NOAH'S ARK

 

NOAH’S ARK

Gen. 8:20-21 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and sacrificed on it the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. And the LORD was pleased with the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people’s thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood.” NLT

Why was the Lord pleased with Noah’s offering? He offered up as a sacrifice those animals that the Lord had approved of for that purpose. Noah knew what pleased the Lord and he did it. He could have chosen any of the multitudes of animals on the ark for his sacrifice, but he didn’t. He chose to obey the Lord all the way. Why do you suppose his heart was so set on total obedience to the Lord?

God had taken notice of Noah’s heart before the flood. Of all the people on earth He was pleased with Noah’s faithfulness. God spared Noah’s life because his life was right with God. Not only did God save Noah’s life, He spared the lives of his family. Can you imagine how much gratitude Noah must have had at that time of his life? God protected him from certain destruction. And not only that, He spared the lives of those who were most dear to his heart.

God enabled Noah to do that which was seemingly impossible. He built the Ark. Scripture doesn’t tell us how much help he had, if any. The Ark was an imposing and impressive project. It was larger than anything else ever built at the time. It was built with much great sacrifice. Think about the massive amount of lumber and materials it took. Consider the amount of time and effort which were put into this project.

The Ark was built at the expense of much mockery. I am sure that no one could ever figure out what the Ark was going to be used for. It had to be built on land and because of its size it could not be moved. So here was this massive boat being built sitting on land. What good was it except to look at? Why would anyone build such a thing? What a waste of time, money, and energy! Had Noah gone mad?

With the help God provided, Noah built the ark. He had done what seemed like the impossible to do. How it must have blessed Noah’s heart to know that with God all things are truly possible! And when the Ark was done, the animals ushered in, the door was shut, the rains came, and the Ark floated without any leaks. Noah had plenty of time on the Ark to think about these things and how the Lord had shown kindness to him. Is it any wonder that Noah did what was pleasing to the Lord in the offering he offered up to Him? The Lord was pleased with Noah and promised to never again purge the world of its population with the rains, even though He knew the heart of man and how it was prone to wander from Him.

May we too reflect on God’s goodness and kindness towards us and offer up to Him sacrifices that are pleasing to Him. The sacrifice that pleases God is the sacrifice of a heart totally yielded to Him, a heart that obeys God completely whether it makes sense at the time or not, a heart that trusts God to know what is best in all He gives us to do.

GOD'S SORROW

 

GOD’S SORROW

Gen. 6:5-6 Now the LORD observed the extent of the people’s wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart. NLT

The Lord is not blind to the evil in the world and in the hearts of people. He sees it all and it grieves His heart. I know He knows what is going on in the world and in the hearts of people. He knows how bad things are and how bad it is going to get. He knows what makes people the way they are, what they think, and the desires of their hearts to do evil. It grieves His heart over what man has become.

Man was created for fellowship with God. But because of sin, most people cannot have fellowship with Him. God longs for our fellowship, but because of sin, He is deprived of it. He knows the devastating destructiveness of sin. He knows that because of sin many will never have fellowship with Him. He knows that all who live in sin cannot live with Him and will be cast into hell. He loves all mankind and it grieves Him to know that most will be doomed to hell for eternity. I can understand how there would be sorrow in the heart of God. Yet, God is able to overshadow His sorrow with the joy of knowing those who are saved. His focus is on His children, not those who aren’t.

Is sin that big of a deal? Does it really matter when we sin against God? It certainly does to God. We should take seriously the matter of sin in our lives. Don’t put your head in the sand and ignore the importance of keeping your heart pure before God. The way we live is a life or death matter for our souls. Don’t make God sorry He created you. Don’t give Him cause to have a broken heart.

The Lord, our God, is holy in heart and He can only have fellowship with those who are likewise holy. The only way sinful man can change his sinful heart to a holy heart is through Calvary. Jesus died to take away our sin and make our hearts holy. As long as you stay connected to Christ, God can have fellowship with you.

ANGRY AT GOD?

