Genesis 1:22 journal page

"And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth." Genesis 1:22

       In the Old Testament the spirit of man is the principle of life, viewed especially as the seat of the stronger and more active energies of life; and the "spirit" of God is analogously the Divine force or agency, to the operation of which are attributed various extraordinary powers and activities of men, as well as supernatural gifts. In the later books of the Old Testament, it appears also as the power which creates and sustains life. It is in the last-named capacity that it is mentioned here. The chaos of verse 2 was not left in hopeless gloom and death; already, even before God "spake," the Spirit of God, with its life-giving energy, was "brooding" over the waters, like a bird upon its nest, and (so it seems to be implied) fitting them in some way to generate and maintain life, when the Divine fiat should be pronounced.
       This, then, is the first lesson of the Bible; that at the root and origin of all this vast material universe, before whose laws we are crushed as the moth, there abides a living conscious Spirit, who wills and knows and fashions all things. The belief of this changes for us the whole face of nature, and instead of a chill, impersonal world of forces to which no appeal can be made, and in which matter is supreme, gives us the home of a Father. Hastings

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP.

• Scripture: "... and fill the waters in the seas,"
• Observation: Our God certainly enjoys blessing us with an abundance of life! His generosity always exceeds our expectations. The world is full of people who want to limit the way God creates, or the how God creates, or the why God creates, but He is an artist, that owns His own power and answers to no one.
  
• Application: Apart from God, I am not nearly generous enough. But with God, I can give life enough to fill many hearts, worlds apart from my own.
  
• Prayer: LORD help me to remember your generosity whenever I admire the works of your creative mind and spirit. Let nature be an obvious teacher to me. Let me see your abundant glory, your generous blessings whenever I view the open sea or the vast skies above. Amen

Left, you can see the tip-in from my previous post. Right, The text in my paper cut page reads, "fill the waters in the seas..."

   Focus on Paper Cutting.

        For this scripture, I cut two carp to swim in my bible's margins. I selected a few sheets of origami paper to design the fish and a transparent blue pattern paper from Erin Bassett's book, "The Art of Bible Journaling." I also cut and folded a bit of tissue paper for the fish fins.

       

You may print and integrate this fish into your own personal Bible journals.

Focus On Listening.

This version of "For the Beauty of The Earth" is

 sung by Michelle Swift, I have also posted another

version at Color The Bible recently here.