As many have done before me, I am attempting to read the Bible in a year. Not my first full read-through, but my first with a time limit and a reason. I sometimes struggle to recognise God's love for me; to see how He loves me personally and not just as one of many. So, as I read now, I am trying to pick out every verse that explicitly shows God as loving. Furthermore, I have often heard people saying that the God of the Old Testament is a harsh, cruel god, not one of love, so hopefully this will enable me to refute those claims.
I began reading on Saturday, so I'm day 3 now.
Day 1: Genesis 1 & 2; Matthew 1
In the beginning God creates. Everything. And it's all for us. For me. The earth and everything in it were created to enable us to live the lives God gave us.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the
birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the
ground.” Then God
said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole
earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours
for food. (Genesis 1:28-29)
God blessed them. First He created human beings and then He blessed them. What a wonderful start to life - receiving God's blessing. And then receiving the gift of His Creation.
We can see just how much God loved His final creations - man and woman - from His final thoughts before resting:
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31) Up until this point all that God saw was merely "good," but when He sees His human beings, He sees that everything is now "very good."
.JPG "Genesis 15:5")
Fast forward to Jesus, a descendant of Abraham. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the one who would fulfil the second part of God's promise: Jesus, through His death and resurrection has enabled all people to be blessed, if they choose to follow Him. 
