Category: Creation - Jethro TOOLS

The Connection

3/22/2026

Genesis 2:4-25
The wind outside turned a normal evening into a lack of connection. It did not matter where, but somewhere between the power station and our house a tree fell on the electric line, breaking the electrical connection. Growing up this was a common occurrence as our home was plunged into darkness. It is interesting how connection to one line makes all the difference for most of our homes. An electrical connection is used for lighting, heating, cooling, cooking, washing and a myriad of other daily activities. Electricity is central to our society and infrastructure. Likewise, as we have seen previously in Genesis, God is the central figure giving life by connecting all that is living to His proper order. Genesis 2:4 begins by giving the account of God making the heavens and the earth. The following verses describe three ways that God provides people a connection to His creation. First, God provides connection with what He has made by giving life to the man (4-9). Second, God provides purpose for the man by giving physical and moral responsibilities (10-17). Third, God provides relational connection by giving the man a woman as an opposite but indispensable companion (18-23). God was the essential link giving life, purpose and relationship. The same is true today. The problem is that we often think that we create our own life, define our own purpose, and select our own relationships. This chapter closes by describing how God created marriage to communicate His connection with us (24-25). We are to leave the old life and start a new life by intimately connecting to Christ. We are to daily live lives of obedient submission and commitment to God’s rule by living God’s way. Simply put, marriage is to be a picture of the Gospel lived out in living color for all to see. Let us boldly proclaim our life giving connection with God who made us, loved us, and gave Himself for us.

For More See GENESIS

The Pattern

2/22/2026

Genesis 1:3-31
Have you ever failed at making something good? It may be a craft project, a carpentry project or a cooking project. From my early years, I remember one time when my mother made a German Chocolate birthday cake for my father. Everything was going well, until Mom had to assemble the layers. Everything started to slide. It was not good, but Mom had a creative solution. She reasoned that a rubber band can hold all kinds of things together. Therefore, it should be able to hold her cake together. It partially worked. The problem came when she went to cut the cake and could not find the rubber band. In Genesis 1 we see God record His process of creation. These verses contain the repeated pattern of: a command from God, a response to God’s command, a statement naming what has been created, followed by an assessment and marking of sequential order. In six days God created the heavens and the earth. The later days are used by God to fill what He had previously made. The heavens are filled with the moon and stars. The waters are filled with fish, and the earth is filled with animals. But, on the sixth day we see God’s crowning achievement of creation: people. This is noted as distinct and different as humanity is created in God’s image (26). God, the originator, still brings order and purpose to our lives and our world. God, as the source of all that is good, makes what is good. As people, we can worship and praise Him for giving our lives purpose and meaning. We worship Him for His goodness. God has formed our lives, and our world so we can be His representative image bearers who display His goodness. By faith, we believe God is our creator. Today, our belief in Jesus, as our Savior, makes it possible for us to celebrate His goodness for all eternity.

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The Chaos

2/15/2026

Genesis 1:2
Chaos is an interesting word that describes disorder, confusion of direction and lack of correct function. One way that we try to keep the chaos at bay in our life is through our societal emphasis on organization. We purchase file folders for organization. We utilize storage systems in an attempt to keep our things organized. We even use calendars with reminders to keep our life in order. Then we read books on organization that hopefully keep us from dysfunction. Why do we have a strong tendency toward dysfunction? The root causes of dysfunction and disorder lie in sin and the rebellious opposition to God and His ways of proper function and order. In Genesis 1:2 God describes the world before He made it as disorderly, dysfunctional and chaotic. The earth did not have a form, it was not filled with life of any kind and it was covered in darkness. The words used to describe this paint the picture of chaos. Yet, Genesis records that God was hovering above all of this, watching and preparing for what He was about to do next. That was God in the beginning before our world was made. What kind of chaos exists in your world today? Sin has distorted the order of our world and the submission to God’s rule in our life. Jesus told us to pray for His perfect order and rule (Matthew 6:9-10). As in the beginning, we can discover God and His work, all we need to do is look up and call out to Him. Perhaps we may doubt God’s power. Remember that in the beginning God formed the world out of chaotic nothingness. He is a delivering God. We need to discern that God is at work even in the chaos of our sin sick world. God is at work making all things new. Trust in God as your creator and savior. Tell others how He has changed your chaos to calm.

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The Beginning

2/8/2026

Genesis 1:1
Years ago I had purchased a home that was made in a factory and hauled by a truck to my property. The problem was that that there was no foundation for the home to sit on. So I hired a someone to help me drill twenty holes in the ground. Now, from a construction standpoint you need a house foundation to set on hard ground or rock. We drilled holes that were sixteen inches across and six feet deep and found nothing but soft ground. With nothing else to do we filled the holes with concrete and placed the home on the pilings. That first year was an adjustment because we lived right next to a main train track. Every time the train rumbled past the house would shake. Why? All the ground that the house sat on was soft, so when the train shook the ground it shook the house. Just as our homes need a solid foundation so also we need a foundation for life. In Genesis 1 we see God provide that for us. Verse one provides a summary statement about the beginning. God was there before the world and people existed. Genesis 1:1 tells us that God was the starter who started and ordered our world. He is the all powerful originator who created and ordered our world. Genesis 1:1 records God describing Himself and His work. God created without the advice, instruction or help from any other source. From His life giving position of supreme authority He created life. We as people and our world did not evolve. The living God of life creates life. You can never have something that is dead make life. We may struggle to understand how creation happened because it is beyond our realm of normal, yet Genesis lays the foundation that God does not act according to human standards. Genesis calls us to worship God alone as the creator who provided our foundation for new life.

