“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day” (Gen 1:1-5)

Genesis 1:1 is a very special verse for me. I never read the Bible until I was 32. I was a confirmed atheist. I did not believe in God. I did not believe in the Bible. In Communist Romania I was told that God doesn’t exist and the Bible is a terribly dangerous book. I did not even see one before I came to Nigeria with my husband and children in 1980.

Early 1986 for the first time in my life I secretly opened God’s Book and read the first line: “In the Beginning God created…” That is all I could read… A fear I could not explained came over me. “God … what God … who is God?”

These words were like a sword to my soul. I could not fight them; I could not ignore them. Anyway, God had mercy on me. I had a crisis conversion and I became saved. Each January 1^st I start to read the Bible from the beginning. Here the holy words meet me again. What did I learn today reading the first scriptures of Genesis?

The word translated ‘God’ in Genesis 1 is Elohim. This is one of the many names of God. The word means the Supreme God, the Creator of all things, visible and invisible. The word Elohim is in plural. This is a great lesson: from the very beginning we are introduced to the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. May I never forget that!

Another lesson: I see that God loves to create, to start things. There is a beginning when God changes nothingness into something useful and beautiful. The word beginning means: the head, the highest and most excellent part of the whole, the foundation and also, first fruits. This first day or month of the New Year will determine the way your life will be later. That is why I want to gain something spiritual and good to give me the strength to move on. I wait for God to reveal Himself to me today. He knows that I wait on Him this month. He will not disappoint me! My faith, my hope, my excitement is on the increase…this will be a good fruitful year! I can feel it already!

God is not afraid to start new things. I want to be like God. Beginnings use to scare me. I never loved the first day in school. I was not excited to see the faces of new people, potential friends or enemies. After some time I relaxed. Routine fits me better. But now, I want to be like Elohim, my God, like Jesus. “In the beginning was the Word” (Jn 1:1). The Word made flesh came when there was nothing but sin, sickness and despair. Yes, God is not intimidated by darkness, ignorance, hopelessness or nothingness. From now on, me too, I will love new beginnings!

I also see that God created the light by His Word alone. The same God separated them later. For a time, light and darkness seem to be friends, stood there ‘face to face’ waiting for the decree of the Creator. But God separated them. The word ‘separate’ means that God made them so different from the beginning that they can never agree with one another. So, God divorced them. These two can never be one, can never cooperate or produce fruits together. This is another lesson: The children of light and the children of darkness may ‘play’ together, for a season, but they may never settle together. Their marriage cannot work. “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (Jn 1:5)

This is my prayer for today:

I pray to be spiritually bold and courageous!

I pray that from now on I should have more faith in the beginnings of God!

I pray that my faith will increase to trust God for healings, even of the so called ‘incurable diseases’!

I pray that I may trust God in all situations, even when I have no money or human helper!

I pray to be more discerning and reject, from the very beginning, the poisonous flattery of the powers of darkness!

I pray that I believe in God’s grace alone, sufficient to produce any miracle or breakthrough!

I pray to be more grateful, for God is indeed good to me and to my family!

I pray that this New Year will be sweet and wonderful, filled with many testimonies of God’s goodness and power!

All to the glory of Elohim!

In Jesus name

Amen!