1: Amen

Step one in knowing God begins at the end :) ... That sounds a little strange but it is oh so true! Let’s jump to the end. The very end. Like the last word in the Bible. That end. Read the last verse of the Bible :: Revelation 22:21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Memorize it :: Revelation 22:21 The Bible ends with the word Amen. There is incredible significance in studying and thinking through why God chose to end the Bible like He didwith a single word. The last word could have been any word., but the word He chose was http://amen.why choose the word “Amen”? Let’s take a deeper look. AmenWhen you study the word amen, you find that it means :: I agree, so be it, or let it be, among other meanings. You see the Bible ends with the writer saying “let it be.” Let everything that has been said happen. He’s in agreement. He’s not debating. He’s not trying to work his own plan. He’s not second guessing the Leader or causing a fight. He’s in agreement. He’s submitting to the stated Word of God. He’s giving waysubmitting to God. He’s giving way to his own desires and giving in to the desires of God. It’s a word of yielding. It’s a word of passion. It’s a word we say to indicate that we are “all in” and in full agreement. When a speaker makes a point you agree with it’s super common for someone to say the word amen. When you see something that makes sense to you, it is ordinary to say, “amen to that” or “that’s right”. This is exactly what the writer is doing. This is the single purpose of God. He’s doing this by design. He wants us to agree with Him and His ways. He wants us to embrace the truth of love and grace we find all through the Bible. He desires for us to fully take on and agree with His plan for salvation and His plan for our lives. By ending with Amen, the writer agreed with God as creator in Genesis, Counselor in Psalms, Truth Bringer in the Prophets, Judge in the Old Testament, Life Giver in Jesus, Teacher in Paul, Guide for life in the Gospels, deep Teacher in Romans, and End Maker in Revelation. The writer agreed with it all, and so should we. There is so much to learn from the little word amen at the end of the Bible. The way God choseGod’s choice to end His love letter to us this way paints a picture of what His desire is for us now and forever. It paints a picture of … Unity… Oneness… Connection… Harmony… Identity…He paints a picture A picture that moves a of a follower of God listening to listen closely and being united with His Word. Ending the Bible with “Amen” is a message of ... Unity ... Oneness ... Not broken away from ... Locked in step with ... Connected to ... etc. Ending with Amen sends the message that the follower of God is one who agrees with Him. No debate. No division. Full agreement with the King of all Kings. Unity with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The end of the Bible and the end of what God allowed us to have as a last word is a central truth and a belief system for us to follow every day. It is His intention.! Take a few minutes today and meditate on what it means to agree with God. Allow yourself some time to take a close look at your heart and ask if there is unity with you and the Word of God. Think hard about your daily life choices and think deeply about your actions. Are you in agreement with the Word of God in your actions? It is one thing to say it with your words, but do you live it out with your feet and hands? Does your lifestyle agree with God? Do your actions, the way you act at school, in your home, at work, with your parents and with your friends, say, I agree with Jesus? Do they agree with God’s Word? Do they agree with the heart of God? Are they unified? Are they one? Take some time right now to write a prayer to God ... ask Him to merge your mind with His Word. Seek the One who brought grace and mercy to a world full of rejection and hate. Tell Him your desires and truly try to agree with Him today. You will never be able to agree with God without a relationship with Him. Are you saved? Have you asked Him to forgive you of your sins and give you new life? Have you repented and gone to Jesus and admitted you were born a sinner? If not, take the time right Read 1 John 1:9 and now to ask Him to save you because . you will never be able to agree with God without a relationship with Him. Read I John 1:9. You will also never be able to agree with God on your own strength. John 15:5 speaks clearly and says, “apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Rely on Jesus today. Lean on Jesus right now. Ask Him, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to help you live an “Amen Life”. An amen life is the only life that truly pleases God and it certainly is the life God uses to advance the Gospel. Let’s unify with the heart of God and advance the Gospel today! Amen!

