WHEN GOD CREATED YOU, HE SAID IT WAS GOOD!

BIBLE PASSAGE:
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image 
of God he created them; male and female he created them. 
(Genesis 1:27)

MEDITATION:
After a loss due to lack of execution, Vince Lombardi 
(coach of the Green Bay Packers) called a team meeting.
At the start of the meeting he held up a football and said,
“Gentlemen, we need to get back to the basics, this is a football”.
He wanted them to get rid of all of the clutter in their minds 
and focus on doing what was expected of them on the field.

Sometimes, it is good for us to ‘get back to the basics’ 
and review what God did in the book of Genesis.
When God looked at the world He had created, He declared it good. 
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. 
And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

Making man—male and female—in His image 
was a crowning achievement of His creative work 
Psalm 139 reminds us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.
You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; 
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

“Wonderfully” means “extremely well”, which is a reminder to us that 
‘God doesn’t make junk’; He made us all with great potential.
However, He gave us the freedom to choose 
how we will use the potential He gives to every individual.

We will face a final evaluation where we will be judged 
on what we have done with what He has given us.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 
so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things 
done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Sometimes we clutter our minds with failure and need to ‘get back to the basics’.
We need to remind ourselves of how God created us, and what He expects of us.
When we compare ourselves to other people, we notice the things we lack. 
At other times, we repeatedly criticize ourselves for mistakes we’ve made. 
How can we enjoy the awesome potential God has given us 
when we see so many ways in which we fall short?

When he was growing up in Pharaoh’s household, 
Moses appeared to have many advantages. 
Then he killed an Egyptian and fled the country. 
No longer did he seem a likely candidate to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. 
But God looked beyond what Moses had done, and saw who he could become.

Before being saved, 
the apostle Paul vehemently opposed those who believed in Jesus. 
Yet through God’s mercy, he became a mighty evangelist 
and the author of several New Testament books. 

Peter was a simple fisherman 
who denied that he knew Jesus (not once but three times). 
Still, the Lord chose him to become the leader of the Jerusalem church.

Our Father sees beyond our human frailties to the potential we have in Christ. 
Because we were made in His image and His Spirit dwells in us, 
we have a greater capacity for spiritual transformation 
and service than we could imagine. 

ACTION:
Is it time for you to unclutter your mind of your failures 
and focus on what God expects you to do with what He has given you?
Don’t allow Satan to convince you that you are unworthy of serving the Lord.
Satan wants to convince you that you cannot, 
while God wants you to know that you can!

Which one knows you better – the One who created you for success, 
or the one who wants you to fail?
Satan wants to convince you that God’s commands are not fair 
so that you will choose to ignore them, or defiantly disobey them.
If he can cause you to feel guilty for failing in one area, then he has 
gained a foothold and can convince you that will fail in other areas as well.

As an example, Satan can use the value we place on money 
to create a lack of trust in us that God will provide all we need, 
whenever we obey His command to bring Him our tithes and offerings.
Of course, when we realize that we are stealing from God, Satan has 
succeeded in convincing us that we are failures, and are unusable by God.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for seeing the good in me that I can’t see 
myself. Thank You for valuing me enough to consider me usable for 
Your purposes. Thank You for giving me the capacity to forget my past 
failures and look to the future with a new hope. Thank You for loving us 
enough to allow Your Son Jesus to go to the cross for our sins. You are 
the God of the universe, and the only God we worship.”

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