Category Archives: Obeying God

Am I on the path?, Hearing from God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Obeying God, Share the Good News

Jesus’ Instructions For Sharing the Good News

Matthew 10 contains important insight from Jesus to those of us  who commit to serve Him and take the message of the gospel to the world.  The instructions are as relevant to us now as they were to Jesus’ disciples 2000 years ago.

There is a lot of crucial guidance in Matthew 10, and I have summarized key points at the end so this devotional is rather long. I encourage you to read it through.

10 Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil[a] spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. 2 Here are the names of the twelve apostles:

first, Simon (also called Peter),
then Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James (son of Zebedee),
John (James’s brother),
3 Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew (the tax collector),
James (son of Alphaeus),
Thaddaeus,[b]
4 Simon (the zealot[c]),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

5 Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, 6 but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. 7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.[d] 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!

9 “Don’t take any money in your money belts—no gold, silver, or even copper coins. 10 Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed.

11 “Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town. 12 When you enter the home, give it your blessing. 13 If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing. 14 If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. 15 I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day.

16 “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. 17 But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. 18 You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.[e] 19 When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. 20 For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

21 “A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. 22 And all nations will hate you because you are my followers.[f] But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man[g] will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.

24 “Students[h] are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. 25 Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons,[i] the members of my household will be called by even worse names!

26 “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 27 What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!

28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[j] 29 What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin[k]? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

32 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36     Your enemies will be right in your own household!’[l]

37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

40 “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. 41 If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God,[m] you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. 42 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”

Trying to break down some of the key points:

  • Jesus wants His followers to openly and boldly bring the good news of the gospel to others, even though many will reject it.
  • Jesus called the twelve specific individuals and gave them authority for healing and casting out spirits. Not all of us will be given this special authority, or share the same task… in this case going out on the road to share the gospel with others. However, we all are called to share the gospel with others.
  • Jesus sent his disciples first to God’s lost sheep rather than going to those that never knew Him. God later sent others to bring the word to the gentiles. God loves all but sometimes may send us to a specific group at a specific time. This can help us have needed direction to be effective in operating in God’s plan.
  • Jesus instructed the disciples to go without extra money or supplies, but instead rely on hospitality. This guidance certainly focuses the disciples on trusting and following God rather than their possessions. Jesus is reassuring them that God is with them and will provide what is needed to complete the mission.
  • Once you bring the message of Jesus Christ to someone, if they reject it you are to shake the dust from your feet and move on. This was a symbolic way to show separation from those who reject Jesus Christ. We must not linger with those who reject His message for we will run out of time and fail to bring the good news to others who may receive it.
  • You may endure much suffering when you bring the news of Jesus Christ. Expect it. Jesus assures us He will be with us. Sometimes the suffering will create unique opportunities to share the gospel with others.
  • Many people, even family will persecute you for passionately following Christ and bringing His message in full truth. [Even those who say they follow God, but do not live according to His word. They often do not want to change and thus reject those who show them the truth that they should change.]
  • Sometimes it will be necessary to flee a bad situation. That is an opportunity to bring the message of the gospel to another group of people somewhere else.
  • Those who claimed to serve God, religious leaders, called Jesus prince of demons. Expect many to call you names and reject you… even those in the church.
  • Jesus tells us not to be afraid of those who can only kill our body, but of God who holds our eternity in His hand. What God whispers in our ear, He wants us to shout to others!
  • Those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus here on earth, despite persecution… He will not recognize before God the Father.
  • A common misunderstanding is refuted clearly. Jesus tells us He did not come to bring peace. People are peaceful when everyone is comfortable in their sin and leave others to their sin.  Jesus came to bring conflict. He wants us to stand up and clearly be different from the world and confront others with truth and the need for them to change and repent from sin. When we honor God with our lives instead of just blending in quietly, it creates conflict because people prefer to remain comfortable in their sin.
  • Jesus must be first in our lives. He must come before our own desires and before our loved ones. When we put Jesus first, everything else that should be in our lives will be placed in the right priority by following God’s instruction.
  • Jesus wants us to help His followers. We are to receive righteous people for being righteous. Even giving a cup of cold water to “the least of my [Jesus’] followers” will be rewarded.

