam, the first man, and Eve, the first woman that was created for Adam, all that was good and pleasing to God in the Garden of Eden. A place of unimaginable beauty, I would think. There, Adam would name all the animals on earth by God’s command, where Adam interacted with God regularly. Everything seemed good, as God designed. Until it wasn’t. You see, deceived by the accuser in the garden, Eve decided to defy God and learn about the knowledge of good and evil by partaking of the tree that had the knowledge of evil infused in it. When Adam encountered Eve, who had defied God, convinced by Eve, he defied God also. The repercussions were immediate. They now knew they were naked, exposed if you will. They placed leaves to cover themselves in an attempt to cover their shame. But, the shame was deeper than just exposure of their nakedness. We all should learn that shame exposes our defiance against pleasing God. It would have pleased God if they had obeyed Him and not eaten of this tree and its knowledge. In this way, Adam and Eve would have continued to please God who intended to bless them with great abundance. It was then that God came looking for them as if He didn’t know of their defiance. But He did. Doesn’t God know everything?

This is where the story of mankind begins to unfold, and God begins His journey to redeem mankind from himself, for Himself. The Word goes on to describe many stories of man’s shortcomings: a depraved state of mind, corrupt morals, and a corrupt heart. His chosen people and their ventures of grace and glory spiraled into wickedness, falling from God’s grace because of their corrupt hearts—the central place of all evil. Only to be rescued by God, over and over again, in an attempt to redeem His creation. It tells stories of God using many men and women with great faults of character, doing His will even in their corrupted state. There were men who were cowards, and men who were of evil intent. We see wars between brothers, tribes, and nations and the evil they poured onto each other. We see the pain of sexual immorality; envy and jealousy; lying, cheating and stealing–acts of corruption God never intended for man to experience.

Or did He? Just a thought—was this in God’s plan all along in order to fulfill His greater, ultimate plan for eternity? Something to come back to later. But for now, ponder it. Chew on that for a time.

So, as we read on in God’s Word, we see God correcting and redeeming His creation, over and over. I began to call it “rinse and repeat”. Man dirties himself in corruption, mainly of the heart, and God would, again and again, wash him clean. Then man would dirty himself all over again. “Rinse and repeat”. It’s almost humorous if it were not so tragic, considering the glorious life God had planned for mankind.

In one of many stories, hundreds of stories in fact, God asks a man, who is to become known as Moses, to deliver His people from the clutches of Pharaoh (the king) who enslaved them. Moses, by his own assessment, did not think he was up to the task. And he wasn’t, but God used him anyway because through Moses’s weaknesses God could demonstrate His power. Think about it. If God had used a man of greater abilities, it could and likely would have been seen as the individual’s abilities that freed the slaves of Pharaoh. Then, it would make sense that God used men and women of lacking character and abilities. Using the weak and feeble, robbers and prostitutes, it showed all others with great egos and self-importance that the God of creation is greater still. In all ways, the outcome being superior to anything man could say or do. I also drew this conclusion: who else could He pick? God had no choice but to pick from mankind filled with only corrupt beings. He had no choice, as none are perfect.

Now, let’s look at this list of who He chose. Meditate on it as you think about how we stack up to all the miracles these God-inspired individuals achieved in the Bible because they relied on God.

Bible Examples of Human Failures:

*~ Noah was a drunk ~ Abraham was too old ~ Isaac was a daydreamer ~ Jacob was a liar ~ Leah was ugly ~ Joseph was abused ~ Moses had a stuttering problem (Moses stuttered) ~ Gideon was afraid ~ Samson had long hair and was a womanizer ~ Rahab was a prostitute ~ Jeremiah and Timothy were too young ~ David was an adulterer and a murderer ~ Elijah was suicidal ~ Isaiah preached naked ~ Jonah ran from God ~ Naomi was a widow ~ Job went bankrupt ~ John the Baptist ate bugs ~ Peter denied Christ ~ The disciples fell asleep while praying ~ Martha worried about everything ~ The Samaritan woman was divorced (more than once) ~ Zacchaeus was too small ~ Paul was too religious ~ Timothy had an ulcer ~ Lazarus was dead!

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And the list is incomplete! Let’s expand on this thought a bit more.

Adam, the first man, was a blame shifter who couldn’t resist peer pressure. (Genesis 3:12)

Eve, the first woman, couldn’t control her appetite and, could we say, had the first eating disorder? (Genesis 3:6)

Cain, the first-born human being, murdered his brother. (Genesis 4:8)

Noah, the last righteous man on earth at the time, was a drunk who slept in the nude. (Genesis 9:20-21)

Abraham, the forefather of faith, let other men walk off with his wife on two different occasions. (Genesis 12 and 20)

Sarah, the most gorgeous woman by popular opinion, let her husband sleep with another woman and then hated her for it. (Genesis 16)

Lot, who lost his father early in life, had a serious problem with choosing the wrong company. (Genesis 18-20)

Job, supposedly a contemporary of Abraham and the epitome of faith, suffered from the nagging of a faithless wife. (Job 2:9)

