Nutjob Noah, the Hero of Faith— Part I.

Even beyond the blood of Abel and the faith of his forefather Enoch, Noah rises up in the Scroll of Genesis as a Hero of Faith.  There are four lessons here, four things we can learn and put into practice from this man’s amazing Story.

 I.  Noah took God at His Word... and so do we.  He trusted the Message God sent him because He trusted the Messenger God provided.  This is for those of you whose trust in any human messenger, at any level of life, is near non-existent, or teetering on collapse.  When we’re talking about the Word of the Living God— Holy Spirit-authored and divinely overseen— we’re not talking about the mere opinion of man, the unenlightened insight of some individual’s agenda.  This may be the case in cults or in some twisted congregations somewhere, but for those who hold the Word in the highest esteem we’re talking about divine revelation, the heart of God revealed for humanity.  This is a horse of an entirely different color!  And it is preeminent in our priorities that we learn to believe what He tells us, to have faith in His Word to us, to trust His heart toward us.  You following here?

The warning of Deluge and certain death or Deliverance in the Redeemer, to a generation who had never seen rain, seems ridiculous.  Loony as a road-lizard!  But Noah believed it, announced it, and staked his entire world on it!  This is why he and his family survived: cause He took God at His Word and trusted Him enough to act on it.

Think about what this required.  If he was going to build something the size and scope of the Ark, he was going to have to lay aside every other activity, all the normal details of life, and concentrate on this single command.  Noah’s entire life now became one continuous and concentrated preparation— spirit, soul, and body— for what God warned him would come.  You see where we’re headed here?

The choice ultimately is ours.  It comes to us, softly and gently, in the whisper of the Spirit, or powerfully and forcefully in the thunder of Life, whether to listen and live or disregard and die.  We choose, each of us, what we’re going to do with the Message God sends us concerning the Mission He’s given us.  Is it nothing ...or is it everything?

Noah heeded the warning, and was saved from disaster and destruction.  The warnings, and the words of Sonship and Daughterhood, may come from our conscience, the counsel of wise and compassionate others, through a song or cinema, in the words of a good friend or the ruthlessness of an enemy, directly from Abba— Spirit to spirit, soul to soul, heart to heart— or in the gifts of a glorious Creation.  It might leap upon us suddenly or slowly blanket our souls, but however, whenever, and through whomever, we neglect it at our peril.  Amen?

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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