And God said, “I am giving you a sign as evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. Never again will there be a flood that will destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this is the sign of my covenant with all the creatures of the earth.”Genesis 9:12-17This has been a year when we have seen natural disasters of phenomenal proportions. Tsunami and Katrina and the earthquakes in Pakistan and Iran have dominated our news and become staples in our conversation. Without denying the magnitude of the devastation, it doesn’t compare to the flood in the days of Noah. God has not gone back on His “eternal covenant”. He has not destroyed all life. The rainbow still appears in the clouds (I saw a rare morning rainbow one day last week).While the covenant remains, our opportunity remains to love God with all our hearts and to love each other as we love ourselves. Our opportunity remains to share the gospel message … to tell the story of God with us, the hope of glory. Our opportunity remains to tell a lost world about the birth of a baby in a manger, about the heavenly host who heralded His coming, about the star that shone in the sky. Our opportunity remains to tell everyone we meet the Jesus story. As God has been faithful to His eternal covenant, we should be faithful to tell the His story.
Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. James 1:27 I met several young teenage girls yesterday afternoon. They were well behaved, polite, nice looking and had very sweet spirits. I don’t know their stories and it is not important that I do. What is important was that they and the many others like them not be forgotten. These girls are residents of an orphanage here in Jackson, MS and a very committed and Spirit-filled group of young ladies made arrangements to bring them the message of the season and some Christmas cheer. All around us are similar opportunities. It is not hard to find someone who needs a blessing and needs to hear the real story of Christmas … the love of God through the giving of His Son Jesus Christ. Will you purpose in your heart to share this message with someone in need during this Christmas season?
“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation: “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. And also buy white garments so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. And buy ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference.Revelation 3:14-19What is it to be two-faced from a spiritual perspective? How about the person who acts one way on Sunday morning and another way the remainder of the week? Maybe it is the man whose language in the football stands and in the choir stand is completely different. Or the lady who speaks words of encouragement in her small group and words of gossip about those other ladies as soon as she can get to her telephone. A two-faced person is a saint in the light but a devil in the dark. God says, “I wish you were one or the other!.”
Then the LORD told Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Genesis 12:1-4 Abraham is listed in the Hall of Fame of Faith (Hebrews 11), not the Hall of Fame of Obedience. Little acts of disobedience do make a difference. “… and Lot went with him.” He was just one relative. No big deal. God told Abram, “Leave your … relatives…” When we fail to strictly obey, God’s perfect plan is affected. We find Abram and Lot together for just a little while. Soon they part companies and Lot chooses to live in the plains and pitches his tent toward Sodom (Gen. 13:12). The family of God’s chosen people are introduced to the sin of Sodom. Little acts of disobedience do make a difference. They also make bigger acts of disobedience easier to choose. Abraham’s big act, the plan to help God achieve His promise to make Abraham into a great nation, resulted in the birth of Ishmael by they slave woman Hagar. Abraham and Sarah give birth to Isaac, through whom it was God’s plan to fulfill His promise. The sons (and eventually the mothers) can’t live together in harmony. From this disharmony is born what we see today as the Arab/Israeli conflict. Little acts of disobedience do make a difference. Purpose in your heart today to strictly obey God’s Word.
