Genesis 7 - The Floods

Genesis 7:1-10

God told Noah to bring two of every unclean animal into the ark, and seven of every clean animal, along with his family, because in 7 days he would cause it to rain for 40 days and 40 nights, flooding the earth.  So Noah obeyed God.

Was it raining when Noah and his family entered the ark? 

How long were they in the ark before it started to rain?

During the time that he was building the ark, and during the seven days after he entered the ark, do you think Noah had any doubts?

Do you think his wife and sons had any doubts? 

Sometimes we have to obey God, trusting in His words and promises, even though we can’t see any evidence of it yet.

Look up and read Hebrews 11:7

Use the space below to write a prayer asking God to give you the kind of faith Noah had; to believe in God’s promises to you, even when you can’t see any evidence of it happening.

100 Lunch Breaks With God, Day 18

Prayer

Lord,

Thank you for all of your blessings.  Thank you for being approachable to your children.  I have a need Lord.  It's not a selfish need, like it may seem to others, but you know my heart God, and this thing that seems impossible to me, is possible with you.  You created everything;  this one little thing is easy for you.  God,  I ask for this not as much for myself as for my family.  With you all things are possible.  Please do not let my faith in your promises waver.

In Jesus' name,

Amen

The Power of Words

Did you know that there is a lot of power in words?  God spoke the world, and everything in it into existence.  Our words are not as powerful as God's, but what we say makes a difference in our lives, the lives of others, and even in the spiritual realm.

Romans 10:9-10

9 If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For with the heart man believes and is made to be righteous; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Comments:

If you have asked Jesus to save you from your sins, the next step is to speak it.  Speak it aloud so that it will be made known in the world.  Speak it out loud to the spiritual world and to yourself.   Tell someone else.  When words are heard they are believed.  If you tell someone repeatedly they are useless, they will believe it and begin to behave like they are useless, and it becomes true.  If you tell someone they are remarkable, they will begin to believe it, and their confidence will grow, and they will live up to their full potential by behaving like they are remarkable.

In the same way, if you confess your faith in Jesus out loud, you will believe it and begin to act like a Christian, by living in righteousness.  It's a simple concept and I dare you to try it!

Question:

Have you noticed the power of words in your life?  I'd love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment below:

Keeping Faith

One problem that I have faced as a Christian has been keeping faith in my salvation.  I would ask myself things like, "What if I'm not really saved?" or "I can never really be good enough, what if I go to Hell?"  I did a Bible study on the book of Romans that really changed my outlook as a Christian.  To sum it up in a couple of sentences, We can never be worthy of our salvation, it is only through grace and faith in the blood of Jesus that we are saved.  Nothing we ever DO or SAY guarantees our salvation, it is only through faith in Him.  

Are we worthy?

After completing the study on the book of Romans I had an epiphany at church.  It was communion Sunday.  I always dreaded communion because all of my adult life I had heard pre-communion warnings that you should not take communion of you were not "worthy" of it or bad things would happen to you, causing you to get sick or even die.  At that point I always asked myself, "am I worthy?"  Of course the answer was always no, but if I didn't take communion others in the church would think bad of me, so I did anyway. (I don't go to that church anymore.)  So, this one particular Sunday, after having completed this Romans study, they were passing out communion and I got that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and I closed my eyes and I said, "God, am I worthy to take this bread and this wine?" His answer floored me, "No, you are not worthy.  Do you still not understand that it is my blood that makes you worthy?  The very blood that communion wine represents is the ONLY thing, that makes ANYBODY worthy!"  All of the sudden it was so simple to me!  How could I have been a Christian for so many years and not get that?  That is the very reason why we take communion, to remember, or even celebrate the fact that no matter how unworthy we are, he made us worthy when he died on that cross!  Now, whenever I start to question my faith, or my salvation, all I have to do is remember that one, brief conversation with God, my God, the ONLY God who answers prayer, and I am immediately filled with the joy and peace that only comes through Him.

Now some people will question how I know that it was God speaking to me that day.  My answer is simple:  I know it was God, because that is not something that I would have thought of on my own.  I know my own inner voice, and that was not it.  My inner voice tends to bring me down, not lift me up.  Those words were the words of someone a lot smarter than me!

Confidence in our Salvation

Another scripture that is helpful in this area is Philippians 1:6 - "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."  Isn't that wonderful to know?  He hasn't and will not give up on us!  God don't leave projects left half finished.  We must be confident that he will complete the work he has begun in us!  Knowing these things, I cannot continue to doubt my salvation.  I believe these words, these promises, through faith.

Thank you for reading my blog, please leave a comment below!

Faith

What is Faith?

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Faith, is something that God has given to each of us to one degree or another.  Everyone starts out with some amount of faith. Romans 12:3 states that "God has given to every man a measure of faith."  Meaning God has given us all some faith. We may lose faith, or exercise our faith and watch it grow.  Faith is what makes us believe in God, in salvation through Jesus.  I believe that it is misplaced faith that leads people to false religions.  It is within us to believe in God, we just may not know what it is we should be believing in.  We know there is something more out there, and unless we know what it is, we look for it in false religions, other people, relationships and anywhere else we think we may find fulfillment. 

What does it mean to say that "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"?  I think it means that the fact that we believe in it, gives us cause to find the proof that we seek.  We believe in God first, then He proves His existance to us by the acts he performs in our lives, causing us to know, beyond a shadow of doubt that He is real, he is there, and He is in charge.

I encourage you to read the whole chapter of Hebrews 11.  This is sometimes referred to as the "faith chapter".  It goes on to tell us about all that was accomplished throughout the bible through faith in God and faith in His promises.

Exercising Faith

When we find that we have no faith, or have lost our faith, it is time to begin exercising our faith.  Just like we exercise our muscles to make them stronger, we can exercise our faith and make it stronger.  Choose to believe and watch God make it become real for you.  Ask God for faith.  Trust Him to meet your needs and guide your life. Talk to Him, acknowledge Him, read about Him, and when you pray listen to Him.  He will speak to you when you are ready to hear. You will begin to see evidence of Him in your life.  Praying when you don't feel like praying, reading your Bible when you'd rather read a novel, going to church when we would rather sleep in; these are all ways of exercising our faith.

What are your favorite scriptures on faith?  Has there been a time when you exercised your faith and God provided you with evidence that he heard your prayer?  Please leave a comment below.