Noah and the Father’s Love

Genesis 6:5-7:24


The reading for today is about Noah and the great flood --- a familiar story for many of us.  As I read this story I kept coming back to Genesis 6:5-8.  These verses describe mankind’s “wickedness on the earth” and God’s response.  Verse 6 especially got my attention, stating “The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.”  This is from the NIV translation.  Other translations say God was sorry or regretted that he had made man and that his heart was grieved and even broken.  My study bible has a note that says “Man’s sin is God’s sorrow” and directs you to Ephesians 4:30 where Paul directs us not to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God”.  


It is amazing to me that Almighty God can be pained or sorrowful because of our sinful behavior and disobedience.  But that seems to be the case in this story.  And yet, when I consider God as a loving Father who sacrificed His Son for our redemption, why am I surprised?  Just as obedience shows our love for God, disobedience (sin) grieves his heart. 


Over the past several weeks we have been singing a song at church that seems to give a good summary to these thoughts.  I have included a link below.  Please take a moment to listen closely to the lyrics, especially the second verse, and give thanks that we have a Father that loves us “beyond all measure”.


“How Deep the Father’s Love for Us"

Overcoming the Storms of Life

By Thomas Denegre 8/21/2019

Are you ready to overcome the storms of life so you can continue to stand and prosper? 

In today’s readings of Mathew 7:21-28, Jesus explains he is our rock foundation in the storms of our lives and like the greatest sports teams and armies in the world, the right preparation, attitude, and belief will make you withstand the onslaught and prosper.

Jesus instructions are based on the counter intuitive. You must die to live. The first will be last and last will be first.  Jesus states, it’s not enough to have intellectual knowledge of whom he is, otherwise he will spit you out.  Second, tribulations and storms are guaranteed to come into your life, so Jesus, like any other loving parent, wants to give you a rock-solid foundation to survive and flourish.

Let me tell you about two brothers named Mark and Bennie who are close in age. As teenagers they were two peas in a pod being mischievous, aggressive, funny, smart, and troublesome.  The father loved both his sons and tried to steer them away from harm.  Mark went into the army and learned to channel his energy constructively while Bennie got into sales, drugs, and fast living. 

As time progressed Mark became a believer in Jesus Christ.  He opened his heart to the Lord and became teachable to His ways.  Mark got married, had several children, and became a newspaper journalist. Life was not always easy for Mark as the internet crushed his career forcing him into unemployment five years out of ten. But, by being dependent on the Lord he always had money, good health, and a devoted family.  Knowing and behaving as a son of God, great favor was blessed upon him.

Meanwhile, Bennie was less fortunate. Being opinionated, stubborn, and rebellious, Bennie refused to be taught the character virtues for a successful life. When the storms of life came upon Bennie it crushed him.  He went into bankruptcy twice while his health deteriorated to the point of death.  Sadly, he had no family to console nor nurse him.  The outcome of his choices led him to disaster.

Jesus once said, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to bring life, and bring it abundantly.” John 10:10

I learned a lot from Mark.  He told me the greatest thing he ever did was open his heart to Jesus, so he could be loved.  By knowing how much God loved him, Mark lived in life union with Jesus.  He made sure the word of God was always in his mind and in his heart.  God’s Word breathe life into him, and he found himself naturally doing the things God wanted him to do.  Mark explained it was not an overnight transformation, but a gradual change over many years. His favorite verse was, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 

Mark explained that being dependent on Jesus allowed him to live out his God given virtues.

Mark pointed out the difference between living a life union with Jesus versus an intellectual knowledge of Jesus.  A life union with Jesus developed tremendous virtues and character traits within him, while the intellectual Christian rationalized his decisions by claiming his conscious overruled God’s Word.  Hence, the reason Christian intellectuals support abortion and sexual immorality, thereby unconsciously becoming the rebels against God; which is the reason Jesus did not know them and spitted them out.

Jesus is naturally the rock foundation for Christians to stand their life on.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians Chapter 3, the framework to develop and apply our holy character.  By memorizing the verses, Mark said that every day some event would occur, and a verse came to mind for him to use.  By having God’s Word living powerfully within his mind and heart Mark developed the virtues of Obedience, Love, Mercy, Understanding, Compassion, Kindness, Patience, Forgiveness, and Repentance. 

