Before the Flood, God had said, “Come into the ark” (Gen. 7:1, NKJV). The clear implication was that God was already inside, inviting Noah to join Him there. After the Flood, when God said, “Come out of the ark” (Gen. 8:16, NIV), the implication is that He had left and was asking Noah to follow. The great God of the Exodus Who led His people out of bondage to slavery in Egypt, parting the Red Sea to allow them to pass on dry ground and so escape the armies of Pharaoh – that same great God led Noah, his wife, his sons, his sons’ wives, and all the animals out of the ark!
God’s greatness has not been diluted in any way over the years of time. He is just as great today as He has been in the past. So why do you think He cannot lead you out of trouble? Why would you think He cannot lead your entire life so that you find peace and fulfillment? Why do you think He is unable to lead your children in the right direction that will be pleasing to Him and good for them? God is great!
Our God did not forsake us.
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. § If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
The Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
The Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people. § Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. § Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.
Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.
Ezra 9:9; 1 Peter 4:12; Heb. 12:7–8;
Deut. 13:3; 1 Sam. 12:22; Isa. 49:15; Ps. 146:5; Luke 18:7–8
He who overcomes shall inherit all things.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. § Now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. § An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
All things are yours: whether … the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. § “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.
Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. § Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Rev. 21:7; 1 Cor. 15:19; Heb. 11:16; 1 Peter 1:4;
1 Cor. 3:21–22; 2:9–10; 2 John 1:8; Heb. 12:1
When I was growing up in the mountains of North Carolina, every Sunday afternoon, weather permitting, my parents, my siblings, and I would go hiking. Inevitably, our climbs would take us to the ridge where the trees were so enormous we could all hold hands and still not be able to encircle the trunks. When I asked my mother why the trees were so much larger on the ridge than anywhere else, she replied that it was because the winds were the strongest and the storms were the fiercest on the ridge. With nothing to shelter the trees from the full brunt of nature’s wrath, they either broke and fell, or they became incredibly strong and resilient.
God plants you and me in our faith as tender saplings then grows us up into “trees of righteousness,” using the elements of adversity to make us strong. And He leads us to endure, not just somehow, but triumphantly as we choose to praise Him, regardless of the storms swirling within us or the winds howling outside of us.
May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord.
Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. § For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?
My beloved is white and ruddy, chief among ten thousand. § One pearl of great price. § The ruler over the kings of the earth. § His head is like the finest gold; his locks are wavy, and black as a raven. § Head over all things. § He is the head of the body, the church. § His cheeks are like a bed of spices, banks of scented herbs. § He could not be hidden. § His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. § No man ever spoke like this Man!
His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. § Make Your face shine upon Your servant. § Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.
Ps. 104:34; Song 2:3; Ps. 89:6; Song 5:10;
Matt. 13:46; Rev. 1:5; Song 5:11; Eph. 1:22;
Col. 1:18; Song 5:13; Mark 7:24; Song 5:13;
John 7:46; Song 5:15; Ps. 31:16; Ps. 4:6
O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup
pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.
Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. § He … became obedient to the point of death. § In the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? § Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Matt. 26:39; John 12:27; 6:38; Phil. 2:8;
Heb. 5:7–8; Matt. 26:53; Luke 24:46–47
God is looking for a few good men and women. Men and women who are willing
to go against the current of popular opinion,
to hold firm convictions in a world where “anything goes,”
to speak the truth when it is not politically correct,
to walk with God when everyone else is running away from Him.
God is looking for those who believe
that what He says is more important than what anyone else says,
that what He thinks is more important than what anyone else thinks,
that what He wants is more important than what anyone else wants.
that His will is more important than their own.
God is looking for another Noah. Another Meshach. Another Shadrach. Another Abednego. One person with God is not alone but a majority!
