Genesis 8 ~ God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.

Genesis 8

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

God saw the world needed correction and He administered correction.

Let's look at this as mature people and wonder about this Scripture.

The Black Death of 1347 – 1351 A.D. killed 75 million people.

The Irish Potato Famine killed almost a million people & is sometimes regarded by historians as a genocide of the poorer Irish people. 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%. "A starving population, an absentee aristocracy, and an alien Church, and, in addition,  weak executive power."

Oddly enough, when you look at the historian's upset over lack of government intervention - it remarkably resembles the Ipuwer Manuscripts Papyrus complaining of governmental failure for God's described Egyptian Plague. Solomon said the hand of God gives us blessing and the opportunity to provide a solution. Or change.

The Prophet Nahum lived during latter half of the reign of Hezekiah (8th century BC). He witnessed the invasion of Sennacherib and the destruction (2 Kings 19:35). Nahum witnessed the most glorious and miraculous time of Judah and Israel. The fear of the Assyrian Empire and Hezekiah's success almost parallel that of Solomon.

Nahum 1
3 The LORD is slow to anger and of great might, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither, the bloom of Lebanon fades. 5 The mountains quake before him, the hills melt; the earth is laid waste before him, the world and all that dwell therein. 6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him. 7 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But with an overflowing flood he will make a full end of his adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. 9 What do you plot against the LORD? He will make a full end; he will not take vengeance twice on his foes.

The ninth verse tells us of Katrina and Haiti, the Philippines.


The Egyptian Plagues brought forth a Nation that resurrected in our lives.  And Israel exists after 2,000 years of obliteration.

The Black Death did something we clearly see 700 years latter - feudal servitude, death by starvation, illiteracy was ended when there were not serfs to bring in the crops. Freedom, reading, arts, and renewal occurred.

New Orleans was grid locked in unbelievable poverty, cruelty and generational grid lock. A second hurricane spread more people to be far flung. Haiti never received such financial support.

The Irish Potato Famine moved a million people to try for better lives. Others went Home to the Lord.

God does move. Is it up to us to judge HIM???

God's Word is far more powerful than an atomic bomb. And God can be as gentle as a mother with her children in our hearts. Man is pretty impressive with an atomic weapon - but the results of Hiroshima were not repaired by mankind. We certainly know how to blow things up. It's the power of God - He Builds. Sustains. Renews.

We the people are so wise to believe that the Big Bang Theory created the Universe, now many Bangs Theory of Creation - and Genesis One would agree. Not forgetting our current theory of illiterate "disciples" would have Peter write us telling us a Day to God is million of years.

We had a crisis in the Gulf of Mexico a few years back. British Petroleum had a spill so large that all the southern USA was effected. People who wanted to eat shrimp all over the USA were disappointed to learn this might end fishing and shrimp for years to come. Tourism ground to an absolute halt. We were told we now lived on the rim of a ruined Gulf of Mexico. And suddenly all the hazmat suits were done. Finito. It would appear that because oil is a 'natural' product the Gulf reabsorbed the oil and - voila - end of crisis. After the news reported the continuing devastation would require years of spill clean up. Many of the news had a crisis day counter.   Not one news story questioned the miraculous clean up did not occur for the Valdez in Alaska. Not one story worried about the oil spill in the Mediterranean French Coast in the 1960's. Just - oh - oil reabsorbs.


We are so quick to Judge GOD. WHO SAID WE HAVE THE ABILITY???

If your Word created a Universe and your good deeds when largely unnoticed - would you want to save the World???

God does. 

Jesus told us God is even concerned with sparrows. 

God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.


God is going with us, in good seasons of our lives and in the dire times.

If for an evening, you could place your hand upon the powerful Hand of God, you would realize, Niagara Falls could be the Canadian Mississippi River running upwards to the North Pole.  And all the Oceans could again heave up to flood all our land, but you would also have to realize God has a Plan. And we work His Plan with two choices - to do so with gratitude and wonder.  Or create a path He would hate to see, His Beloved fall into self, where His plan is fulfilled without our growth towards Him and His Promises and Kingdom.  

Of course we must be ourselves to the One Who Loves us Most.  And of course, we need to remember this is Our Father GOD - who created us and the Universe with His Word.  We are here because of this tremendous Love He has for His people and His creation. 

