"First This: God..." (Genesis 1:1, The MSG). "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness..." (Matthew 6:33, NIV). Once I found myself thrust into the world of Bible Study, (it was either that or therapy) it became clear this was to be the first task I set my sights on daily no matter how inconvenient it seemed. This theme quickly took hold of my life-that in everything God should be first. The first words God wrote in His book are basically, 'First-Me' as if to say, 'Before you know anything, know Me. Know that I exist and that I am God-that I am before all things, after all things, control all things, and created all things.' Vital foundational truths in Genesis have imprinted themselves all over our increasingly end-time world. Abraham was looking for a city with foundations and God is still the foundation. He is still first. As a circle runs together so you cannot tell where it ends or begins, God is infinite and eternal. The Bible opens and closes like other books. It starts and finishes with a beginning and an end. But it is not like other books. It is alive and on the move like an endless ocean with no horizon, even enduring to the extent John calls it "God" in John 1:1. So perhaps God's first is our greatest mystery to understanding His last. Katie Marshall received a call to ministry on February 3, 2013. This Bible study was her first attempt to answer that call. She gives all honor and glory to God for anything good He accomplishes through her. She has also started the newsletter ministry, Bought with a Price-A Ministry for Women and written the book, My Betrothed-Unlocking the Great Mystery Concerning Christ and the Church.
