THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

September 30, 2020

LIFE IN THE FOLD:

Most everyone is familiar with the story of Noah and the ark found in Genesis chapter 6. I was re-reading it recently and a couple things really stood out to me.

Genesis 6:5-7 (NLT) says, "The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart. And the Lord said, 'I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing -- all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.'"

Some versions say that God regretted that He had made humankind on the earth.

We often look at our world today and feel as if the evil and wickedness could never have possibly been worse than what we are experiencing. But back in the day of Noah, the extent of the wickedness of people was so horrible and evil, that it made God sorry that He had ever created mankind and put them on the earth. Wow!

Verses 12 and 13 says, "No the earth was ruined before God, and the earth was filled with violence. God saw the earth, and behold it was ruined because all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth."

In the midst of all of this, verse 8 starts out with one simple little word that changed everything. "But"! God was to the point of wanting to wipe out everyone and everything on the face of the earth. "BUT Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."

So God told Noah, "The end of all flesh is coming before Me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Behold, I am about to bring ruin upon them along with the land."

God then proceeded to give Noah explicit instructions on how to build an ark, down to the very last detail. Then He ended by telling Noah that He was going to bring the flood -- water upon the land -- to destroy all flesh; and that everything on the land will perish.

Verse 9 tells us this about Noah: "Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless among his generation. Noah continually walked with God." Therefore, God said, "I will establish My covenant with you;" therefore God was going to preserve Noah and all of his family.

Chapter 7 begins with the Lord telling Noah, "I can see that you alone are righteous."

Today, there are times when we often feel as if the christians, the true righteous believers are greatly outnumbered by those who are sinful. We feel overwhelmed by all of the sin and unrighteousness and evil going on in the world.

But can you imagine being the one and only godly person upon the face of the earth?! Noah wasn't one of a handful, or one in his city, or one in his family, or one in his nation; he was literally the one and only righteous person on the entire face of the earth! Think about that!!

In 1 Kings 18:22 the prophet, Elijah, is on the mountain surrounded by 450 prophets of Baal. He told them, "I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets." God shows up and burns the sacrifice, showing Himself to the people.

In the following chapter, Elijah was afraid of being put to death by Jezebel and was running for his life. He and the Lord had a conversation. God asked him twice what he was doing there, and both times Elijah answered, "I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with You, torn down Your altars, and killed everyone of Your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too."

God gave Elijah instructions on where to go and what to do. He told Elijah to anoint Elisha to replace him as prophet. Then God ended with these words, "I will preserve 7000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him."

Elijah felt as if he was the only prophet; as if he were all alone. But God told him no, that wasn't true. In fact, He had preserved 7000 others in Israel.

When you begin to feel overwhelmed and as if the church is being persecuted, or think that unrighteous and evil triumph over God's faithful, take heart and know that there are many across the face of the earth whom God has preserved. There are many more than just one, as in the day of Noah. There are many more than 7000, as in the day of Elijah.

God sees those who refuse to bow their knee to sin and who stand for holiness and righteousness. He will preserve those who are faithful to Him and who worship Him, and Him alone.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

There is a critical point in the story of Noah. And it might shake a few people's theology. God regretted making mankind.

There is another verse that says that God is not willing for anyone to perish. There are a lot of people who use that to claim that they can sin or reject God, but that God will let them into heaven anyway. After all, it's His will that they wouldn't perish. They assume that everything God wants, God gets.

But when God looked over the earth, He regretted making mankind. They were not living up to His will. It wasn't what He wanted.

So, please seek Gods will in yourself and in your life. Choose to line yourself up with His will, and don't assume that His desire will force you into the right choices.

ON THE MENEWE:

Breakfast Sausage Muffins

Preheat oven to 375.

Roll out crescent rolls and cut into 24 circles with a biscuit cutter. Spray twelve muffin cups with nonstick spray. Place a cut-out crescent in each muffin cup.

Cook sausage; drain. Sprinkle sausage on dough in each muffin cup. Scramble the raw eggs together in a bowl (do not cook); salt and pepper, to taste. Pour on top of the sausage until each muffin cup is halfway full. Do not overfill. Sprinkle cheese on top. Place the remaining circles of crescent dough on top of each muffin cup. Cook until light brown.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

What are you thankful for today?

Psalm 100:4 tells us to "enter His gates with thanksgiving and go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name."

Take a moment each day to think about the blessings and goodness of God. Give Him thanks and praise, for God is good! Circumstances may be difficult and we may go through hardships at times, but we can always think of something to be thankful for. Perhaps it's that we have a safe home, good bed, dependable car, money in the bank, shoes on our feet, food to eat, etc. But there is always something in each day to thank God for.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

It's not our job to fix people;

its our job to love them even while they are broken. -Dave Willis

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org