Isaac, who was nearly killed by his father, talked his wife into concealing their marriage. (Genesis 26)

Rebekah, the first “mail order bride,” turned out to be a rather manipulative wife. (Genesis 27)

Jacob, who out-wrestled God, was pretty much a pathological deceiver. (Genesis 25, 27, 30)

Rachel, who wrote the book on love at first sight, was a nomadic kleptomaniac. (Genesis 31:19)

Reuben, the pride and firstborn of Jacob, was a pervert who slept with his father’s concubine. (Genesis 35:21)

Moses, the humblest man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3), had a very serious problem with his temper. (Exodus 2, 32:19; Numbers 20:11)

Aaron, who watched Jehovah triumph over Pharaoh, formed an abominable idol during an apparent episode of hyperactivity or perhaps colossal amnesia. (Exodus 32)

Miriam, the songwriter, had sibling jealousy and a greed for power. (Numbers 12)

Samson, who put Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura to shame, was hopelessly enmeshed with a disloyal wife—and ended up taking his own life. (Judges 16)

Eli, who ruled over Israel, was a hopelessly incapable father who lost his sons to immorality—and to an untimely death. (1 Samuel 2, 4)

Saul, the first and powerful king of Israel, was apparently psychotic, with manic bursts of anger, episodes of deep depression, and traces of paranoia. He committed suicide. (1 Samuel 16, 18, 19, 31)

David, the friend of God, concealed his adultery with a murder. (2 Samuel 11)

Solomon, the wisest man in the world, was arguably the world’s greatest sex ****** with 1,000 sexual partners. (1 Kings 11)

With rare exception, all the kings that followed Solomon had mammoth issues in their lives.

Hosea, an incredibly forgiving man, grappled with the pain of a wife who could be described as a nymphomaniac. The prophets, even as they spoke for God, struggled with impurity, depression, unfaithful spouses and broken families.

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Are you hearing me? In other words, God used normal people like us… Imperfect people. The more normal the better for God. The worse the better in fact. It made His point all the better and clearer for us to understand—giving Him all the glory. Where it should be.

So, as God reaches out to us in His Word, He teaches us how to aspire to live in a manner that is pleasing to Him. All else is futile…sinful in His eyes. So why care? Well, God’s intent is to redeem us. Mankind. His creation. Remember in the beginning, He intended to live with us in a glorious relationship. We deprived Him of that loving relationship by defying Him, turning His creation upside-down. What was intended to be a great closeness to Him became a separation from Him. What was intended to be a deep comprehension of Him became a misunderstanding of Him. What He wanted us to experience from Him, which is an uncompromising love, became a distrust of His intentions for many who did not and do not experience His love.

Go back to all else is futile…sinful in His eyes. You see, sin has a consequence in God’s creation. God cannot have sin in His presence. Therefore, we would not, could not exist in His presence if we have sin in our lives. There will be a day, in His time, when sin will no longer exist. The Word says it clearly that sin will one day disappear from His creation. It will be contained in an everlasting state separated from God and His creation. God will have His way living with those who love Him perfectly. In the interim, while He completes His plan of redemption, He is allowing us to live in the reality of our own making—a world of an upside-down perception to His wisdom. It says His ways are higher than our ways. And they are!

Let’s look at that. It says it in the Word itself that creation is upside-down. If He intended to live with us (creation) in His abundance, but we live in need, it was us who did that. Mankind. Not God. He wanted us to have no sorrow and disappointment, yet many do every day. In one form or another, it was us who did that. Not God! He wanted us, mankind, to live not knowing sin. Yet our very being is corrupt with sin. Sin that will separate us from Him if we do not learn to turn away from it. It is us who do that, by choice, with the free will He gave us. Not God!!!

And God knows that if we continue in our current corrupt state, sin will lead us to death—separation from Him for eternity…separation from love and provision. But aren’t we separated from Him now? No, we are not. Not yet. He has given us a time of grace. We live in a time when we can seek Him and reconcile with Him, apart from our transgressions as humans. Individually. You see, in His plan of redemption for mankind, He made provisions for our souls to be rescued from ourselves. He planned for a perfect sacrifice to be given unto Himself, the only way that it could be done for a perfect being. God! A sacrifice that is spelled out in the Word. The greatest story of all the stories, in my and many others’ opinion. Where God Himself becomes the ultimate sacrifice to cover all sins of the world. A gift from God.

But why? Well, remember God wants to redeem His creation to live with Him in loving relationship throughout all eternity. I believe it’s always been the plan. So, in the Word, in the many stories He tells us repeatedly, over and over and over, He urges us to seek Him and His ways. In essence, help Him help us.

The first step in helping Him help us is to accept His gift. It is a gift of salvation from our own sins which lead to death. He has planned this free gift to take you from death into life for eternity with Him. From that point, it is a work of faith. The only way God can be pleased is by pledging our faith to Him. In everything we do. Everything. Working out your walk with Him who redeemed you and believing that His Son who became that perfect sacrifice for all mankind has paid for all your sin in full. What a wonderful gift.