Gen. 4:6-7 “Why are you so angry?” the LORD asked him. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it.” NLT

Why do we get angry at God? People are quick to blame God for whatever is wrong in their lives, as if it is God’s duty to make sure that everything runs smoothly with no trouble or sorrow. Somehow we have gotten the idea that God exists to make heaven on earth, that He is at our beckon and call to make sure that it happens. We are quick to accept and relish the good of life, but have a problem accepting the bad. Somehow it’s God’s fault and He is duty-bound to fix it.

What we refuse to accept is that God is in control and His rule over life is governed by His holiness. God will never act outside of His holiness. He will never intervene in our lives to do good when there is sin lurking at the door. He never has, and He never will, condone sin in any way, shape, or form. He will not bless those who live in sin. He will allow suffering and troubles in this life as long as people allow Satan in their lives. We can’t have it both ways. This is not heaven; it is Satan’s turf, hell on earth. We live in a world that constantly reaps the consequences of sin. It will not change as long as God delays His coming to cleanse the world.

God does not promise to isolate us from sin’s consequences. He insulates those who trust in Him, but does not keep us from experiencing the consequences of living in a sinful world. So, don’t get angry and blame God for whatever troubles may come your way. Instead, live humbly before God. Make sure that sin does not lurk at the door of your heart. Stay true to the Lord always and refuse to let sin drive you away from God. God never promises to keep us away from troubled times, but He always promises to be with us and help us as we walk through them.

The right thing to do is to always strive to do what is right in God’s eyes.

GOD'S MERCY

 

GOD’S MERCY

Gen. 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “The people have become as we are, knowing everything, both good and evil. What if they eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then they will live forever.” NLT

There is mercy with the Lord. God had explicitly forbidden Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of good and evil. When they listened to Satan and ate of the fruit of the tree, they broke their covenant relationship with God. They were now sinners and would bear the consequences of their sin.

God had also planted the tree of life in the Garden. If man were to eat of the fruit of that tree, he would live forever. Because God loved man, He spared him from living forever under the curse of their sin. He banished man from the Garden and put angels around it to prevent man from returning to it. He lovingly protected man from an eternal life of sin.

God also provided man with a way to get rid of his sin. God does not want anyone to die in their sin so He sent Jesus to come and be our Savior. The soul of man is eternal spirit. Everyone will live on after they die. When we accept Jesus as our Savior and live for Him, we live on in heaven with Him. If we reject Jesus and die in our sin, we live on without Him in eternal hellfire.

Wherever we end up spending eternity, it will be by choice. God dignifies man by letting man choose where he will spend eternity. He has made himself known to us and we will be judged on the basis of our knowledge of Him. Our lives are a reflection of our choice. We can either live for the pleasures of earth or the pleasures of heaven. Choose carefully whom you will serve. If you make the wrong choice, you will have eternity to think about it.

MALE AND FEMALE

 

MALE AND FEMALE

Gen. 2:18, 20-22 And the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion to help him.”….He gave names to all the livestock, birds, and wild animals. But still, there was no companion suitable for him. So the LORD God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam’s ribs and closed up the place from which he had taken it. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib and brought her to Adam. NLT

The Lord is so good; He made us male and female as perfect complements to each other. God perfectly knows every detail of what we are like, how we think, and what we need. And He made it possible for our needs to be perfectly met. God designed us for each other. He made both man and woman with a need for each other. The fact that we are male and female is no accident. God purposely made us the way we are. God made us compatible, perfectly suitable for each other. God made us as He did so that we would be able to relate to each other on a level and in a way unlike any other relationship in all of creation.

The problems that we have adjusting to life and living within the boundaries of God’s designed plan for us can be traced to unhealthy and unbalanced relationships, first with God and then with one another. Bad relationships distort our understanding of who we are and what our needs are in life. They are the breeding ground for sinful thoughts and behavior. Sin distorts our perception of what is, and is not, acceptable behavior and relationships. It makes us see through darkened eyes and causes us to accept as normal and acceptable that which God says isn’t. Sin convinces us that we can live successfully without proper human relationships. Sin causes us to experiment with and embrace that which God says is sin.

