Category Archives: Bible

Genesis 9:6 – Captial Punishment

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One thing about slowing down my Bible reading this year and being sensitive to what God would say to me in each verse, is that sometimes I get excited about what I am learning more than once a day. Today God laid two things on my heart. And neither of them is politically correct.

Genesis 9:6 isn’t the only time in Scripture that God addresses capital punishment. But it was important enough for Him to talk to Noah and sons about it the minute they got out of the ark. So it must be important for us to consider today.

I recently read about a mass murder that happened in my home town in 1948. The killer was caught, tried, found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed the next year. The. Next. Year. People sit on death row for decades these days.

I’ve heard it argued that the death penalty is not a deterrent because people still committ murders. But, really,there is no way to measure the number of people who refrain from killing because of fear of paying with their own lives. Does the fear of punishment effect how you live?

Do you break when you see a police car for fear of getting a ticket? Do you pay for that item at the store for fear of going to jail? Why don’t you yell, “fire” in a crowded theatre?

Oh sure, you can say it’s because you know the difference between right and wrong. But how did you learn that? I bet you learned the word, “no” just like everyone else did.

I’m a firm believer in swatting bottoms, in slapping hands, and in the death penalty. I believe it because Scripture teaches it.

Told you it wasn’t politically correct. 🙂

Genesis 9:1-19 – Rainbows

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I get a bit angry when I see rainbow flags. Not because I’m a homophobe. But because Satan has taken a beautiful symbol of God’s promise, and turned it into something that dishonors Him. I kinda wish they’d cut that song from The Wizard of Oz like they had planned.

It’s interesting to me that the beginning of chapter 9 begins with God telling Noah and sons to “be fruitful and increase in number.” He’d commanded the animals to do the same in chapter 8. Now I’m not saying this is “proof” that God is against homosexuality. But I am saying it makes a case for God’s intentions that sex occur between a man and a woman for the purpose of producing children. Homosexuals are unable to fulfill that command.

Then later in chapter 9, God talks about the rainbow. The rainbow is the symbol for a unique promise of God. There is no “if” attached to it. Unlike most of His other promises, this one is totally on God, regardless of what we do. God is promising He will never ever for the rest of time destroy the earth by flood. No matter how far we fall, He will be faithful to keep His word. And He gave us, and Him, the rainbow to seal the deal.

God’s promises are true. Let the rainbow remind you of that important fact, like it was intended to do.

 

Exodus 8 – Bad To The Bone

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I’ve heard it said that humans are born good, that our true nature is good because we are created in God’s image. Bad parenting or some other outside influence results in people turning bad. So when I read in Exodus this morning that God said the inclination of our hearts is evil from childhood, I started digging.

If people are naturally good but are influenced by their environments, why did Adam and Eve sin in the Garden where the environment was perfect and they walked with God? They had every opportunity to remain sinless. If indeed their natural instincts were good, we’d probably all still be living in Eden.

The Bible tells us we are created in the image of God, who is good. Does that mean we are created good? Or does the image of God indicate we were created with the ability to think and reason, with souls that will live eternally? Keep digging.

The psalmist, in 51:5 says he was “sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” That doesn’t sound like he was born naturally good. Psalm 58:3 speaks of wickedness from birth, waywardness from the womb. Paul says in Ephesians says all of us… were by nature objects of wrath.

Let’s think what life would really be like if we weren’t born with a sin nature. Can you picture it? Would it look like 2017? It seems to me if people were born good, the odds would have it that at least a few people would actually grow up sinless. Yet the Bible tells us all have sinned.

If you’ve ever been around infants, I doubt you’ve ever met one who isn’t totally selfish. Their only concerned is about their comfort, their wants. I doubt you can name one child who learned the meaning of the word “No” the first time it was taught them.

There are people and false religions that tell us we are gods, or equal to god, or are good in and of ourselves, that we can tap into that goodness and rise above the evil in the world by our own positivity. And that, my friend, is a belief that will lead you straight to hell. That’s a belief that Satan would love you to adopt for yourself.

