Psalm 139:13-14 (ESV)

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

Explanation:

This scripture is a beautiful reminder of how God perfectly designed and created each of us. He had a perfect design, and He knit each and every one of us together. He shaped us from the very first day. His plan for us was perfect. We can praise and celebrate who we are, knowing that God designed each of us with purpose. How we were designed was not an accident. Knowing this should cause us to praise God and worship Him, to marvel at the details and how God created each of us uniquely.

God’s works are wonderful, majestic, and perfect. You are His beautiful creation, perfectly designed and created. You are designed on purpose and for a purpose. God designed you beautifully and wonderfully.

Application:

1. Are there parts of your personality or character that you struggle with or feel insecure about?

2. How does it change your perspective to know that God designed you perfectly, with a plan and purpose?

3. What are some of your unique talents, gifts, and abilities?

4. How are you using these gifts, talents, and abilities to bring God glory?

Prayer Prompt:

• In those areas where you are insecure, take some time today to ask God to help you see yourself the way He does, and to remind you that He designed you the way He did on purpose. Then celebrate the way God made you, and ask Him how you can use your gifts and talents to bring Him glory.

Devo Plus:

• Read all of Psalm 139 to learn more about how you were created and designed.

Psalm 8:3-8 (NLT)

3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—

the moon and the stars you set in place—

4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,

human beings that you should care for them?

5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God

and crowned them with glory and honor.

6 You gave them charge of everything you made,

putting all things under their authority—

7 the flocks and the herds

and all the wild animals,

8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,

and everything that swims the ocean currents.

Explanation:

David wrote this psalm shortly after he killed Goliath. Remember…he was a shepherd boy and had watched the stars wink night after night. He had such confidence in God that he could boldly write that the galaxies were a work of God’s finger. David’s awe should totally be eclipsed by ours, since we have lived through man walking on the moon and regularly see footage of earth from a satellite’s position. It’s all a tribute to the Lord’s power, the work of his finger.

In light of God’s power, David is astonished by the reality of how God loves us…mere mortals.

Application:

1. Verse 4 shows God is more interested in people than He is planets, more interested in souls than He is stars, even more interested in us than He is the universe. Immerse yourself in that reality. Ponder it. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate that in such a way you know your soul’s worth!

2. Verse 5 speaks of the honor with which He has created us. We are crowned with glory and honor, being created in God’s image, a little lower than the angels. We are so special to God. We are near and dear to Him, and He knows our name (Isaiah 43:1). We are called. Have you answered His call to be in relationship with Him and live your life for Him?

3. Verses 6-8 speak of what He commissioned us to do. Are you being mindful of the wonderful world He created for us to steward? It is an awe-inspiring question, to ask God what we need to be more mindful of in caring for His creation.

Prayer Prompt:

• In light of God’s power to create, ask Him to create a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you (Psalm 51), to manifest His desire for your life.

Devo Plus:

• “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!”

(Psalm 139:17, NKJV)

James 3:9 (ESV)

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

Explanation:

James, an apostle and a brother to Jesus, is a ferociously blunt writer. In the course of his epistle (letter), he moves from topic to topic, hitting the major issues and themes he feels his audience needs to hear. It is straight forward and hard hitting at times. But James does so because he wants to see his audience walk in a genuine faith.

In one of the major sections of his letter, he talks about the “tongue,” essentially the personified way of talking about what we say. In James fashion, he says that the tongue has a direct line to hell. He explains what he means by penning the verse we have above. With the tongue, we sing worship songs and talk of our love for God, but then we curse those who are made in the image of God. He is talking about the gossip, backbiting, and nastiness that can so easily come out of our mouths. But my focus here is the second part, where he calls us to love because we are “image bearers.” James wants his people to understand that you can’t say you love God, and then look at the person who sits across from you and bears the same image, hate them, and say all sorts of nasty things about them. It is incongruous. Our love for God is meant to play out in our love for His creation, specifically those He created to reflect His likeness.

