RTW January 1
A Quick Word from Wendy…
What Did She Do?
The woman was convinced.
Genesis 3:6a
My Takeaways
Something Old
Lessons from Her
- She saw. We can’t allow our senses to drive our decisions.
- She wanted. We can long for more than what God wants for us to have.
- She took. We can easily participate in something we shouldn’t participate in.
- She gave. We are likely to invite others into our wrong decisions.
Something New
What lie has the enemy convinced me of?
Something to do
Learn from her, what not to do.
Hi Wendy. I’m very excited to begin another RTW with you. I can’t seem to open Jan.1. I am a long time subscriber to RTW and did it in 2018. The site keeps taking me to the Subscribe to blog updates but won’t let me open the Jan. 1 video.
Thanks for all that you do!!
I had trouble opening yesterday – I think if you email Wendy at [email protected] she will fix it for you like she did for me! Happy New Year!!
I just Fixed the problem… try again! ☺️ Thank you for your patience.
Amazing lesson to start the year with!
Heavenly ABBA,
As I begin this year I pray that my senses are aligned with your word. May I choose to trust you and obey your word.
Satan you must flee!!!
So excited to move my bookmark back to Jan 1 and begin again! I am always amazed by what God shows me in famailr passages like in today’s reading. I was so thankful as I read about God creating the light and then creating the sun, moon and stars to mark our days and seasons. These things give such stability to my days and I’m so grateful for them.
My focus in 2019 is love. As I read I want to look for how God demonstrates love and is my example of how to love Him and others. In Gen 2-3, God rested as an example for me…he loves me and knows I need to rest. I saw how Gods love was shown in that he cared for Adam and didn’t want him to be alone. He cared for adam and eves shame and nakedness out of love. He banished them from the garden to protect them because he loves them. Be loving like God today!
How different did our God created us, so personal, so purposely, so unique compared to the rest of creation! He is our very breath. Praise Him for your uniqueness and cherish the life He has given ♡
I wrote a lot this morning–things I hadn’t seen before and how they apply to me today. It all begins with God (1) and is good. Everything God has created is good. We have corrupted what God created and exploited it for our own selfish purposes. But God created and it was good. We find that good in ourselves and others when we accept Jesus who has restored “good” to the Kingdom of God.
Adam and Eve didn’t have to worry about good and evil. It was God’s creation and it was good. Evil began when Eve took her eyes off God, listened to the tempter, and disobeyed God. It is the same today–we take our eyes off God, allow the tempter to entice us and then we disobey God. Once we have disobeyed God and tasted the “pleasures” of sin it becomes easier and easier to do until we get to a point that we no longer look to God, but instead we hear the voice of the tempter.
Shame also resulted from disobedience to God. Shame is a tool of Satan to keep us separated from God. We are no longer “good enough” to approach God and turn to him. So we turn to ourselves and decide that we are not good. We hide from God and begin to fear Him. But, what God has created remains good-it doesn’t change. God does not condemn us (Rom 8:1), Satan does. God only shows us our sin, convicts us of it and corrects us and draws us back to Him.
God, I am grateful that you created us good. We can turn our eyes back to you and because of Jesus we are no longer banished from Your presence. Father, help me to see the good in each person I encounter today, including myself.
Hi Npshirley:)
Love your post!!
This is my fifth year with Wendy and RTW, and I remember you from previous years.
Blessings.
Carolyn
I remember you also!! Wasn’t sure if I was supposed to comment here or on the Facebook page. I started last year but had lots of changes and didn’t keep it up. Missed it a lot.