John walked with Jesus down the road and the disciples were filled with awe. John was asked to describe God. John did.

1 John 4:16
God is love

There is a response.

1 John 4:7-11

Father God, 

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. 

We  ask and remember our loved ones and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen!!!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves!  †

Psalm 92 ~ they flourish in the courts of our God +

Psalm 92

1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
3 to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.

4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

5 How great are your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep!
6 The stupid man cannot know;
the fool cannot understand this:
7 that though the wicked sprout like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
8 but you, O Lord, are on high forever.
9 For behold, your enemies, O Lord,
for behold, your enemies shall perish;
all evildoers shall be scattered.

10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
you have poured over mea fresh oil.
11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13 They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in the courts of our God.

14 They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,

15 to declare that the Lord is upright;


he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

If you drive past the summer blue of the Mediterranean, up past the majestic Palm trees, over a bridge and begin to climb the hills, you will find a street called
Chien Forestier - loosely translated Dogwood Trees Plural. Forest.

I knew this well! I was small and my parents were kindly giants. One white car going up the hills, highways and narrow parts of Old Nice. I could tell you the one and only day we met the movie star David Niven. Or the two times I met Princess Grace.

The many times we saw the Guard in front of The Palace.  The evening I spent with Princess Caroline and Prince Albert, some, when Princess Grace was pregnant with Stephanie. Because an American girl from Oregon, who lived with us, Odette Gilbert worked at the Palace in Monaco. Our Priest's name was Frank Griswold. I'll add, Rex Harrison lived within miles, but I never laid eyes on him. My father told my mother, on two occasions, to be polite and not stare at Rex Harrison eating dinner.

And that is very exciting, yet, the Joy and warmth and heart of the memories from Nice, France would be this these early days:

How could you help but not see the Majesty of God in the sun showing the blazing color?

Isaiah 40:26

Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one of them is missing.

Ephesians 3:15
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named

1 Thessalonians 4
12 Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone. 13 Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.




God's Glory. The sunsets were usually dramatic and as the light became twilight the lights glowed with gold. The water appeared to be a deep purple. The astonishing color.

This event was steadfast, even in winter. And God saw that this is Good. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

Let's bring the passage alive Today, for us.

The wild winds of Life eventually howl. This is not our eternal Home.

Just as we all grew up with: Here is the Church, here is the Steeple. Open the Doors. Here are the People!

Father God in His Holy Spirit in all of the Scripture used the Palm Tree. Flourish like the Palm Tree.

This is a Palm Tree Analogy of God. Jesus several times in His Word says "Jesus healed them all." A palm tree has a very compact root ball, like a human heart is compact.  And when this tree is uprooted by intense wind, the tree is pulled up, up, up and planted again in the soil to flourish - Again.

God is Amazingly, Completely Interesting. And Wise. In All His Glory and in His Infinitesimal Wisdom of Love.

He tells us of His faith in us. In our Joy in Jesus Christ. And when circumstance and life howl.

The Palms that bend with Mercy Survive. God tells us He values Mercy over Sacrifice, always.

John 14

1“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You believe in God ; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms;
if that were not so, would I have told you that
I am going there to prepare a place for you

Luke 23:43
And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

1 John 4:10
This is love:
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

4th Century Ossicare David Thessaloniki, Greece
Ancient of Days

 

Abba, Lord Father God, 
Lover and Creator of all people and things,

Of old, You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

May You bless us to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for You.

Establish our hearts blameless in Holiness before You, God and Father, today and at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His Saints.

In Jesus, He who calls us is faithful; He will surely do it.

As we lift up our dearest hope to Jesus. For our loved ones. Cares, concerns. Worries of the news. Old times, times to come. This Nation. Your People.

May You, Abba, Bless us to grow in the grace and knowledge of You, The Lord God Almighty and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is Love.

To Jesus,
Son of God, bringing His Father a new Heaven and a new earth, 
be the glory both now 
and to the day of eternity. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves!  †

Nehemiah 13:1-22 ~ Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

Nehemiah 13:1-22

On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2 for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.

4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5 prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. 6 While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king 7 and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. 8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. 11 So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. 14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 

17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. 

And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” 

From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. 

22 Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

 

SOMETHING FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

Jesus knew quite clearly as the exiled former slaves returned to Jerusalem, something remained.

Solomon's Portico.

