KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, January 02, 2018
Chapters: Genesis 4-7
Message: Study To Show Thyself Approved
Hello My Friend,
I grew up believing that after God created Adam and Eve He also created couples of their own race, and that was why there were so many shades of brown, but of course, the Bible tells us otherwise. It is strange the things we come up with in our minds when we are only given a few short details. Thankfully, we do have books that teach us otherwise. What do we do when we only have those few short details? We do our research, and what better what to research the things of God than to go to the source, Jesus, well, the Bible if we want to get technical. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” – II Timothy 2:15-16.
I do not care what you believe, every person wants God’s approval, their hearts just change as God loses respect for their halfhearted efforts. When God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply that is what exactly what they did, in fact, they had several children, and their children had children. In our human comprehension this sounds disgusting, but we must understand that during this time God created them just to populate the earth, since they had all of the genes every one of us have there were no birth defects resulting from what would be incestuous today. The Bible tells us of their first two children, Cain, which means possession or possessed, probable because he was cursed after getting thrown out of their camp for killing his brother, Able, who was the second born son, which means vapor, mourning, or breath, probable because he lost his life at an early age.
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” – Genesis 4:1-5.
“But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.” Many will tell you that God did not respect Cain’s sacrifice because it was not a blood sacrifice, but I do not believe this to be true. God accepts the offering of anyone and anything as long as they offer it wholeheartedly. Why do I believe this? Because it is written within the Law itself, if they could not afford the top of the line animal sacrifices, God accepted pigeons, and if they had no animals at all, God accepted grain, whatever it was they had as long as it was first, the best, and offered willingly (Leviticus 5:5-13). Cain reacted like most of the world does when they discover their halfhearted efforts to get God’s approval fail, he became angry at Able. And instead of making things right with God when God told him He was not happy with his offering he went after Able. “And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” – Genesis 4:6-8.
“and thou shalt rule over him.” This is what sin does, it overtakes us to the point that we will resort to the most ungodly acts in order to hide what we have done. And it does come with consequence. You would think that God would have just killed Cain, and Cain even expected it himself, but He did not. “And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.” – Genesis 4:11-15.
“My punishment is greater than I can bear.” You see? While we think that God is letting them off easy by keeping them alive, He is not, they live the rest of their lives in torment because their egos refuse to show themselves approved by God. The Bible talks about another son, Seth, and it is this son who would go on to have a son, Enos (Enoch) who God would use to preserve man. In this next chapter, an account is given of Enoch’s descendants. “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” – Genesis 5:3,6,21-25,28-29.
“because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” Noah, which means rest, was born during a time when there was a severe drought. Now, since there was no such thing as rain back then as water would come up out of the ground to water everything, it was comforting seeing some kind of vegetation after what seemed to be very rocky and thorny ground they were planting in. The curse of the ground was only the beginning, as the entire earth became more corrupt, taking sin to the extreme, it was so bad that God repented of having created man all together. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” – Genesis 6:5-8.
“for it repenteth me that I have made them.” God felt such great sorrow over how wicked man became that He wanted to destroy everything. And if He was ready to eliminate all of life on earth as well I suspect the reason why was because they were using them to commit these wicked acts. But God saw something that He repented from destroying all the earth, one godly family. “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.” – Genesis 6:13-14,18.
“But with thee will I establish my covenant;” You see? God always has a plan, and chooses someone who proves to be faithful to Him to make those plans with. Now, Noah, and his family followed God’s commands to build the ark, and one hundred and twenty years later it was complete. “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.” – Genesis 7:1-3.
“for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” Was Noah perfect? No. But he had God’s favor because he studied himself to be approved unto Him. No, he did not have the Bible to guide him, he had God, he trusted Him, stayed out of the world, taught his family to do good, and love God. God’s faithful are not perfect by a longshot, but they love Him with all their heart, and it is through their actions that they find His favor, and incidentally, Christ as well, who by the way is a picture of the ark, which by the way is shown as we read about it raining upon the earth for the first time. “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.” – Genesis 7:11-15.
“wherein is the breath of life.” Jesus truly is the breath of life. When God creates us in our mothers womb He breathes His breath into our nostrils to give us living flesh, but without Jesus we have no life in our soul, that means if were to die without Christ we are just as all those souls that were lost in the flood, which means we are eternally dead. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” – John 5:24-25.
And it did not just rain for forty days and forty nights, the waters gushed out of the ground too, and every living thing that was not on that ark died. “Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.” – Genesis 7:20-23.
“Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail;” Twenty-two and a half feet, that is how high the waters reached over the tallest mountains. It really aggravates me when you see archaeologists find fossils in the mountains and somehow believe that they evolved that way over billions of years ago. Ridiculous people! Let me tell you, it is the few and faithful from this generation that keeps God from destroying all the earth at this time. Oh yes, there will come a time, and if you just read through Revelation with me then you know, when there will be no one left and the entire planet will be destroyed, not with water, but with fire. We have to understand that the Bible is our guide, not everything we will ever learn or experience is in it, but what we do learn we can use it to make wiser decisions, and above all, study ourselves to be approved unto Him by receiving His Son as our Saviour before it is too late. Do not go crazy, do not overthink this, keep it simple, just like God tells us, otherwise we will drive ourselves crazy, and end up making up things that are not there. “And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” – Ecclesiastes 12:12-14.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.” – Genesis 7:15-16.
Today’s Prayer: God, You make it simple to have a blessed life here on earth, give ourselves willingly to You. In doing so we not only get saved through our faith in Your Son, we receive Your favor, and that is truly amazing. I am humble to be one of the faithful and few who serve You continually, but it is not of my own doing, it is You who lives in me that I am who I am. Lord, lead me and guide me, fill me with Your grace, keep my heart open and tender as I try to deal with life, and let it always be willing to serve You however You lead me. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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