Today is August 14,2024.
“This the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it.!” (Psalm 118:24, Tree of Life Version [TLV])
Looking out over the landscape of our nation and the nations of the world, it may be hard for some of us to ‘rejoice and be glad’ today.
The emphasis of this verse is not to focus on the events, turmoil, or even the unrest that envelopes us, but to focus on our God who has given us this day.
Every day that our Father God provides for us is a day of opportunity to rejoice and be glad in Him.
I cannot overemphasize the importance of staying focused upon our Heavenly Father at this time in our nation.
If we do not stay focused upon the Lord, we might find ourselves completing the about equation as follows: chaos +confusion + corruption = consternation*
* consternation means, feelings of anxiety or dismay, typically at something unexpected.
It is so easy to give our attention to the daily headlines regarding the world.
It is so easy to listen to the blaring rhetoric of many voices shouting at us to pay attention to them.
In short, there is much present ‘today’ that diverts us from focusing upon our Father who loves us, cares for us, provides for us, and is Sovereign over all the affairs of the nations of this world, and is Providential over all the affairs of His children.
I encourage you to read your favorite Psalm and rejoice in the Lord on ‘this day’ that He has made.
Selah.
The title of this post speaks to the ‘unprecedented unrest’ that permeates our nation and the other nations of the world.
As you saw, when you read the title, there was no answer to the written equation.
In mathematics, a mathematical statement without an answer is an incomplete statement.
Is the answer to this statement unknown?
Is this mathematical statement unsolvable?
Are we allowed to put whatever answer we think is right to complete this statement?
Question: How would God answer this statement?
What might be His answer to this incomplete statement?
Let me put this thought to you this way.
When God sees chaos, confusion, and corruption on the earth, what might be His response?
Genesis 6 provides for us such an opportunity to read what God saw and how He responded.
Genesis 6:1-7, NKJV.
“And it came to pass, when the men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men that they were beautiful ; and they took them wives of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, “My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for that he is indeed flesh: yet his days shall be hundred and twenty years.”
Simply put, God did not approve of what was going on as He watched His original creation of humanity live out their lives.
Their lifestyle was the result of Adam’s sin. (Genesis 3)
(Continuing in Genesis 6)
“There were giants( Nephlim, fallen or mighty ones) in the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
Question: What did God see ?
(Continuing in Genesis 6) “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination (intent or thought) of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (all the day).” (boldness mine, inserts from the margin of my Bible)
Question: What was God’s reaction ?
(Continuing in Genesis 6) “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in his heart.” (boldness mine)
This is not a confession of God that He made a mistake. God knew before creation, in eternity past, what would be the sequence of events that would happen with mankind; and what would need to take place to reconcile humanity to Himself. (see Ephesians 1)
There is a redemptive story throughout scripture. It is the Gospel message. What we allowed to see is that humanity’s sin grieved God’s heart.
God is very grieved over the consequences of sin throughout His creation.
God is very grieved over chaos, confusion, and corruption as it existed then, and over its existence today. Man’s unrepentant heart grieves God.
Question: What did God do?
(Continuing Genesis 6) “So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, creeping thing, and birds of the air; for I am sorry that I have made them.” (boldness mine)
How can God who is grieved by the wrong doing of His creation of mankind say that He will destroy everything because He is sorrowful that He created them? (emphasis mine)
God is Holy.
He is without sin.
God is ‘sorrowful’ over sin; but He is a God of Justice. (emphasis mine)
Question: What had God instructed Adam about the care of the garden that He created?
Question: What had God commanded Adam that he should eat from?
Question: What did God say would be the result if Adam did not do as he was commanded?
Genesis 2:15-18, NKJV
“Then the Lord took the man(Adam), and put him in the garden of Eden to tend(cultivate) it and to keep it. And the Lord commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat, for in the day eat of it, you shall surely die.”(inserts mine)
Therefore, we assume everyone died because God said that He would destroy mankind from the face of the earth.
NO!