Let us today give thanks to the Lord for His wonderful creative act of making us both male and female. Let us thank Him for making us compatible and complementary with each other. Let us thank Him for bringing into our lives those who make our lives complete. Let us thank Him for His creative genius.

And, let us repent of the sin that causes us to want to change God’s design for proper human relationships. Let us repent of the sin that causes us to accept and support man’s distorted ideas about what is and is not acceptable human relationships. Let us repent of our sin of taking one another for granted and not appreciating God’s wondrous gift to us of each other.

GOD'S TREES

 

GOD’S TREES

Gen. 2:9 And the LORD God planted all sorts of trees in the garden—beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit. At the center of the garden, he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. NLT

It is good to eat from the tree of life. We need to feast on that which gives us eternal life. We need to constantly feed on things that keep Christ as the most valuable part of our lives. We must never stop feasting on those things which build us up in the faith. There must be an insatiable hunger in our hearts for the things of God. When we stop feeding our souls, we soon grow weak and wither away from God. Our souls need food all the time and we will feed them, whether it is with godly food or that which poisons the soul. We constantly are faced with the decision with which food we will feast on.

It is bad to eat from the tree of God, the tree that exposes us to the knowledge of evil. There is no good that comes from knowing the evils of the world. We must develop a great distaste for the things of evil. There is no limit to how evil the heart can get. We must protect ourselves from knowing too much. We don’t need to know how bad people can get. Evil behavior makes good news stories. We seem to have a desire to know how bad others behave. But, is it good to dwell on those things? It is obvious that many feed off of those things and try to duplicate them in their own lives. How many times have you been tempted to do something just because you know others are doing it? Two wrongs never make a right. We need to change the way we look at things.

Also, we must discipline ourselves to not dwell on the bad ways people treat us. It is never a good thing to know all that others may be doing or saying against us. Rather than dwelling on their negativity, we should dwell on God’s goodness and love. It is always better to focus on that which is good than that which is evil.

It is far better to dwell on those things which build us up than it is on the evil around us that may cause us to be led into sin. We must discipline our minds to not dwell on evil at the expense of the good. We can’t avoid the evil around us, but we can choose not to let it control our thoughts and affect our behavior. Feed your soul on godly things and you will not let unholy things captivate your thoughts and affect your living.

A DAY OF REST AND REFLECTION

 

A DAY OF REST AND REFLECTION

Gen., 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation. NLT

I am deeply convinced that this is one area that we, the body of Christ, must pay attention to. We have somehow convinced ourselves that it is okay to treat the Lord’s Day like any other day of the week. We no longer see it as a day set apart by the Lord as a day of rest and worship. We fill up the Lord’s Day with so much activity and distractions that we scarcely even know the Lord is in it. For many, they have to go back to work in order to rest up from the busyness of His day. Many of the things we do are good things, maybe even necessary, but I wonder what the Lord thinks about all our busyness. How can we spend quality time with the Lord when we are so preoccupied with other things? When was the last time you spent the Lord’s Day in quiet reflection and rest?

Whether you honor the Lord on a Saturday or a Sunday doesn’t matter. Whatever your conviction is about the day to worship the Lord, do you really do it? Do you set aside a day in your week to rest in the presence of Christ for renewal? Do you focus on Him in worship? Or, do you justify yourself filling up your day of worship with activities and work that you could and should reserve for other days? When was the last time you spent quality time with the Lord for a whole day?

The Lord set aside a day for rest from His labors and proclaimed it to be holy. He told us this for a reason. He set an example for us to follow. Is it any wonder why so many of us struggle in our walk with Him? Is it any wonder why so many of our churches are struggling? If we fail to honor the Lord with a day of rest and reflection on Him, we can’t expect Him to bless us in the rest of our lives.

One more thought. I wonder what would happen if the church were to set aside a day in which nothing else was on the agenda but to rest in the presence of the Lord. I wonder how many people would show up or stay around for such a day. Could we stand doing nothing for a whole day but to rest and wait on the Lord? Maybe we should fast from all of our busyness sometime and see what might happen. I suspect that we would sense God’s presence in a way we haven’t before. The Lord will not renew our strength as long as we are too busy to wait before Him.