2 :: In The Beginning God

November 24, 2021 • Genesis 1:1

Once you begin the journey of agreeing with God and truly following Him, it is vitally important that you study closely the way God started everything in motion. How did He create? What was happening in the mind of God when He started? How was His attitude? Where was His heart? Where was His person? What was His approach in the creation of all things? Let’s take a look at the first 5 words of the Bible. In ... the ... beginning ... God ... created. Memorize it :: Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now ... let’s look closely at each of the 5 http://words.break it down. In :: Beginning with “In” is beautiful and teaches us a massive amount about the mind and heart of God. You see God was in it at the beginning. He, like really Him, was in the beginning. Being Creator comes with incredible abilities, one of which was the ability to hand off creation. He could have contracted out the creation of the world along with you and me ... but He didn’t! He was in it from the beginning. He was present. He was leading the creation effort of it all, and He used the word “in.” God was “in” then, and He’s “in” now. He never leaves. He was in. He was has always been all in. The :: Then there’s The. It’s fun to think about each of these five words and especially fun to spend some time meditating on and about “the.” The indicates one. This “one,” is foundational because we’re taught here that there truly was a beginning. There is no way for our finite minds to comprehend anything before the beginning, but there was a beginning. The was “the” beginning. One start. One. Once there was nothing, and now there is something. God is the Maker of the beginning. Just like “in”, “the” paints a beautiful picture of God. We learn here that there is one beginning, and God was there. There weren’t multiple beginnings of the world. There was one. God was “In the.” We see a God of involvement in the word “the”. We see a God with a plan in the word “the.” If He can handle “the” beginning, He can handle your circumstances. If He was present in the first “big” beginning, He will be there for our big beginnings as well. Beginning :: Such a powerful but sometimes overlooked word. Beginning is incredible because in it we have the picture of a God that can make something start simply by thinking and then speaking. When He spoke a hundred billion moments started, everything that has ever existed took on life. The beginning in Genesis marks the point in our history where life really began. Before this moment there was nothing. After this moment, the foundation was laid for everything. Just think, before the beginning there were no whales, elephants, or giraffes. Before He acted, nothing like waterfalls and snow coveredsnow-covered mountains were even a concept. Before the beginning there was silence ... after the beginning the sounds we love so much entered the ears of us all. The beginning was also His idea. He made it. He thought it up. He figured it out. He needed no help either. The Godhead we know as the Trinity (God the Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit) made the beginning. Stop sometime soon and consider before the beginning. Nothing ... the void ... silence ... darkness ... simply nothing. Then God. Then He started. He was alive and well before our beginning, but we had nothing before He made it all. He was in the before ... He made the beginning. Remember the One who made “the one and only beginning,” can make you the beginning you need right now. Stop and ask Him to make you the beginning you need so desperately. Don’t lose hope. It may be quiet and dark where you are right now, but the beginning is found in Him. His Words make beginnings live. Read and explore His Word often. You’ll experience life like you never knew was even an option thought possible. Need a beginning? He’s ready and waiting. Check out Jeremiah 33:3. He waits for your call. He has answers for your darkness. The One who spoke a few billion stars into motion and perfect alignment can certainly step in and untangle your world in a flash. God :: Our first sighting of God in the history of our world is one of Him doing what He does best.…CREATING! Notice He needs no other being to come alongside Him to make everything work just like it does. There is one God and He was in the start. The fourth word in the Bible has three little letters, but it’s truly the most powerful word in all of our pretty incredible language. God! Creator. Sustainer. Maker. Originator. It’s also incredibly important for our Journey that we know who it is that is doing everything. Scripture, four words in, identifies the One who it is all about. God is the hero. No one else. He is King. He is Ruler. We live in the Kingdom of God. The interesting thing about a kingdom is that the King is in charge, and the King isn’t elected. He is the clear leader, and the One who does it all. This God we see in Genesis is the One True God. At the end of the Bible the writer says Amen ... the writer was agreeing with the first 4 words and agreeing that God is the One who made it all. As you read and think today, please notice who is present in this moment. Only God was there. Only God. The Bible makes a massive point 4 words in ... the point is that God is the hero. He is the One who gets it all. He is the One who reigns supreme. Please notice that He needed no one to make everything. One of the downsides of the culture we live in today is that it raises the minds of humans and elevates us to a place where we were never meant to live. Genesis, the fourth word in, shouts that God needed no help to make it all. He has no equal. He seeks no counsel. He is in charge.