Mark’s most used verse was, “Tolerate the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ.” Col. 3:13 (TPT)

It turned out fellow Christians could be the most difficult people to deal with.  Most Christians were on a path from pride to humility, from self-centeredness to selflessness, from self-hatred to self-acceptance, from holding grudges to forgiveness.  Beneath the façade of many Christians was a lot of toxicity that God was slowly healing out, but in the meantime had to be confronted.  Mark admitted he was a difficult and sometimes toxic Christian too.  But God gave him the grace to see people like the father of the prodigal son, whereby the person was far more important than the behaviors they exhibit.  Jesus was able to teach and encourage Mark to apply the virtues as a healing tool for himself and for others.

Mark learned people didn’t care what you know, they wanted to know you care. By living with Jesus, compassion and service to others will help heal the wounds that the storms of life inflicted.

We know the storms of life will always rise again in our lives.  I too learned that a life union with Jesus while having his Words alive in my heart provides the best rock foundation to survive and prosper through storms.  Below are Mark’s favorite scripture verses, or holy virtues, on building a rock solid foundation in your life.

You are always and dearly loved by God!

So, robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy.

Be merciful as you endeavor to understand others, and be compassionate, showing kindness toward all.

Be gentle and humble, unoffendable in your patience with others.

Tolerate the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ.

If you find fault with someone, release this same gift of forgiveness to them.

For love is supreme and must flow through each of these virtues.

Love becomes the mark of true maturity.

Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body.

And always be thankful.

Colossians 3:12-15 (TPT)

“We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.”

1 Timothy 1:8-11

“A society of laws is a high vision for a nation or secular society, but too low a goal for a Christian community.”  This quote came from the “Talking Points” that were provided to Daily Bible Blast writers in support of the current sermon series (Sermon on the Mount).  Our experience tells us that we need laws to maintain an orderly society.  We need boundaries to live well together.  But the second half of the quote is what really got my attention.  Jesus addressed the issue of “too low a goal for a Christian community” in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7).  He talked about things like anger, and language, and lust.  He makes it clear to his followers that the obedience He wants is from the heart!

If only it were easy to live in obedience to God’s law and in relationship with one another!  We struggle, but we have some good company.  Look at what Paul says in Romans 7: 21-25: 

^“21 So I find this law at work:  Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature^[a] a slave to the law of sin.”

Thanks be to God for the gift of the law that ultimately points us to our Savior.  Even though we will inevitably fall short of the obedience that God desires, we can join with Paul in thanking Him for the gift of His Son, Jesus, who fulfilled the law for us and the Holy Spirit who helps us in our walk of faith!

“If you love me…”

Exodus 7:14-20   

Yesterday we read about Moses encountering God in the burning bush and today we read about Moses and Aaron encountering God through obedience. Moses and Aaron demonstrate obedience to God by confronting Pharaoh for the first in at least seven times in an effort to seek the release of the Jews from slavery.

Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love me you will obey what I command.” Obedience – sometimes this is a tough concept. We want to follow our own desires. We want God to do things our way. We want things to “make sense” in this world and in our lives. We read in Exodus that God actually hardened Pharaoh's heart as Moses and Aaron delivered their warnings about some of the plagues.

Clearly God has a bigger picture in mind. His perspective is eternal and He simply asks us, like Moses and Aaron, to be obedient. This is how Jesus said we could show our love for Him.

After the Jews release from Egypt God asked Moses, Aaron and the Jewish people to remain obedient as they made their journey to the Promised Land. In a similar manner, God asks us to be obedient as we make our journey to the “Promised Land”. He does this out of love, wanting what is best for us – for eternity. “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

Pleasing Dad

Hebrews 13:1-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013%3A1-17&version=NIV;NLT

 

Growing up there wasn’t anybody that I wanted to make proud of me more than my Father. I desperately needed his love and approval, and I’d do anything to get it.

 

Before my senior year of high school, my Dad got a job in a different state. Because I wanted to finish school with my childhood friends, my parents made arrangements for me to live with a family friend.

 

With plans to leave soon, my parents came to the last football game that they would ever see me play. The problem was that I spent most of my time on the bench.

 

Desperately wanting to get into the game to do something special, the coach called my name. I wanted to do something, anything to make my Dad notice me; to make him proud; to make him stand up and yell, “That’s my son!”