Now my thinking may be faulty. But Scripture is not. And viewing humanity from Scripture’s point of view is eternally important.

Scripture tells us all have sinned. (Romans 3:23) There is no one righteous… not even one.  (Romans 3:10) I’ve only scratched the surface of the verses that talk about our natural bent toward sin. We are sinners by nature. Our hearts are wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), our natural man doesn’t accept the things of God (I Corinthians 2:14).

So, my friend. You cannot be good enough to be holy. And holiness is what God demands of us. (Leviticus 20:26; I Peter 1:16) Nothing in you can equal God, or meet His standards. That sin nature in you prevents it. (Romans 7:18)

Enter Jesus. Even before Adam and Eve sinned, then bore children with a sinful nature, God had a plan. He wasn’t about to leave His creation to die without Him. So He voluntarily took on our sin nature, our individual sins, and paid the price Himself so we wouldn’t have to. (Romans 4:25)

It’s eternally important for you to recognize your position before a holy God. You might be a great friend, an honest person, a nice guy. But you still need to humble yourself and accept what Jesus did for you on the cross. Let His holiness be accredited to your account.

Don’t get caught up with trying to convince yourself you are good enough. You just aren’t. And you haven’t been from day one. You need Jesus. I need Him. And we need to let Him deal with our sin nature through His own precious blood.

 

 

Exodus 6&7 – Living In A Boat

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I live on an island. There is a woman who has been coming to our Bible study who, with her husband, lives on their sailboat docked at the marina. They sold their home several years ago and decided instead to live on the water. I haven’t seen their home, but I understand they have all the comforts of owning a small house, and no lawn to mow.

I asked her what they did when hurricane Matthew hit. She said they sailed to a cove on the north end of the island and rode out the storm tucked into the rivers there.

Guess what story I read about today in God’s Word. Yep! Noah.

During the hurricane there were several ways to seek safety. I moved inland. Some boarded up their windows and locked themselves in closets. Some stood at open windows and faced the storm head-on. Others got in boats and looked for shelter in the water.

But in Noah’s day, there were no such options. Safety in the storm, salvation, was found in only one place. One.

Too many people live today like people in a hurricane. Everyone carries out their own plan, seeks their own shelter. And, in the case of this island during Matthew, we all survived.

Eternity isn’t like that. Salvation is found nowhere but in Jesus. You either get on board. Or you die. There is no alternate route.

Noah’s story is a picture of God’s salvation plan. You can’t survive this life on your own terms. You can’t build your own boat. Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and nobody goes to the Father except through Him.

He is the boat. And that’s the boat I want to be living on! It’s the boat that will take me safely home.

Exodus 5 – Never Too Late

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Enoch was 65 when he began his walk with the Lord. The Bible seems to link the birth of his son Methuselah with this change. Enoch, you’ll remember, had a walk so real with God that he didn’t die. God took him away.

I’d like to picture God and Enoch were walking together in a meadow where Enoch took one step on the ground, and the next on streets of gold, without missing a beat. I’d like to believe the transition from flesh and blood to his eternal body was seamless and natural.

I know that 65 seems old to many people. But when you lived to be 782, maybe 65 didn’t seem all that ancient back then. I don’t know. But I think there is a lesson for all of us here.

I don’t know how old you are. I do know that if you are reading this, your heart is still beating, and it’s not too late to begin your walk with the Lord, or to pay more attention to your walk with Him. It’s not too late to enjoy that sweet fellowship with your Savior.

Enoch seems to have been challenged to change when he became a father. What challenges you to walk with God? My sisters’ children makes me want to be a godly example to them. My unsaved friends make we want to represent Jesus well. The reality of what Jesus did for me on the cross makes me want to love Him like He deserves.

So I spend time in His Word every day. I pray. I listen, and pay attention to His nudges. I count everything a loss, except for the privilege of knowing Him. Like  Paul, I die daily. Then my prayer is, “Not my will but Thine be done.”