This passage in scripture requires time to reflect and re-read to fully digest. Please take the time to apply it to your life and be encouraged that Jesus will be with us as we share the truth of the gospel with others!

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Character of God, Hearing from God, Obeying God

I Know The Plans I Have For You

God has long term strategies and plans for His people, for those who serve Him wholeheartedly. Often we can not even recognize His plans for us… our lives are but a single thread, woven into the fabric of a bigger tapestry that God is creating.

God’s has plans for us even when we have gone through or are going through difficult times as referenced in the beginning of Psalm 40 or the context of Jeremiah 29, while God’s people were in exile.

[Psalm 40:5] O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

[Jeremiah 29:11-13] 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

God does not prepare us for something and bring us toward it just to abandon it when there is an obstacle. Obstacles may be created by our sin and selfishness or that of another person. Obstacles may be a test to our dedication to serve, trust, and follow God.

Consider as example, if you feel you have been led by God into marrying someone specific. You cannot then, a year later, also accept that God is leading you to abandon the marriage because it is difficult. God is not that short sited and He is not surprised by obstacles and challenges.

A second example… if you feel led to ministry consistently over a period of time and then fail to get admission into the seminary you were pursuing or turned down for your first job at a church. You can not accept that God has both led you to ministry and then subsequently led you away from it. Take time to reflect more deeply and seek Him in prayer for which is the right path.  Perhaps you have not found the right starting opportunity He wants for you.

We can take comfort in knowing that although we may be short sighted and fail to anticipate obstacles, God is not. When we genuinely hear from Him, we can trust Him to lead us and help us overcome obstacles in our way.

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Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Doubt / Lacking Faith, Obeying God

Be Sure That Your Faith Is In God Alone

God calls us in His scripture to have faith in Him and in Him alone. We must first accept that He exists and is our creator. We must reject the so-called “wisdom” of the worldly that proclaim with confidence that God does not exist. We must put our faith in God alone.

Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good![Psalm 14:1]

6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11:6]

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. [James 1:5-8]

Have you truly accepted God as our creator? Do you put your faith in Him and Him alone? or do you “hedge your bets” by acknowledging Him with your words but living as the world does.

It can be uncomfortable as we first learn to put our faith and trust in God and God alone. The more we seek Him by studying the scriptures, communicate with Him through prayer, and change our behavior to model what He commands instead of what the world accepts… the easier it is to put our faith in God even during difficult situations.  Do not expect this transition to putting faith in God to be a like an “on/off” switch… but rather a long journey which you must first begin in order to eventually reach the destination.

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Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Obeying God

The Cost of Following Jesus

Jesus reminds us Matthew 8:18-22 that to be His followers we must leave behind many things that are be important to us.  He must come first… before anything else.

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man[e] has no place even to lay his head.” 21 Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.[f]”

When we put Jesus first, even ahead of our own family, He shows us how to take care everything else. The relationships and things that honor God and are consistent with His word will still fit and have the correct priority. The relationships or things that are inconsistent with God’s word must be left behind and quickly.

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Demons, Miracles, Obeying God, Satan, Spiritual Warfare

Jesus Heals and Casts Out Demons

We often face hardship in this world including sickness, and yes… demon possession, though many today reject that concept. However, scripture is clear… it differentiates between Jesus’ healing of sickness and His casting out of demons. Jesus demonstrates His power through a series of miracles in Matthew 8:1-17.

8 Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. 2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy.[a] This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer[b] came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant[c] lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. 15 But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.

16 That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. 17 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said,

“He took our sicknesses
    and removed our diseases.”[d]

Jesus makes no promise of healing everyone physically in this world. We live in a fallen world based on our own sin nature. Sometimes it may even serve God’s bigger plan to allow sickness or death in some circumstances for the furthering of His kingdom. God allowed Satan to torment Job, a faithful servant of God’s,  with physical illness and pain… not to mention a long list of other suffering.

