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Day one, or January the first, it all starts so perfectly. Our thoughts today are rooted

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in Genesis chapter 1 verse 3, and God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

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Now the big picture surrounding this verse. The Bible begins by declaring that God made

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everything. The first two chapters of Genesis describe the opening events of history that

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are rooted in present-day Iraq, which many people believe to be the cradle of civilization,

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with its rivers the Tigris and Euphrates. The Bible tells us that first there was chaos,

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then God intervened to create all the animals that now inhabit our world. Out of chaos,

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God brings order. His final act of creation is the making of man and woman, who are described

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as being made in God's image. The first man, who is called Adam, individually names all

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the animals. This is the first task given by God to mankind that was fulfilled with

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flying colors. All the more impressive, as he named them all without the help of Eve,

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who was not yet on the scene. And now our action step for today. When we make anything

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it usually involves physically manufacturing something with our hands. In this account

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of God creating the heavens and the earth, he does it in a unique way. He simply speaks

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and it happens. Now that's power. It also reveals the power of words. When John records

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his gospel, he begins by saying, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and

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the Word was God. He describes Jesus as the Word, and we know how powerful Jesus was when

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he was on earth. In his letter, James warns about the frightening influence our word-maker,

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the tongue, can be. So when we read about God creating everything by just speaking,

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it is a timely reminder of the power of our own words. So be careful what you say today,

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because once said, it cannot be unsaid. Our tongues can be used for good or bad. We can

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use them to build up or knock down. It's often said, if you can't say anything good,

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don't say anything at all. Now there's a thought to begin our book.