My walk with my Savior is not where it could be. Some days I neglect Him, then wonder why I can’t feel His Presence. But one thing I know, it’s never God’s fault if I feel that way. He wants to walk with me more than I want it for myself.

Whether you are 16 or 66 or 96, it’s not too late for you to take that walk with God. Get to know Him by reading what He wrote to you in Scripture. Spend time with Him.

I was raised in the C&MA church and sang a lot of A.B. Simpson hymns. I want to leave you with the words of one of my favorite hymns of his that speaks to our walk with God:

'Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus, 
Step by step and day by day;
Stepping in His very footprints, 
Walking with Him all the way.

'Tis so safe to walk with Jesus, 
Leaning hard upon His arm,
Following closely where He leads us, 
None can hurt and naught can harm.

Step by step I'll walk with Jesus, 
Just a moment at a time;
Heights I have not wings to soar to, 
Step by step my feet can climb.

Jesus, keep me closer, closer, 
Step by step and day by day;
Stepping in Thy very footprints, 
Walking with Thee all the way.

(Chorus)
Step by step, step by step, 
I would walk with Jesus,
All the day, all the way, 
Keeping step with Jesus.

Genesis 4 – The Mark Of Cain

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You probably already know Cain killed his brother Able out of jealousy. You might know God gave Cain a personal invitation to repent. Cain didn’t repent.

God cursed Cain and told him he was going to have a difficult life ahead of him. Cain’s response?

“Ok. I get it. I’m being driven out from Your Presence, God. I’ll be a restless wanderer for the rest of my life. But, God, people are going to be mean to me. That’s just not fair.” (Not an exact quote 😉 )

Oh, Cain. Couldn’t you find it in your heart to admit you sinned, and ask God to forgive you? You’re so worried about what other people think about you, or how they will treat you. What about what God thinks?

So God put a mark on Cain, identifying him as the killer of Able. But that mark wasn’t a bullseye. In fact, it was the opposite. It was a mark that said, “Leave him alone.” No one would avenge Able’s death by killing Cain with that mark staring them in the face.

Even then Cain didn’t humble himself before God. He went on his merry way, started a family, and built a city.

Now THAT’S not fair, you might think.

I believe the lesson here is: that’s none of your business. How God deals with others is not up to you. Wanting revenge, wishing a building would fall on a person, is a sin that will drive you out of God’s Presence, too.

If you are harboring ill-feelings toward someone who has done you wrong, picture the mark of Cain on their forehead. Leave them alone. Let God handle things the way He sees best. It might not happen the way you think it should. What goes around doesn’t always come around in God’s kingdom. (Thankfully) But God knows what He’s doing.

Cain had ample opportunity to repent, to confess his sin and ask God to forgive him. He never did as far as we know. He may have spent the rest of his life restless and guilt ridden, depressed or angry. And if he never repented, his eternity is much worse.

Don’t make the same mistake. The Bible tells us to pray for those who misuse us, to love our enemies. Let God be God. You take care of that plank in your own eye. And trust God to do all things well.

Genesis 3 – And We All Fall Down

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First let me say that I believe Adam and Eve were real people, created not born. I believe they walked with God in a beautiful garden, loved and were loved. I believe a snake spoke to Eve, and I believe Adam and Eve chose sin.

Sin didn’t just happen to them. God wanted them to trust Him, to believe Him. But they willingly disobeyed. Rather than believe God, they believed Satan’s lie that they could be like God.

The couple knew they had changed the moment that fruit hit their stomachs. God knew they had changed, too (No, it wasn’t a surprise). And He immediately set His plan of redemption in motion. There are so many beautiful aspects to God’s response to Adam and Eve after they sinned.

But I love – LOVE – the fact that God went looking for them. Not because He didn’t know where they were. But because they didn’t know where He was! God didn’t wait for them to come to Him. He sought them out!

