Day 7 Bible Reading

Genesis 13-15, Matthew 6: 1-24, Psalm 6

Genesis 13: 3-4 (ESV)

“And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.”

These two verses from Abraham spoke to me today. In Genesis 5, God told Abraham to go the land that “he will show them.” Abraham dutifully followed God’s command, until a famine came along. Then Abraham acted like he forgot everything God had told him, and hent to Egypt and got in trouble. Abraham’s faith in God and his promises slipped for a time in the face of a hardship or adversity. I know for myself that I have often strayed from doing what God wants me to do because of hardship or adversity. When my trust in God’s promises began to waiver because I was having a hard time in life. But I love how Abraham after all that delay, went back to the beginning of where he was to start over and to once again pray to God. I think verse 3 and 4 is a reminder to us when we waiver in our trust in God because of hardship or adversity, that we can always go back to beginning, reset ourselves, get right with God, and start all over again. God’s mercy for our distrustful nature is a daily thing, so each morning we can start over, give ourselves a reset, and pray to God.

Picked up some sort of bug on Saturday. Thought I kicked it and then it came back on Monday and I was feeling too unwell to post. So I took night time cold medicine which knocked me out, and I woke up today feeling much better. 

Day 6 Bible Reading

Genesis 11 & 12, Matthew 5, Psalm 5

Genesis 11: 4 (ESV)

“Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.””

I was struck by verse 4 from Genesis 11. In Genesis 5, God told Noah and his sons to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” But Noah’s descendants didn’t want to obey God’s advice, and instead they wanted to stay in one place and not be separated. We read of this continually in the Bible stories. God tells people what to do, some follow and some don’t. Good things comes to those people who follow God’s advice, and not so great things come to those who don’t follow God’s advice. So even after the great reset of the flood that killed everyone except Noah and his descendants our sinful nature remained, and we chose again to disobey God. But in God’s mercy, he didn’t punish his people. Instead, he made his people all spoke different languages and he made sure they moved around to full the earth.

Day 5 Bible Reading

Genesis 9 & 10, Matthew 4:23-25, Psalm 4       

Psalm 4: 8 (ESV)

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety.”

I thought I wanted to right about the God’s rainbow and his promise to us, because I love rainbows and still experience childlike excitement whenever I see a rainbow. I grew up seeing a ton of rainbows so they are very familiar to me, but seeing a rainbow still fills me with such joy. But I was struck by the last verse of Psalm 4. If I have complete trust in God and Christ and I keep that knowledge at the forefront of my mind, I feel safe and in peace. But there were times in these last few years where my anxiety was palpable, and I could not get a good night sleep. I was only ever to calm myself down and finally sleep, when I remembered God’s promises to me and his faithfulness and how he has never let me down. My life has never been perfect, but I can honestly say my life has been what I would call “charmed” since I started believing in Christ. 

Day 4 Bible Reading

Genesis 7 & 8, Matthew 4: 1-22, Proverbs 1: 1-7

Genesis 7: 6 (ESV)

“Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters came up on the earth.”

I’ve read the Noah story many times, but this is the first time I noticed Noah’s age. In Genesis 5, we find out that age 500 he fathered, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. We never find out when God ask Noah to build the ark. All we know is Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters started. It struck me that Noah was building ark for perhaps 80 years or more, if one assumes that his three sons were old enough to help him. That’s a long time to work on the ark project. I’ve been brainwashed by the Hollywood depictions of the Noah story, where we get the impression that Noah built the ark in 10 years, maybe less. Noah is the first example of an obedient follower of God. I have a hard time imagining working on a project for that long. Did Noan not doubt? He had to wait, and let’s be generous, maybe 50 years or more for God’s word to come true. I am shamed by Noah’s patience. I pray for God for things and I expect it to happen fairly quickly. I think I need a sign that says “Remember Noah’s patience. His ark project took over 50 years, And he literally saved the world.” I need to meditate on Noah’s patience and remember his faithfulness and obedience to following God’s mission for him in his life.