Shirley
NPShirley, I appreciate your insights today! I love how you describe shame. I will view shame in a very different light now. We should not ever feel shamed and unworthy as God created all things to be GOOD! He corrects us, forgives us, and draws us back into His love. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your post. It really spoke to me as I was going through a very tough time last year, having listened to the voice of the enemy and being convinced that I could not choose other than I did. Then it went exactly the same as you described. The shame as a result from my unhealthy decision kept me from turning to God. It went from bad to worse and I ended up in a psychiatric clinic for three months. Just before December I came out. It was a very very hard but also healing time. I am still struggling but doing better everyday. Still the voice of the tempter is hunting me and trying to pull me im the wrong direction again if I am not fiercely rejecting it. I read my Bible a lot, also during my stay in the clinic. I have a Life Recovery Bible and I read it according to the Chronological Bible plan. I missed a lot of days last year due to the whole messy situation. But I did find my way back and I start this new year fresh. Thank you again for sharing, it described exactly how I felt!!!
Saskia, I remember you from several years ago. So sad for your hard time but Gods grace covers all. Satan is relentless, but he doesn’t win. Rely on Gods grace, He wins. I will pray for you this year. Soak in Gods word and tell satan to flee. Every minute if you have to.
My word this year is grace
I find it amazing (grace) that God banished Adam and Eve from the garden FOR THEIR PROTECTION. He did not want them to eat from the tree of life and remain in their sin state forever. Wow! Thank you God!!
Yes! Such great love He has for us that He would keep us from the things that will harm us!
Happy New Year in God’s Word everyone! Wow, this is my 5th year STARTING here at RTW but, sadly, I’ve never completed this study … this year is going to be different!
Wendy – I loved today’s lesson. Especially your reminder to not engage in conversation with satan. To just rebuke him when doubt & confusion come. This happened when I was reading this morning – and I immediately shut him up and rebuked the lie! I will not allow him to continue to pester me with the lie that I shouldn’t bother reading the Word because I don’t understand everything (or sometimes most of what I read) … I have the Spirit of the Living God in me who has given me all wisdom & understanding!
My key verse and my Something Old was Genesis 3:23 “So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden”. My first thought after reading this was “Wow, this is LOVE – the perfect love of a perfect Father.”. How loving, how compassionate, how giving – to save Adam & Eve (and US) from living eternally with the struggles and challenges that resulted from this act of disobedience. I mean, really! What extravagant love!
Something Old: God named: day & night; the sky; the land & sea – but the living, moving things – animals etc. He allowed Adam to name. While God is sovereign over ALL – He trusted Adam (and us) to rule over what He created … the land and everything in it. One thing I noticed is that Genesis 1:29 says that they were given every seed -bearing plant … and all the fruit trees for food … nowhere does it say God gave us animals for food? Hmmmm… something to ponder as we move forward in the OT readings as I am considering going vegetarian/vegan … 🙂
Something to Do: Accept the Lord’s correction. Adam & Eve’s “banishment” from the Garden may have felt like punishment to them – but I don’t believe that God punishes – He corrects. He is always looking out for my best interests (even when I’m NOT). I have been super unhappy with things that have been going on in my workplace. Add to that a dream that I have in my heart that does NOT include me staying at this company or this job. This has made me an extremely disgruntled employee .., one who a month ago decided that I was all done and was moving on. A week off over the holidays and the Lord has very clearly shown me that I will be staying for the time being … is this punishment? No! This is for my own good, and for HIS glory! It may be uncomfortable, hard, challenging. I may stumble a lot – but I am (kind of) super excited to see what He does with it.
Bless you all on this beautiful New Year’s day!
Mary
The reading today reminds me that I need to be satisfied with what I have. Adam and Eve truly had it all, living in a perfect paradise and in communion with God. Yet still, Eve wanted more. I want to spend this year being grateful for all of my blessings.
So excited to be back. Completed the whole year in 2016 and wrote every day.
Thanks Wendy for starting us all off with the challenge to not make our decisions based on feelings.
Our family is going through many battles with my husband’s lung cancer and my mother’s Alzheimer’s. Our feelings are near the surface and raw but we have experienced God’s faithfulness over and over. We know as we walk looking at Him we will see His mighty hand. Those scary fearful feelings can easily ruin a day. Praying this year my word rest and that I can rest in His sovereign will and that I will have physical rest as we journey through this hard season.