Luke 19:10 says Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost.” What was true in the garden is true yet today. God goes after the lost lamb, turns the house inside out looking for that lost penny, goes into Zacchaeus’ house, and eats at the table with publicans and sinners.

God, who is not willing that anyone die without Him, stops at nothing to win a soul for eternity while that soul is still inhabiting a body in this lifetime. He’s not up there somewhere sitting in a recliner with remote in hand, checking this person, then switching to someone else. He is actively seeking every person. He’s actively seeking you and me.

We all sin. We’ve all taken the same fall Adam and Eve took so long ago. And the same God who came looking for them, is doing the same for us. When I read this chapter in Genesis I don’t just see God’s condemnation for sin, or His curse on creation.

I see God’s love, the provision of forgiveness through the blood of His Son. I see grace and mercy. I see Someone who WANTS me with Him, who is right here right now trying to get my attention.  I see God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And I love Him.

Genesis 1-2 The Mystery Myth

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Wow! When I said I was going to slow down this year in my Bible reading, I had no idea what that would mean. I spent the first three days of this new year just in Genesis 1. And I am loving it!

The other day I met a man who is adamant in his belief that the earth is billions of years old. He said he has to believe that, because that’s the only way it makes sense to him. I chuckled when he said that, until I realized he was serious. Then I knew that I understand creation much more than this man who prides himself in his intellect and higher-level thinking skills. He had no idea how foolish he sounded.

Can God create light before He created the sun? Can there be an evening and a morning without the earth revolving around the sun? Can vegetation grow without the sun? Not if it were up to me.

Or the man I recently met. The sun wasn’t created until the fourth day. It doesn’t make sense.

And I believe that’s why God created things the way He did. He is not us. He is far above the most intelligent of us. He is not dependent on creation. He doesn’t need the sun to provide light. Creation is, however, dependent on Him.

The man I talked to marveled at the fact that the earth is in exactly the right position in the universe in order to sustain life. But, didn’t God create the universe AROUND this planet? The stars and galaxies were “created also” for our benefit. We didn’t just happen to land at just the right spot after some Big Bang. God carefully and lovingly surrounded us with the vast expanse of space and threw in some twinkling stars for our pleasure, for signs and navigation, and to show us just how amazing He is! The more we know, the more we can recognize that He is beyond our understanding.

If we insist on understanding the complexities of creation, in fitting it into a tiny box that makes sense to us, we are limiting God. When the truth of the matter is, He is limitless. Dear one, there is no mystery to the creation of this universe. God has shared with us every detail we need to know. Read Genesis 1-2. That is how creation occurred.

Period.

Your not understanding it, or not being unable to make sense of it, just reinforces the fact that you are not God.

Creator God, I bow before You, unable to comprehend the “how” of creation. But I thank You that You have so lovingly inspired the writer of Genesis to record everything I need to know.  Thank You for this beautiful creation, for eyes to see, ears to hear, for touch and smell, so that I can enjoy what You have made. Thank You for the stars, for the warmth of the sun, for plants and animals, for oxygen and gravity.  And thank You for the dear ones You have given me in my life who share this creation with me. You are truly amazing. And I worship You.

December 31 – Worship

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Revelation 19-22

I can hardly wait. John’s description of the last and best eternal worship service has my soul eagerly looking forward to being a part of it all. God, sitting on His throne right there in front of me. Me, a sinner in this lifetime, clothed in Jesus’ righteousness and bowing before my Holy God, holy myself because of His Son.

Angels and saints and hymns and psalms and joy and light and perfect love. Forever. No more tears. No more disease or heartache. Just me and Jesus (and a few million other souls washed by the blood of the Lamb) hanging out with the Father.

Holy! Holy! Holy! Worthy is the Lamb!

As I look forward to 2017, I want my life to be an act of worship. I don’t have to wait until I get to heaven. This same Jesus is worthy of my worship today. God is on His throne in all His majesty. And even though I can’t see them at the moment, they are as real as they’ll be when I get there.