But again… Why?! Well, I sprinkled it into my previous words to you. The Word says that God Is Love. And He loves us so completely that He gave His only Son for the debt we created on our accounts with Him. A debt of sins that stacked up beyond our ability to pay. In essence, we were bankrupt. I would say we still are in many ways because if you are saved and still sin (and we do, even if it is just in thought), we transgress against our Savior God. Even in our salvation—how dumb are we? how ungrateful? How human. But we are a peculiar creation. Remember we have free will. That little detail that made it possible for all God’s good and loving intentions to be turned upside down in the garden of Eden is still with us to this day.

So… how do we square that reality? First, God’s redemption plan took His Son instead of us in place of our debt. We accept His gift by faith, which pleases Him. Then, we begin a walk with Him with His Spirit to work out our relationship with Him. One of the ways God’s spirit spoke to me in this walk is to stir me to write not just this summary of thoughts, but other thoughts I have included below—prayers that I wrote to start and end my day. They remind me of my place in His creation, of my place in His plan for the redemption of others as well, in which He takes pleasure—if we participate in saving others’ souls to Him.

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So, this is how I have chosen to start and end my day—in the pursuit of serving and surrendering all to the One who is everything. Forever! I note and say loudly and clearly, I do it imperfectly. Every day. In spite of everything, surrendering daily, by faith, I recognize Him and His authority. For others, the need to read and study the Word to see how God’s spirit reaches out to those who seek Him is for you to discover. Then, be sensitive to hearing His direction, and follow it. Follow it! It is better to do what He wants than to oppose Him. He is God. You are not. And if you do follow, you will find that He will be faithful to provide.

With that in mind. Think of this. God wants faith in Him only. He wants you to separate yourself from your own efforts, and ego, and rely on Him to lead your life. Just as it would have been in Eden. He provided all. He wants us to stop relating happiness in life to things we can attain or achieve. Do not make earthly things your God. If you do, you are making things, that God created, take His place. Yet, if you focus on Him above all that He has created, you have everything. Hear me. A relationship with Him who created all is better than a relationship with what was created. With Him, the Creator! You have it all! Everything!!! Nothing means more. Meditate on that!

Back to my thoughts of the Word. I could have taken you through many stories in the Word and described them to you. But this was a journey, and this is what I took away from my reading of the Word cover to cover. Although this is not an exhaustive summary of all that the Word has to offer in thought and in spirit, it is a beginning—a start in meditating on His Word. His plan. His intentions of pouring His love into my life. This is only the beginning, knowing that what I have learned is only the start of what God has to offer.

Bible scholars may torch me on many levels for what I share. But I fear no man. I fear God. He knows my heart. He knows that I may not know Him as others do. Reading of the Word has brought me to the knowledge that the more I know, the more I am responsible for what I share of Him. My intent is simple—to spark a genuine desire for others (you) to seek Him and their (your) own relationship with Him. I am inspired to reach out to those who would be open to His call when He calls. His plan is still the same—to redeem His creation, and we all are His creation, even Bible scholars who would correct me. (By the way, I welcome correction if it is truly of God.) For God uses others to correct those He loves. Circumstances as well. Challenges. Trials. All for perfecting in us a walk back to Him.

I am inspired to reach out to those who endeavor to seek Him. I have become bolder to encourage others to read the Word as if it were the map to abounding treasures because in simple words—It is. He will embrace you with open arms, knowing He has the chance to save another soul into His eternity. A soul He knew before time began can be reconciled back to Him. Redeemed for His Honor and Glory. He and only He is worthy.

In summary, I end this thought with this prayer. Pray it along with me if you feel inspired to do so.

I Serve the MOST HIGH!
• Father, Creator, Savior and all Mighty Sovereign God! • I come before you in humble obedience,
• Covered by the Blood of your Son, Jesus our Savior.
• I praise thee; I honor thee; I exalt thee.
• I reach out to you, first, beyond all, for your forgiveness.
• I know, as a human, I am simply a sinner, short of your perfection and in need of You
• in need of your mercy and grace to provide a lifeline daily.
• For the everyday challenges that persecute all of us, your creation, as the accuser trips and stumbles us,
• persecuting us and whispering to us that we cannot weather the storm of the day.
• I stand in direct opposition, covered in the Blood of the Lamb, and whisper into his ear…
• “I am a child of God, a man of faith, a warrior of Jesus Christ. I proclaim in the mighty name of Jesus, I am the storm!”
• Not of my own strength, but by the strength You provide. For without it, the accuser is right. I could not weather his storms.
• But, through You, my Savior, I can do all things through You who provide my strength.
• Moreover, provide me with strength to do what can seem much more subtle, and insignificant–
• that is to recognize when we need to give grace and mercy to others.
• To act more like You, as You desire, giving grace to those who trespass against us.
• I ask for Your wisdom to know when You provide the opportunity to share Your gift of salvation to others–
• that they too may come into the knowledge of You. Be saved.
• And come into eternity with You, as You desire for all Your creation.
• Be with me today. Hear my prayer. That it be in Your will to grace me with these requests.
• I praise thee; I honor thee; I exalt thee Forever and ever, Amen, Amen, and Amen!