By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

1 John 5:1-4

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  1 John 5:2-4

In preparation for leading Sunday school at my church on 20OCT, I dig into our text for this Sunday, 1 John 5:1-4.  For my preparation this week, I lean on DesiringGod.com's Look at the Book video for this text and the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for 1-3 John.  For this morning, I first study the text without any commentary aids.  Here John talks about being born again and how this produces fruit - fruit also referenced in Galatians 5, primarily love - love of God and of others.  Love of God and of others is commanded (see also Matthew 22:37-40 and Exodus 20) and obedience to these commands is not seen as burdensome by believers (v3). This is because we have the Holy Spirit with and in us working in our lives and just as Jesus overcame death and the world, we also can overcome the world.  Believers, recognize and acknowledge this power to overcome the world and live boldly!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit so that we can live boldly in obedience and in particular loving You and others boldly.  You love us in ways that we cannot imagine, including willingly going to the cross to atone for the sins of all of humanity.  Thank You Jesus!  Of course I am not deserving as my sin continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

[T]his is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

2 John 1

[T]his is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 2 John 1:6

I continue my study of 1,2,3 John using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for these books.  Today, I continue exploring, with commentary assistance, 2 John 1:1-13, specifically focusing on a review of the entirety of the text, and the main idea, introduction, and second division per the commentary: We Must Live the Truth (4-6). "[John] was convinced that unless truth reaches and affects the heart, the inner man, it is of no real value, regardless of what it may do in the head. Truth should grab hold of head, heart, and hands....There are basically four options when it comes to the source of the authority to which we will submit. We will either submit to reason (what we think), tradition (what we’ve always done), experience (what we feel), or revelation (what God says). For John, God had revealed Himself in Jesus Christ His Son and in His Word. The matter was settled. We don’t debate Him or the Word. We proclaim both." We are urged to avoid succumbing and responding to anything other than revelation - God's Word.  John has repeatedly encouraged believers to pursue truth and love and if we do, we should expect fruit from such a pursuit - righteous living.  Such a response is a supernatural response to God working in and through our hearts and lives as we pursue Him and we abide and Him and Him in us.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves us and who is full of grace, mercy and peace for those who believe...and You enter our hearts and lives and transform us into more of Your image...thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You work.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

1 John 3

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10

I continue my study of 1,2,3 John using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for these books.  This morning, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of 1 John 3:4-10. 

Per the commentary for this text:

Main idea: "Jesus Christ came to redeem and renew sinners by paying the penalty of sin and defeating the Devil."

Excerpts from the commentary introduction:

• The text includes two core elements of doctrine, that (1) Jesus came to take away our sins (v3:5), and (2) destroy the works of the devil (v3:8). Both are captured by scripture elsewhere (1 Corinthians 15:54, Isaiah 25:8, Hebrews 2:14-15) that shares how these victories are already won through Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection.
  
•  The practice of sin is inconsistent with being a child of God. 
• John seeks to address "falsely assured non-Christians" by "shock[ing] and wak[ing] them up to their true spiritual status."
  

Divisions per the commentary: 

1. He Came to Deliver Us from Sin (3:4-6): "Sin is the great enemy and problem of humanity, and only God can rescue us and solve our problem." Sin is rebellion against God and it is inescapable that it is habitual for all of us. Thus we all need to be saved from this "predicament." Jesus is the perfect sinless sacrifice that dies once and for all of humanity over the course of redemptive history.  It logically follows that if we truly abide in Him, we do not practice sin. "Sin no longer dominates us or enslaves us. Sin is no longer the character and conduct of my life. Because I now abide in Christ and in the power of His person and work in the gospel, I may fall into sin, but I will not walk in sin. Sin will not be my habit; it will not be my normal practice. I no longer love sin; I hate sin. I no longer delight in sin; I despise sin."
   
2. He Came to Destroy the Works of the Devil (3:7-8): Beware of false teachers who goad us into sin.  If we abide in Him we are armed (see Ephesians 6) with the ability to defend ourselves against sin and false teachers.  Christ lives in us - animating our obedience (Galatians 2:19-20).
   
3. He Came to Demarcate the Children of God (3:9-10): "By means of the new birth, sin’s power has been neutralized and dealt a death-blow. And, by virtue of His two appearings, sin’s presence will soon pass away forever....Regeneration does not produce invisible or rotten fruit. If anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation and all things become new (see also 2 Corinthians 5:17)." As children of God we have new birth; as children of God we do not practice sin; we love one another. "This is what our God does. This is what His children will do. You see, the child has the distinguishing marks of his parents. What he sees his Father do, that is what he will do. What he sees His Savior do, that is what he will do too."

