Know in Whom we beleive!

This is a sober hour for all of us personally, corporately, as a Church, within our society and culture, the list could go on. There is a scripture that stands out to me in this moment of life that Is both concerning yet it moves my soul to lean into sober choices and patterns of thought.

Matt 24:36-51 and Luke 17:26 - 18:8 The Lord gives us a clear word on the day before us and what we will be facing. “As in the days of Noah”! When I think of Noah my imagination goes in so many directions. We think of the spectacle of the Ark and the almost cute stories of the animals filing into the safety of the big boat.

What was really going on in the days of Noah that should mostly capture our attention? What was the message given to Noah that he carried for 120 years that no one heeded? Did his message feel so out of place to the culture and choice of life that no one saw the practical warning that was being given.

So let's cut to the chase of another question I am asking myself these days. Are we approaching the hour of the coming of the Son of Man? If so, the message of Noah is more than relevant and should be a sober reminder of how we should be seeing life and what is affecting our choice of life. There is an hour of blindness across humanity that is not paying attention to the coming judgment or the “ark of deliverance and safety”. Is there an ark being built today that seems impractical yet will be critical to our prevailing day yet to come?

I believe we are given a message today that is founded in our salvation and Sonship that requires deep faith in what seems impractical yet calls us to a choice in life to be courageous and steadfast! I meditate on these scriptures: Not in any progressive order!

• Be alert and on your guard, stand firm in your faith, Act like men and be courageous; grow in strength! Let everything you do be done in love! 1 Cor. 16:13-14a.

• Seek Me and live; Seek the Lord and live! Amos 5:4 and 6

• Trust, Delight, Commit, Rest in the Lord and do not fret! Ps 37:1-7

• Do not be Deceived; evil company corrupts good character. Awake to sober sense and your right minds, and sin no more. Some lack the sense of God’s presence and all true knowledge of Him. 1 Cor. 15:33-34.

• If you have run with the footman, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? Jeremiah 12:5…

Are we ignoring the Ark that is being built today? There is a place of safety and deliverance from the coming judgment that we are invited to enter! It is not an ark to remove the judgment and challenge of the hour but an ark that will carry us through the turbulence this world is destined for. This is a glorious hour to stand with faith in our Deliverer and see His hand provide all we need to prevail, not escape from the judgment this world will face.

Asking ourselves the right question is important! Is there any scripture that does not point us to confidence in the God we have grown to know and love? Jesus has removed all that should hinder the inheritance we are destined for as His Sons. In this we can set our primary focus in life, our clear attentions and intentions, on putting our choice in the First commandment First!

When the “flood” arrives will we be confident to enter the ark God has given us blueprints for or will we be distracted in the cares and revelry of life and be caught unaware, ignoring the rising waters?

Out of the 20 reasons (made up number) and benefits of the house of prayer and becoming the house of prayer; having a place and time to keep our hearts and attitudes set on fearing and loving God is an almost impossible value to explain. The Word of God is slapping humanity in the face with the deepest warnings and the greatest encouragement to “Seek Him and Live”! He is our refuge and strength!

Digging deeper is a gift the Holy Spirit encourages us with I believe. I feel like we all want to know what is wholly “Right and True” yet we tend to get distracted and seduced to ignore the path to what we sense but is costly to what “looks practical” for our life and time.

I think we all know the message Noah had and was giving, yet the age of man that every generation lives in is deceiving us into feeling it could not happen in our hour. That may be ok for most generations however for the generation the Lord returns it could very well be tragic!

The Lord has in every generation been calling man to be sober and aware of the deception of the carnal flesh we are born with and not fall prey to its lie. We are however so attached to an upside down way of living that we have to have a more than natural encounter (Holy Spirit) to even come close to living righteously (In right standing with God). Our upside down living is responding to our flesh with what feels right then getting counsel from our emotions which then settle for a conclusion that our will and thoughts agree with. Lastly the born again spirit within us receives a small fraction of a say in the matter. We need to grow in our ability to listen to the Holy Spirit first then let our thoughts and will make a choice that our emotion can submit to. At that point our flesh then receives the invitation to respond. This is the right way to swing a bat at the ball of life for a believer in Jesus!

Each of us in our unique assignment as believers are invited into the ultimate intention of our Father in heaven. Each of us has our part to play in the grand picture of the coming Kingdom of heaven. Ephesians 1 says the Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. He chose us before the foundation of the world. We are adopted as sons. We have been redeemed and forgiven as we abound in wisdom and prudence to know the mystery of His will that He purposed in Himself. In this we are a part of Him bringing all things into one, both in heaven and on the earth. What an inheritance we have!

This must be in our conversations with our friends, family and neighbors! The good news of the gospel is coming alive in the living rooms and coffee shops of life. We are living in a world almost void of the hope we have so alive in our future as sons of God. I am looking for ways to announce the life and hope I have in Christ Jesus! Let's all be a lighthouse of hope for a passing life caught in the turbulent waters of life. We have the message of why the Ark is built and what it is here for. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless. 2 Peter 3:14.