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Christmas Time: Spoken

12/21/2025

Hebrews 1:1-4
A number of years ago my daughter gave me a short note on a small piece of paper. On it there were nine neatly written items that made up her birthday and Christmas wish list. At the bottom there was a star followed by an explanatory note, “Most Wanted.” Glancing back to the list a star highlighted item number seven which read, “Night Table - made by Dad.” Thus began a journey of cold weather construction in a cramped unheated shed. An individualized night table complete with a drawer was made for each of the kids and quietly placed by each of their beds very late on Christmas Eve. I have saved the note and use it as a book marker in my daily devotional book. It reminds me of the way that I need to come to my heavenly Father and ask for what is needed and that which I desire the most. A gift created by my father’s hands made just for me. Hebrews chapter 1 opens by telling us that God has consistently and repeatedly delivered messages revealing Himself and His plans for salvation (1). His best and most perfect form of communication was personally made through the sending Jesus to be our savior (2). Being God He is the perfect gift that has been communicated, but also provided (3). Jesus, fully God yet in human form (Philippians 2:5-9), is just what humanity needs most. He is far superior to any thing else that could grab our attention (4). Christmas time is often a time of secrets and trying to guess what a gift is. God understood our deepest need. He spoke, promised and delivered the very best gift, Jesus in the form of a baby. The great God who spoke the world into existence now displays the same power to save and transform our life. Jesus, is a gift given directly from the Father. What joy! What hope! God has communicated His love to us.

For More See HEBREWS

Reflections on Worship

2/13/2023

Psalm 95:1-7
The sun was just setting in the western sky as I stepped our for a short evening walk. However, my eyes were distracted by the sight of flashing beacons on a plane as it flew overhead. My prayer was, “Lord, you know that we live in a busy world where we use what you have given us and flaunt our power only to neglect your power and grace that you display in the simplicity of the setting sun. Thanks for allowing me to see that illustrated before me.” In almost the next instant, my ears heard the scream of an ambulance and my eyes caught a glimpse of its flashing lights as they sought to solve someone’s emergency. Then in perfect contrast, from the other side, my ears heard the joyful honk of geese as they peacefully winged their way to their evening rest. Again my thoughts turned to praise, “Thank you God that you have placed us here to be your witnesses to people in pain, and yet we are still blessed to hear creation sing out your praise.” This simple stroll outside illustrates that worship of our great God can occur anytime and any place. Psalm 95 gives two invitations, first the invitation to praise God (1), and second the invitation to worship Him (7). As we recognize the greatness of God we should be drawn to honor and worship Him. Along with the psalmist, I invite you to come and sing out your praise to God through a heart full of worship. His greatness is on display for all our world to see. May you hear creation sing out our Creators praise, and hear the call to come and worship Him for His greatness and grace that He constantly puts on display for us.

For more see PSALMS

Do You Know?

5/22/2022

Job 38-41
Did you know that about 50 percent of people fail their first driving test? A driving test is given to examine what we know and how we can apply it to various situations. It is easy to spout off answers that we assume to be correct, but do they do not work in driving situations. Gaining the head knowledge is important, but equally important is the application of those truths to life. You may be one of those people that failed the drivers test the first time and dreaded going back to retake it. Many people do not do well on tests for various reasons. Imagine if you were Job and God told you to answer His questions. That is the exact situation that is played out in Job 38:4. God begins the exam by asking Job what he knows about creation in chapters 38-39. There is a pause in the test as God gives Job a chance to respond. Job wisely has no answer (40:1-5). God then continues with a second exam that asks Job about God’s power as displayed in the animal kingdom in chapters 40-41. Job could not explain God’s working in his personal life because he did not understand God’s knowledge or power. Creation is a clear display of God’s sovereignty and knowledge. Through the tests God desired that Job see His knowledge and trust His moral purposes worked out in life. Like Job, we need to trust God and allow Him to work out His plan and purpose in our life. Suffering is not necessarily about what is wrong with our life and what God must do for us. Suffering instead teaches us to trust God and His character and not to demand His blessing. The lesson from Job is simple, we can trust God’s knowledge and power because it is based on His trustworthy character.

For more see QUESTIONS FROM GOD

Who is God? Creator, Redeemer, Restorer

6/13/2021

Genesis 1, Genesis 3, Acts 2, Revelation 7
This past week I was saddened when I was made aware of the passing of two people. One was an elderly man and the other was a young woman. Both were described as adventurous and joyful, both had contracted cancer, but both had trusted Jesus as their savior. They lived life differently because of Christ and they lived to bring honor to God their savior as His image bearer. We are created by God and bear His image (Genesis 1:26-27). We resemble our creator in the aspect of being relational people in need of relationship with God and others (Genesis 1:28-29). The results of Adam and Eve’s sin (Genesis 3) have led to broken relationships with God and others, distorted worship of our self and others instead of God, and the destruction of murder by taking the life of others created in God’s image. Peter proclaims that Jesus came and was crucified thus becoming the source of salvation for all people (Acts 2:36). This message rang true and 3000 people respond (Acts 2:37-41). The church was started and redeemed people were now restored to worship their creator and redeemer. All those who are redeemed from sin by faith in Jesus Christ will one day be united together in their praise of their savior (Revelation 7:9-10). In Christ the divisions of geography, race and language are removed as people from every tribe, and nation worship their creator and redeemer as part of the family of God. We start our journey of faith here on earth but it continues forever in heaven through the worship of our creator, redeemer and restorer. The two that I mentioned earlier are doing just that.

For more see QUESTIONS & ANSWERS