I'm Following Jesus – Page 1958 – Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, January 03, 2018
Chapters: Genesis 8-11
Message: Until The Waters Subside

Hello My Friend,

Over the years, especially the past decade, we have seen a lot of catastrophes hit the earth, from earthquakes to hurricanes, to volcanoes, and no, it is not climate change, global warming, or greenhouse gasses to blame. More often than people care to admit, catastrophes have more to do with God’s judgments rather than mans carelessness. And let me tell you, while we do cause a fair share of our own suffering upon ourselves, faithful, godly Christians walking the earth are the only reason why Jesus is not here yet. Since we are here on earth as well, we often get caught up in the wake of God’s judgments, and as a result are left waiting for the waters to subside to do anything. No matter what we are faced with in this world, pain, death, calamities, sorrow, we must understand that if we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Saviour we are His, He never leaves His faithful to suffer for too long or alone, and is always with them. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39.

We have all been in crazy storms, I live in Florida, where it storms almost daily in the summer, we learn to take cover and weather them wherever we are until they subside. I have seen streets covered in so much water that the only thing you could do was wait it out until it subsides. When God saw such wickedness in man He repented that He even made the earth, and sent a flood to destroy it, but by the grace of one man, Noah, He decided to save his family, and start over with them. He commanded Noah to build an ark, and that was where they, and all the living creatures on it abode until it was all over. It rained forty days and nights, the waters were so high that they were twenty-two and a half feet above the highest mountain. It took one hundred and fifty days for the ark itself to hit some kind of bottom, which was the top of that highest mountain.

“And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.” – Genesis 8:1-5.

“And God remembered Noah,” We will have floods to deal with in this life, but God remembers us. We may not understand everything that is going on, and it may seem like months before there is any relief even in sight, but little by little God lets the waters subside, and even gives rest while we are waiting. Now, one year after the rain began, the waters filled the entire earth, the waters subsided, the land was dry, and life was sustainable upon the earth once again. God commands Noah and his family to come out of the ark and live, He also made a covenant.

“And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.” – Genesis 8:13-17,20-21.

“neither will I again smite any more every thing living,” And this is why the wicked are free to be wicked. Again, while we do get caught up in the wake of God’s judgments, He will not punish all of us for what someone else does. If there is one thing I have learned these past few years is that God protects me, even when I am in the midst of some catastrophe. Noah, willingly built and altar to God, just to worship Him, and God was pleased, he may not have understood what had happened, or even what life would be like anymore, but He did understand that it was by God’s mercy and grace that he and his family were alive. When everything seems to be falling apart and you cannot even find the strength to pray, that is when you need to come to the altar of God, and give yourself completely to Him. God blesses Noah and his family.

“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.” – Genesis 9:1-5.

“But flesh with the life thereof,” This means there were not to eat things that are alive or human. “And surely your blood of your lives will I require;” Human life is very important to God, after all, we are created us in His image, meaning we are the only living beings with a soul, and under no circumstances shall we take a life, even our own, as with it comes consequences. It is depressing to see the way people disregard life as if it has no meaning, God created each and every one of us for a reason, and we have no right, whether it be in or out of the womb, to take a life, and those who do will be accountable to God for it. Just as God commanded them to multiply, they multiplied, the generations of Noah are listed. “Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.” – Genesis 10:1-5.

“By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands;” Japheth’s descendants would make up what is known as the Gentiles, many of European descent, these would be generations that would follow the Jews path of seeking a relationship with God. The descendants of Ham, also Caanan, many would be of African descent, and rebel against God, as they were cursed to be servants of the other two generations. God’s focus was in the lineage of the Jews since this would be the generation in which Jesus would descend from. And the descendants of Shem will make up what is known as the Israelites or Jews. “The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.” – Genesis 10:22-25.

“for in his days was the earth divided;” And this is when they all started separate. Now, with just eight people on earth witnessing the wrath and mercies of God, you would think that all of them would worship only God, and teach their children. However, that was not the case, after Noah died all that changed as they scattered the earth and began establishing their own covenants and beliefs, the most influential were the Canaanites, descendants of Ham. They decided they wanted to build a tower to reach heaven, in which God decided it was time to confine them. “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.” – Genesis 11:4-8.

“and now nothing will be restrained from them,” God wants His people separated from the world, they might all try to get to heaven, but there in only one way, and that is Jesus Christ. God gave them different languages so they could not corrupt each other. Did you know that God has a language all of His own? He does, and the only people who understand it are those who are saved and living their lives through Jesus. Theologians claim to know the Bible, yet cannot explain the simplest things, scholars claim to know history, yet cannot explain the miraculous things that happened, scientist claim to know everything, but cannot explain creation. God makes everything simple, “Trust me, believe in my Son, live in my Word, and I will take care of you”, it is man that complicates everything. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” – Romans 1:22-25.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.” – Genesis 9:14-15.

Today’s Prayer: God, As Your children, it is Your desire that we stay faithful to Your teachings. You promise to never destroy all life of earth, but that does not mean You are not going to place judgment upon it for its evil. Lord, Help us to endure catastrophes by living our lives as an example of Your Son, lead us, guide us, protect us, cover us in Your love, mercy, and grace, and give us Your power to overcome every storm. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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