Noah's Obedience and Patience
Please forgive me for missing last week. My schedule had changed drastically and I also had 3 finals to do as well as trying to sleep. I will still be doing this weekly, Lord willing.
As we read through Genesis 7-8, there are points to take and questions to ask. I may not have answers to the questions that I propose, but we should always ask questions about scripture in order to bookmark (in a sense) how we think and answers that we seek to find in their proper context.
One point to take home is from Genesis 7:5, "And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him." Think about that. When the Lord commanded Noah to do something, he did it. He did not fight God for years and try to figure out why God was wrong, Noah just did it , like Nike. That paid off major dividends for Noah and his family as they were spared during the flood. When you do what God wants you to, He is sparing you from what is inevitable trouble if you do not follow through with what he said.
Also, there is another take home point from Genesis 8. The water was subsiding, but not quickly like a drain in a sink or bathtub. It took over 10 months for Noah to see the tops of mountains. That takes much patience. Now we also see that Noah kept checking for the development of what had happened to see if it was safe to exit the arc. Noah sent a Raven and then a dove to test the earth. When the dove no longer returned, another 50+ days later- Genesis 8:12, Noah knew then it was time to exit the arc. Do you see the obedience and the patience this man had? No wonder God spared him. That was not some guy that just reacted to everything on an emotional whim. He did what God said. Period.
A question I had was regarding the earth. I wondered if the flood covered the literal earth as in our entire planet, or did the flood cover the earth that surrounded Noah. I did not think I would come up with an answer (probably THE answer) so quickly. In Genesis 8:21 it reads "And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done." We know that there are still floods that happen on earth, but there are not major floods that have covered the entire earth/planet. So, we can understand the flood was covering the entire planet and not just a small portion of it.
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Be, Just Be
Be, just be is my take on a directive given by Paul to the Corinthian church and the men in it. These directives can come for any number of reasons, but this one was in response to waiting for Apollos, another church leader who was to come to the Corinthian church and lead. Before Apollos arrived, Paul wrote the Corinthians a letter telling them to "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love (1 Corinthians 6:13-14)." Being watchful like when Jesus wanted the disciples to stay up through the night and keep out a watchful eye. Stand firm in the faith meaning do not waiver and dilute the faith and add unto it, but stand strong in what is whole, virtuous and true. Acting like men may get taken to mean not to be effeminate, but I think here in this context it means be strong like men as men are naturally stronger than women (that's not sexist). The strength here isn't about physical strength, but emotional strength or endurance and perseverance and courage while waiting for Apollos to arrive. Lastly, let all you do be done in love. If you hold God up high first and foremost and you love and honor His word and His will, then you can love people (even unbelievers) as God loves them. So, be, just be. Be strong. Be a man. Be loving. Be like Jesus. Be, just be.
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Fruit of the Spirit
How do you know if you are walking in step with the Holy Spirit? Paul first breaks down what is not apart of the spirit in Galatians 5:19-21. He tells them sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these" are all components and examples of what it is to be living in the flesh. But in Galatians 5:22-24 Paul reveals the Fruit of the Spirit. The fruit is love (for God, others and self), peace (with God, others and self), faithfulness (in the Lord and the Word), joy (in that which is righteous), goodness (that which is in accordance with God's will), gentleness (with others), patience, self control and kindness. There are so many possible ways to live, think and operate, but if we are in the spirit, it narrows down those options
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Give it UP!
We have all heard all types of saying that can classify as Christian rhetoric such as "Give It To God" and "Let Go and Let God." But, if you really look at what is deep in the meaning of what those phrases are, is it really rhetoric?
We try to control so much in our lives, but there is so much that we are not in control of. Have you ever tried to control someone? What about trying to control other aspects of life? What about worry? Isn't that what leads us to try to control things and people? We think that something bad will happen and we worry and try to fix it so it doesn't happen. Why are we so worried?
Worry is just a symptom, in my opinion, of not having any faith that God will take care of things. Our worry leads us to actions that we think are fixing things, but really our worries and actions from being worried are not God centered. We aren't taking things to God, we are taking matters into our own hands because we lack faith in God and patience in the process.
God wants us to cast our anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7). He doesn't want us walking around being balls of anxiety with two legs. No! He wants us to be at ease and to release those anxieties, stresses, pressures and worries to Him.
He has a plan for us and we are to not lean on how our own understanding, but trust in Him, acknowledge Him and He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
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