Tag Archives: noah

Get ready now! (Luke 17:22-37) December 17, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Acts 25-26

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 17:22-37
Jesus (to His disciples) Days are coming when you will wish you could see just one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t see it. People will say, “Look, it’s there!” or “Look! It’s here!” Don’t even bother looking. Don’t follow their lead. You know how lightning flashes across the sky, bringing light from one horizon to the other. That’s how the Son of Man will be when His time comes.
But first, He must face many sufferings. He must be rejected by this generation. The days of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage. Everything seemed completely normal until the day Noah entered the ark. Then it started raining, and soon they were all destroyed by the flood.
It was just the same in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, and carrying on business as usual. But then came the day when Lot left Sodom—a different kind of rain began to fall, and they were all destroyed by fire and sulfur falling from the sky. That’s how it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
When that day comes, if you’re on the housetop, don’t run inside to try to save any of your belongings. If you’re in the field, don’t bother running back to the house. Remember Lot’s wife. Turning back is fatal for those who do so. If you try to hold on to your life, it will slip through your fingers; if you let go of your life, you’ll keep it. Listen, on the day of the Son of Man, two people will be asleep in bed; destruction will take one and the other will be left to survive. Two women will be grinding grain together; destruction will take one and the other will survive. Two men will be working out in the field; destruction will overtake one and the other will survive.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I was just thinking about what normal meant in Noah and Lot’s days and what normal means today. God sent the flood to destroy all humankind except Noah and his family because of what was normal for the people around Noah. He sent fire and sulfur falling from the sky to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah destroying those two cities and the plains where they existed because of what was normal for them. God said they had become a stench to Him because of their evil practices so He wiped them out.

Jesus at various times during His ministry warned of the coming wrath that will come because of the evil that will sweep across the earth. Well, I think we are just about there. Take a look at our normal today. Our selfish desires have driven us to the point that anything is okay. We tolerate aberrant behavior and call it everything but sin. We even let our government dictate that sin is okay and encourage us to support it.

Surely not, you say. Just take a look around you. Read the papers and the laws that have sprung up in recent years that fund actions and behaviors that clearly go against God’s word. What else would you call it? Sin has run rampant in our country and around the world. Revivals are unheard of in our land today. Church attendance is down and many services are pretty shallow, more entertainment than worship. Message tickle our ears with things we want to hear instead of the words we need to hear to convince and convict us and help us realize our fallen state.

I think Jesus saw the same signs in Rome and Jerusalem and Galilee. The degradation has continued. We keep sliding further toward our own destruction because we fail to give God the worship He is due. We forget that He is God and we are not. We try to satisfy that God-sized hole in our heart with everything but Him. It won’t work, but we try. But just as in Noah’s day and in Lot’s day, God will finally decide enough is enough. He will finally decide His children do not need to suffer under the hands of evil people anymore. He will finally decide He has given enough grace and will call an end to time.

It will happen in an instant, Jesus says. You won’t be able to climb down off the ladder if you’re working off the ground. You won’t be able to make it to the house if you’re out working in the yard. You won’t have time to go anywhere or do anything because His coming will happen faster than you can blink. As fast as the speed of light, He will come, take His own, and be gone. it will all be over. Judgment will come. Your standing with God will be fixed at that point and He will judge you for what you believe now, not that day. Everyone will believe on that day. Everyone will bow before Him on that day. Everyone will acknowledge that He is God and Lord and Master on that day. But if you don’t believe before that time, it will be too late.

Like in the days of Noah or the days of Lot, normal was evil. Normal opposed God’s laws. Normal tried to substitute things other than God to satisfy a spiritual need only He can satisfy. Normal then sounds a lot like our normal today. We live in a dangerous time. Not from the threat of the evil around us, but because if your heart is not right with God, there might not be much time to make it right. The flood came without warning. People wanted in the ark then, but God had shut the door. Fire and sulfur fell from the sky and there was no where to run.