Hello cbhoffman:)
So good to hear from you again. I remember you from RTW previous years.
I too am excited for this year of RTW and looking forward to all of our previous acquaintances to make contact once again.
I will pray for your husband and mothers as well as your whole family during this difficult time in your lives. May God’s grace see you through the trials you are facing.
Blessings.
Carolyn
Thank you Carolyn for responding. Great to reconnect with you too. Look forward to the journey together this year. Thanks for praying. Love Carol
Hi Carol! Great to see you back here! 🙂
Thanks Elizabeth. Great to be back and seeing your name.
My “Something Old” – cones for verse 5b (which repeats i n 8b,13,19,23,31b)….
“And evening passed and morning came,marking the first day”.
It’s old because I have always pointed to it to explain why the Jewish Sabbath and other celebrations begin at sundown.
What I never saw before is that it represents actually the first of Gods promise . Darkness is never forever- it will pass and morning with its light will come.
Wendy,
Your lesson is wonderful, as usual.
My old is……In the beginning God created…….
……no matter what happened in 2018, we all… have the opportunity for a NEW beginning!
My new is something God has spoken to me about in these past few years, but had never thought about it being applicable to Eve. It makes sense now…….She actually had conversations with satan trying to give her side of the story in order to convince him what God had actually said to her!!
How many times do we do the very same thing today, that Eve did at the time of the fall? We have the thoughts in our heads and they are not of God; those many thoughts and self doubts come from satan. We KNOW what God has said in His word, however, rather than rebuking satan and those thoughts, and trusting God’s word and making it applicable to our lives during those times, we fall into a depression because we believe those lies that are in our heads.
What to do? Get into God’s word and KNOW what it says; when satan’s lies come out way, refuse to get into a conversation with him and claim God’s word to ourselves, and TRUST HIM!!
Have a Happy New Year dear RTW Friends and may we all reap God’s
…sorry all.
I didn’t finish my sentence:(
…and may we all reap God’s blessings through Wendy and the RTW Bible Study:)
Thank you for your share Carolyn! It really spoke to me!! I agree with you: may we all reap God’s blessings through this study here!! Being in Gods Word has been a life saver for me when I was completely down and out. I finally turned to the only source that could really help me and I could feel myself getting a bit stronger every day. 2018 has been one of the most hard and challenging years of my life, but here I am, still with my family (where I almost walked away from), being at home again and getting restored bit by bit every day. I am alive and breathing. I am blessed. God is so good and full of grace!!! Have a wonderful 2019!!
First time, first day! This is great! I love it!
Such great insight from today’s reading. Wendy, thank you so much!!
It was great to begin this journey through the Bible this morning! I have read through all the books of the Bible a number of times over the years but I have never read through the entire Bible in a year. I have started to several times but would become frustrated if I missed some days. I am thankful for the accountability of this group and am determined, by the grace of God, to persevere even if I miss days here and there. Also, I have never read a chronological Bible or spent much time in the NLT so I am looking forward to that too.
I liked what Wendy said about not skimming over familiar passages but looking for what God has for me this time as I read it. It was interesting to note that others have a word for the new year, one of them being my daughter. For me this year, there are two related words that I will be focusing on. They are hospitality and fellowship. So, one of the things that stood out to me in today’s reading was that God said it was not good for the man to be alone
You can do this mom! I’m excited to be doing it together…we can keep each other accountable. Persistence not perfection will be the goal! Love your words for 2019!
I’m excited we are doing this together too! It will be good to have each other to be accountable to as well as the group. Yes, persistence not perfection! As a recovering perfectionist, that is always the challenge for me.
It was cool to see that you have a word for the year too. I have done that the past few years. Then, on a page in my prayer book, I add Bible verses related to the word as I encounter them through the year.
How wonderful that you can do this together, as mom and daughter. That’s awesome! It warmed my heart reading that and I just wanted to say that to you both!! Wishing you both to feel blessed through doing this study together!!!
