Protected and Preserved

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Protected and Preserved
Date: Monday January 02, 2012
Today's Chapters: Genesis 5-8
Preview of Today's Message: “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” -2 Timothy 4:18. Those who put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ need not worry about the things to come, He alone protects and preserves them from the floods that will come in their lives. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters, but the only three we know the most about are Cain, Able, and Seth. Able, who was godly, was slain by Cain, who rejected God after He did not accept his offering. Cain began the genealogy of what is known as the sons of man, meaning they rejected God. The genealogy of the sons of God began with Seth, who would become the lineage of the seed where Jesus would be born into. When God saw His people mixing with the children of man and all the corruption that was taking place He was so angry that He wanted to destroy the earth and everything on it. God repents too, which means to feel deep regret for something they have done. God regretted that He even created man and wanted to end it all. However, something changed His mind, He saw one man, Noah, who was not like the others, he and his family found favor with God. Instead of wiping out everything God preserved man and beast through eight people and a vessel.

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose...And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart...And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth...And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.” - Genesis 6:1,2,5,6,13,17-20.

One man's heart changed God's mind, one man's faith stopped God from destroying all the earth, Noah was not perfect or sinless, but he loved God and lived his life with Him in it. Although we are born with a sin nature, that does not excuse us from knowingly living in sin nor does it keep us from facing the consequences of them. The physical, mental, and spiritual consequences of sin are astounding and are eternally irreversible with one and only one exception, Christ. He alone protects and preserves all who come to Him. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” -Romans 6:23.

When God told Noah to build an ark he might have been a bit puzzled when He said He was going to make it rain, they never saw rain in their life. However, he did not question God and by faith did what He commanded. When the ark was complete, Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives entered the ark along with seven pairs of clean animals and two pairs of unclean animals, when they were all save and sound it began to rain.

“In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.” - Genesis 7:11-14.

Noah may not have known it at the time, but the ark he built was a foreshadow of Christ, everyone who got on the ark was saved from death. By faith Noah did what God commanded him to do and God protected and preserved him and his family as He promised He would do. God never goes back on His promises, but without faith we cannot even get God's attention. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” - Hebrews 11:6,7. Likewise everyone that goes to Christ by faith is saved from death. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” - Ephesians 2:8

It rained for forty days and forty nights, after the rain it took one hundred and fifty days for the waters to subside. After the flood subsided and life was coming back to the earth, Noah and everything on the ark got off, the first thing Noah did was build an altar, the first altar recorded in the Bible. “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. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” - Genesis 8:20-22.

An altar is a place to worship, to thank God for what He has given us, and to get right with Him. 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 and give yourself completely to God. Life can be overwhelming and honestly talking to God can be challenging when we are trying to deal with life. It happens to me, I admit that there are times when my prayer time with God lessens to the point that I am barely talking to God, but it also becomes harder to deal with my situation. That is when I get to the altar, which finally gives me peace, it is amazing what a simple, “God, I need You” will do. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30.

Today's Psalm: “The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.” - Psalm 145:20.
Today's Proverb: “He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.” - Proverbs 2:8.
Today's Prayer: God, Turn my eyes away from worthless things, preserve my life according to your Word. I delight in your law. I will not neglect your Word. Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths, lead me and guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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