Better Late Than Never

January 7th, 2010

Genesis 5-6; Psalm 2:7-10; Proverbs 1:10-19; Matthew 3

We've had a beautiful snowstorm! Due to extra shoveling, I didn't make my deadline of writing before going to bed last night. :(

His mercies are new every morning!

Yesterday's reading begins talking about God creating us to be like Him. It struck me that when the serpent told Eve that she should partake of the fruit in order to be like God, that He was tempting her with something she already had.

This is true of so much in our own spiritual walk. For instance, if we are truly in Christ, we've been made righteous. Yet we don't feel righteous, act righteous, or seem righteous.

Eve didn't act like God because she didn't believe that she was like God, even though God said that she was. We don't act righteous because we don't believe that what Jesus has done was enough to make us righteous even though He said we are. Our actions always follow our beliefs. If we believe we are righteous we will begin acting righteous. Not of ourselves, otherwise we could boast, but because it is a benefit of what Christ has purchased for us.

Satan was able to destroy Eve's life, (and ultimately mankind's) by making her feel deficient in something God said she had complete sufficiency in.

What area in your life are you tempted to believe something other than what God says about you? Change your mind so that Satan doesn't have a hold on you and cause you to partake of doing things the world's way, just because you don't believe something God has said about you.

From the kids

David pointed out that he had heard in his Youth group lecture class that if you translate all of the names from Adam to Noah that the meanings prophecy of the second coming of Christ. He also pointed out that he would like to go to Turkey sometime and see if remains of the ark are there or not! :)

We all wondered at the wording in chapter 6:7 which states "I will wipe mankind...-men and animals,...-" Were animals counted in mankind at that time?

I also created a timeline to see whose lives overlapped in this portion of scripture. We were amazed to find that Adam was alive until just before the birth of Lamech, Noah's father! All of the patriarchs up until this point died before the flood. Noah was the last righteous man from the lineage listed in Genesis 5.

What does this say about the importance of family heritage? When circumstances led to the fact that only one person from this lineage was living, the earth became very corrupt and violent. We must raise our children to obey God, just as Noah did. This way the inheritance of God's people will remain on earth, and if there becomes a shortage of righteous people, God will protect our family just as He did Noah's.