3 :: What does God Say About Jesus

Jesus The Word became flesh. It’s time to meet Jesus. What does the Bible teach us about Jesus? Among many things, we learn that Jesus is life, He’s engaged, He’s present and the The One who made it all in Genesis is the One who shows us life today. Jesus is the Word. The Bible says this about Jesus in John 1:1. In the beginning God was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God . The first verse of John teaches us many important facts, and brings to light an important term. Jesus is referred to as "The Word," from the Greek word logos. Christ is the Logos, the definition, the meaning, the "Word" of God. This is the first of John's seven names for Jesus: "The Word." We can also learn from the word logos in this verse that Jesus is the same as the Creator. The verse says, The Word was God. The Logos was God. It is here that Jesus is established as God. Jesus was no ordinary man. He is fully God. He was with God in the beginning as the Creator. When we look back over weeks one and two, Amen and In the beginning God created, we see Jesus. The writer in Revelation agrees and the opening of the Bible states that God created it all. Jesus, the Son of God is the Word. He was in the beginning and He is in the end. He holds it all together and in John 1:1 He is introduced in all His glory and power. Jesus is the Word! Jesus is God walking on earth as a man. God in the flesh. Jesus is not just a prophet, He is not a religious leader who did good things. Jesus is God. God in the flesh. God walking among us. God, the One who came to earth. The One who made it all is with the people. The Word. God. Holy and powerful with the name called Jesus. Later in the book of John we see these incredible words ... “I have come to bring life and not just life, but life on top of life.” Memorize it :: John 10:10 The thief comes to kills steal and destroy, but I have come to bring life and bring it the fullest. One of the most interesting things about life is there is no life outside of life. Only death outside of life. When Jesus says, “I am the way and I am the life,” he means it. Jesus is life. Jesus is the only way to life. Jesus exists in love and in Him is true life. If you find yourself in death today, then maybe its because you don’t have a relationship with Jesus. Take a few minutes right now and think about your life. Have you ever asked Jesus to save you? Have you admitted that you are a sinner and that your only hope for life now or in all eternity is to admit you are a sinner. Jesus says that if you confess Him with your mouth and believe in your heart that He will save, then you will be saved. He is the only way to life. When it comes to life ... we only find it in Jesus. Looking for life outside of Jesus is like looking for color in a pitch black room. Trying to find life outside of Jesus is like searching for a roaring river in the middle of a desert. Trying to find life outside of Jesus is exactly like straining for oxygen while under water. We can’t see in the dark, find rivers in the desert and breathe under water. The same is true for real life. You can’t find it outside of Jesus. You were made to know Jesus and make Him known to others. Being a Christian is a call to being like Christ. No two ways about it, Jesus forgives our sins and then leads us through the rest of our life. We are made by Him to live for Him. He gave you life to be in Him. Being who you were made to be takes time and energy. It requires focus and intentionality. There is a mystery in the Christian life. We are saved by grace and led to be like Jesus along the way. When we accept Jesus and become a follower of Christ, God begins to take us on a journey of maturing and becoming. Maturing into the life we were made to live happens by faith. Becoming the person we were made to be happens by faith. Walking daily by faith is who you are called to be. Question :: 1. What does it look like to walk by faith? 2. What does walking by faith look like to you? 3. What does the Bible each about walking by faith? 4. Take a few minutes before you continue and write down the answer to these questions today? ___________________ The Plan of Salvation The way to Jesus is faith. The way to living like Jesus is also faith. (Romans 1) Daily seeking Him by reading the Bible through faith, talking to Him through prayer by faith, serving Him daily by being love to the people we meet and encouraging one another by being together by faith. By faith ... Be who He made you to be and walk with Him through the every moment of your life. Let Him guide you by talking to Him often. Read His words and meditate on them. Memorize verses in the Bible and watch them bring you life in a sometimes really hard cruel world. Jesus is life. His death gave us life. His sacrifice made us new. His willingness to die modeled the way to real life. He lived a life of surrender, and so should we. The Christian life is a daily dying to self life full offilled with steps of faith and obedience. The Christ life is a surrendered life. Want to know who you were made to be? After salvation, you, being made clean through Jesus are called to find your being in Him and only Him. Remember, outside of life is no life. Take a few minutes right now and write down who you are in Jesus. Re-read what you’ve just read and write a summary of who you think you really are. You are saved. Your old life is gone. You are filled with the Trinity. You are a saint. Not a sinner. You are made by love, and you are called to love for the rest of your life!