Day 3

It's hard to quantify all of the great men of the Bible, but I would have to argue that Noah and John the Baptist are a couple of them.

Today's stories consisted of the flood, Jesus' baptism and fasting, and the daily Psalms/Proverbs. A flood for 40 days and 40 nights that remained on the Earth for 150 days! All being when Noah was 600 years old. Prime age I guess. I could definitely NOT imagine my 83 year old granddaddy building an arc and withstanding a flood. Has anyone seen the movie Evan Almighty? Besides it being totally inaccurate because God promised never to flood the Earth again, it was quite funny. Steve Carrell's character had no faith in God when at first approached to build an arc, but Noah, Noah complied without the least bit of resistance. People ridiculed the character in the movie, and I can only imagine what sinful, corrupt, and evil people did to Noah and his family.

"So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him." Genesis 6:22 & 7:5
EVERYTHING. Not only part of what he was commanded. And not in his own way either-- AS the Lord commanded.

What a powerful testimony to trusting God's word.

When Jesus was tempted by the Devil three times (I love how significant the number three is--the Trinity, Peter's denial, etc.) he was able to combat him through scripture! Because of his pure love for God, Jesus knew his word, Jesus knew what God had designed and God's standards. I have always heard the acronym for the Bible being "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth"-- It's absolutely true. Yes, Jesus was the only perfect man who ever lived, but the Bible wasn't written for Jesus, it was given to us through God so that we may be able to combat the temptations of this world!

A few more thoughts about Jesus' temptations-- The Bible uses the name DEVIL! Just what he is--his horrible, evil, fallen self. I truly believe that demons are on this earth, that every time we are tempted by something we know it's wrong, it's the enemy saying "I will give it all to you if you will kneel down and worship me." Matthew 4:9. I doubt when a person shoots another man they are blatantly saying "I worship the Devil," but their actions speak otherwise and the Devil is rejoicing.

It's truly important to know how to interpret God's word, which is a battle everyday. We must know his voice, what he would say to us, how he says things, and just to stop and listen. The only way to do that is to stand up for God, know his word, and learn to feel his love.

We can do this!

God Bless,
Lauren