Application:

1. Think about yesterday and ask yourself this question. Did the way you treated others reflect the fact that they are made in the likeness of God?

2. What is one thing you can do today to practice loving other “image bearers”?

Prayer Prompts:

• Ask God to help you treat others with respect and kindness.

• Ask God to help you see others as God sees them.

Devo Plus:

• Read James 3:1-12 and write down five things you observe from the passage.

Author: Skip Lloyd

I love to be outside. In fact, I love to do most anything outside…run, bike, hike, canoe, walk, and even sit outside. Part of my quiet time, after my Bible reading time, is to just be outside…and pray. I feel God’s presence when I’m outside.

The reason I love being outside so much is that I can see the amazing handiwork of God. It's breathtaking, isn’t it? The night sky filled with stars. Shining like diamonds. I love to watch the heavens at dawn and the blazing orange canvas. I don’t care much for rainy days, but even when the storms come and fill the gray skies with an outpouring of rainfall, the trees look like they are dancing as they sway in the wind. I love to experience the wonders of God’s artistic hand.

It came to me the other day as I walked my neighborhood. I was walking under a canopy of blue skies, trees beginning to change colors, the nip of cold in the air, beautiful mums, and grass that is still green. I marveled at the awesomeness of God’s creation. Yet, even though the scenery was beautiful, there is something greater. God’s greatest masterpiece is you and me. When God created the heavens and the earth (with all its beauty), He rested and said it was really good. Really, really good, if you ask me. Yet, God said something was missing. Us! You and me. So, He made us (man and woman) in His image and likeness of Himself. We were created to have a relationship with God. We weren’t an afterthought. We were the final special touches of His creation. We are His greatest work, so special to Him that He says we are the apple of His eye.

For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you-for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye—

(Zechariah 2:8, NIV)

We are His handiwork.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

(Ephesians 2:10, NIV)

You are His most prized possession. You are His masterpiece. You matter most to Him. He loves you. And what a privilege it is we get to share God’s glory by sharing that Good News to all we know.

Genesis 2:18, 20-25 (ESV)

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Explanation:

In the beginning of Genesis, we see a magnificent God create everything by simply speaking. He then gave life to the pinnacle of His creation: man. However, our Creator knew that man would need a physical companion to carry out all He had planned and to reflect His perfect love. Our passage in Genesis tells us of the day that God brought all the animals before Adam to be named, and it was obvious that none would be a suitable helper for him. In a miraculous creative act, God took a rib from Adam and made woman. God could have just breathed another human being into existence, but there was significance, both to Adam and to us, that woman was made “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” By using part of Adam, the two were made part of each other, and through marriage, the joining together of both the spiritual and physical, they would be made one again. The ultimate union. The ultimate opportunity to express love. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for helper is “Ezer k’negdo” which literally means “Helper opposite him.” In God’s perfect plan, woman was the “opposite” of Adam…the perfect fit. By walking in sacrificial love, they would fill in the areas where the other had need, and together they would point creation toward the character of God.

Application:

1. Sometimes our differences in our marriages can be a source of friction, but verse 18 shows us that God’s perfect design is that our differences would be to our benefit.

Spend some time praying about the differences between you and your spouse. Ask God to help you see how to use those differences as a blessing to each other.

2. Verse 24 tells us that in light of this perfect union, man shall leave his father and mother, and hold fast to his wife. Take an honest assessment of yourself and how you prioritize your marriage. Could you use some help putting your relationship with your spouse first? Ask God for help in how to move forward.

3. Even if you aren’t married, you can still appreciate the different ways God created us. Take some time today and think about your personality and how God uniquely designed you.

Prayer Prompt:

• Spend some time in prayer, if possible, with your spouse. Ask God to help you both to glorify Him in your service of each other. Men, ask God to fine tune your leadership toward Christ and your sacrificial heart toward your wife. Women, ask God to soften your heart toward submission as you walk out in love, being the best help mate to your spouse.

