Building on the Promises of God (Blogging Through the Bible)

God is a covenant God. He is faithful to keep all the promises He has made to us in His Word.

Nimrod led the people of his time in a rebellion against God by attempting to build the tower of Babel. He cast fear and doubt into their minds concerning the promise of God that He would never flood the earth again. Nimrod convinced them that this tower would be so high that it would save them should God fail to keep His promise to never flood the earth again.

Isn't that just like the devil?! He wants us to doubt the promises of God that are ours as His children. The devil will use fear and doubt to try to cripple us and go outside the will of God in an attempt to save ourselves.

We cannot save ourselves friends. It is only by the blood of Jesus applied to our lives that we can be in right standing with God. We do this by believing Jesus died on the cross for our sins and arose from the dead conquering sin, death, and the grave. We ask Him to forgive us of our sins and invite Him into our lives.

This world as we know it will one day end.

Jesus is returning - this is one of the many promises we have in God's Word. Acts 1:11 says:

"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Jesus, Himself, tells us in John 14:3:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

We must build our lives on this promise.

We must be looking for Jesus' return.

There are many more promises of God that we can build our lives on while we wait for Jesus' return. The Bible is filled with them. I'm excited that we'll be learning more about these promises as we continue to read the entire Bible together!

Thanks for listening to what's on my heart tonight.

It's been great going through Genesis with this study. I look forward to reading your thoughts...just leave them in the comments below.

***Here are my S.O.A.P.s for Genesis 9, 10, and 11.


Monday, October 6, 2014

Genesis 9

Scripture: Genesis 9:8-17  Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: ⁹ “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. ¹¹ Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ¹³ I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; ¹⁵ and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Observations: The word “covenant” is repeated 7 times in this portion of Scripture. This repetition is powerful and it strengthens the covenant. God initiates the covenant in verse 9, God enacts the covenant in verse 11, and God completes the covenant in verse 17.

The sign of the covenant – the rainbow – is also repeated. The sign of the covenant is stated in verse 12; it is established in verse 13; in verses 14 and 15 it is guaranteed for future generations. Finally in verse 16, we see that God will look on the rainbow and remember His covenant promise.

“As for Me” – God is establishing this covenant on His own, without any involvement on mankind’s part – it is unconditional – there are no conditions to meet in order to validate the covenant, to deserve it, or to cause the termination of the covenant. The covenant is secure and it is fixed.

Application: We can see the faithful character of God in the fact that God keeps His covenants – His promises to us. God cannot lie and whatever He says – He will do (Numbers 23:19).

As a child of God, I want to be faithful in all of my relationships. I don’t want to put conditions on others that, if not met, would determine how I treat them in return.

As a child of God, I need to be sure that I do whatever I say I am going to do.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that You are faithful to keep Your promises. Help me to be careful in what I say I am going to do so that I’m not just throwing out words with no intentions. I pray that You would help me to love others without putting conditions on them. I desire to be faithful to others as You have always been so faithful to me Father. Mold me and shape me into the person You desire for me to be I pray so that others can see Jesus in me. It is in His life-changing name I pray. Amen!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Genesis 10

Scripture: Genesis 10:8, 10  Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. ¹⁰ The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar.

Observations: Nimrod - his name means “we shall rebel”. He was the son of Cush, the grandson of Ham, and the great-grandson of Noah. We’ll see in Chapter 11 of Genesis that it is Nimrod who leads the people in rebellion against God in efforts to build the Tower of Babel.

Sin survived the flood and here we see another display of its effects on man. Nimrod was building his own kingdom for his own glory.

Application: What kingdom am I building on? – the kingdom of this world which will one day end or the kingdom of God which will last for eternity. I want to focus on storing up treasures in Heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy (Matthew 6:20). How am I leading people? We all are influencing others by the life we live. I want my life to point others to Jesus and to new life through Him.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You are the One true God and it is Your Kingdom that I long for. This world has nothing that I desire above You. Help me to live my life in full surrender to You and Your power at work within me. I pray that I would live in such a way that others would be drawn into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. This world is not our home. One day Jesus will return for His followers. I pray that the allurements of this world would pale in comparison to the glories of Heaven that are to come so that we all would be ready when Jesus comes back. It’s in His redeeming name I pray. Amen!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Genesis 11

Scripture: Genesis 11:1-9 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. ³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” ⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Observations: In these verses we see how – in one single act – God created the nations and various languages of the earth because of this act of rebellion against God. In verses 1-4 we have the actions of man and in verses 5-8 we have the actions of God.

“Come let us” is spoken by man in his rebellious attempt to achieve self-glory and self-fulfillment apart from God by building up this structure.

“Come let us” is spoken by God as He steps in and stops their work by confusing their language so that they cannot understand each other anymore. God scatters them over the earth, and the building of the structure and the city is ended.

Application: Personal pride can lead to rebellious acts that will take us out of the will of God for our lives. We must be careful of prideful and rebellious attitudes by maintaining a direct line of communication with God through prayer. In those prayers, we need to ask God to help us be sensitive to His leading so that we stay in the center of His will for our lives.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You always know what is best for me and for my family. Help me to be mindful of Your leading and direction for my life. I want to be in the center of Your will. I know there is peace there that surpasses all understanding. I know there is provision there from Your capable hands. I pray that my attitude would be one of complete surrender to You so that pride and rebellion would not take root in my heart. Thank You, Father, for hearing my prayer this morning. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen!

Here's the reading plan for the rest of this week:

I'll see you back here on Friday!

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie