Tuesday Sept. 13, 2011 Commandments 2

So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood, make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out."

Good Tuesday morning, and it is a beauty here with the sun coming brightly into my face in the computer room. PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD. Dolores is coming home this afternoon. Oh yes, after three weeks without her, I had to stay up most of the night to, well, get things in order. While she was in the hospital lots of things happened. Floods, an earthquake, rain, a tree went down on our car and smashed it. And we had a new kid. (No, that is not why she was in the hospital.) We had a kid goat. She will get to see "Crockett" for the first time today. Anyway, enough about us. Please pray today for the men and women of the Museum of Bus Transportation as they clean up the aftermath of the flood. Look on the Museum of Bus Transportation for a high water picture... www.busmuseum.org.

Also pray today for cures for those things like cancer, liver problems, kidney failures, etc., etc., and so on. Pray for Blanch, kidney failure, pray for Kathy Kessler, cancer. Most all of us know someone who needs that cure, so let's pray for the cure. OUR LORD GOD CAN HEAL. You remember how He gave people the knowledge to make a drug that has stopped TB. Now why does God heal some and not others? I have been cured of cancer and I am a sinner. I cannot answer that question except to say, God answers prayer, He heals, He heals us for things we did not know we had, but He also does it in His time and according to His will. Also, and hear me on this... Sometimes that healing is when we are heading home to be with Him.

Please keep Vicki in your prayers, Vicki has a lot of health problems and really needs our daily prayer support even if I do not post her daily.

Commandments Day 2: Genesis 6:13 - So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood, make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out." (NIV)

As I talk about commandments this week, and more than likely into next week, I am doing more than just those ten commandments. Yes, I will work on them, but I am doing this as God points it out to me. I really never looked at Noah and the big, big flood as a commandment but God said look again... While I just typed up two verses, I ask that you read the account of Noah in full.

First so you understand why God destroyed the earth and all that was in it except for those on the Ark. So when I look at Genesis 6:14 which starts like this - So make yourself an ark - and then goes on to give sizes, and what the Ark should be made of. He even tells Noah who should be on the Ark.

So is that a commandment or not? God did not say to Noah, if you want to, build an Ark, or if you get time, build an Ark... No, He, God, said to Noah, "So make yourself an Ark." And what did Noah do? He listened to God and made the Ark. And it was not even raining.. Go ahead and think about this. You live on, say, high ground, you might not be near a river or creek, and God tells you to build a big boat. (Don't worry, He is not going to flood the earth again to end it. But it will end.)

So how would you handle it? Might it go something like this?

God: Young man, I want you to build me a really big boat! Man: ARE YOU NUTS, GOD, people will laugh at me. God: Are you going to build it or not? Man: Can I have a few days to think about it? I will let you know soon.

And so it goes. Let me wrap this one up by asking you, and I will ask myself also, have we answered God when He asked or commanded us to do something? Let me answer for me, I try to but confess I don't always get it done, and there was a time I would just walk away from what God wanted. Here it comes, my bold statement of the day, what commandment of God do you think we fail in most of the time? Now this is my opinion of course. Right now you are running those ten commandments in your mind, which one is that old preacher man talking about? Forget those ten for a minute, and here is the one commandment I think we break the most... are you ready for this? Are you sure?

Here it is... REPENT!! Oh, I think we or at least I have repented from most all things I have done wrong, but I am still a sinner, and I keep thinking I am in need of REPENTING EVEN MORE...

I would love to hear from some of you, well, all of you on this one. Where do you fall short, what commandment do you fail in? No you do not need to confess to me, just to Jesus.

Dear Father in Heaven, Here I am, Lord, standing in the need of repenting even more, and to do just that I need your help. I confess I am a sinner, and I want to try harder and harder to be more like Jesus, but Father, it is hard. Temptation is all around us, Lord, help us to keep our eyes on Jesus. Please answer our prayers on our lists today according to Your will. And thanks, Lord, for sending Dolores back home to me, and not taking her home to be with You. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth, sharing your blessings and listening to God and trying your best to follow those commandments He gave you... Love ya, Pastor Dan.