Comment and discuss this post. 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for willingly going to the cross so that I could have life - to the full now, and for eternity.  I am not deserving of Your sacrifice.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac[.]

 Hebrews 11

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac[.] Hebrews 11:17a

As I continue to ponder what to study next, my Bible study this morning once again leans on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, which today looks at how sometimes, obedience to God feels impossible. John Piper uses the story of Abraham who was tested by God to sacrifice his son Issac (see Genesis 22). The backstory starts in Genesis 17, when God promised to Abraham (99 years old) and Sarah (90 years old) that He would give them a son and He would make a great nation from Abraham's line.  As hard as they found this to believe, Abraham and Sarah had faith that God would be faithful to this promise.  Of course, God was faithful - see Genesis 21. God then asked Abraham to sacrifice Issac - and just as he was about to do this, God called out to Abraham to stop (see Genesis 22, starting in v11).  John Piper uses this Bible story to illustrate how we may feel sometimes like nothing good can come of obedience to God.  Piper then shares how while few of us might ever be tested as Abraham was, we all face mini crises of faith where obedience may seem challenging: "[p]erhaps the command or call of God you hear just now is to stay married or stay single, to stay in that job or leave that job, to get baptized, to speak up at work about Christ, to refuse to compromise your standards of honesty, to confront a person in sin, to venture a new vocation, to be a missionary."  Of course, the answer is to lean into God...hard.  Study the Bible, get to know God intimately...pray...gather with brothers and sisters in Christ who can study with you and strengthen your faith.  

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and strengthens me during the challenges of life.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You strengthen me, and bless me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind.  Please provide Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

[I]n you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Genesis 12

[I]n you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:3c

I continue to lean on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, which today looks at how those who believe in Christ "and follow him in the obedience of faith are Abraham’s descendants and heirs of his covenant promises."  In this devotion, John Piper starts by sharing how, even though in Genesis 17:4 God promises to Abraham that he will be "father of a multitude of nations," God intends for people throughout the world in redemptive history following Abraham that believers "would somehow enjoy the blessings of sonship even though physically unrelated to Abraham."  Piper refers us to Galatians 3:29 where Paul makes the same claim. The implication is that if we share the faith of Abraham, then it would not matter where we live or where we are born.  The key of course is sharing the faith of Abraham, who was obedient to God to the point of being willing to sacrifice his own son Issac.  In Romans 4:20-21, Paul describes this faith as "[n]o unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised." We are urged to have such faith - again, similar to my post yesterday where I highlighted Hebrews 11:1, "assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Piper wraps today's devotion by sharing "why Abraham could obey God even when obedience looked like a dead-end street. He trusted God to do the impossible — like raise his son from the dead."  We should all trust God to do the impossible.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are good and You are able to do all, of course the impossible - You reign over all things...and You are so good to me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love. My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6

 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:22-23

This morning, I continued my study of Romans.  Using my commentary - Exalting Jesus in Romans (eBook) - I moved on to chapter eight Raised to Walk in Newness of Life, which covers Romans 6.  My focus today is Romans 6:11-23 which my commentary refers to under the heading Actions We Must Take. In these verses, Paul encourages us to avoid the path of following our temptations into sin - as posted yesterday, our new identity in Christ means we are to leave behind our old self in experience a life in union with Him. We become "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (v11).  Paul then reminds us to avoid antinomianism where we adopt an attitude of permissiveness to sin (v15). Paul moves on to describe how we become more obedient to God and it is through Him - not of our own doing - see also my post during my reading of Piper's Providence.  Look closely at v17 where Paul says:

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed[.]

Paul thanks God for our obedience and it is through the sanctification process where we are daily in union with Christ and reading/studying God's word.  In v20-23, to help us see the consequences of sin vs life in Christ, Paul's contrasts the two writing how we may perceive freedom in a life of sin but instead we are slaves to sin and there is "no fruit" - plus and even worse we are condemned. 

