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JUNE 25JULY 1
God
sabbath
JUNE 25
2 Cor. 5:17
Introduction
Our Portrait
It was our fourth wedding anniversary, and my husband and I were walking on a beautiful beachfront in northeast Brazil. Suddenly, we noticed a large
group of people gathered around a boy. Full of curiosity, we stopped to check
out what was happening. The boy was drawing caricatures of the people in the
street, and he was rather talented at doing so.
11
sunday
JUNE 26
Logos
Description, Distortion,
and Restoration
Genesis 13
questioning Gods command (Gen. 3:1). Then, when he addressed her the
second time, he actually contradicted God. He flagrantly accused Him of
withholding good from the people He had created. With each comment,
he was trying to weaken Gods influence on the woman. And with each
passing moment in that conversation at the tree, the womans trust in God
became more and more faint, until she finally believed the intruder. And
because she believed him, she disobeyed. This is how the image of God
becomes distorted. The enemy seeks to weaken our relationship with God
and our trust in Him, so that when he accuses God and us, we believe him
rather than our Creator. The image of God becomes distorted when we
choose to live our lives according to the word of the enemy instead of by
the Word of God.
REACT
1. How does being made in the image of a God in community inform us
how we are to live our lives?
2. How are you feeding into Satans lies about God when you choose to
live in fear and shame?
3. What role does education (outside of formal schooling) have in restoring the image of God in humanity?
monday
JUNE 27
Testimony
Gen. 1:27;
Matt. 22:3739;
Luke 10:27
When Adam came from the Creators hand, he bore, in his physical, mental, and spiritual nature, a likeness to his Maker. God created man in His own
image (Genesis 1:27), and it was His purpose that the longer man lived the
more fully he should reveal this imagethe more fully reflect the glory of the
Creator.... Face-to-face, heart-to-heart communion with his Maker was his
high privilege....
REACT
How do the first two great commandments relate to the image of God?
____________
* Ellen G. White, Education, pp. 15, 16.
tuesday
JUNE 28
Genesis 1
Evidence
Our God is a God of action. In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth (Gen. 1:1, NIV). Action is His main tool to demonstrate His love
for His creation. He is constantly moving to satisfy the needs of His creatures.
How do we know this? We read it in His Word, see it in nature, and feel it in
our lives. But that is not all. The Bible tells us that we are created in His image.
So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them (verse 27, NKJV). And last but not least,
He created us for a purposeto be fruitful and increase in number; [to] fill the
earth and subdue it (verse 28, NIV). Thus, we are to be His ambassadors.
REACT
How can you positively impact your community to show that you are a
servant of an active God? Make a commitment to do something different this
coming week.
____________
* George R. Knight, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald,
2013), p. 106.
wednesday
JUNE 29
How-to
Jer. 18:46
As a potter forms a vessel out of a lump of clay, so God, the Master Potter, formed free-willed, intelligent humanity out of the dust of the earth into
His image. Sadly, however, Adam and Eve misused this free will by choosing to disobey Gods command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. Therefore, humanity has become marred.
Just as a potter reworks moldable, marred clay into a desired vessel,
so God, out of His love, desires to restore us to His image. However, He
expects us to work together with Him in doing so. What type of clay allows
the Potter to restore the vessel?
REACT
1. How can God work through you if you are submissive and obedient
to Him?
2. Why is the trust aspect a key factor in our relationship with God?
____________
* The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, no. 509.
thursday
Opinion
Mark 2:112
JUNE 30
The story of a paralyzed man who was lowered by his four friends through
the roof of a house where Jesus was preaching to a crowd shows us how
the friends and the homeowner cooperated with Jesus to heal the man
completelyphysically, spiritually, and mentally. How can we restore the
image of God in the body of Christ as a cooperative community that functions
as these people did?
REACT
1. What principles of small-community resilience do you notice in the account of the paralyzed man?
2. As a member of the Christian community, how can you take part in the
movement to work out the global problems mentioned above?
____________
1. Michael Lewis and Patrick Conaty, The Resilience Imperative (Gabriola Island, B.C.: New
Society Publishers, 2012), p. 1.
2. Ibid., p. 2.
friday
JULY 1
Exploration
Phil. 2:13
CONCLUDE
On display in a local religious bookstore is a rather unusual mirror. At a
distance, it looks like any other mirror, but up close you can see a faint image of Jesus in the very center. What a great impact Christians could have
if, before starting the day, Gods followers glanced into such a mirror, not
to see how they looked, but to remind themselves that the most important
goal for the next 24 hours was to reflect the image of God to every person
they met. As God restores us to His image, lets give the world a better
picture of who He is and how much He values each soul.
CONSIDER
Designing a poster illustrating the idea of reflecting the image of Jesus.
Creating a mathematical expression that explains how Gods image
was lost in humanity and how it can be restored.
Memorizing Romans 12:2.
Singing the song Not I, but Christ, hymn no. 570 in the Seventh-day
Adventist Hymnal.
Walking around your block, sharing literature, and offering to pray with
your neighbors.
Listing seven to ten characteristics that Jesus displayed in His life
(honesty, humbleness, love, for example). Which are most evident in
your life? Which are not? Ask God to help you with your weak areas
so that you can better reflect His image to others.
Taking a nature walk, and identifying ways in which Gods creation
illustrates His characteristics.
CONNECT
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, pp. 6783.
Jill Morikone, A Heart Thats Transformed, Heart Lift (Pacific Press,
2013).