Everyone could not have died because today is August 14, 2024; and “This is the day that the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24, NKJV)
What happened?
(Continuing in Genesis 6:8)
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (emphasis mine)
God is a God of Justice; but He is also a God of Grace.
This is the message of Calvary. The Cross is a horrific picture of Christ’s suffering and death.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says of Jesus, God’s Son: “For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus).” (inserts mine)
The Cross is the intersection of God’s Justice and God’s Love that erupts in abundant Grace with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Romans 5:20b, NKJV, “…But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”
Consider this acronym: GRACE-God’s Redemptive Activity Changes Everything
How?
At the Cross!
“For God so loved* the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”(John 3:16, NKJV)
(*loved, agapao; Strong’s #25: Unconditional love, love by choice and by an act of the will. The word denotes unconquerable benevolence and undefeatable goodwill. Agapao will never seek anything but the highest good for fellow humankind. Agapao and agape(the noun) are the words for God’s unconditional love.) Word Wealth, NKJV Spirit Filled Life Bible, pg. 1447.
Today, we live in a world that resembles what God looked down upon when we read Genesis 6.
A world that is filled with chaos, confusion, and corruption.
To complete the equation in title sentence using Genesis 6, we would conclude that CHAOS + CONFUSION + CORRUPTION = FLOOD
Jesus makes the following statement in Matthew 24: 36-39 NKJV, responding to His disciples question about when the end would come?
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Jesus refers to the condition of the world prior to His return as comparable to the days of Noah.
Yes, the world will be a place of darkness, permeated with chaos, confusion, and corruption- that exhibits all the fruit of mankind’s heart that is continually ‘intent’ with thoughts that ‘are evil’ at all times.
Genesis 6:11-13, NKJV, says, “The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold I will destroy them with the earth.”
B.U.T. – Believers Understand This –
Noah had found grace in the sight of the Lord.
Why?
Genesis 6:9, NKJV, “Noah was a just man, perfect (blameless or having integrity) in his generations. Noah walked with God.” (insert-marginal notes)
Question? What did God provide for Noah?
Genesis 6:14, God says to Noah, “Make yourself an ark…”
Noah obeys God, builds an ark; Noah and his households is saved; God floods the earth bringing judgment upon humanity for their sins.
Jesus Christ is our ARK. In Christ, we, too are safe from God’s judgment and wrath against sin. Why? Because at the Cross, Jesus became sin for the sin of the world; God’s wrath was justifiably satisfied by Jesus’ atoning death.
Romans 10:9-13 NKJV, says, “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is not distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
As you may have read in previous posts, there are ominous clouds of darkness foreboding over our nation and the nations of the world.
There is every reason to point out the chaos, confusion, and corruption throughout the earth.
However,the good news is that not every heart is constantly thinking evil.
There are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the nations of the world who are in the ARK.
What ARK?
Jesus Christ is our ARK.
Christ Jesus is our Lord.
He is our King governing A Righteous Kingdom.
As we rest in the refuge of the ARK of His presence, we can daily sing, rejoice, and be glad in this day which the Lord has made.
The storm of God’s Flood brought about a catastrohpic change to the whole earth.
God is not going to flood the earth again as He did in the days of Noah. He made a covenant with Noah and sealed that covenant with a sign, a rainbow. (Genesis 9:1-17)
There will not be a flood but there is a great shaking that is coming to the nations of the earth.
The effects of that shaking are being seen, heard, and felt now throughout the world.
God is moving mightily.
There are revivals; many coming to Christ; many following the Lord in water baptism; and there are signs and wonders.
I read an article yesterday, (August 13, 2023,) on the CBN news app about the number of Muslims in Iran that are turning to the Lord. The estimate is one million people have accepted Christ, and that 50000-75000 Mosques have closed.
Rejoice Church.
We hear about the rumor of war between Iran and Israel: but have you heard about God’s work of saving souls?
I want to close with this picture.
