Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Where Does God Stand?
Verse of the day: Genesis 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and
offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Is
God really #1 in our lives? Does our worship of God take priority over other
things in our lives? What a great example we have here in this verse of what it
means to put worship ahead of everything else! I believe that too many of us
today would have been more concerned about settling in our new home, by
scanning the land to see where we were going to build a house for our family to
live in, or where would be the best spot to settle so that the cattle and sheep
would have plenty of food so that they can multiply, and where we could plant a
garden to have food for our family. On top of that, we would have probably
thought twice about sacrificing that seventh animal, because we could probably
use that for meat for our family. Instead, Noah only thought of how grateful he
was toward God, and the first thing he did upon leaving the ark was build an
altar and sacrifice the seventh animal of the clean animals he was instructed
to bring on board by God (Genesis 7:2-3). Along this entire account, we never
read about any instructions given to Noah, by God, on how he should worship
God. This worship was genuinely from a heart of praise and thanksgiving toward
God for what He had done for Noah and his family. There is nothing more
pleasing to God than when we offer up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving
in Christ Jesus (Hebrews 13:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:18), regardless of whether
conditions are good or bad. If we say that our relationship with God is
priority, where does prayer, and the study of His Word “fit” into our daily
routines and schedules? What priority does our quiet time and service take in
our busy lives? Do we give of our riches to God only when we have enough left
over, and we have taken care of our own needs, or do we give Him our first-fruits?
If we say God is most important in our lives, and our priority, does it show in
the way we worship Him? Is our worship of Him evident in the life we live, in
the way we treat others, and in our availability to go and do whatever He
desires? Like Noah, our worship should come before anything else. Simply
starting our day in prayer and reading His Word is a good start. Letting Him know
that He is the One we desire to spend the first moments of each day He gives
us. God deserves the very first fruits of all He allows us to have. Noah did
not just give the seventh animal back to God, he gave it sacrificially, as all
that was in the ark was all Noah and his family had in this new world. Noah did
not know what lie ahead for him and his family, but this one thing he knew; he
trusted God with whatever was to come, so sacrificing what could have been kept
for his family was just a small gesture of praise and thanksgiving that he
could offer. The results of this was that Noah’s sacrifice and worship was a
soothing aroma to God, and He made a covenant with him never to destroy mankind,
or every living thing, in this manner, via worldwide flood, ever again (verse
21). What a beautiful picture we see here of what is written in Ephesians 5:2,
where it tells us that Christ’s offering and sacrifice to God was a
sweet-smelling aroma. Do not let today go by without re-evaluating what
priority God really has in your life. Did you start today without praying? Did
you put your time in God’s Word on the “back-burner” because you had something else
to do, or chose to stay in bed those extra few minutes which could have been
spent with God? Have you already treated someone in a manner that would not
please the Lord or refused to give to God what is rightfully His, by maybe not
giving to someone who is in need? Only you know, and only you can change your
priorities.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
God Remembers, Even When He’s Silent
Verse of the day: Genesis 8:1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing,
and all the animals that were with him in
the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
Does God ever forget? The short
answer to that would be, “no”. The expression here that “God remembered Noah”
is, as some commentators have put it, “an expression after the manner of men”.
God made is clear in His Word that He forgets neither man, nor any of His
creation, and considers even the cattle (Luke 12:6; Isaiah 49:15-16; Jonah 4:11).