I want my eternal worship of God to be a seamless transition from this life to the next, because I’ve learned to worship Him the way He deserves. He is Holy. He is Powerful, Almighty, Sovereign, Perfect, and full of love. I, who cannot look on His face in and of myself, can go boldly to Him because I have accepted His gift of grace through Jesus’ work on the cross. I can stand before Him, without any good thing in me, yet dressed in Jesus’ righteousness, holy because of Jesus, acceptable because of Jesus.

Holy God, I worship You. I adore You. I bow before You unworthy, yet made worthy, sinful, yet made sinless because of Jesus. I want to worship You today and every day in a way that pleases You, because You deserve it. Thank You for preparing a place for me to be with You forever. I worship You. I adore You.

_____________

Thank you for visiting my blog this past year. I hope that I was able to encourage you to read God’s Word every day, to cherish it, and learn from it. I hope your walk with the Lord is closer today than it was a year ago.

I have been reading through the Bible every year for several years now. But this year I found myself frustrated a bit with having to read so fast through these precious verses in order to finish Revelation by today. So I’m going to do things a bit differently next year.

I’ll begin tomorrow with Genesis 1:1. But I’m going to let God dictate how much I read of His Word every day. I want to devour each verse, to pray over it, meditate on it, learn from every sentence. My goal will not be to get through the whole book in a year, but to make this precious book more a part of me than it is today.

I don’t plan to share a post every day. I’ll let God nudge me in that area, too. But I will let you know what I’m learning and how I’m doing as I read the Bible slowly, intentionally, and carefully this year.

I hope you’ll open its pages every day, too. Let’s determine together to be children of God’s Word, and continue to let it guide and strengthen us to maturity.

God bless you in 2017, my friend.

Because He love us,

Connie

December 30 – Doomed

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Revelation 12-18

The Book of Revelation is a book of hope for Christians. In His revelation to John, God tells us to hold on to Him. Life will be hard. But if we remain on God’s side – we win.

But reading these chapters also makes me sad for those who reject Him. Oh, they might appear to have some victories here and there during this lifetime. But they are doomed.

It makes me sad that, as I read the imagery of the seven bowls of wrath, people continue to reject God, even when His power and authority are demonstrated in undeniable ways. Read chapter 16 and see them scorched with fierce heat, and blaspheming God. Or gnawing their tongues because of pain, and refusing to repent. Or blaspheming God even when hundred pound hailstones are falling on their heads.

Over and over God reveals Himself: nature declares His glory, Jesus reveals God in the flesh, changed lives, strength in weakness, joy in sorrow.

God nudges, and woos lost people. He also disciplines and pours out His wrath to get their attention. I see a God who is not willing that anyone die without Him, and who will go to any lengths to win each and every one while they still draw breath.

But, hear me. Those who take that last breath without accepting what God offers through His Son are doomed. There are no do-overs, no second chances in eternity. What you choose in this lifetime makes all the difference.

Christian, as you read the book of Revelation with me, let’s rejoice in the truth that God is the ultimate authority. That Satan’s defeat is inevitable. And that God is preparing a place for us to spend eternity with Him in more glory and splendor than we can imagine.

But if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, I pray that you will begin the new year on the winning side. God is going to be true to His Word. One day, at the name of Jesus EVERY knee will bow.. That means you, dear one. EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus is who He says He is. Like it or not, you will recognize that you are doomed without Him. Please don’t let that happen.

Holy God, thank You for giving this revelation to John. We can see that the war between You and Satan is played out here on planet Earth. And we can see that You are the victor! God, I am so glad I am counted as Yours, that You are fighting my battles right this minute, and that one day I am going to heaven to be with You. Father, I pray for those who don’t yet call You Lord. May they humble themselves, repent of sin, and accept your gift of Grace through Your Son, Jesus. I pray that no one reading this blog will meet you in eternity doomed.