Gen. 11-13:4; Matt. 5:1-26; Ps. 5; Prov. 1:24-28
Have you ever wondered where the word "babel" came from? Well now you know. Just to point something out...Did you notice in the last chapter it talked about Noah's boys being spread out and part of the division was made "according to their language." That division took place after these events at the tower of babel. The people were driven by pride and arrogance. They wanted to make a name for themselves and so God saw where this was going and stepped in to intervene. You might think God's judgement's can seem extreme at times, but let's not forget He can see beyond the immediate. He saw their hearts were again turning to selfish things and so He stepped in and confused the languages so that they could no longer work together to acheive this incredible prideful act. It wasn't neccesarily the temple it was the heart behind the temple. It's the same in our lives. When God corrects, it may seem over small and insignificant things, but He knows the heart behind it and can where we are headed. Everytime He steps in it is for our own well-being.
In this geneology we see that Abram (soon to become Abraham) came from the line of Noah through his son Shem.
12:2 "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you."
In other words God was saying I want you to leave everything you know, everything that is comfortable to you and everything that feels safe and go to an unknown location that I will tell you about later. vs 4 "So Abram departed. There's that faith of Noah, just do what you're told. But I want you to pay attention to the next few chapters of his story. His faith isn't always so strong. Even at the end of this chapter he is scared for his own life so lies to Pharoh about his wife and basically sells her. God shows His protection regardless and curses Pharoh's household with plauges til the figure out what is happening.
We have to be willing to show our faith no matter what it looks like MIGHT happen. God is our protector!
Ps 5:12 - There is protection in a godly life. The righteous are protected as with a shield. It is only when we try to live life outside of God's shield that true harm will come to us.
Vs 28 - It seems so harsh and unforgiving but I think the lesson to learn here is that we are all going to have to deal with the consequences of our choices. We can't live our whole lives completly ignoring the instruction of God and then when we're standing before Him on judgement day expect Him to say "don't worry about it, I was only making suggestions."
Matthew - So much that could be said here. I'm thinking about doing a Wednesday night series on this chapter. I'm just going to pick a couple points to comment on.
First of all I'm adopting the phrase "jot or tittle." Can anyone tell me what that means? I already know but I'm going to make you look it up, it's kind of interesting.
vs 14-16 - We are the light of the world. That's powerful! Light is an amazing thing. Have you ever been in a pitch black room trying to feel around for furniture so you don't smash a toe? What is it that you look for...Light! If you can just find one beam of light somewhere, suddenly your confidence increases. It's amazing how the smallest light can change everything and brighten up and entire room. You find yourself drawn to that light and suddenly the obstacles in your way become clear to you. That's what we are called to be to this world. That light for people who are lost and searching in this dark world. They are lost and bumping around falling all over the pathway of life. We need to let our light shine so they can find their way out of the darkness. God's light must shine out of us everyday, everywhere. Not just at church and around other christians but everywhere there is darkness, we need to be light.
Okay I am not some great writer nor am I that funny but Pastor Ben this blog is for you!!!
ReplyDeleteI have been reading and have not had some great revelation (hoping and praying that will come). However, last night Jason and I were sitting at the kitchen table reading our bibles and taking notes, when all of a sudden I realized our kids were doing the exact same thing. This made me feel so good inside as a mother that my children CHOSE to study the bible on their own without being told to do so instead of playing with all of their toys. When they did this it made me realize just how much we learm by example. I only hope that thru reading the bible I am able to learn from Jesus' example and therefore my chilren learn from example.
Wendy, thanks for posting. To add to your comment, Cameron followed me into the youth room tonite and pointed at the poster on the wall and said, "that's one of my favorite verses, I really like that one." You're right, so much is taught by example.
ReplyDeleteKeep reading, praying, studying and POSTING. I promise as you are faithful in this, God will speak to you. So proud of you guys.
After a couple cups of coffee, some chips and ranch dip, and a cinnamon coffee cake; here I am. Let’s not forget the reading that took place in between the snacks. Is it ok for my notes to have Ranch dip stains and some greasy finger prints????
ReplyDeleteGen 11:4 where the verse says Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower where the tops is in heavens; let us make a name for ourselves. The last part of this verse is so significant. There is no mention of God in this building project...Might as well of been funded by the U.S. Government because they totally removed God out of the equation? This was for their glory. What came to mind was they wanted to be God like.
Jot or Tittle- The smallest amount, an iota, Jot being the smallest amount of writing very small piece. Tittle is the name of the dot over the letter i and the name for dots on dice.... Can anyone say 7 tittles come 11 tittles ????
Psalms 5:9 when the verse says there is no faithfulness in their mouth.
This one really messed me up... cause I know my mouth has not been faithful to me. We can not trust our mouths....Lets be truthful. We all say unpleasing things, white lies, small lies, or just plain old lies(let’s face it a lie is a lie.)Maybe its gossip or spreading rumors. There are tons of examples of Adultery of the Mouth – We all have heard of Diarrhea of the mouth… Well now you’ve heard of Adultery off the Mouth…Your mouth is being unfaithful…YES..It’s cheating on you(and me).
The verse goes on to say they flatter with their tongue. Even if we think our mouths are faithful, we go about saying all the right things (flattering with our tongues) that does not speak of what is truly in the heart. Saying the right things mean nothing if not spoken from the heart....they are simply words. Going forward let’s please God by carefully choosing our words. I pray that all of us have faithful mouths and our words are only spoken to life by conviction from the heart.