"in His very image"

Monday, April 15, 2019 (5:55 a.m.)

Blessed, Holy God,

Thank You that You are good. And thank You that I am made in Your image (Genesis 1:27). I think I forget that. A lot.

(6:50 a.m.)

Thank You that there is so much written about our being created “in His very image”. Thank You for the smile that grows ever bigger with all that I am reading this morning.

I confess to the confusion that comes with some newly presented material. And of course the drowsiness that stems directly from the concentration involved in learning. Thank You Father. Praise You. Teach me more I pray.

Here I get to read. Learn. Wonder. Doze. Breathe. Stretch. “Live, move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

It never ceases to amaze me how saying or even thinking certain things with You leads me to one verse or another. Thank You Father. I love You so much.

As we prepare to get going with our day I look to You asking (Matthew 7:7) that You go before, behind, beside, beneath, above and within us. Completely surrounding and encompassing us in Your goodness, strength and power.

I do love You Father. And I long to serve You in the very way You originally designed me.

Here I quote from an Illustrated Bible Handbook Theology in Brief. “Human Nature: Man in the Image of God... The Bible, like our newspapers, testifies to the damage sin does in human experience. We carry God’s likeness imperfectly. But the basic fact is that we human beings have the potential for restoration…” Yes Father! Praise You.

“God’s image has not been eradicated [destroyed] (cf. Gen. 9; James 3:9). We are created in the image of God, and thus have infinite worth and value. Our respect for others, our acceptance of ourselves, and our sense of the worth of every individual, rest on this foundation. For study: Psalm 8; Hebrews 2:5-18.”

Oh Father. How I ask You to increase ‘our respect for others, acceptance of ourselves, and our senses of the worth of every individual.’ Mm. Yes. Let us more fully reflect Your image and Your likeness.

Mm, yes, Father. Here again the above theology, “We share with God capacities that only persons possess: we think, we feel, we value, we choose.” Yes Father! Empower me in doing these well.

I love You. I thank You. Amen.

(402 words ~ 7:52 a.m.)