My commentary urges us to "make war with sin" as God hates sin. We are also encouraged to see how grace is not just a gift but a power - based on our response to God's overwhelming love we seek to please Him.  My commentary ends by reminding us that with Christ we have superior benefits vs a life of sin and we are to submit to Him daily, allowing Him to do a work in us so that in return we are progressively sanctified and increasingly worshiping Him. 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are indeed an amazing God and I see Your grace as not just a gift but power...power to become more like You and to please You in service and love. Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love.  I continue to sin...anger, etc. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

[W]e have received grace and apostleship [from Jesus Christ] to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations[.]

Romans 4

[W]e have received grace and apostleship [from Jesus Christ] to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations[.] Romans 1:5

This morning, I continued my study of Romans.  Using my commentary - Exalting Jesus in Romans (eBook) - I continued with my review of chapter five Faith Alone, which covers the entirety of Romans 4.  My focus today is a look back at the whole of Romans 4, as my commentary provides a number of "practical reflections":

1. We should never get over the good news of justification by faith; it is good news indeed that God is so full of grace for us - we are undeserving of salvation and the many blessings He pours out - yet He provides anyway!
2. We should never get over the fact that we are part of the people of God; I am blessed indeed by a family in Christ that continues to bless me.
3. We are encouraged to allow the doctrine of justification by faith to shape our lives and the lives of our churches; this community of faith should be (a) humble, (b) happy/cheerful/joyful/satisfied, (c) obedient, (d) missional, (e) hope and faith-filled

In particular, 3(c) reminds me of John Piper's book where we read how God brings about obedience by producing faith and it's desire to worship and glorify Him. My commentary uses Romans 1:5 to demonstrate how obedience is not the source of our faith but instead it is the fruit of our faith. 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is so full of grace and compassion for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of the many blessings You pour out for me.  My sin continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life....ow the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Chapter 42: Pages 597-606

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life....ow the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:6,17-18

This morning, I continued John Piper's book Providence (purchased from Amazon Kindle Store) with Part 3 "The Nature and Extent of Providence", moving to Section 8 "Providence Over Christian Living" - moving to chapter forty-two "Working in Us That Which Is Pleasing in His Sight".

Here, Piper seeks to demonstrate that "God brings about obedience in his people[.]"  We are encouraged to step back and reflect on the ultimate purpose of God's providence; that it "necessarily includes the Christ-exalting (2 Thessalonians 1:10,12), grace-praising (Ephesians 1:6), God-glorifying (Philippians 2:11) holiness and happiness of his people...[and] happiness in God as our supreme treasure is the essence of holiness." Our holiness was predestined, promised, purchased, and performed by God - with the latter being the core focus of this chapter.  Under the Old Covenant, "[o]bedience was commanded but not created."  Ezekiel 36:27 was highlighted in my last post, and Piper draws the connection from this Old Testament prophecy to that and how God causes obedience in believers and it is from God and the Holy Spirit - 2 Corinthians 3:6,17-18 and Hebrews 13:20-21 both serve as scriptural evidence. "[The] transformation-conformity to Christ that God commands and creates-is required not because the righteousness imputed to us in justification is insufficient to bring us instantly into God's eternal favor.  At the moment we are united to Christ through faith, his sin-bearing punishment and perfect obedience are counted as ours."

Piper wraps up the chapter by stating that our obedience is an "effect of our acceptance with God, not a means to it. Our acceptance with God is the root of our obedience, not the fruit."

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who gave me a heart of flesh and are working in me to cause obedience and ever increasing conformity to Yourself - for Your glory and my happiness.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You work in my life.  I fall short, with sin...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

Genesis 6-9

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:12-16

I continue with my study of - Ten Men of the Bible: How God Used Imperfect People to Change the World - eBook by Max Lucado (for purchase). This morning, in preparation for leading my Friday morning men's Bible study peer group, I am going to summarize my key takeaways from a review of Genesis 6-9 and the story of "Noah: Hope When the Floodwaters Rise*".

*Title of lesson one from the Max Lucado study.

The overarching theme of the study is one of hope, and how God provides this hope.  Our story starts in Genesis 6 where we see that a relationship with God is a basis for supernatural and eternal hope.  God is very disappointed in what He created with humanity (and humanity's wickedness) and so He set in motion a plan to wipe out all of humanity through a flood - except for one man and his family: Noah.  The first question we must ask ourselves at this point is why did God choose Noah?  Well, scripture tells us that "Noah pleased the Lord" (Genesis 6:8).  It also tells us that "Noah did everything that God commanded him" (Genesis 6:22, 7:5, 7:16).  God chose Noah and his family to be the basis for humanity after the flood because Noah "was a good man, the most innocent man of his time" AND he "walked with God" (Genesis 6:9).  Yet at the same time, we know Noah did not lead a perfect life because at least on one occasion (Genesis 9:20-21) he became drunk and the Bible is clear that this is a sin. We don't know the extent of Noah's sin; for example, whether he was an alcoholic; and we also don't know what OTHER sins Noah had.  We only know that he was "the most innocent man of his time". But it is fair to say that Noah is a great example of how God uses broken and sinful people to accomplish His will.  This should serve to both humble and encourage us.  We can all be used by God in ways that our human minds cannot even begin to fathom - all starting with a relationship with God and a desire to glorify and please Him. 

