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Hear Today's Devotional Here: http://bit.ly/3rY5WvG
1 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth - all you see, all you don't see. 2 Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. 3 God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared. 4 God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. 5 God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning - Day One. (Genesis 1:1-5 The Message)
Happy Wednesday ConCafe Family! And may the blessings of this midweek day grant you, Friend, peace, hope, and joy!
First, a word about the recording of yesterday's devotional; From Sunday until Tuesday afternoon, I was in Houston. I had my iPhone microphone and thought I could record the devotional narration on it, but it did not make it on the app, and those of you who tried opening heard an older ConCafe. I am home now and will record today's devotional and yesterday's and links to both will be on the link above. Thank you for understanding.
The Story of Creation is where our holy scriptures begin. They point to only one Creator, God. The ancients as they recorded what they had heard from their forebears, made it a work of faith; God made it all. And they added, wisely, "all you see, all you don't see." The Heavens and the Earth were made by God's loving hands. "Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness." That pretty much sums up creation; a chaos of potential that took the power and presence of God to create into an orderly potential. The ancients said that God's Spirit "brooded lilke a bird above the watery abyss." God with the nothingness and with the power of the spoken word brings all things into being. "Light" was first, and God saw that this light was good; and separating the light from the dark; God named the light Day and the dark Night, and this was Day One with an evening and a morning. The foundation for all that followed, was grounded in Light. Given that Light was first in God's creation, and that God Himself called it Good, we see that this is what God wanted; a creation living in Light, and also being Light to the world. What we see Jesus doing in being baptized in water was the first calling to people in darkness to come to the Light of God's love. And to put it into incredible contrast, the waters of the Jordan have never been considered appealing or clean; remember Naaman and his declaration that the rivers in his country were way better than those of the Jordan, but the waters of the Jordan hold healing powers, and hold a very special place in God's heart.
Who holds a more dearer place in God's heart? YOU! All that God has done since that first day of Creation until now, has been for your benefit and mine. The Baptism of our Lord was mainly for our purpose, not His; but HIs love and concern for us allowed Him to be baptized, then crucified. What is our response to that?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for all You've done for us. May we never take for granted any of Your mercies. May we see the Light of day, the waters that run in and through our homes, in rivers and streams serve as reminders of Your presence and love. May we in turn be Light to others and invite them to come into the fellowship. Hear this prayer of faith in Christ's love and name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be Light, Share love today!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
Hear Yesterday's devotional here: http://bit.ly/3pZbhRL . Hear Monday's devotional here: http://bit.ly/3hNCC6q