 

Hebrews 13 gives us a lot of ways to please God. In the first paragraph alone, the writer says to love one another; to show hospitality; to remember those that are in prison;1 and to comfort those who are suffering.

 

He also reminds us that God is always with us; that he will never leave us; that he is the same “yesterday, today and forever”; and that Jesus suffered and died for us to make us holy. And how are we to respond to who God is and what He has done?

 

¹⁵ Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.           NLT

 

In the moment of that high school football game, I would have run through a brick wall for my Dad. Instead, I picked out an overweight defensive lineman who was huffing and puffing about twenty yards from the ball carrier and leveled him with my best block ever. My Dad never mentioned the play.

 

But I have a Heavenly Father who is always with me; who loves me the same as He did yesterday, today and tomorrow no matter what I do or don’t do; who loved me so much that He sent His one and only son to die for me.

 

That’s the Dad that I want to make proud of me.

 

 

 

 

Got excuses?

READ: Esther 4:12-17

Ever felt God calling you to do something? Ever responded with excuses?

If so, you’re like many heroes and heroines of the Bible. For example, Esther. 

Excuse #1 - God’s will is done whether I participate in it or not.

Somewhat true. In Esther’s case, God would save the Jews one way or the other, and Mordecai tells her so. However, as we read in Ephesians 2:10, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The call of God is the revelation of that work designed uniquely for you, and when you refuse it, the consequences can be both real and painful. For Esther, Mordecai predicted death. For you, it may be that the hungry go unfed, the lonely fall into depression, or your children grow up not knowing the Lord.

Excuse #2 - I do not have the skills to do what God calls me to do.

Moses was slow of speech and tongue; he felt inadequate to serve as God’s mouthpiece to Israel. The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:11-12)

Esther understood the power of God and turned to him in fasting and prayer. “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:14)

Excuse #3 - What God calls me to do is against the rules.

Esther was forbidden from entering the king’s presence unsummoned at penalty of death. In today’s world, many nations forbid proselytizing. Many bosses demand you keep your religion to yourself. Many social circles shun those who profess Biblical truth. Yet as Peter and the other apostles exclaim in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than human beings!”

Excuse #4 - What if I obey God and fail?

As Esther says, “If I perish, I perish.” On the cross, Jesus perished, and yet his attitude was this: “Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” (Isaiah 50:7) His perishing was obedience; his obedience, love; his love, God’s glory and our salvation. Take up your cross and follow him.

I’m Made Holy! – How Can This Be?

Scripture Reading:  2 Thes 2:13-16

 

A group of us women have been studying The Fruit of the Spirit from Gal 5:22-23 for many weeks. We began noticing that, while each of the facets of the fruit (eg Love, Joy, Peace, etc) was something produced by the Holy Spirit in a Christ-follower, there were also commands or directives from other verses to the Christian to be loving, joyful, peaceable, etc.  For instance, take the facet of Love.  In 1 John 4:9, we see God’s love is manifested in us; and in Matt 22:37, 39, we read, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.”  One verse shows it is God’s love in us, while the other is a command to love.

 

This was the first in a series of times God brought this concept to me:  If I am to grow to maturity, I need to recognize that both the Holy Spirit and I have parts to play in the process.  My next experience with these ideas came when I was preparing a talk on “Hope.”  It provided a name for how I am to live out my sanctification toward maturity.  In his book The Transforming Power of the Gospel (NavPress, 2012), Jerry Bridges coined the term “Dependent Responsibility” to describe the joint nature of my becoming holy.

 

·         The responsibility part of this term: work out daily the life you have been given in Christ (see Phil 2:12).

·         The dependency part: depend on the Holy Spirit for success (see Phil 2:13). He is the primary agent of our sanctification, without Him, we cannot experience the life and power of Christ in us.

 

In our reading today (which is my latest encounter with this idea, we note that in verse 13, both God’s part and our part in the process of our sanctification are mentioned.  The Phillips Translation of the New Testament says it this way, “He has chosen you from the beginning to save you, to make you holy by the work of His Spirit and your own belief in the truth.”

 

It seems to me as if God has been using a microphone to get my attention about something specific regarding being holy.  What is it? I’m not exactly sure, but I do know it has lead me to focus on it more these days, and I continue to ask, “Lord, what do you want me to know?”

 

This is what I’ve learned so far by listening to His answer:

·         The Holy Spirit’s role in my sanctification (maturation process) is to provide power, means, and desire in me to be more like Jesus.

