When God had finished with creation ...
He looked at what He had done ...

Then God saw everything that He had made,
and indeed it was very good.
Gen. 1:31

Life for mankind had just begun,
... and man would now be able to begin living out all that God had prepared and provided for man, for life ...
and ...
all that God had prepared and provided ...
... was indeed very good!

Then God blessed the seventh day
and sanctified it,
because in it He rested from all His work
which God had created and made.
Gen. 2:3

God saw it was very good ... and God rested from all His work ... but what about man?

How is it that God could confirm that all was indeed very good ...
... yet the very opposite seems to be the case when we look at man's life?
What is wrong and whose fault is it?
Sure you can blame Adam for man's present state ...
But if you do, you are simply repeating what Adam did ...
... Adam blamed Eve ...
... Eve blamed the snake ...
... and the snake blamed God.
Who are you blaming?
Get a life ... Get real!

What has God's plan for man's life been since creation?

How is man to live this ...
"good life?"

In the book of Genesis
God laid the foundation for life ...
... for man's ...
"good life"...

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."
--- Gen. 1:28

And in the Gospel of John Jesus said ...

... I have come that they may have life,
and that they may have it more abundantly.
--- John 10:10

Was this a spiritual plan and act on man's behalf?
No, not at all!
Jesus was talking about life ... life here on earth ... in a real physical environment ...
... living and coping with a real natural life ...

Sure, you are a spirit ...
And sure, things are continuously happening in the spirit and in the spirit realm ...
But ...
Who said anything about being SPIRITUAL?
Who said that to be blessed and to receive from God ...
... you have to be spiritual?
Not God! ... He said nothing about being spiritual!

What did God do? ...
... and what did God mean with what He said in Gen. 1:28? ...
God blessed man ...
... Blessed = Barak ... enabled to live a full life ...
And God said to man ... Be fruitful ...
... in other words, use that ability to live a full rich life and bear fruit for others to benefit from.
Then go live that life and out of that abundance, give to others!

In John 10:10 Jesus confirmed that God has not changed but that He came to restore that ability and thus also the accompanying abundance!

But how does it work?
What needs to happen so that I can live a full rich life?
What needs to happen so that I have an abundant life ...
... and more than I need?
What needs to happen so that I can live a fruitful life ...
... and have to give?
Get natural ... and leave the super-natural to God!

How does God do things for us, or do things in our lives?
How does God confirm His Word in our lives?
Well let's look at an example in the lives of Jesus' disciples ...
... and let's see how God confirmed His Word in Peter's life.
In John 21 the Bible gives us a very graphic and clear example of how and when He can do things in our lives ...

Everything had gone wrong with Peter ... He had failed as a disciple and had decided to go back to fishing.

Starting in verse 3, we find Jesus walking along the shore where Peter and some of the other disciples had gone fishing and had been at it all night.
... "How many fish have you caught?" Jesus asked.
... "None." they replied.
... "Well cast your net on the right side, and you will find some". Jesus said to them.
Not knowing that it was Jesus speaking to them, I can just imagine Peter's response to Jesus' instruction ...
... "Look sir, we are professional fishermen, and we have been fishing here all night, on the right and on the left. There is no fish in this water, but to prove to you that there is no fish here, I will cast the net on the right side and show you there is none."

But what happened when Peter did do what Jesus said ... they pulled out a net full of fish.
Then only did Peter recognise Jesus.

What happened.
Was that not just a unilateral spiritual or super-natural act on Peter's behalf?
No!
It was a super-natural act in response to Peter's obedience!

Sure it does look as if Jesus simply did something for Peter without Peter being involved at all ... but that is because one only looks at the result of Jesus' actions, ignoring everything else that happened, and had to happen before Jesus could act on Peter's behalf ...
Don't become spiritual ...
... look at the whole picture.

To be able to do something in Peter's life ...

... Jesus not only had to get Peter's attention ...
... but He also needed to get Peter to do something so that He could act on Peter's behalf.
Willing and obedient...!

Let's get natural and take a look at everything that happened there, so we can get the full picture and put life with God, into perspective.

Who went fishing and who filled the net, and when?

Who built the boat? ... Peter!
Who made the net? ... Peter!
Who put the net into the Boat? ... Peter!
Who rowed into the lake? ... Peter!
Who cast the net into the lake? ... Peter!

Who filled the net? ... Jesus!

Who drew the net back into the boat? ... Peter!
Who rowed back to the shore? ... Peter!
Who took the fish out of the net? ... Peter!
Who sold the fish? ... Peter!

Why does so little happen in the lives of God's children?
... Because they are waiting for God to do something, without they themselves doing what is necessary ...
... so that God can act on their behalf!

Unless we DO something that Jesus can act on or respond to ...
... nothing will happen, nothing will increase!
and ...
Unless we TRUST Jesus and allow Him to work in our lives ...
... nothing will happen!

At least Peter knew that nothing would happen
unless he did something towards it ...

Peter was good in doing ... but kept trying to do it all in his own strength and ability ...
What Peter had to learn was to trust Jesus ...
... and to allow Jesus to work on his behalf!
Go ... Do!

When and how can and does God do things in our lives?

And they went out and preached everywhere,
the Lord working with them
and confirming the word
through the accompanying signs. Amen.
--- Mark 16:20

What is Mark 16:20 saying to us ...

... And they went out ... They went ... GO!
... And preached everywhere ... They did ... DO!
What happened when they went and when they did? ...
... The Lord working with them ... God had something to respond to!
And what did God do?
... Confirming the Word ... God did what He promised to do!
And how did God do it!
... With the accompanying signs ... supernaturally!

What does this tell us ...
Unless we do the natural ... God cannot do the supernatural!
Unless we do the natural ... God cannot add the super!

Consider this that ...
If you do nothing, and God adds the super ...
... you will have super nothing!
but ...
If you do something in the natural, and God adds the super ...
... you will have supernatural results!

Put God in Control ... in your life!

Even God's name tells us how it works ...
2/3 of God's name GOD ... is go!
the other 2/3 of God's name ... is do!
Go Do...
Unless you go and unless you do ... God can do nothing for you!
More than enough...!

I like the special Jesus touch ...

In John chapter 21 when Jesus showed Peter and the other disciples where the fish was that they were trying to catch ...
... and when they came onshore with their catch, Jesus had already prepared some fish for breakfast ...

Did you notice ...
... that the fish Jesus prepared for the disciples ...
was one that they did NOT even catch themselves ...