We don’t know what it will be like when God comes again, but it will be fast and violent and there will be no escape for those He does not take with Him. Get ready now.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Don’t stand on the wrong side of the door (Matthew 24:37-41) June 8, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 66-68

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:37-41
Jesus: As it was at the time of Noah, so it will be with the coming of the Son of Man. In the days before the flood, people were busy making lives for themselves: they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, making plans and having children and growing old, until the day Noah entered the ark. Those people had no idea what was coming; they knew nothing about the floods until the floods were upon them, sweeping them all away. That is how it will be with the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be plowing a field: one will be taken, and the other will be left in the field. Two women will be somewhere grinding at a mill: one will be taken, and the other will be left at the mill.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We probably all know the story of Noah. He built the ark and God saved him and his family from the flood that covered the earth. We often rush through the details of the early part of the story, though. We forget it took Noah a hundred years to build the ark. Can you picture what was going on during that time? Noah was building a boat in preparation for the rains and the flood that were going to cover the earth. It had never rained before. Until the flood, God had watered the earth by the dew of the morning, not with rain.

I can imagine what his neighbors thought. If his subdivision had an HOA, he’d probably be thrown out on his ear. A 450 foot boat being built in the back yard. Who does that? This guy must be crazy. God tells him water will fall from the sky and kill everyone unless they repent and change their ways and do what this invisible voice tells them to do. What an idiot, right? Who does Noah think he is?

Noah has his sons believing this drivel, too. They work right along side him, cutting trees, sawing logs, melting pitch to seal the cracks. They are loyal to their father and trust his words. They have to listen to the same ridicule his father takes every day, but they honor their father and stand beside him day by day as he works on this giant ship that will house them during something they’ve never seen and don’t understand.

Everyone else goes about their daily business. They hear Noah’s story. They hear him talking about this coming flood. They see him working every day for a hundred years on this insane project. They even see the animals starting to appear out of nowhere. They watch as animals start to climb aboard this giant boat. Normal preditors and prey side by side entering the door of the ark without fighting. They watch but still laugh at the insane man listening to God.

But then the water starts falling from the sky. Just like Noah said it would. They don’t think too much about it until it doesn’t stop. It just keeps falling until the river floods. This has never happened before. Now they start to get a little worried. A few people slosh over to Noah’s boat and knock on the door. “Hey, Noah, can we come in?”

Noah can’t open the door. God shut the door. The water keeps rising. More people bang on the door. “Noah, let us in!” But as much as Noah might want to save his neighbors, he can’t open the door because God shut the door.

That’s what it will be like when Jesus returns. Those like Noah who listen to God’s voice will see all the signs of the coming disaster and prepare. Noah listened and built the ark, put food for his family and the animals God would save into the structure and saved his family. He tried to convince others, but they wouldn’t listen. Others around him saw the signs. The animals started coming around. They watched Noah prepare. They saw strange things happening in the sky they had never seen before, but they wouldn’t listen. Then it was too late.

The same will happen with Jesus’ return. Those who truly follow Him will prepare. They will see the signs Jesus gave us concerning His return and recognize the time is short. Everyone else will see the signs and ignore them. They will go about their everyday lives and not see the signs for what they are. But then, one day, the signs will be obvious just like the rain falling for the first time was obvious and people will cry out for help. But like those in Noah’s day who ran to the ark for safety. It will be too late.

God shut the door on those who would not heed the message Noah had for them in that day. On the day of Jesus’ return, it will be too late. Jesus tells us in these verses His coming will be like the days of Noah. Those that are ready will be taken with Him. Those that are not, will be left to face the wrath of God. Don’t be caught standing on the wrong side of the door. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

How to survive (Genesis 6), Jan 3, 2015

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People often wonder why I would destroy My creation. When I spoke the world into place it was good. I made it so. I created humankind in My image in several ways:
– Humankind has the freedom to choose right from wrong
– Humankind has creative power
– Humankind can reason
– Humankind has dominance over every other part of creation
– I made humankind with an immortal spirit. Your spirit will never die!