Devo Plus:

• “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (Ephesians 4:2)

• “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8)

• “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." (John 15:12)

Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Explanation:

In this passage, we are given a glimpse into the creation of man and woman, the last of all creation. From the beginning, God decided, out of all of His creation, to make humans in His image and likeness. Although all creation speaks and shows us God, His glory, and His goodness, we were designed with His characteristics and made to reflect Him.

He gave humans dominion over all creatures, giving us responsibilities with how we utilize His creation. Yet out of all His creation, we are His greatest prize, His greatest treasure. All of this should remind us just how important we are to the One Who created us. By being created in His image, we are able to relate to God, and then go and reflect Him to the rest of the world.

Application:

1. What are some of the ways you think we are created in God’s image?

2. Why do you think God created us in His image?

3. Why do you think God gave us dominion and charge over the animals and other parts of His Creation?

4. What does this passage tell you about God’s love and care for us?

Prayer Prompt:

• Take time today to thank God for the way He created you. Ask Him to continue to show you the different ways you bear His image and likeness.

Devo Plus:

• Read the entire creation account in Genesis 1:1-31 to gain more insight.

Genesis 2:4-7 (ESV)

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Explanation:

Playing in the sand can be quite a fun experience for both children and adults. If you have ever visited a beach, or played in a sandbox in your own backyard, you know that sand is quite a sensational product. It has many properties that make it fun, but one of the most enjoyable ones is when you simply add water and pressure to sand. All of sudden, it becomes this versatile product that can be formed into an infinite amount of shapes and figures. This is why it’s the ideal product to make the infamous sandcastle. Sandcastles, however, are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the possibilities of what sand can be formed into. We can look at sand and say it is a fascinating and fun product, but we wouldn’t look at sand and say that within it are all the resources we need to make human life. The same could be said about dirt or clay or any similar product.

Yet, in today’s reading, we see God decide to take something like this, dust from the ground, and form human life out of it. So, what needs to happen in order for something as mundane and lifeless as dust from the ground to become the vastly complex organisms that we are? It took the very breath of God. Now, this isn’t something you can go out and buy at your local convenience store, pharmacy, or on the Amazon black market. No, this can only be found in the Creator of life Himself. I am sure we can all agree that we humans had some humble beginnings. God could have chosen anything to form us, and He chose dust. Friends, I think this is pivotal to reflect upon. At times, we can convince ourselves that we are superior because of something great we have done or earned. This is a very sober and real truth, but we are only dust without the breath of God in us. We are men and women of dust. God is the One who sustains us and holds us together; it is not our own doing. How fortunate and blessed we are to be upheld by the Creator of life.

Application:

1. What is so humbling about being a man or woman of the dust?

2. What does God turning dust into human life tell you about His power?

3. Why are you fortunate to have the breath of life in you today?

Prayer Prompt:

• God, thank You for the breath of life You breathed in me. I recognize that You are the giver and sustainer of my life, and I am grateful for that. I ask that you remind me of this truth any time I become forgetful. Glory and power to you, Creator God.

Devo Plus:

• Do a word study on the word “dust” in Genesis 2:7. Google how to do a biblical word study if you are unsure how to complete this activity.

Romans 8:19-22 (ESV)

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

Explanation:

In the midst of Paul’s letter to the Roman church, as he is talking about pain and suffering, he points them to the fact that even creation feels the consequence of sin. He hearkens back to the curse that God placed upon it in Genesis 3. Creation awaits our redemption, because when we stopped doing what we were designed to do, it stopped doing what it was designed to do. Creation was not meant to work against man, but we don’t have to think long to realize all the ways it does: natural disasters, toil in producing from it, even something as simple as protecting ourselves from an Ohio winter become a burden to humans. So, Paul celebrates and looks forward to a time when man will return to his rightful place as generous, caring rulers of this earth, as the representatives of God to all of His creation. Trusting Jesus, and participating in becoming like Him, is the hope for God’s creation.

Application:

1. What is one thing that stands out to you in today’s passage?

2. What is one practical way becoming more like Jesus can help you become a better steward of His Creation?

Prayer Prompts:

• Ask God to help you take the step to make you more like Him.

