LIFE PRINCIPLES FROM THE BOOK OF BEGINNINGS – GENESIS

By Peo Pillar

I can vividly remember the 9th of October 2010 while attending a conference in Durban, South Africa together with my husband. In the early hours of that day, I had a vision in which a book was laid before me, including its cover and chapters. In that book, I saw the sunset bringing forth an overwhelming light that consumed the darkness on earth, like the beginning of a new chapter. This was an incredible sight and an awakening moment. I lay there and watched as the vision unfolded followed by the book title that was revealed to me in descending order, LIFE PRINCIPLES FROM THE BOOK OF BEGINNINGS - ‘GENESIS’. I have never had a clearer vision than that! As if that was not enough, the vision continued and this time showed me chapters within the book one by one and not only the titles of each chapter but the contents of the chapters too. This book is more than your average writing but is a Holy Spirit-inspired and God-directed book that will equip you with powerful principles of God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781312481121

Book preview

Introduction

GENESIS 1:1 ‘In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned and) created the heavens and the earth’

Genesis does not depict the start of God, rather it’s the unfolding of God’s creation! In 2007 while doing a Bible study on the Old Testament, I couldn’t help it but ask a question that had been stuck in my mind for a while. In my limited spiritual knowledge, I thought Genesis is the beginning of God, the earth, and heaven, and my question was, what was there before the beginning? The Bible schoolteacher smiled sympathetically and said my dear,’ God was there before the beginning that we see in Genesis, this book (Genesis) merely unfolds the plans of God into reality. From that day I realized God is more than what I know. He had a vision about creating the world for a long time, and no one can possibly tell the period this plan took before manifesting into reality. As the Bible schoolteacher explained this, it became clear to me that indeed Genesis is manifestation of God’s plans. One thing peculiar is that God as a perfect being chose a perfect strategy to implement His plans and this strategy is the foundation of the life principles that form the basis of this book.

Stephen Covey in his book 7 Habits of highly effective people says, ‘Principles are changeless, self-validated and self-evident, they remain the same year after year and century after century govern our lives and control the consequences of our action. Stephen further says we should teach people a principle that underlines a practice since a practice may change when a situation changes but the principle will remain the same and people will determine the new course of action if they know the principle. The definition of a principle sounds more like the word of God, Luke 21:33’ The sky and the earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. The Word of God was there before the beginning, as it is said in His Word that in the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God Himself. Therefore, concepts introduced by God from the very beginning are principles that emanate from His word that will remain forever.

I often hear people saying they do not like principled people because they are rigid, and these principles imprison them. I upheld this reasoning for some time until I read the book of Genesis and God revealed the truth to me, which I would like to share with you. Principles are like the truth, there is nothing beyond the truth, and if understood and applied well they bring liberty and freedom rather than captivity.

Solomon asked God for wisdom, and it was granted to him as God promised in James 1:5. Solomon was faced with a situation of two women who were fighting for a child, each claiming ownership. Solomon used the principle of truthfulness that led him to an ultimate solution, the real mother told the truth and was given her child. In this example, I don’t see any injustice in using the principle of truthfulness. Let’s say Solomon took these women to a court of law, both would have looked for a good lawyer, and eventually, the judgment would have been passed based on verifiable evidence. The expertise of a lawyer might have brought a different outcome, and this is a practice used in the legal field, but a principle of truthfulness will always yield the truth that sets everyone free.

From the very beginning, God gave us life principles that apply to all our life situations. We must understand these principles and live beyond practice. I truly believe that God had His plan perfectly laid down and He saw it fit to introduce these principles to His creation for me and you to be aware of them so that should we come across any concept contrary to these principles we will make an informed judgment. God had given us principles in His word which guarantee us that if we apply them, we can make our way prosperous and have good success (see Joshua 1:8), and also as stated by Basil Tryron in his book Living life at the top.

Difference between Principle and Practice:

Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), - 2 Timothy 3:16 Amplified Bible (AMP).

We often use these terms interchangeably without consideration of their difference, but I have learned that they are different. Before I start sharing what God placed upon me, let’s explore what other people say about principles and concepts:

Principles:

Steven Covey says that, by definition, principles are timeless and changeless. Like gravity, they remain in effect even if we don’t understand or accept them. Principles are natural laws changeless and self-validated and self-evident. They govern our life and control the consequences of our actions. They really do work.

Babolokeng V. Osupile (deceased) says, ‘Principles are guiding rules and regulations valued or desired by someone that should be followed under that person's authority’. God has laid down principles because He values and desires good and right behavior to be practiced by His children. These are the rules and regulations for Christians to practice, do, apply, and act according to the principle. To be right with God is to put the principles into action (do them). If we, Christians, do not act according to God's principles then we are disobedient.

