November 28 – The Covenant of The Bow

“But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” – Genesis 6:18  (NASB)

Before the Great Flood God said that He would be making a covenant (an unbreakable promise) with Noah (Genesis 6:18). It is after the flood when Noah and his family of 8 exit the ark that God declares what the covenant contains. A covenant is a promise, like a contract, and is worthy. God’s covenant were often backed only by Him and His perfect word. The specifics of this covenant are detailed in Genesis 9:9-16. Verses 13-17 specify that the ‘bow in the cloud,’ what we call a rainbow, is the sign of this covenant.  God’s rainbow is given to remind us of His promise to never totally destroy the earth with all living things again as happened in the Great Flood. God’s rainbow is given to remind us of His promise that cannot be broken. God’s rainbow is not a sign of pride for any human activity but a sign of God Himself who puts it there. God’s rainbow is established for God to remember His covenant, a covenantal promise between Him and every living creature of all flesh. God’s rainbow is not given to enshrine sinfulness or for sinful humans to celebrate their disobedience to God.

 

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December 11 – Righteousness and Strength

“I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.” - Isaiah 45:23-24 (NASB)

God, in today’s words is giving to His prophet the very words that He wanted written down and delivered to His people. We call the Bible the Word of God and we know that its teachings come from our creator. In this instance Isaiah received the Word of God directly from God. God predicted here what people would say about Him, God not Isaiah.  Today there are many who do not know the Lord God and reject Him as their Savior and Lord. There are even some who carry an attitude of anger toward God and those who do believe in Him. But there will be a day when every person will bow to God, some in shame. As we walk close to the Lord in our Christian life we can know what God predicted we would say.  Yes, as we walk with the Lord we find that He is the source of our ability to live right. We find His righteousness keeps us in the straight way. It is how we find the strength to do what we need to do by walking close to the source of the promised strength, let's commit to doing that today.

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June 26 – God Gave the Rainbows

“I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”  Genesis 9:11 (NASB)
“I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.” Genesis 9:13 (NASB)
“But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”  -2 Peter 3:7  (NASB)

How is the state of your peace of mind these days?  With so many pressures and changes as well as threats and fears coming upon us, we might be encouraged if we consider two promises God made with the earth.  First, after the flood which destroyed all people and animals on the face of the earth, except for Noah and his family, and the animals he brought onto the ark.* God made a covenant with Noah.  A covenant is a promise and God promised to never destroy the people on the earth by a flood again.  He gave us the rainbow in the sky as His sign of that promise between Him and the earth.  God has kept that promise ever since and each time we see a rainbow, we can remember His covenant with the earth.  The rainbow and its colors were not created to represent gay pride.  The Apostle Peter reveals another promise about the earth. The earth and heavens being reserved for the Day of the Lord when intense heat and fire will burn up and dissolve the earth we know. How to respond, we will talk about the instructions Peter gave us from God. 

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* This is a link to a very interesting YouTube video about finding Noah’s Ark posted in 2018. It is 20 min documentary video. 

January 20

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” Philippians 2:9 (NIV)

We do have a wonderful God and a wonderful Savior. Our verse today reminds us of how important the name of Jesus is. These verses were written by the Apostle Paul to teach us what God the Father did after Jesus willingly went to the cross and died for us. It was God the Father who chose the name Jesus which means Savior and our verse reminds us that this name is above every name. Yes, my friend, we come to God our heavenly Father in the name of Jesus and God recognizes us as His children. Our great creator, the Almighty God, wants us to call on Him in the name of Jesus in humility. Let us rejoice in His name today and bow before Him.