Tag: Pleased God
Week 26–Day 1–Reward for walking with God
Scripture reading for June 22: Genesis 5:21-24 “”When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” Hebrews 11:5-6 “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him. . .”
Have you ever wondered if your life was pleasing to God? Have you thought about the end of your life and where you might end up? Today, our life-span is seventy or eighty years if we are blessed to live that long. Some make it to 100 years but that is the exception. In the first book of the Bible, the ages of people listed there are much longer, giving them more time to reflect. Today we look at Enoch, a man who lived three hundred sixty five years and he walked with God after the birth of his son, Methuselah.
Enoch is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the seventh generation from Adam, the first man. He walked with God after his son was born. Methuselah lived longer than any other person recorded in Scripture at 969 years. His name meant, “When he dies, judgment will come.” God revealed His plan to Enoch in this manner and by faith he chose to walk with God. After three hundred years, Scripture records that suddenly he was here no longer and that God took him away. Hebrews reveals that Enoch did not see death because God took him up. The reason he was taken was his faith walk. Jude records that Enoch prophesied to his generation about the coming judgment. In the year his son Methuselah died, the great flood came and God’s judgment fell.
I believe that Enoch is a picture of the reward of all who walk with God by faith. We are told as New Testament believers in Jesus to expect Jesus to come for His people and snatch them away to heaven. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Walking by faith pleases God our Father and He gives eternal life as reward.
Prayer: Father, I desire to walk with You through this life and am willing to share Your Good News that through Jesus Christ, whoever believes will have eternal life. Amen.
This Is My Son, Whom I Love!
Scripture reading for October 6th: Matthew 1-4
Wow! We are finally in the New Testament! Four hundred years of silence have passed and God is speaking again! He is fulfilling a number of prophesies that He gave over the years concerning His Son. A virgin, named Mary, gives birth to a son. (Matthew 1:22-23) This virgin and her betrothed husband, Joseph, are descendants of King David and their genealogy is traced back to Abraham. (Matthew 1:1-16) This “Son” was born in Bethlehem, fulfilling what the prophet Micah had predicted nearly 700 years earlier. (Matthew 2:6)
Gentile wise men came to worship Him who was born “king of the Jews.” Gentiles would also be blessed and come to this “king of the Jews” for salvation! They came to Judea and visited King Herod. Herod became jealous and ordered the destruction of all boys 2 years and younger. God had already intervened and warned Joseph and Mary to depart for Egypt. This fulfilled two other prophesies about Rachel weeping for her children and God calling His Son out of Egypt. (Matthew 2:15-18) When Joseph and Mary returned to Israel after Herod’s threat had passed, they settled in Nazareth. Jesus was called a “Nazarene” in fulfillment of prophetic word!
The Book of Malachi had ended with a promise from God that He would send Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord. (Malachi 4:5-6) Elijah’s message would seek to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Matthew records the ministry of John the Baptist preaching in the Desert of Judea and calling God’s people to repentance and water baptism. John was Jesus’ cousin and had a special call from God to prepare the way for His Son in ministry. Repentance was and is a basic requirement to prepare a heart to receive the truth in Jesus. (Matthew 3:1-3) This also fulfilled a prophesy given by Isaiah!
John the Baptist spoke plainly to the religious leaders who came to ridicule him. He warned them that one was coming who would not just baptize with water, but with the Holy Spirit and fire! (Matthew 3:7-11) When Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, John tried to reverse the situation. Jesus insisted on his need to be baptized to fulfill “all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) Jesus was baptized by John and John, along with the crowd, witnessed an amazing confirmation of Jesus Christ the Son of God! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together with joy and hope and salvation for the world!
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went out of the water. At that moment heaven opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17