As the story unfolds, we see that the flood is not just overwhelming in terms of destruction but one can sense that it was overwhelming emotionally.  Scripture tells us "[a]ll that was left was Noah and what was with him in the boat" (Genesis 6:23).  We get this detail so that we can place ourselves in Noah's shoes - so that we can feel his isolation and loneliness.  Noah was probably isolated and lonely as he built the ark - likely mocked by those around him during this time who saw his building activities as foolish and laughable. Even though Noah had his wife and family (and a veritable zoo!) during the flood and its aftermath, the flood itself lasted more than a year (see Genesis 7:11, 8:3-5, 8:6, 8:13-14 for more hints on the timeline)! During this time of a pandemic we can both sympathize and empathize with Noah - this must have been rough!  We know (and scripture tells us) that we are designed to live with others together - supporting and encouraging one another.  Now, how did Noah get through the flood emotionally?  God gave Him hope.  After 150 days of flooding, "God remembered Noah and all the wild and tame animals with him in the boat" (Genesis 8:1).  He made a wind, made the water go down, and rested the ark on top of a mountain so that Noah had perspective and could actually see MORE of the land as the water receded (Genesis 8:2-5) - by giving Noah perspective, this in and of itself is encouraging as often just taking a step back and having perspective provides hope.  Also, after initially releasing a raven that eventually returned because it found no place to land (Genesis 8:6-9), Noah sent out a dove and this time it returned with an olive leaf, and then he sent the dove again, and then it did not return as it likely found a place to land and live on its own (Genesis 8:12).  In between rounds of sending the dove out, we see that Noah gained encouragement by what God was doing as it says "[t]hen Noah knew that the ground was almost dry" (Genesis 8:11). We see God providing hope as well when Noah and his family leave the ark and step onto dry land after the flood waters receded. Noah builds an altar to the Lord (Genesis 8:20), offers sacrifices, and God is pleased (Genesis 8:21-22).  Yet even as Noah and his family left the ark, their future was far from certain and this must have been lurking in their minds.  So God once again offers encouragement and hope as He blesses them and makes a covenant with them (Genesis 9:1-17). 

 Questions for discussion:

1. For those of you who became a believer later in life (and did not grow up in the church), can you share where you placed your hope and how this did not provide supernatural and eternal hope?
   
2. Assuming you agree that obedience to God is key to pleasing Him, are their commands that you find burdensome or harder than others?  Read 1 John 5:3
   
3. Can you share times in your life when you were overwhelmed in your circumstances but God gave you hope?
4. What other stories in the Bible give you hope and why?
5. What verses give you hope and why?
6. How have you used the hope God gave You to give hope to others?
7. Anything else you would like to share about Noah's story or about what we have discussed?

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who both gives me hope and who has given me hope when I have been overwhelmed in my circumstances.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of the supernatural and eternal hope that only You provide.  I have sin...daily, including worry, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your messages for me today and every day.

...as the LORD commanded him.

Exodus 39:2-40

 ...as the LORD commanded him. Exodus 39:2-40

Day 32 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) focuses on the completion and blessing of the tabernacle and God's glory fills the tabernacle.

Moses and the Israelites did just "as the LORD commanded [them]" using these exact words in scripture sixteen (16) times in these two chapters.  Clearly God wants us to pay attention how obedient Moses and the Israelites were.

Obedience to God of course is critical - and this calls into focus God's commands and then of course our ability to do God's commands.  When we have repeated commands - we know they are important.  God also tells us He has the most important commandments (1st, 2nd) and how all other commandments hang on these two (see Matthew 22:34-40).

See also these posts from John Piper regarding how God makes obedience possible and how obedience is not burdensome.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who makes all things possible - including obedience to Your commands.  I know You love me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love.  I sin daily...including grumbling and complaining.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.