Monday, First Week of Advent
SCRIPTURE
Genesis 8:1 19 (NRSV)
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters gradually receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred fifty days the waters had abated; and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more.
In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying. In the second month, on the twenty seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families.
DEVOTION
I don't know about you, but today I've got a storm blowing in my life. It feels like the "boat" of my life may capsize and I feel very small and afraid.
But, today's scripture reading gives me reason to hope because it is a reminder that although the storms may rage, God remembers us...
God remembers that we are in the boat. God remembers that the storms are fierce. God remembers that we need deliverance.
God's deliverance comes to us with the blowing of the wind--or Spirit--that stops the rain and dries the land so that we can emerge from the trials and tribulations of our lives with dignity and grace.
I am so glad that God remembers us! No matter what you may be going through, please do not lose hope. God remembers you and will come through for you, on time.
Let us pray: Holy God, thank you for remembering me. Thank you for never abandoning me to the storms of life. Please calm the storm by your Spirit and grant me your peace. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
INVITATION
If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta
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