Principles are ordained by God to bring us to our desired place of maximum benefit when they are recognized and applied.. Principles are likened to:

My view:

Practice makes perfect, but have you ever wondered why? Doing the same thing over and over or applying the same method makes one master it. But something we may not have considered is that practice is only perfect to its validity, once the practice becomes outdated its application won’t bring perfection.

In his book, Limitless, Nick Vujicic says we should learn from failure. He says that he realized the design of his smartphone was not suitable for him since he had to use his foot to operate the phone, yet his foot is far from his ears. But this did not discourage him. He began using his little foot to flip the phone unto his shoulder and pin it down with his chin to talk. He failed many times during the trial-and-error process and his face had many bruises, and many phones died during practice. Eventually, he won and mastered the flip phone process as he called it. Unfortunately, when he mastered the skill (i.e., became perfect), the tech world came out with Bluetooth headsets that rest in one’s ear. He said, ‘Now my famous cell –phone flip is a relic of technology past’.

Practice

The English Dictionary defines the term practice as a habit or repeated performance to improve a skill, while the term principle is defined as an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct or a fundamental doctrine or distinctive ruling opinion. In this definition, we learn that practice is a habit, and a habit is something we are used to or our behavior. This means that practice comes from exposure to a particular pattern over time and adopting it as the norm. We can call practice a method, e.g., companies document processes to guide employees to execute tasks, and these processes are repeated in performing tasks. The method or process used in one company is not necessarily the same method used in another, although the task may be the same. For example, other companies use a computer to record sales while others use manual invoices., but the task is the same (to record sales).

Let’s explore this in a Christian context. All living churches believe in one God and rely on His Word as their standard, but the way each church conducts a service differs and this is what I call the practice. When we compare two random churches, we realize they are different practices adopted to worship God, but the Word of God defines set principles which do not change and are applied throughout e.g., fasting, baptism, etc. This brings us to the conclusion that practice is a method accepted and adopted while a principle is a fundamental doctrine that does not change.

As Christians, we might use different practices to worship God, but the underlying principles in the Kingdom of God remain the same. Once you become a Christian, you are taught His commandments, and when you obey them, His principles are inevitable. You do not have to be reminded to pray, fast, tithe, etc. This is why in the book of Malachi chapter 3, the Bible says God will send a refiner and purifier, the one that will purify you like gold and silver that you may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness.  If you continue reading this verse God then said, ‘Return to me and I will return to you’. Thereafter the word of God talks about bringing tithes to His storehouse. Who brings tithes to the storehouse? The one purified by the Messiah, i.e., Jesus Christ, the Word of God (see John 1:1), which purifies us daily and we do not struggle with God’s principles.

Chapter 1: The Principle of Vision

Where there is no vision people perish. Without vision, commitment and motivation to desired state is lacking.

‘The earth was without form and empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. – Genesis 1:2

The spirit of God was hovering above this earth that was formless. God had a clear picture of the state in which the earth was, and He was not pleased with what He saw. The earth He perfectly made was now out of shape, transformed and in total darkness, imagine how God felt, the perfect earth that He created in His power and might, was destroyed by Lucifer and his angels who were chased by God from heaven, surely, He did not like that sight. God purported to restore the earth. He could not allow a man to inhabit a formless earth. In simple terms, His vision was to restore the earth to its original shape.

I was privileged to attend a training (Investment in Excellence) that changed my perception. I learned that vision means more than writing down a statement and pinning it to the wall. I salute the founder of The Pacific Institute, Lou Tice, and though his death came at the time we least expected, he left a legacy that will benefit many, from generation to generation. I have always known that vision depicts where one wants to be in the future and that without vision one’s path is vague and misguided. We are always bogged down in mediocrity and just go with the flow. Though we have a dream or goal to accomplish, that is looked at in isolation from our current reality.

The view of the Pacific Institute is that it is important to make a realistic assessment of one’s current reality, and as we do that the discomfort made by inconsistency in our beliefs of current reality leads us to action. This is how Abraham felt. Abraham heard a command from God to go to a place that he did not know, yet God promised him greatness and divine protection. On the other hand, Abraham knew his father’s land very well, where he was born, and where worshiping idols was the order of the day. There was inconsistency in Abraham‘s beliefs (either idols or God), and this dissonance propelled him to act. He obeyed God and left his father’s country to an unknown place, putting all his trust in God. We all have a vision, but we may not all achieve our vision. However, applying the following steps will help us achieve our vision.

Clear picture of vision

The spirit of God was hovering upon the earth, and allowing God a full view of the current state of the earth. This made God uncomfortable because the reality was possibly not what God expected. As a perfect being, He cannot stand chaos and confusion. To have a vision and be motivated towards its attainment, one must be aware of the current status and what propels them to act is the discomfort caused by the current status. This subsequently leads to change!

Although a vision may look far thatched and impossible, it should be clear to the owner. No one will pursue a blurry vision, and it takes persistence to achieve a vision. It is not a to-do-to list but something you see, believe in, and dream of daily. God had a clear picture