Genesis 1:1-3 TLV, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was chaos and waste, and darkness was on the surface of the deep and the Ruach Elohim (Holy Spirit) was hovering upon the surface of the water. Then God said, “Let there be light!” and there was light.”
John 1:1-5, TLV, “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overpowered it.”
The Holy Spirit is God’s ‘seismic power shift’. The Holy Spirit is the One Who brooded over the darkness in the beginning (Genesis 1:1-2).
As recorded in these verses, the heavens and earth were “chaos and waste”.
I have a question. Father, do You see chaos and waste and darkness in America?
I can visualize America in chaos and waste, with great darkness on the surface of our nation, like it was on the surface of the deep.
Just as the Holy Spirit was ‘brooding’/’hovering’ over the surface of the water, the Holy Spirit is ‘hovering’ over our nation, meaning it is ‘waiting in patient expectation’.
I want to encourage you to focus upon the Holy Spirit’s Presence ‘hovering’ over our chaos, confusion, and corruption engulfed by darkness.
The Hebrew word for hovering, is ‘meranefet’.
This word is also found in Deuteronomy 32:11.
There it reveals the idea of protection.
This same word is found in Jeremiah 23:9.
There it depicts ‘fluttering’/’shaking’.
So we have three powerful meanings: 1. waiting in patient expectation 2. protection 3. flutter or shake.
Question: What is the Holy Spirit ‘waiting in patient expectation’ for?
Answer: In Genesis 1:3, God says, “Let there be light, and there was light”.
Light dispels darkness (John 1:1-5)
Picture a helicopter ‘hovering’ over an area ready to respond when needed.
What is it waiting for? orders to respond
The Holy Spirit is ‘positioned’ at this time ‘hovering’ over our nation and people.
The Holy Spirit is positioned patiently to move in power at the Word of the Lord, releasing the Holy Spirit’s activity to bring 1. order out of chaos, 2. fruitfulness out of waste 3. light that dispels the darkness.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s activity negates the equation at the beginning of this post. Chaos + Confusion + Corruption (does not equal) Consternation
The next three months are going to be chaotic, wasteful, and very dark.
The Holy Spirit, is ‘brooding’/’hovering’ over our nation, waiting patiently, ready to perform God’s Word on behalf of this America.
God’s Word was, “Let there be light, and there was light”.
God’s Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit distinguished the light from the darkness.
“…God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all. ” (I John 1:5b).
The Presence of God dispels the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome God’s Light.
Light negates darkness!
God’s Light is being manifested today, around the world, in the strongholds of darkness that engulf many nations.
God is going to manifest His Light here in our nation, dispelling the darkness, and pouring out His Spirit bringing many individuals to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness*, but have the light of life.” (NKJV)
*Word Wealth: darkness, scotia, Strong’s #4653: Darkness, gloom, evil, sin, obscurity, night, ignorance, moral depravity. The NT especially uses the word in a metaphorical sense of ignorance of divine truth, man’s sinful nature, total absence of light, and a lack of spiritual perception….Scotia as spiritual darkness basically describes everything earthly or demonic that is at enmity with God. (NKJV, Spirit Filled LIfe Bible, pg. 1467)
I know these are strong words, but this is the darkness that we as a nation have succumbed too.
This is the darkness that our God, the Father; His Son Jesus Christ; and the Holy Spirit are going to dispel and set us free from as a nation.
Please read John 8:31-36.
As a believer in Christ, I beseech you to earnestly pray for this nation.
The enemy has come to kill, steal, and destroy; but Christ has come to bring us life, and that life more abundantly in Him. (my paraphrase of John 10:10)
We are battling the forces of darkness for the soul of this nation.
These are not flippant words. (Ephesians 6;12)
This spiritual warfare is for the core of our very existence.
Do not be deceived by clever rhetoric, political drama, presidential personalities, deceitful slogans, or outrageous claims.
Keep your focus on Christ, He is the Light of the world.
Therefore, “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.” (Isaiah 60: 1-2, NKJV)
a brother in Christ, deo
Living Words of Encouragement 