OT DAY 27 - The Grace of Walking with God (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

Today's Reading: Genesis 6:5-8

** If you would like to learn a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please read my “Count Down 5” from my Devotion on Fire blog:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

To use this simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link:

 .Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf

Please click this link to read Genesis 6:5-8

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis 6&version=ESV

Chinese: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=創 世 記 6&version=CUV

Bible Study

     Today's passage gives us a very strong emotion of God that is rarely seen in the Bible. God's strong emotion against the wickedness of human beings led to the wiping out of all human beings and animals except Noah and his family of just eight people and the animals and plants in the ark later.  

Let's take a look at what Professor John Goldingay says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

    

     The state of the world generates four reactions in God.  All are astonishing.  The first is regret at having created humanity…
     God first emotion, following on regret  is hurt. One can see why that would be so.  God put so much commitment into making human beings and providing for them and having a vision for them, and they have kicked God in the teeth…Here, the link between the word for "paining" God's heart and the words for "pain" and "painfulness" in Genesis 3 suggests that the pain women and men came to experience in connection with parenting and work is the same pain God experiences in connection with parenting and work.
     The third astonishing reaction by God is a decision to "wipe out" humanity, which is a very strong expression, sometimes used in the context of blotting something out from one's memory.  Fortunately, it is also often used of our sins  being blotted out in that way.  They have totally gone.  God cannot remember them.
    The fourth astonishing statement is that nevertheless "Noah found favor in God's eyes."  To use the technical theological term, Noah found "grace" with God.  Favor or grace is a positive, accepting, generous attitude that someone shows towards us when we did not think there was any reason they would or should.  After the talk of regret, pain, and destruction, one would not have thought there was any room for grace in this story.  Whereas one could say grace started the story off, back in Genesis 1-2, though the word does not occur there, surely grace has now run out.  Yet Noah finds grace.

John Goldingay. Genesis for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p.95-97.

      Have you found favor in God's eyes? 

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

Spiritual Journal

    The title I heard from Jesus today is: The grace of walking with God

    The message I receive from Jesus today reminds me of seeing the same pattern happens in lots of peoples lives. I have seen so many similar examples that some people keep on causing regret and hurt to God and other people, then something happen suddenly causing some kind of "destruction" in their lives. Some got that warning, repent and become a new man/woman. Some did not and being wiped out in the most unexpected way. 

    There is one line here in today's passage as a check point to all of us so that we won't join this evil group: 

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

    What I receive from Jesus now is that the character of wickedness will come once we see people and things negatively continually. Once we start to have a habit to criticize people especially God's servants and God's works. Then, that "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" happens. Walking with God each day would be no more but walking with all kinds of negative thoughts, turning God's miraculous works into rumours and destruction. I have seen this kind of destruction happened in lots of churches and Christian organizations. The Deceiver's cunning temptation is to turn a win-win situation into a lose-lose situation. No body wins, we are all victims, Satan wins all if more and more people choose to walk with him and his negative thoughts all day long continually.  

    But those who have been walking with God will find favor in God's eyes, just like Noah. They will be protected graciously so that they can join in God's people to work and extend God's Kingdom. 

    Which group do you belong to? How can you help more people to be in Noah's group so that they won't be wipe out some day? 

     

Dear Lord Jesus,

Lead us to have a daily walk with you so that we won't have negative thoughts continually and that we can find favor in you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

    Please click this link to the app. Andy Ng wrote. You really need to use that if you have an Android cel. Andy said he is going to do the App. for iPhone later:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideal.rec.app

Please click this link to worship with us -

從心合一

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJWZQyLzDRQ

Amazing Grace My Chains are Gone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbe7OruLk8I

You may choose to follow my other daily blog: 

Daily Devotion on Fire 2(2 years plan -One year New Testament, one year Old Testament): 

http://bishopsilas2.blogspot.ca/

Daily Devotion on Fire (3 years and 3 months plan, one chapter a day to finish reading the whole Bible): 

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/

Break.Build (40 days daily devotion- For Renewal or First Step for new Christians): http://www.breakbuild.blogspot.ca/

Emmanuel330 (40 weeks First Step Bible Study): 

http://emmanuel330.blogspot.ca/

This blog:

Discipler 123 (Daily devotion using N.T. Wright's NT for Everyone as source)

http://discipler123.blogspot.ca/

Rev. Nicky Gumbel's daily devotion: Bible in One Year

http://www.htb.org.uk/bioy