Everything I did for humankind was very good. But in giving humankind the freedom to choose, man also could choose to defy me and his ego did not want to take second place to Me, his creator. And so, Satan enticed man to disobey my command and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

From that day until the flood, men and women continued to choose to elevate themselves rather than Me. They continued to worship the created instead of the Creator. I allowed them to choose, but from the first sin, they chose wrongly thinking they knew best. They didn’t.

My most noble creation decided to follow their own path and ran from Me. They failed to listen to Adam and Cain and those who had gone before them and learned the painful lessons sin brought into life as a result of disobedience to My plan for them.

One person pleased Me in all of humankind. Noah. He did it simply. It wasn’t always easy for him in the community in which he lived. He often felt the sting of humiliation at the hands of his neighbors. Others misunderstood him and ridiculed him for his actions. Many mistook his kindness and assistance to those in need as weakness. Often others took advantage of his gentle, humble spirit. Noah never had much in the way of material goods, but his heart was large. Everyone in the community knew Noah, at least by reputation.

How did Noah please Me? Simply by doing what I asked of him. Noah listened to Me and did everything I asked him to do. That’s it. Pleasing Me isn’t complex. In fact, it’s very simple. As I mentioned, it isn’t always easy in the society and culture you live in. You, like Noah, will face ridicule, hardship, maybe humiliation, even persecution. But doing what I ask you to do will always result in something so much better than what you could imagine.

Ready – Luke 4:1-30
Set – Genesis 9; Luke 4
Go – Genesis 9-11; Luke 4
Genesis 6
As human beings began to multiply and spread across the surface of the earth as God commanded, they had lovely daughters. 2 The sons of God saw how beautiful the humans’ daughters were, and they decided to take any daughters they wanted as their wives.

Eternal One: 3 My life-giving Spirit will not sustain human beings forever because they are, after all, made of flesh. Therefore, I will put a limit on their lifespan of about 120 years.

5 The Eternal One saw that wickedness was rampaging throughout the earth and that evil had become the first thought on every mind, the constant purpose of every person. 6-7 At that point God’s heart broke, and He regretted having ever made man in the first place.

Eternal One: I know what I’ll do. I will wipe humanity, My special creation, from the face of the earth—humans, animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I ever made them.

8 But there was one person whom the Lord could not let go of—Noah—because this man pleased Him.

9 Here is the account of Noah and his descendants. Noah was a good man, a right-living man, the best man of his generation; and he walked closely with God. 10 Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11-12 They lived at a time when the world had become vile and corrupt. Violence was everywhere. God saw that the earth was in ruins, and He knew why: all people on earth except Noah had lived corrupt lives and ruined God’s plans for them. He had to do something.

Eternal One (to Noah): 13 Noah, I have decided to wipe out all the living creatures I have made because they are spreading violence throughout the earth. Watch! I will destroy them with the earth. 14 I want you to build an ark. Build it out of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with tar. 15 Here’s how you will do it: build the ark 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Put a roof on the ark and leave a gap of 18 inches below the roofline for air to circulate. Put the door of the ark in its side, and build it with lower, middle, and upper decks. 17 Look! I am going to unleash a torrent and flood the earth to destroy all flesh under the heavens which breathes the breath of life. Everything that is on the earth will die.

18 But I will make a pact with you, Noah—a covenant agreement. To survive, you and your family—you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives—must go into the ark. 19 And, out of all the living creatures I have made, you must bring two of each kind into the ark with you, to keep them alive. Bring one male and one female of each kind. 20 Bring all kinds of birds, all sorts of animals, and all varieties of creatures that creep on the ground in pairs, so that each species will survive. 21 Also, you must bring food with you. Bring every kind of food that may be eaten, and store it all inside the ark. That way, you and all of the creatures will have enough food to eat.

22 So Noah listened to God, and he built the ark. He did everything God asked him to do.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.