·         My role is to trust God to sanctify me, present my body to Him, and yield to the Spirit – in other words, depend on Him.

·         My role also is to choose to do what’s right (obedience) – in other words, take responsibility for what I think, do, and say.

 

Holy Spirit, as You continue to bring thoughts of sanctification, maturity, holiness, please give me Your wisdom in what further understanding I need in this area of my life. Amen.

PLUGGED IN?

Scripture: John 14:15-27

We recently had a heater/air conditioning unit installed in our 3-season room to make the room useful year-round.  We hired a handyman experienced in working with such units.  And after several hours of work, it looked great, was solidly attached through the wall and ready to do its work of climate control in our room.  Only one problem – we don’t have a 220 volt power source to that room!  So it sits there, a bundle of potential but doing nothing to help heat the room.  What needs to be done? We need to have an electrician connect it to a 220 circuit.

As I read this passage in John 14, I thought of our non-working heating unit.  Jesus was with his disciples for one of the last times before he would ascend.  They had sat under his teaching for 3 years, learning what it means to follow Jesus fully.  They were full of potential, ready to work for the Kingdom.  But they had no power to do what was required – it was too big a job, needing greater strength and wisdom than they had as humans.  The resistance to their work would be too great.

So, Jesus told his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit when he returned to the Father.  “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (or Advocate) to be with you forever (vs 16).”  Further, he gave more description of the Holy Spirit’s purpose: Since he is the Spirit of Truth, he will teach the disciples all things;  and, since he promised to be with and in Christ’s disciples, the Holy Spirit will remind them of everything Jesus said.

These are potential benefits the Holy Spirit has for all disciples – but how do we get plugged in?  Jesus tells us 3 different times in this passage:

·         If you love me, you will obey what I command (vs 15)

·         Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me (vs 21)

·         If anyone love me, he will obey my teaching (vs 23)

Did you get that answer?  Loving God, shown through obedience, connects us to the Holy Spirit’s power. 

The result?

·         All the promises God offers through the Holy Spirit are ours (God’s presence, his truth, his wisdom, his help in trouble)

·         We have the peace of Christ in our hearts

 

Do you want more power in your life to be able to do what God calls you to do?  Get “Plugged In" to the Power Source 

by loving God and obeying him.

 

 

[BTW, we just got power to our heater, and our plants in the 3-season room are happy!]

 

 

Cast Your Nets, One More Time

This month my husband and I celebrate 19 years of marriage. I remember early in our marriage my struggles with cooking. I would try and duplicate something my mom had cooked, or even something on TV and it would flop. I was a bad cook. What went wrong? Why did every attempt to feed my husband totally fail? Easy I didn’t go to the source of success, a recipe.

I didn’t cook well, because I was doing it my way. The disciple Simon, had an experience with the true source of success, Jesus. In today’s passage. Jesus climbs into the fisherman’s boat and uses it as a place to sit and teach the crowd which had gathered. After he was done teaching, Jesus tells Simon to go fishing.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

I absolutely love how Simon says, “But because you said so, I will let down the nets.” Simon had been unsuccessfully fishing all night, but now he new it would be different. Jesus was the key. Just like a recipe was the key for me to be able to cook. Jesus was all Simon needed. Before he new it, so many fish were in the nets, his boat started to sink!

Is there an area in life where you are trying to do something without a connection to Jesus. It’s not going to work.  Perhaps you feel like it is working just fine, let me ask you…is your boat so full it’s sinking? Stay connected to Christ. Seek him first in all you do. And if he tells you to do something you have already tried without success, do it again, just because he said so.


Read today’s entire passage here. Luke 5: 1-11

Led by the Spirit

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.John was with them as their helper.

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit,looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.  Acts 13: 4-12

When was the last time you felt the Holy Spirit leading you? Perhaps you felt a nudge by the Spirit to pray for someone. Maybe you felt him leading you to encourage a neighbor or co-worker. The Spirit leads us every day if we are open to Him. It is important that we seek out his direction and stay alert.

In our scripture passage today we see Paul and Barnabas being led by the Spirit to the island of Cyprus. The Spirit is leading and the disciples are obedient. While on the west side of the island they encounter two very different men. One was a Jewish man and false prophet opposed to the gospel. The other is a Roman governor, open to what Paul and Barnabas have to say.

