A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of January 22-26, 2024
MONDAY
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26-27
What is a PRINCIPLE? It is a law, rule or standard. A principle forms the foundation of life, and the laws that support life are part of the principle. There are laws that regulate society, matter, energy and the like. Where do these principles come from?
All principles can be traced to the Word of God. A principle springs from the Word of God’s power, by which He upholds the world. Imagine: God’s word is so powerful that He upholds the world with it (Hebrews 1:3). So what is the principle of the seed, and why did God start the first book of the bible by sharing this principle with us?
The principle of the seed speaks to us about God’s creative ability and how He shares this with man. No, I did not say that man is the creator, but man can cooperate with God in this creative process by understanding the principle of the seed and what man’s part is in this wonderful plan of God’s.
God has created a means by which man can prosper, grow, be blessed and have a carefree life. Man must cooperate with God and do his part to partake of this great blessing. Because man is made in the image of God, the process of cooperation is made simple. We cooperate with God by imitating Him.
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: Isaiah 26:3-4 ~ You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
January 22: Genesis 23, Matthew 22, Nehemiah 12, Acts 22
January 23: Genesis 24, Matthew 23, Nehemiah 13, Acts 23
January 24: Genesis 25, Matthew 24, Esther 1, Acts 24
January 25: Genesis 26, Matthew 25, Esther 2, Acts 25
January 26: Genesis 27, Matthew 26, Esther 3, Acts 26
January 27: Genesis 28, Matthew 27, Esther 4, Acts 27
January 28: Genesis 29, Matthew 28, Esther 5, Acts 28
TUESDAY
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28
God blesses us with His words. Words can be a blessing or a burden to us. When God blessed the man and the woman, He gave them instructions and commands to go forth and increase. He released the blessing of posterity and prosperity. He blessed them with increase. The blessing of God will always increase what is good and diminish the part that is bad.
When God created everything that He made, He looked at it and said that it is good. He then set man in his place, right in the middle of good things. God never created us to fail or decrease or diminish. He created us good, to do good, and to receive good by the work of our hands. God never intended to curse man. The curse came as a good thing. It put a limit on sin and the destruction that sin causes.
When sin abounds, grace much more abounds because there is a limit on sin because of the curse. God only curses that which is not good. He blesses that which is. Man can now use his God-given abilities to produce good.
WEDNESDAY
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”
Genesis 1:29
The seed is given to man. The fruit and the seed are given to man. This issue was the foundation of man’s fall. The serpent challenged man’s access to the trees of the garden. The serpent caused the woman to doubt her dominion over the tree and its seed, and then challenged her identity.
These two things had to be restored to the man through redemption. We had to be restored to our Creator and sharpen our image, and then we had to be retrained to produce good. This is the church age. We are now in the season of God’s restoration of all things. We are seeing the seeds of sin produce their fruit, but we are also seeing God’s Kingdom increase. Of this Kingdom there will be no end, but there is an end to the kingdom of darkness.
As man works with God in this principle of planting and tending good seed, then we are brought back to God’s original plan for man. God’s plans for us never change. As long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest shall not cease (Genesis 8:22).
Man can always employ the principle of seedtime and harvest to bring prosperity into His life. Many people don’t like the sound of the word, “prosperity.” They don’t like the sound of it’s opposite, either, which is “failure.” God’s prosperity is a good thing.
THURSDAY
This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2:4-7
Rain causes the seed to grow. This was the missing ingredient for man’s prosperity. There was a place in time when it appears that the earth had the potential for being the lush place that Adam lived, but it did not happen until God formed the man to till the ground.
It appears that the earth was created for man and that man had total control over this seed principle. What seeds do you think lie dormant in the lives of many of us until we get fed up with our present condition? “Why sit here until we die?” we begin to say to ourselves.
We desire change and we know that we must do something different to accomplish something different. This is the awakening inside of us of the understanding of the seed principle. We begin to awaken to the fact that there are seeds “waiting” to be activated by our faith.
Once we being to “work” with God in the planting and cultivating of our seeds, then we begin to prosper and partake of that which is “good.”
FRIDAY
This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2:4-7
The breath of life that God breathed into man’s nostrils is the first “water” that God made to bring the man into cooperation with His plan of prosperity. The breath of life causes us to think, plan, organize and employ ourselves in the earth. The first thing man does when he sets about any task is to meditate upon the idea of prospering.
This meditation brings the man’s soul life into the plan. Man’s next step is usually to discuss the plan with himself or others that he will employ in the decision making process. He is imitating God when he does this. He is saying, “let us make…” (Genesis 1:26.) This action of the soul life, and the saying, breaks open the seed, or plants it in the man’s imagination.
The final step for man is implementing the plan. It is up to God to bring the provision. Just as He brought the seed, He will bring all the resources that are needed for the total success of the plan. This principle works, whether we are saved or not. However, it works without fail and produces the Kingdom when we belong to God and cooperate with His plan for us. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap (Galatians 5:7).
Pursue God’s plan for your life. True success comes when we work in the garden that He has prepared for us. What does your garden consist of? Good things, I hope. Good things are eternal things. Good fruit is the fruit of the Spirit.