Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 9:1-7.

“And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. 3 Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. 4 Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.
7 “As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.” Genesis 9:1-7.

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God sent out Noah, his sons, and his daughter-in-laws out of the ark onto the earth that He had flooded and had blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, except Noah and those that were with him in the ark.  

But, as today’s Scripture shows, God did not send them out without His blessing, empty-handed. Today’s Scripture shows God’s protection, God’s provision for sustenance, and God’s purpose that He gave them.    

God sent them out with His protection as we can see in verses 2, 5, and 6.

God sent them out with His provision for sustenance in verse 3.

God sent them out with His purpose.  

“… For in the image of God
He made man.
7 “As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.” Verses 6-7.

We too can expect God’s protection, God’s provision for sustenance, and God’s purpose, and we should eagerly seek, meditate, and pray for these elements.  We can also see these elements in the Lord’s Prayer which can help us to do so.

“9 “Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] Matthew 6:9-13.

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 8:1-12.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+8&version=NASB1995

I quote only the following verses.

“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark;  and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.  Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;  and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.  In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.  The water decreased steadily until the tenth month;  in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.”  Genesis 8:1-5. 

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Today’s Scripture reminds us of the time when Jesus was with His disciples in a boat on the sea.

“And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.  Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion;  and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”  And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.”  And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.  And He said to them, “Why are you afraid?  Do you still have no faith?”  They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?””  Mark 4:37-41.

When we consider God’s sovereignty, reversing and calming even a world-wide flood to care for Noah and his family, we have faith that God will also calm whatever fierce storm and fearful heart that we encounter in our life.    

Q. 26.  What believest thou when thou sayest, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth”?

A.  That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (who of nothing made heaven and earth, with all that is in them;  who likewise upholds and governs the same by His eternal counsel and providence) is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father;  on whom I rely so entirely, that I have no doubt but He will provide me with all things necessary for soul and body;  and further, that He will make whatever evils He sends upon me, in this valley of tears, turn out to my advantage;  for He is able to do it, being Almighty God, and willing, being a faithful Father.  Heidelberg Catechism.

“20 Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.” Psalm 33:20-22.

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 7:17-24.

“Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.  The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.  The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.  The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.  All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;  of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.  Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth;  and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.  The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.”  Genesis 7:17-24.

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“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away;  so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”  Matthew 24:38-39.

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.  But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.  For this reason you also must be ready;  for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”  Matthew 24:42-44.

“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?  For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”  For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.  But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”  2 Peter 3:3-7.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God,  because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!  But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”  2 Peter 3:10-13.

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 7:6-16.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+7&version=NASB1995

I quote only the following verses.

“On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds.  So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.  Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him;  and the LORD closed it behind him.”  Genesis 7:13-16. 

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We meditate on the significance of the phrase:  “and the LORD closed it behind him.”

This phrase speaks of both of the sovereignty of the LORD and the tender care of the LORD.  

We may think that we go forth boldly and obey God, but God is before us having prepared our good work.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10.  “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13.  “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:6. 

We may think that we smartly and safely arrive, but God is behind us having enclosed us safely.    

As stated by the following Scripture:  “You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.”  “If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.”

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.” Psalm 139:1-10.

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 7:1-5.

“Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.  You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female;  and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female;  also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.  For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights;  and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”  Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.”  Genesis 7:1-5.

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In verse 1, highlighted above in bold italic font, the LORD is also making the important general point that only the righteous will enter salvation.

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:20.

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived;  neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”  1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  Matthew 25:46.

But, there is hope!

“Such were some of you;  but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11.   

“For as through the one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One (Christ) the many will be made righteous.  The Law came in so that the transgression would increase;  but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 5:19-21. 

“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe;  for there is no distinction;  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”  Romans 3:21-23.  

“19 Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
The righteous will enter through it.
21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me,
And You have become my salvation.” Psalm 118:19-21.

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”  1 Corinthians 1:30-31. 

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 6:9-14 and 17-18 and 22.

“These are the records of the generations of Noah.  Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time;  Noah walked with God.  Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.  God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt;  for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me;  for the earth is filled with violence because of them;  and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.  Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.  … Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven;  everything that is on the earth shall perish.  But I will establish My covenant with you;  and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. …  Thus Noah did;  according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.”  Genesis 6:9-14 and 17-18 and 22.

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Why did Noah not try to rescue more people?

Noah could have warned people and pleaded with them to repent.  Noah could have built a bigger ark and invited some of his friends onboard.  Noah could have relayed the instructions of building an ark to others so they could build their own ark.

But, what did Noah do?

“Thus Noah did;  according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.”  Verse 22.

“But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;  and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet;  and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”  Luke 4:25-27.

We live in a day and age where most of the church seeks to be people-sensitive rather than God-sensitive.  Rather than taking care to make sure they preach and teach the Gospel as God provided in the Scripture, the only ark of salvation, most of the church prefers to preach and teach whatever best entertains and draws the most people.  

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.”  2 Timothy 3:1.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;  but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”  2 Timothy 4:3-4.

There are many in church who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  2 Timothy 3:7.

“But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”  2 Timothy 3:13-15.  

“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”  Hebrews 11:7.

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 6:1-4.

“Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful;  and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.  Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh;  nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.  Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”  Genesis 6:1-4.

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In the prior chapter, we saw in the listing of the descendants of Adam the number of years that each descendant lived, more or less nine hundred years.  In reducing man’s life span from about nine hundred years to about one hundred and twenty years, God did a work in reducing the number of years that man could sin so that His “Spirit shall not strive with man forever”.  We later will see that age span was reduced further to about seventy to eighty years, more or less.  Psalm chapter 90.

Yikes!  I am sixty-eight.

Yes!!  I will not sin much longer AND I will go to heaven soon!

As we try to do from time to time in these Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions, when we see a work of God, we use it to meditate on similar and even greater work God will do.  Today’s Scripture leads us to meditate on two major ways that God deals with man’s sin in addition to reduction of the number of years that man could sin.

First, we also were made to die in a different way:  “our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin” and we “were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another (Christ), … , in order that we might bear fruit for God.”

“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;  for he who has died is freed from sin.”  Romans 6:4-7.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”  Romans 7:4.

“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”  Galatians 5:24.

Second, we also were given the Holy Spirit through which we put to death the deeds of the flesh.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die;  but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba!  Father!”  Romans 8:11-15.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;  for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”  Galatians 5:16-18.

“14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
…
16 …
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.” Psalm 139:14 and 16.