Day 3: Genesis 8-11

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%208-11&version=NIV

When you read the word of God, a good approach is to ask questions as you read – here are some that are recommended:

Is there a:
Promise for me to claim?
Sin for me to avoid?
Command to obey?
Example to follow?
Teaching to believe?

I will share what I came away with as I read Genesis 8-11 – that doesn’t mean you should walk away with the exact same thing because God’s word is alive and active and speaks into each person’s life individually for what they need to know that day.

There’s an example to follow in the faith and perseverance of Noah – and a promise to claim in the fact that God will remember us and step into our circumstances:

I love the way chapter 8 begins – because no matter what is going on in our lives, we always have this phrase to hold on to. “But God….” When circumstances seem bleak, when dreams seem dead, when your entire world is covered with water and there no land in sight, there is the guarantee of a “But God…” in your future. (By the way, from the time the flood began to the time Noah left the ark more than a year had passed, in case God’s timing seems slow to your right now.) What does a 'But God' mean in your life?

'But God' means that God’s mercy will enter into your life – it means that God will remember you – and remember you with favor.

Here’s what my study bible says about when God remembers you and steps in:
“To ‘remember’ in the Bible is often not merely to recall people to mind but to express concern for them, to act with loving care for them. When God remembers his children, he does so ‘with favor’."

'But God' means that you will be brought back to solid, dry land.

'But God' means a mountain top in your life.

'But God' means that you can’t help but build an altar and worship God for the things he has done.

And then there is the obvious promise to claim represented by the rainbow – the promise that God would never again destroy the earth.

There are several errors or sins to avoid.

The first is in chapter 9, beginning in verse 20 when Noah planted a vineyard, made some wine, drank it and got drunk. This was the first recorded drunkenness in history and wouldn’t you know it, the first person to drink wine drank to excess. Excessive use of wine led to immodest behavior as Noah lay naked in his tent. From the beginning of time, God warned us about the effects of drinking to excess. It is a sin to avoid.

And as the story continues with a sin to avoid as Noah’s son Ham dishonored his father by broadcasting his immodesty – resulting in a cursed generation.

The next sin to avoid is that of excess pride. The human population, united in language, decided they needed to make a name for themselves by building a tower. They desired to be exalted by their own efforts and outside of their creator. The results – confused language and the human race is scattered across the earth. Imagine how different the mission field would look had this never happened. Any effort to exalt ourselves outside of or above the name of God will ultimately and humbling consequences.

So there are just a few of the answers to questions I got as I read. What do you find today?