Genesis 9:13

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

What a beautiful covenant sign. We all think of the flood every time we see a rainbow. Covenant signs can be important reminders of the promises we have made. My wedding band reminds me of the covenant I have made with my husband. When I see across it reminds me of the Covenant I have made with God through Jesus. I think it might be helpful for me to find a covenant sign for other aspects of my life where I have made a commitment. A sign could help remind me to stay on track.

Lord, thank you for your covenant sign of a rainbow. It is a beautiful reminder of a beautiful promise. Amen.

Genesis 8:21

The Lord smelled a pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

God gets us. He understands humans and the human heart.  He understands our struggles. He knows we aren't perfect and he loves us anyway.

Lord, thank you for this world you have given us, for this opportunity to learn to love you and bring you glory. Thank you for loving us even though we are sinful. Amen.

Job 1:20-21

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Last night in ladies class the teacher talked about the song Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman. It is such an amazing song. We discussed that God is worthy all the time regardless of our current situation. In good times and in bad we must choose to praise and worship God. When the Lord gives and when the Lord takes away we must choose to praise and worship God.

Lord, you give and you take away. May your name be praised. Amen.

Genesis 6:5-8

5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Have you ever been this discouraged? God was so frustrated he wanted to scrap the whole thing. We can thank Noah for his faithfulness.  Without it, humanity would be no more. When we are frustrated, can we find one good thing to keep us going? The project may require a total renovation, but it may be worth saving.

Lord, thank you for giving humanity another chance. I want to be like Noah and find favor in your eyes. Lord, please give us your wisdom in dealing with frustrating situations. Amen.

From Adam to Noah

In Genesis chapter 5 is written in account of Adam's family line to Noah. I found two interesting passages. in first verse it says, "God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God." Then in verse 3 it says Adam "had a son in his own likeness, in his own image;".
So, it sounds like we are a similar to God as a son is to a father. The second passage is verse 24, "Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." Wow! He must have been very special to God! This is the only person in this chapter noted as walking faithfully with God.

Lord, you made us in your likeness. That is the way you mean for us to be. Lord,  I want to be like you! I want to walk faithfully with you. Amen.

Genesis 4:7

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it."

Sin is the topic again today. In this verse God is talking to Cain before he killed Abel. He warns him about sin and advises him to rule over it. To my understanding, at this point, they do not have the Holy Spirit living inside of them. Ruling over sin is a difficult thing to do, especially without the Holy Spirit. I am so thankful that the Spirit lives inside of me and can help me rule over sin. Even with this help, I am still sinful.

Lord, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Please help me to do what is right and keep sin out of my life. Amen.

Genesis 3:3

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it.

In my daily strugle with food, it gives me strength to know I am not alone. The first sin was a sin involving food.

Lord, thank you for the gift of food to nourish our bodies. Help us to have a healthy relationship with food and to place you, the creator, above the food you created. Amen.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

After being a Christian for so many years you would think I wouldn't have any more questions like these. But I do. I just finished a lesson on songs about God's creation, so I decided to read Genesis. I have always wondered about the universe. I think the Bible says God created the earth but I wasn't sure about the universe. And if he didn't create it who did? So I guess that he probably did but I just wanted to find some biblical evidence. This first verse says he created the heavens and the earth, so is the heavens the universe? To be continued...

Lord, I love you and completely trust in you. Please help me to see my way through this understanding. Amen.

Haggai 2:4

But now be strong, ... Be strong, ... Be strong,' ... declares the Lord, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the Lord Almighty.

Haggai is speaking for the Lord and telling the Israelite nation and their leaders to rebuild the temple. He tells them to be strong and work in this verse. God may call us to do difficult things which may require strength and work but he promises to be with us. And we can't forget the work part. sometimes we ask God for things and hope that he will just give them to us, but sometimes they require a great deal of work on our part.

Lord, thank you for giving us the strength to do the work you want us to do. In the name of Jesus, Lord, please show me what you want me to do. Amen.

Haggai 1:9

"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains in ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.

This passage is talking about the rebuilding of the temple, but it still applies to me today. Who's house am I building? Am I working on God's house or my personal house? Where is my focus? Am I focused on building up the church? Am I focused on building my own wealth? Am I focused on my personal family? Am I focused on my job? Am I focused on building at my own reputation?

Lord,  I want to build up your house. Please use me to do so. Please help my personal house to not be my main focus. Amen

Psalm 148:7-10

Praise the Lord from the earth,
   you great sea creatures
   and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
   stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
   fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
   small creatures and flying birds,

This verse is from my study on songs about God's creation. I feel like this lesson is preparing me for my cruise to Alaska. I am prepared to be awestruck by the beauty of God's creation.

Lord,  let me see you in the beauty of nature around me everyday and be  especially inspired by the beauty of nature I will see on my trip. Thank you for this amazing opportunity. Amen.

Zephaniah 3:20

At that time I will gather you;
   at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise
   amongst all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes
   before your very eyes,"
                                            says the Lord.

This is a Sunday morning. I don't normally do my Bible study and blog on a Sunday morning, but for some reason I had lots of extra time this morning, so I guess that God had something to tell me. There were only three verses left in the book I was studying, Zephaniah. And this is the last verse have that book.

This morning I was thinking about money. Financially, we are doing so much better than we have in the past, but there are so many people who have so much more than us. Sometimes I wonder why God has not blessed us with more. Then I read a verse like this and realize that true honor, praise and fortunes do not lie on the earth, they live with God in heaven. As long as I am assured of this inheritance, it doesn't matter how much or little I have on this earth.

Lord, thank you for your asurance of heaven. Lord, please give me the strength, energy and desire to work for the money we need. Help me to be content with what we have. Amen.

Woke up late

Lord, I'm so sorry. I woke up late today and won't have time to study. I don't feel very well. My stomach hurts, I feel a little queasy. Please help me get through today. Amen.

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.

I could not go through a study on Zephaniah without including this verse. This is my favorite verse in the Bible. I am so amazed God takes great delight in me and rejoices over me in singing.

Lord, thank you so much for loving me, for being with me, for saving me, for delighting in me, and for rejoicing over me. I am so blessed! Amen.

Zephaniah 3:9

Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.

This verse in Zephaniah goes along with the lesson I am teaching on the majesty of God. In order to call him Lord, we must be purified. We must be holy because he is holy. When we have become a child of God we are part of his royal court, serving shoulder to shoulder. Not only do we have the right to call on Him, we are royalty as well.

Lord, thank you for bringing me into your royal court and for allowing me to call on your name. Amen.

Zephaniah 3:2

She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God.

God constantly amazes me at how "of the moment" the Scriptures are that I read. I am really struggling right now with work I have a boss who I am having trouble getting along with. Yesterday I felt attacked by this person and I attacked back. I got in trouble and I could have lost my job. I was in the wrong, but it's hard to accept the correction. I am being told that I just want to do my own thing and not follow her leadership. I think this verse is just speaking straight to me today.

Lord, please help me to be obedient to you and to my earthly masters. Help me to accept correction. Lord , I do trust in you and I do draw near to you. Help me to do this in times of struggle. Amen.

Psalm 104:1

Praise the Lord , my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

This verse comes from my ladies class lesson. I've been studying for this lesson all weekend, focusing on the majesty of God. When we think of God, I think we rarely think of him as a majestic king on a throne. He is so royal, so holy, so worthy, so full of honor.

Lord, you are a royal king. Your Majesty is awesome and you will reign forever. Amen