Journey Through the Bible in a Year
Reading God's Word and learning more about His plan for my life each day!
Saturday, September 14, 2002
Introduction to Journey Through the Bible
A note about online study
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You for a new day to live and move and have my being in You! Thank You for the greatness of Your love, and for giving me opportunity after opportunity to start again after I have sinned and fallen short of Your glory. Most of all, I thank You for Jesus. I thank You that He was willing to be the ultimate proof of the greatness of Your love for us and the new and final covenant that assures us that you will never leave us nor forsake us. Use me this day by the power of Your Holy Spirit to be a bold and faithful witness of the transforming activity You alone can work within us as people! May all that I say and do draw attention to You and Your great salvation. These things I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
My Journey Verses for Today
Genesis 9:1-7
God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth. 2 All the wild animals, large and small, and all the birds and fish will be afraid of you. I have placed them in your power. 3 I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. 4 But you must never eat animals that still have their lifeblood in them. 5 And murder is forbidden. Animals that kill people must die, and any person who murders must be killed. 6 Yes, you must execute anyone who murders another person, for to kill a person is to kill a living being made in God's image. 7 Now you must have many children and repopulate the earth. Yes, multiply and fill the earth!" 8 Then God told Noah and his sons, 9 "I am making a covenant with you and your descendants, 10 and with the animals you brought with you – all these birds and livestock and wild animals. 11 I solemnly promise never to send another flood to kill all living creatures and destroy the earth." 12 And God said, "I am giving you a sign as evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures. 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, 15 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. 16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth." 17 Then God said to Noah, "Yes, this is the sign of my covenant with all the creatures of the earth."
Reflecting on God's Word for My Journey
What do you think of when you see a rainbow? Why?
What is the greatest promise you have ever received that has been kept?
A Deeper Exploration of God's Word for My Journey
What commands does God give Noah and his family in today’s Scripture reading? (9:1-7)
What promise does God give Noah and his family in today’s Scripture? (9:8-17)
Understanding God's Will for My Journey
What is God’s plan for human beings according to this Scripture?
Why do you suppose that God gave the rainbow as the sign of his covenant with Noah?
Applying What God's Word Tells Me to My Journey
What promise from God’s word do you need to claim today as you go about living your life for Him?
What command or promise from today’s reading do you need to apply to your life right now?
My Personal Journey Thought for the Day—“Our Covenant-Making God!”
When the floods ended and Noah and his family were once again able to stand upon the earth, God made a covenant with them. He had also made a covenant with Adam and Eve. He would eventually make one with Abraham, with Moses, with David, and ultimately through Jesus with each and every person who accepts the free salvation Jesus offers. Our God, is a covenant-making God. He desires for people to know and understand that He is a God of command and promise and that He keeps His word. A covenant is an agreement, some would say a contract, but always in Scriptural terms it is a divine agreement between God and His people. God always draws up the terms, and we are always better off when we receive, accept and live them, than when we don’t. God wants us to recognize that He offers us more than anything the world can ever offer. Jesus put it best when He said, “The thief comes only to kill, to steal and to destroy. I have come that you may have life in all its abundance.” God wants you and me to know Him, to receive Him and to live in the power of His commands and promises. All it takes from our end is a “Yes!” because God has already done everything else! Who would you rather make an agreement than with the one who created the universe and died so that we may live in relationship with Him today and forever?
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