In most of the examples above… people who had demons or were ill sought out Jesus. They came to him humbly and in faith that He could and would heal them. It is clear that neither illness nor demons are a difficult problem for Jesus to solve.

Unfortunately quite a few pastors twist this scripture and others like it. They would have you believe if you come to Jesus with faith you are guaranteed a healing and if you are not healed then you failed in your faith. Though a lack of faith may certainly block you from receiving healing from Jesus, the fact that you were not healed does not always mean you did not have enough faith or that God did not hear your prayers. Sometimes He wants us to glorify Him even in our illness or suffering. Sometimes it is just a result of a fallen world and He has chosen not to intervene to provide healing. We may never know why He chooses not to intervene at times, but we are to trust God as His followers.

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Am I on the path?, Heaven and Hell, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Obeying God, Righteousness / Serving God

The Door is Wide and the Road is Easy That Leads to Hell

Jesus provides a strong wake up call for us as His followers to expect to be different and make different choices than what is typical or popular. We are called to put God first not just in words but in our hearts and actions.

[Matthew 7:13-14] 13 “Go in through the narrow door. The door is wide and the road is easy that leads to hell. Many people are going through that door. 14 But the door is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life that lasts forever. Few people are finding it.

Jesus warns us directly to go on the “road less traveled” that represents following Him. It is a hard path, one where many will mock you for your faith. It is a path where you are doing things differently than most of those around you. You seek to serve God rather than yourself.  You make choices that are “unpopular” with people but honor God. You are willing to be a leader for those around you and a follower, submitting to Jesus Christ. You do not seek to do the bare minimum required by God to just “get in” to heaven, but rather rejoice in pleasing the Lord by living according to His word.

The road to hell… that is easy. Just follow the crowds or your own internal sin nature. It looks fun and easy. Many will agree with your choices. You blend in with the world and those around you. Few mock you for your faith… they don’t notice it.

Just because some acknowledge Jesus Christ with their lips, call themselves Christians, or go to church once a week does not mean they will come to heaven and rejoice eternally in the presence of Jesus Christ.

[Matthew 7:22-23] 22 Many people will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not preach in Your Name? Did we not put out demons in Your Name? Did we not do many powerful works in Your Name?’ 23 Then I will say to them in plain words, ‘I never knew you. Go away from Me, you who do wrong!’

Of course, for those of us who are trying to find and stay on the narrow path, we want to bring as many people as we can with us… so we must at times endure mocking to share the good news of the gospel with those who would receive it.

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Greed, Money / Finances / Wealth, Obeying God, Study the Word

Righteous Attitude Toward Money and Possessions

Jesus speaks to us in Matthew 6:19-34 about a righteous attitude toward money and possessions and also reminds us how important it is that we ensure we are following God’s instruction, God’s light,  to guide our path.

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

22 “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[e] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Jesus reminds us that if we focus our time and energy on generating money and possessions in this world, we are focusing on the wrong things. Money and possessions are temporary. They will not last. We can not serve both money and God. One or the other may be our master, but not both.

While it is right to plan for the future, worrying about tomorrow is not helpful. It can not add a single moment to our lives, and if you study the adverse health impacts of stress you come to realize that worry may actually shorten our lives or negatively impact our health. We must put our trust in God… the creator of the universe who loves each of us individually us as a father loves a child.

Jesus reminds us also that those who think they see the light clearly… understand right and wrong… understand God and His will… but do not truly know Him are in trouble. They are in utter darkness, but not even searching for the true light to guide their path for they think they already have it. To ensure we stay connected to God’s will we must anchor our understanding of His character and will in the Bible and have an active, personal prayer life to come humbly before our lord and savior on a regular basis.

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Consequences of Sin, Obeying God, Pride

Why Did God Confuse People With Different Languages?

God made it clear in the beginning to Adam and Eve and again to Noah and his sons after the great flood that He wanted them to have many children, grow God’s people, and spread across the earth to govern it.

