“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God” (Gen. 6:9, NIV). Noah was right with God when everyone else was wrong. Noah was blameless among the people of his time when every other person was to blame for every kind of evil. Noah walked with God when the entire world followed in Cain’s rebellious footsteps and ran away from God. Yet Noah’s attitude seemed to be so confident it was as though he considered the whole world to be crazy while he was the only one who was sane! Surely he received much-needed strength and encouragement from his wife and three sons, but his confidence came from listening to what God had to say.
Noah listened to God as he walked with God, cultivating the awareness of His Presence. Are you a good listener?
What God commands you and me to do, He equips us for. It’s that simple!
If you want to discover your spiritual gifts, start obeying God. Responding to His command with “I can’t” is invalid, because He will never command you to do something that He has not equipped and empowered you to do. As you serve Him, you will find that He has given you the gifts that are necessary to follow through in obedience. Any of them. All of them. And if you lack any that you need, God will bring people alongside you who have the gifts that you don’t. Working together, you will accomplish the task to the glory of God.
And that’s the body of Christ! That’s the church. Individual members of the family, each obeying his or her call, exercising the particular gifts the Spirit has given, so that our work is not in vain but produces eternal results. So . . . get to work! You’re equipped!
“So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; . . . Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out” (Gen. 12:4, NIV). There is no record of any hesitation, fears, or even tears! It was as though Abraham had been waiting all his life for the call from God, and when he received it, he responded immediately with steadfast faith, and hope.
Through Abraham, God began the long process of accomplishing His plan to provide the Redeemer Who would take away man’s sin and bring him back into a right relationship with his Creator. Abraham’s family became the chosen nation of Israel that provided the audiovisual aid of the sacrifices and ceremonies that pictured for the world God’s terms for man to have a right relationship with Himself. It was also Abraham’s descendants who recorded the revelation of God through the written prophecy, history, biography, and poetry that we call the Bible. And it was Abraham’s descendants who provided the human lineage for Jesus Christ.
I’m so grateful Abraham answered God’s call! My life is eternally blessed. I wonder . . . who will be blessed because I have answered God’s call?
In the first home, the Lord God taught man the difference between right and wrong. Adam needed to know what his boundaries were, what was acceptable to God and what was not.
Can you imagine the chaos that would result if a multilane highway had no painted markings to give direction to the traffic? Accidents and confusion would be the order of the day. No one complains about or resents the markings because drivers know the painted boundaries exist for their own benefit and safety.
Today we are surrounded by a generation of people who have grown up living according to their own moral codes, defying the boundaries set by God. As a result, it is a generation with no peace or sense of security. Rather than inhibiting us, moral guidelines free us to live in peace and security. The statistics on crime, divorce, abortion, and suicide give eloquent witness to the danger of living outside God’s boundaries. He has drawn the lines – we need to stay within them!
At the wedding in Cana, Jesus issued a command to the servants that seemed to have nothing to do with the shortage of wine: “Fill the jars with water” (John 2:7, NIV). The servants must have stolen furtive looks at each other, but without question, resistance, or argument, “they filled them to the brim” (John 2:7, NIV).
Why did the servants obey? What made them risk their reputations and their jobs and carry out His instructions? Surely it wasn’t just because Mary told them to do whatever He said. It must have been something about Jesus Himself that thrust them out on the limb of risk-taking obedience.
Was it His clear, firm gaze of authority?
Was it the quiet confidence of His demeanor?
Was it the unwavering strength of His tone of voice?
Whatever the reason was, they obeyed and experienced the thrill of seeing the water they poured into the jars, pour out as wine!
