A NEW BEGINNING
Today’s Reading: Genesis 9-10
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
Two friends, actors at the “Nazareth Village”, are having fun with an olive picked from a nearby tree in Nazareth. In today’s reading, the dove sent out by Noah returned to the ark. A “freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth” (Genesis 8:11). Ever since that time, the olive branch has been a symbol of peace and safety.
Key Verse: Genesis 9:1
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”
So God is a God of second chances. Instead of giving up on humanity, the Lord saved Noah and his family. The great flood happened because people, who were given dominion over the earth by God, rejected Him, and thus cut Him off from exercising His creative maintenance of the earth. The people, with the exception of Noah and his family, rejected God, excluding Him from their lives. It’s not that God ran out of mercy and love. It’s that when God is not invited, not welcome, to be an integral part of human life, nature erupts into chaos. Society disintegrates, and the human race brings judgment on itself.
Today there is much that separates people from God, but I believe that there are at least one billion precious souls who love and serve God, not just eight people, as was the case in today’s reading. These people, by their prayers and right living, hold back the consequences of the great divide between a Holy God and an unrepentant world. Next time, before a worldwide catastrophe, Jesus, the Ark of Salvation, will lift His family of believers to safety in what has been called “The rapture of His Church!” (read 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord, thank You for giving me a second chance. I pray fervently for Salvation to come to at least another billion people. Grant me grace, boldness, wisdom and sacrificial giving of myself and the resources that You have put in my hands, so that the most glorious work of winning people to Jesus will accelerate. We, the human race, will once again bring disaster upon ourselves, but I thank You, Lord God, that You have another plan. At Christ’s return, You shall lift Your people as in an Ark of safety. In Jesus’ powerful saving Name I pray. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I cannot begin to express my gratitude to God and to special people in my life for leading me to Salvation. I had prayed to be saved as a child, but my mother died of cancer when I was 12 years old and I turned my back on God, blaming Him for mother’s death. I now know that it was the separation of the human race from God that allows the twisting of human cells called cancer. It’s not God’s fault; it’s our fault. My Dad went back to his mission work in Egypt and I was put into a boarding school and was eventually kicked out. In a regular high school (grade 12), I encountered followers of Jesus who became my friends. My boss at work coaxed me to give my life to Jesus. He succeeded in convincing me to attend a Youth for Christ rally by asking me to drive his Chrysler New Yorker from Pembroke to Ottawa to pick up Evangelist Jack Wyrtzen. That night, when the invitation was given to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord, a friend, Homer James, came beside me and offered to walk to the front of the high school auditorium with me. I did it! I’ve never turned back from Jesus since that time. I’m in Him (the Ark of Salvation) and I’m kept by His power! How about you? Unsure? Call 1-866-273-4444 and ask about your salvation. You too can have a “New Beginning!!!”
Yours very truly,
David
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA! The founders declared Psalm 72:8 as Canada’s motto, “He shall have dominion from sea to sea.”
“He shall have dominion from sea to sea,” indeed! Happy Canada Day, fellow saints in the Lord. 🍁 His blessings be upon you.
From Every Stormy Wind That Blows
by Charles Wesley
“From every stormy wind that blows,
From every swelling tide of woes,
There is a calm, a sure retreat:
‘Tis found beneath the mercy seat.
There is a scene where spirits blend,
Where friend holds fellowship with friend;
And heaven comes down our souls to greet
And glory crowns the mercy seat.
Talk with us, Lord, Thyself reveal,
While here o’er earth we rove;
Speak to our hearts, and let us feel
The kindling of Thy love.
Here then, my God, vouchsafe to stay,
And bid my heart rejoice;
My bounding heart shall own Thy sway,
And echo to Thy voice.
Thou callest me to seek Thy face,
‘Tis all I wish to seek;
To hear the whispers of Thy grace,
And hear Thee inly speak.”
Here is the song that goes with it:
From Every Stormy Wind sung by the Mennonite Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueqNvl2Rv0w
Note: there are two accounts of who wrote this hymn
Echoes of Eternity, Hal Helms, states Charles Wesley as do many others.
But there are also others stating that the words are written by Hugh Stowell
I did find this interesting link: The Story of the Hymns and their Writers
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:The_Methodist_Hymn-Book_Illustrated.djvu/385
thanks Beverly for sharing that poem with us
Yes HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!
Happy Canada Day to all you saints! May our country remain strong and free in Jesus Name. Amen! Thanking God for the freedom we have in this land even with Covid-19. Thank you Beverlee for your posts including good poem. Speak to us Lord on this quiet day at least here. Amen!
Amen
IT SHOULD SAY “HAPPY CANADA DAY
AMEN Ger
Amer Ger and. Beverlee. Loved your postings from today and yesterday.
May God Bless each and everyone on this Canada Day. Praying that this virus will bring many people to the Lord as who are afraid of what is happening.
🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Eleanor M.
Amen.Amen!!!!
I have been using the passion Bible translation for these daily readings and in the last week or so haven’t been able to. Wondering if someone could explain why
Arlene,
I believe the Passion Translation contains the New Testament and only 3 books of the Old Testament: Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Songs
Wishing everyone a most Blessed and Happy Canada 🇨🇦 Day!
God, keep our land Glorious and free! Amen!
Father God, thank You for all Your great mercy and kindness and love. Thank You for providing everything for us, including safety and salvation. Thank You that You are coming back for all those who put their hope and trust in You. Until then, bless all Your workers, and may Your will be done throughout this world, in Jesus’s name, amen
Yes Lord, amen
Yes, Amen Rob
Wishing everyone a Blessed Canada Day.
Love you postings and prayers.
God Bless you Allllll!!!!
Wishing you all a blessed and wonderful day to celebrate our 153 years as a Nation.
Just want to inform you bloggers that Brian Simmons has also translated the Passions translation in the books of Isaiah, Revelation and Jeremiah.
HAPPY CANADA DAY, NORMA-JEAN MAINSE and FAMILY
Thank you Ron, Ann and Reynold for this fresh manna on this special day
“CANADA DAY”!!
Yes, He shall have Dominion from sea to sea, Amen