My meeting with God about James 4:1-10 and about genealogy of Jesus

Do you read the Bible at the start of your day?  Some other time during the day?

Our Daily Bread devotional

I've found that my day goes better if I start with my focus on God, who He is, what he says, what He has done and what He wants me to do.  This usually means getting up early while the house is quiet and it's dark outside.  My distractions have to be a minimum.

As I move farther into being a senior citizen and march into becoming elderly, I've learned some lessons about doing this.  I've gone through a progression of experience in my prayer life and reading the Bible.

The number one item on my "kinda, sorta bucket list" is building a strong relationship with God.  In the past, I've made lip service to this more or less.  As I see the sands of life move through the hour glass pretty fast, I know that I have to use my time wisely and on items that are important to me.  I know that it all starts and ends with God.  This is one item I need to get right.

My practice for the past year or so is to start my day with my MacBookAir in my lap and a visit to the Radio Bible Class website.  I view this site as one big collection of jumper cables to connect the reader to God and everyday life.  This is a treasure trove.  It's a start point for me.

Today, the Our Daily Bread devotion on the site is based on James 4:1-10.  It's all about

Discover The Word

the  consequences of putting yourself first in what you do, think and say.  My biggest problem, as the devotion writer says, is the one I see when I look in the mirror.  What's the answer?  Putting God first.  That means I need to know what he's thinking, how he helps me get there and what happens when I don't get it done.

The second part to my time with God today centered on the genealogy of Jesus as given in the Bible.  I actually listened to a segment of RBC's Discover The Word which is a daily and short discussion of some chunk of God's Word.  There was five women mentioned in his line of ancestors, both Jews and Gentiles and one is a prostitute.  What does that mean?

It means that son of God comes from a line of people that is inclusive of all ethnic groups, male and female, single and married, rich and poor.  There's hope for everybody.

There's a lot to digest here.  I am not filled with profound and scholarly Biblical insights.  I know that I have to take my eyes off myself and put them on God and that my Savior who gives me hope came to this earth for everybody.