Devo Plus:

• Read Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 5, 6, and 7; and Romans 8:28-30. Notice the threads of God creating us for glory, us giving in to sin, and the calling to return to that place of glory!

Exodus 23:10-12 (NLT)

“Plant and harvest your crops for six years, but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves.

“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working. This gives your ox and your donkey a chance to rest. It also allows your slaves and the foreigners living among you to be refreshed.

Explanation:

The second half of Exodus records God’s regulations for the children of Israel after they were set free from being slaves of Egypt. He doesn’t want them to now become slaves to their ideas of productivity. Now they have to learn how to do life and how to obey God. He has the plan; they just need to listen.

God knows soil because He created it, and science has proven why it is so important that soil rest and be renewed. We are made of dust, and it is important for us to rest and renew. It is the rhythm of God’s order, from the land to man down to oxen.

Resting proves trust. Israel was the only nation to practice Sabbath, and it demonstrated their confidence in God to provide when they ceased from their labor, which is counterintuitive.

Application:

1. We know a candle burning at both ends cannot stand. Being burned out is not a badge of honor but a testament of disobedience, if we were to be blunt. What margin is needed in your life to practice Sabbath as your weekly rhythm?

2. Who holds the power for you to practice Sabbath? I’m going to give you the answer. God. If you surrender your schedule to Him, He will empower you to say no and give you wisdom to organize your life with margin and self-discipline.

Prayer Prompt:

• The reality is by practicing Sabbath you will accomplish more through doing less. But it will begin by sitting in His presence and taking in His words to your soul. I encourage you to set the mood with some music that draws your mind to think on these things; whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Practice Sabbath in your brain as you train yourself to think on the things of God and listen as He speaks to you. From that platform, schedule Sabbath into your week and watch the hand of God move in your life.

Devo Plus:

• “There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His.” (Hebrews 4:9-10)

• “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him.” (Psalm 62:1, NIV)

Genesis 1:26-29; 2:15 (ESV)

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Explanation:

It’s commonly said that we are a product of our environment and there is certainly some truth to that, but today’s reading also points to the truth that we are a product made for our environment. No, this isn’t a plug to help you discover how to mitigate some environmental issue going on in the world. This devotional thought is aimed at encouraging each one of us to ponder more deeply why the setting where God has placed us matters. Like chalk is made to write on a chalk board, we are designed with purpose by God to “live and move and have our being” as it says in Acts 17:28. It is the exact location where He purposed you for. He decided that this time in history, through your dad and mom, who lived in whatever location they lived in, would be the ideal environment to place you in. He did this for Adam and Eve when He put them in the garden of Eden, and He has done it for every human who has ever lived. God knew He wanted to use you in that place.

Keep in mind that when God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, it was a place without sin. Their environment, and the people therein, were not originally impacted by the devastation of sin. This was God’s ideal place for all of us. Some of you have lived in and experienced devastating environments. God never wanted you to experience an environment broken by sin. However, He also promised to help us rise out of the brokenness of sin and overcome as He has overcome. His plan is restoration, meaning He can rebuild you, no matter how harsh your environment was to you. He loves you that much, and still wants you to find a place where you can serve Him and enjoy Him. My friends, please don’t believe the lie that God somehow misplaced you. You, my friend, were made with a God-given purpose and identity. It will take faith and courage to believe God put you here and desires for you to “work it and keep it” alongside of Him and the body of Christ He has placed you in. Go…live and move and have your being!

Questions:

1. How have you seen God use you in the place He put you in?

2. How have you had to overcome, with God’s help, an environment devastated by sin?

3. What does it mean to you to have a God-given purpose and identity?

Prayer Prompt:

• Sovereign God, I know You have purpose in everything You do. Would You guide me to know how I can work and keep the places where You have put me? Help me to overcome any pain I have experienced in environments devastated by sin. Restore the joy of living with You and others in this place where You have put me.

Devo Plus:

• Find 2-3 more scripture verses that communicate God putting people in the right place at the right time.