We can only imagine that at this point, after being afloat on the flood waters
for about a year, and not hearing from God in about five months, the mind of
any believer would begin to question what was happening or if God was even
paying attention at this point. The truth of the matter is that there will be
times when we follow God’s will and plan for our lives, and while carrying it
out we will face great challenges. To think that we will not face some
difficulties, even in living out God’s plan for our lives, is not wise on our
part. All born again believers must grow in our faith, and part of growing is
learning how to trust God. Learning to trust God means learning how to go
through the difficult moments, and the moments when it seems that God has grown
silent, still trusting that He is there. Even King David, a man after God’s own
heart, experienced those times when He cried out to God because of the silence
He experienced during some of his most trying times. Psalm 13 is a great
example of one of those times; it reads as follows:
1 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have
trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Although he felt as if God had
forgotten him, King David also knew in his heart, and by faith, that he could
trust God to hear him and deliver him, as we see the shift in verse 5. Imagine
being in Noah’s place on the ark. Every living creature, and your family, all
under your care, inside a vessel that rocks and creeks as it stays afloat, with
no land to rest on, and not knowing how long you would be confined to it. Many
of us have a difficult time, and get impatient, just waiting in line to pay for
item we purchased in a store; never mind waiting a year inside a vessel, with
no windows, not knowing what is going on outside, and God suddenly becoming
silent for months at a time. What great faith Noah must have had to continue
trusting God under these conditions. Yet, how often does our faith waver for
much less? The bottom line is that God never forgets His people or the rest of
His creation, even when He grows silent. Just like all creatures paid the price
for man’s sinfulness; here, all His creatures were blessed by the grace God
chose to show Noah and his family. Not only did God remember Noah at this time,
but He once again demonstrated the power He possesses by commanding the winds,
and causing the flood waters to subside, so that the ark could finally rest on
dry land. Regardless of what God allows us to go through in life, He is always
with us, He never forgets us, and in the end He always shows us His undeserved
goodness toward us.
Monday, September 11, 2017
Salvation Sealed
Verse of the day: Genesis 7:16 So those that entered, male and female of all
flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
What a beautiful picture of our salvation,
and Christian life, we see in this verse. We know of Noah, already, that he was
a man of faith who obediently built the ark that God had instructed him to
build. While he built the ark, he also preached righteousness and the coming
judgment. He was a man who was morally upright and lived for God without
compromising his faith (Gen 6:9; Heb 11:7). God has now invited him into the
ark. I say “invited him”, because verse 1 of this chapter reads, ‘Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your
household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this
generation.”’ Although Noah had built the ark, it was upon God’s invitation
that those who were going to be saved were asked to enter in. Although Noah was
righteous, and was obedient, he did not have the power to save his family or
the creatures God had instructed him to bring with him. It is no different for
us today. It matters none if we have our own form of righteousness and good
works if we have not faith. If our works do not come out of, and as a result
of, our faith, then it is all for not, and in the end we are still condemned.
Salvation can only come from God, and it can only come in the way the He
prescribes. It was not Noah’s idea to build the ark. God called him to build it
and told him the exact measurements, and what materials to use, to build it. The
salvation that Noah and his family would partake of was God’s plan of
salvation, not Noah’s. Today, God tells us that the only Way of salvation is
Jesus (John 14:6). There is no other way. To neglect that plan, and those
instructions, is to set ourselves up for eternal condemnation (John 3:18). Once
we have obediently accepted God’s way of salvation, by faith, then it is up to
us to live our life in righteousness (Philippians 2:12), faithfully share the
gospel (Mark 16:15), and do good works that are the result of our faith (James
2:18). God promised that He is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2),
and will complete the work He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6). Note that it
was God who shut Noah, his family, and all God’s creatures, into the ark; it is
God who seals us with the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:13). When
the time of tribulation and judgment comes, as prophesied in God’s Word, we who
are truly born again will be saved from that condemnation (Romans 8:1). When we
close our eyes in physical death, we will not suffer eternal condemnation in
Hell or the Lake of Fire, because we have been sealed and given God’s salvation
in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:1-10). Interestingly, we see two of God’s Names used
in this verse, first God, or Elohim “Creator”, and the second LORD, or Jehovah “Covenanting
God”. Noah went into the ark at the invitation of his Creator, who is the same
God who makes a covenant with Him. In the end, Noah’s obedience to God, by
faith, did not go without reward, although he did not see that reward right
away. God kept him safe in the midst of all the violence and mockery, while he faithfully
preached the coming judgment, and he and his family were secure when
destruction came to mankind and all living creatures. Beloved, for those of us
who trust our Creator’s plan of salvations, and call upon Jesus, by faith, we
too will not go without reward; and even though we may have to wait until we
are face to face with Him, it is already secure in Christ. He will protect us
here on earth as we spread the gospel; and if He chooses that we be His martyr,
there is no greater reward or privilege. In the end, when the coming judgment
becomes reality, we will be kept safe because of the covenant of grace that has
been given to us in Christ Jesus (Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20).
Sunday, September 10, 2017
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