Sergius Paulus, the Roman official wants to hear the gospel message but Bar-Jesus, the sorcerer, kept trying to stop the official from coming to faith. This is where I would have loved being a witness to these events. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, lets the opposition have it. He totally calls out Bar-Jesus, whose name means, “Son of Jesus” and calls him a child of the devil.

Paul could have shied away from the confrontation, but he again is obedient to the leading of the Spirit and because of it, the Roman official comes to faith in Christ. The Spirit is active in our lives as well. He may not be calling us to confrontation, but he is leading us to action and it is our job to seek his leading and obediently go.

Jesus gives rest to the weary

December 31

Scripture Reading

Read Matthew 11:25-30 and reflect on the passage.

If I were crafting a comforting Bible verse about rest, the work of an ox would not be my chosen metaphor. I’m guessing beasts of burden aren’t your picture of rest either. So why is it that Jesus evokes this hard-pressed, driving metaphor when offering us comfort for our weariness?

I propose to you two reasons. First, we are meant for something. Rest for us, is not about inactivity, but about the right activity—faithful activity. Rest for the Christian is about obedience to God’s call in any moment. We may be called to stop at some times, and to go at another. Sometimes obedience will feel easy and sometimes it will be hard. But always it is what is best for us and will lead us toward a source of love and of life that will carry our weariness from us.

Second, a yoke is not taken by just one animal. We are not just taking on Jesus’ yoke, but we are yoked with Him—beside Him. Even when the work ahead seems insurmountable, we are more than conquerors because Christ pulls beside us, and He pulls in our place. We are yoked with Christ and in that there is infinite rest.

Questions

1.      What has you weary right now? Is it something God has called you to, or something else?

2.      What have you been trying to do that Christ can be doing for you? What would it take to convince you that the work you are doing doesn’t really rest on your shoulders?

  

Prayer

Jesus, I want to be yoked to You. Help me to be obedient and to remember that You do the heavy lifting. Amen.

—Aaron Thompson

Giving from the Heart

Today's scripture keeps our focus on generosity. 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 talks about what happens when we live generously. Living generously cannot be merely an act of obedience.  True generosity is a matter of the heart. It is not always something you can plan.

I love how The Message interprets this passage. Verse 9 says,  “As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon.”

Have you ever thrown caution to the winds? It’s fun to do if we think of going on an adventure, but when we think of giving our resources we definitely tend to be cautious.

We say we are being a “good steward” with what God has given us when really our hearts don't want to give.  While I don't think God wants us to waste our time, money or talents, when I read this passage I can't ignore where it says God wants us to give with, “reckless abandon” so that people will come to know Christ through our generosity.

Last weekend my family and I were out in a really poor neighborhood, that our church has adopted, knocking on doors seeing if there are any kids we could provide Christmas presents for.  While we were out one of the residents, an elderly woman was taking out her trash.  I told my ten-year-old to run over and take the bag of trash to the garbage for her.

She insisted that he didn't need to do that for her, but I just winked at her and said please let him give her his time.  My son was extremely happy to be able to help in some way. The woman was touch when she saw how he really wanted to help and allowed us to stay for a bit and talk.  Before we left we were able to pray with her.  

Generous living isn't just giving your money.  It is giving what is needed recklessly and with abandon if need be. “God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.”

Ready today's passage here 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Two Choices

Psalm 1The Message (MSG)

1 How well God must like you—
    you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,
    you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,
    you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.

2-3 Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
    you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
    bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
    always in blossom.

4-5 You’re not at all like the wicked,
    who are mere windblown dust—
Without defense in court,
    unfit company for innocent people.

6 God charts the road you take.
The road they take is Skid Row.

The Message version of this Psalm seems a little bit on the flippant, but it gives a good picture of how God loves it when we walk in His way. He always loves us but is pleased with us when our behavior reflects an obedient spirit.

Think back to your childhood and the difference a day filled with fun and laughter had on the family dynamics.  Obedience and respect for parents made for a peaceful and even fun day in the home.

The same is true of our relationship with God. When I am walking in His direction, heading down the right path, I am filled with contentment.  When I am in the midst of rebellion or conflict my stomach is churning and I feel anything but peace and joy.

There are two ways to face every day: with an obedient and light heart, or not.

Psalm 1