Whenever Jesus did visit the Temple, He taught from "Solomon's" Portico.

Today we still have what remains.

This is marvelous. We have pillars of the First Temple which stood in the Second Temple. These pillars were there as Jesus walked among the believers in His Father's House.

Psalm 116
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!



our God turned the curse into a blessing

 

And From  THE NEW TESTAMENT

So Jesus told us we are the new Temple of God.

Galatians 5
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.






 


The Holy Spirit marches through History and in the fact that mankind requires Jesus for Salvation and holds within themselves the ability to hold the Light of God in all of mankind, we see situations repeat.


The slaves were called "exiles" and exalted as a studied people by Emperor Nebuchadnezzar. In reality, they were slaves who were well treated and allowed to own homes like Ezekiel. To assemble and have freedom to worship and were totally... slaves.

Returning to the destroyed Jerusalem, 70 years predicted by Jeremiah and fulfilled, the newly reborn nation wobbled. And did things the wrong way. Not understanding where to go with their freedoms.

MAKING A 200 Year Old Repeat for Our Passage TODAY

What era could we compare this too and have some peace about today?

The Nation was so new, currency was not established and what was traded instead of actual monetary coin and paper? Small Farmers made Whiskey. And traded.

President Washington was called on to physically lead troops in Pennsylvania against people unsure how a nation should act. A new America. Riots about rights, liberty, representation, and taxes. What they had produced for many years was suddenly taxed by the New Nation to provide for the Common Defense. The American Revolution had cost the Federal Government $54 Million Dollars in Debt.

President Washington like Nehemiah - rushed in with a solution sure to upset everyone to make the place run smoothly.

Why did that ol' Bad George suggest this harm to the farmers?

Washington’s farm manager, James Anderson, suggested building a whiskey distillery adjacent to the mill. When it was completed in 1797, the distillery was the largest in America.

By 1799 it had become one of Washington’s most successful enterprises, producing 11,000 gallons of whiskey per year. A variety of whiskeys were produced, with brandy and vinegar. The most common whiskey recipe used 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley. Some whiskey was flavored with cinnamon, wheat, apple, peach and persimmon brandies were also made.


Proving for all of us - the quick fix - the un-involvement as a solution for peace - does not work.

Promoting a situation Jesus told us of Directly as a Study of Mankind.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

But before you get to being the peace called Children of God - you might just travel down a little of this road realizing Nehemiah and George Washington faced real death and real weapons as a result of peace making.


Matthew 5:9
7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Nicey rarely works. Only sinners do the work of God. Mistakes and miscommunication and anger happen. Jesus said and considers His Ministry with His Father - Real work.

Matthew 11:12
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

Our freedoms, women's suffrage, This Nation, the reborn Nation of Israel - all were FOUGHT for.

Pick up your cross - wear a cross and - be willing to speak and be counted for Jesus the Lord.

1 Peter 3:15-16
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, 
always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason 
for the hope that is in you; 
yet do it with gentleness and respect, 
16 having a good conscience




Father God,

Blessed be the Name of Jesus and the people who know and Believe in Your Son.

We are in the Holy Spirit and we for believe and act - God gave us a Spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

We are taught that power - insults and offends. Makes Strength. This is incorrect. Sarcasm tears flesh. And yet, what mends hearts and encourages the Holy Spirit in us is not power and control is something far better. The Power of Love and Self- Control that increases Mercy and Grace. The Diligence of being steadfast in Jesus.

Let us find what is good in today. Look for the good.

Let us see the diligent road of Faith, increasing our strength and trust in Father God.

And then in this we shall find our framework God gives us to have Love, Hope, Faith, Joy, Encouragement, Peace, Dignity, Self-Esteem pleasing to God allowing Him to draw us to Your Holy Throne.

At the very Throne of God, we will find His Love and Mercy with His Grace. And here with joy we can rest our concerns, for the ones we Love and pray for. For our Nation again to find Joy in God and His Blessings. For our Communities and Churches to feel comfortable and unworried in themselves. And recall the joy of the decades to centuries we have been nourished in Jesus Christ. And be pleased for the people all over the world praying with us for our needs in Jesus Christ. 

Help us that our speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that we may know how to answer everyone.

We shall see Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.

Yes, Abba will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness will go before Jesus
and His footsteps will make a way.

The Highest Name of Jesus be Praised. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves!  †