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words! It is extra special to be doing this together because we are doing it across the miles. I live in Missouri and my daughter lives in Wyoming. Just another way for us to connect. Praise God!
Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!! I am so excited for RTW for 2019. This is my 3rd year doing RTW. Thanks Wendy for such a great teaching today and for all the lessons we can learn from Eve. My something to do- is to only want what God wants to give me and not want something that I don’t have that God doesn’t want to bless me with. To be happy with all the things God has blessed me with and not to compare my life to someone else that has something that I wish I had that God hasn’t blessed me with yet and God wants me to keep waiting for.
So good to be back for another year in Read Through The Word! Thank you, Wendy.
Something Old
As I read the description of God’s creative work I was overwhelmed (again) by the magnificence of it.
Romans 1:20 clearly tells us that when we look at all that He has made and how perfectly it works, we are without excuse for not knowing Him. And He formed it out of…..Nothing.
Something New
Genesis 1:11. Seeds will only produce the kind of plants and trees from which they come. You can’t plant corn and expect to grow peas! In our spiritual life we need to consider what we are sowing. This is most important and obvious when we have children watching us…..
Something To Do
Genesis 2:18-20….”but still there was no companion for him”…..Though God had provided all kinds of animals for man to name, care for and enjoy…..they were not true companions. I am an animal lover of the first order, but I recognize that God intends for us to be in fellowship with other people. It is important for us emotionally and physically ….but imperative for us spiritually. We need to be willing and able to reach out and relate to others.
Happy New Year! Though today’s reading, rings of familiarity one can never grow tired of the message revealed in Genesis 3:15, “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” God’s redemptive plan was evident in the very beginning. The sin of Adam and Eve didn’t mess up God’s plans their actions just helped to reveal the plan. It included sending a Savior some day. Jesus Christ was that promised seed. Because of Him we will be made perfect again. How awesome is that. What an awesome God we serve. His promises from the beginning have always come true!
This is my first round with RTW but I’ve read through another chronological Bible (not NLT) two previous years just on my own. I appreciate Wendy’s video comments and others’ posts above. Thank you!
One insight I’d like to add: Did you notice that God made Adam and Eve clothes out of animal skins after they had attempted to cover their newly discovered nakedness with fig leaves? God sacrificed animals (blood sacrifice) to cover the fallout of their sin of disobedience; Jesus would be our final, once-for-all sacrifice. We as humans needed a Savior from Genesis 3 to 2019!
Great first lesson Wendy! I’m excited to be back this year and recognize a few friends from previous years. I started RTW in 2015 and I’ve attempted each year since, I’ve started and finished but missed a lot in between. I’m really focusing on staying in the word this year. My word this year is Joy. My whole life I’ve engaged in conversation with satan and I’ve unfortunately allowed him to steal my joy. But my eyes are opened and I’m aware if it. God tells me it’s my choice and I am grateful for your reminder Wendy to rebuke him, I do have that power! How easily I forget.
Vs 2:18 stood out to me today.
“A helper who is just right for him.”
God made me for Chris (my husband) to be his just right helper. I need to remember this in times of frustration in my marriage. Again, it all goes back to trusting God. He is the one in control.
Happy New Year friends!!
Welcome Back, I remember you. I also missed a lot last year. I also listened to the voice of the enemy and it got me in a very dark place. So glad that God didn’t give up on me and pulled me out even though it was a very hard process…. I am also glad to start this new year and what better way than to get in His Word and in the fellowship here with others that also desire to learn and know more about Him. This is a great place to encourage each other and help each other grow…. Wishing you a wonderful 2019!!
Delighted to see the hearts of each of you as we are drawn closer daily through his Word. I have been reading with Wendy for the past few years and am delighted to start again. I love the “joy” that being his daughter creates in walking with Him. The message this morning was meaningful;
Lord, may my eyes stay focused on you this year. Thanks Wendy, my life has been richer since tuning into RTW. Praise God for your ministry.