[Genesis 1:28] 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

[Genesis 9:1] 9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.

It is not hard to imaging that in both cases, as God’s people were growing in size, they still spoke a common language as they were derived from a single family and thus culture. This common language had potential to be a powerful asset in accomplishing God’s purposes.

Unfortunately, as we learn in Genesis 11:1-8, the people came to a point in time where they decided they had a better plan than God. They wanted to stay together in one place and thus set about building a great city for themselves. They had become prideful and arrogant, leading to ignoring or outright rejecting God and His instruction.  Thus God intervened to humble them.

11 At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia[a] and settled there.

3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel,[b] because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.

It was not God’s intent to force people to have different language, but rather His response to their arrogance and failure to follow His instructions.  How glorious it is when we decide to obey God and follow His plans. We do not have better plans than He does. When we think we have better plans, we often start down a difficult path that leads us further from God and the good plans He had in mind for us.

Challenge yourself to submit to God’s will and God’s plans over your own desires.

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Consequences of Sin, Free Will, Obeying God, Righteousness / Serving God, Suffering / Adversity

Noah Obeyed God Even in the Greatest Storm

Genesis chapters 6-9 takes us  on a dramatic journey through time starting with God’s broken heart over humanity’s wickedness, continuing through God’s choice to work through a small but righteous remnant in Noah, and God’s confirmation of His covenant with His people.

I encourage each of you to take time and read the entire scripture by clicking through the link at the top of this devotional.

1- God observes the wickedness of man and it breaks His heart. He is disappointed with the choices man has made given their free will to choose or reject God. But He also observed one righteous man in Noah.

[Genesis 6:5-7] 5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.

2- Starting in Genesis 6:13, God speaks directly to Noah, who walked in close fellowship with God. God explains His plans to send the flood and provides Noah with detailed plans for how to carry out God’s will and save his immediate family in the process.

Noah did not complain. Noah did not say what God was doing was too harsh. Noah did not say what God was asking was too hard. Noah simply obeyed.  Noah showed how obedience allows us to fulfill the plans God has for us and others.

I am sure many mocked Noah as he build the boat. He listened to God instead of to men.

[Genesis 6:22] 22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

 3- Again when God told Noah it was time to get in the boat with all the animals, Noah did not complain or say it was too crowded, or too smelly, or He did not want to get in yet. Noah obeyed God. He did not just obey some of God’s instructions, but all of them.

[Genesis 7:5] 5 So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.

4- The rain lasted 40 days. The flood waters took much longer to recede. It was not until five months after the flood began that the boat came to rest on a mountain. It took 2-1/2 more months for the waters to recede enough to reveal other mountain peaks. All told, it took more than a year for Noah and family to get off the boat. This was not an easy task God had laid out for Noah.

[Genesis 8:13-14] 13 Noah was now 601 years old. On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began,[k] the floodwaters had almost dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the covering of the boat and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 Two more months went by,[l] and at last the earth was dry!

Noah’s consistent response to this time of great adversity and difficulty was to obey God carefully and consistently. Noah trusted God.

5- Once they left the boat and released the animals, Noah did not take time for himself… which would seem well deserved. Noah first built an altar to the Lord and honored God. This was pleasing to God.

[Genesis 8:18-22] 18 So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat. 19 And all of the large and small animals and birds came out of the boat, pair by pair.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.[m] 21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. 22 As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

6- God confirmed His covenant with Noah and his sons.

[Genesis 9: 8-17] 8 Then God told Noah and his sons, 9 “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, 10 and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. 11 Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

12 Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, 15 and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. 16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”

The rainbow has great significance to remind us of our covenant with God. This is what the rainbow represents.

The scripture of “Noah’s Ark” is so simple a child can understand and remember. We as adults should be careful not to overlook the details because we feel it is such a familiar story. It is a dramatic journey that demonstrates God’s love and God’s desire to have personal relationship with those of us that walk closely with the Lord. It also clearly shows us the behavior and attitude of righteous men in the midst of great adversity.

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