Something to think about

[Preacher Jim]

this was copied from an email
Never thought about this before:
I have always thought that Noah was safe inside the Ark because he built it according to God's specifications. I thought that perhaps it was the strength of the gopher wood and the soundness of the architecture that ensured that the waters of the flood would not come into the Ark.
But today I encountered a verse that shifted this whole paradigm.
Let's read what Gen 7:16 says .." The animals going in were male and female of every living thing as God had commanded Noah..
THEN GOD SHUT HIM IN....
Don't miss this.... even after Noah had built the Ark, it was God Himself who shut him in, in order to shut out the waters of the flood... In other translations this verse says "The Lord sealed them inside."
May the Almighty God seal us inside His Ark of protection through this last quarter of 2019.
It is not the fact that you have locked your house that keeps you safe at night, it is not your good driving skills that keeps you safe on the road, neither it's your healthy eating habits that keeps you healthy - only God can shut you in and shut out the devil that is seeking to devour you.
Father we pray that in this last quarter of the year, as we walk into the streets and as we drive on the roads, Oh God shut us in. Father we pray for our children that in the midst of dangers and molesters... You will shut them in, keep out the flood waters of abuse, rape, murder, accidents, diseases and untimely death... Oh God shut us in, shut us in your Ark of protection , into your Ark of compassion..
May GOD SHUT US IN AS WE OBEY HIM AND TRUST IN HIS WORD. Amen!!!

[Pine Baron]

Awesome. Amen.

[LAH]

Good thought

[dverna]

No....not buying into it. If we believe God protects us from evil, why do so many of us carry pistols to defend ourselves/family? Why do we have 12 ga pumps in the bedroom? Why are "gun safe" zones not safe? Why do children suffer evil atrocities?

The why, why. why's are endless.

We can pray for protection, but we would be foolish to depend on it. For some reason, God has not defeated evil yet...but He will. That is revealed in Revelations.

Until then, evil abounds around us and more frightening...in us. If we do not conquer the evil in us, it will conquer us. God will not interfere with our choices. Cain, David, Sampson, etc etc, committed many acts of evil by their choices and God did not intercede. The only entity in the Bible without evil is Jesus. The example we strived for but can never achieve.

[Ickisrulz]

No....not buying into it. If we believe God protects us from evil, why do so many of us carry pistols to defend ourselves/family? Why do we have 12 ga pumps in the bedroom? Why are "gun safe" zones not safe? Why do children suffer evil atrocities?

The why, why. why's are endless.

We can pray for protection, but we would be foolish to depend on it. For some reason, God has not defeated evil yet...but He will. That is revealed in Revelations.

Until then, evil abounds around us and more frightening...in us. If we do not conquer the evil in us, it will conquer us. God will not interfere with our choices. Cain, David, Sampson, etc etc, committed many acts of evil by their choices and God did not intercede. The only entity in the Bible without evil is Jesus. The example we strived for but can never achieve.

Noah was in a unique situation. He was following God's plan to construct and use an ark to preserve life on earth. His family's safety and that of the animals was guaranteed.

However, not every person in the Bible carrying out a God-appointed mission was provided with divine protection against bodily harm. The prophets Jesus talked about come to mind.

The Bible puts most of our success in this life on us. Proverbs tells us to take care in how we live or bad things will happen to us. For example, if we don't work we will not have food and starve. No amount of praying is going to undue this natural law.

Of course God never promised Christians a life on earth free from harm. He promises to be with us through all our hardships which he says will undoubtedly come.

All that being said, I will never underestimate the power of prayer. We might never know the things God keeps from us because we ask for his protection.

[Boaz]

Thank you Jim , I paused to think .

[Thundarstick]

Not going to make deeper comments because it's in the chapel.

Yes, this made me think of all the ways God's protection could (has) come to me and mine!

[Preacher Jim]

God protects the soul once you accept Jesus Christ as your savior. You are sealed til the day of redemption. I do not post to argue theology but things that comfort those who think about what they read.

[Wayne Smith]

God actively protects us -using everything in our experience to make us more like Christ (Rom. 8:28-29). He does not protect us from the follies of our sin, he uses the consequences to teach us if we are willing to learn.

[USMC87]

Amen and thanks for sharing.