Genesis 6:1-22 KJV
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

The hardest lesson in scripture, is to understand God is rescuer of his people. If we can ever grasp what is to be rescued by God we can understand that there is harm fixing to consume us if we either do not change, or that seeking to destroy God's people. Neither time does it imply that God's people will not face destruction on earth, it only implies that God's people are protected. To be absent from the body to be present with the Lord, makes one understand the reality of our time on earth is only for a length of time, and if we are consume by enemy around us, we no longer fear because we know God has a place in glory for us. That God's Spirit will be with us in eterity if we will only believe as well as on this earth.

I use Noah maybe a little to much, but it is the first time God seeks to destroy wickness of man by total destruction of man except for one family. If we tied all nations to one ark and one story, then the story of faith did not end as man spread out, the story was still told of God's wrath on man and his protection on his people from generation to generation. What awesome knowledge to know this one story in scripture was carried with people that travel to other parts of the earth. How awesome it is to know that man first understanding of this spread of faith can cause them to realize how far anything can travel without paper or pen. The point being God in his wisdom fore warns his people and the people of the world of destruction to come. Some would declare science does that. Yes there earthly warning signs that say destruction will happen, but when God declares it before the signs of the earthly nature, it is far greater then science.

God warns Noah because he found grace in God's sight, because he was righteous man, and believed in God. Now atheist would solve this problem of faith by saying no should believe, and then destruction comes it is over and done with and not a continual legacy of good vs evil. No the scripture does not declare it works that way. God allows anyone with faith to come to him. Anyone that will hear his word and listen. Yet at the time of Christ a new covenant was made with man and man had a job to spread the word of no more sacrifice for sin, his Son paid it all. Paid the price of separation, Adam and Eve had caused with original sin. The time of Noah is not the time of Christ and man continued in sin, continued in wickedness and evil ways. No longer believing or accepting God's word to be true. Even evil men understand who believers are and often scoff or make fun of them without understanding God's wrath will come upon them.

If a child is threatening another child, parent might correct if they hear or wait to see if the child will act on the threat. If the threat comes and evil comes then the parent corrects the child, but if the parent hears the threat corrects the child and the child still does it, the child knows there will be consequences for action. If the first correction works the second is not necessary. God's warning as Noah built the ark, should of been enough to cause repentance but it did not. The next warning came as the ark was being loaded with all the animals and food needed for the stay in the ark. And the last warning came as God sealed the door of the ark. Not until the rain began, did evil people begin to realize Noah was telling the truth, but it was to late for the ark would float away and go high above the mountains of the world until it eventual would dock on Mt Ararate. Noah and his family were on island to themselves with the water all around them and the water covered the land and would recede. I wonder sometimes if this water receded slowly or quickly because how much land did Noah and his family and animals need? The answer is God only knows. God's people safe in the middle of a major storm. They went through the storm with a shield of protection because they obey the Lord. Faith to build something and trust in the one that said to build it.

God's day of destruction for evil does come with a warning. It comes with bells and whistles of the sound of the protection provide if one will listen and believe. The ministers in the pulpits are calling the lost to repentance, but those that hear not will face destruction. You may say you live as clean as the believer or maybe even better, but without faith you face destruction, because you choose your own way and not to hear the word of God, beyond good works.

God told Noah to put food in the ark for the animals and his family. God told Noah he would send the animals to him to be put in the ark. He was told his whole family was going. Think how important was Noah family to him, that God in his wisdom told him his whole family was going with him, despite how the world reacted to the building of the ark. It be like a man building a rocket today, and told he was to go aboard because the earth would be destroyed. Man being shot out into space in hopes to dock on some distant planet in hopes of protection. However God made it clear he was going to destroy the heavens and the earth long ago before rocket ships. Those who hope for man to thrive else where destruction still coming even to other worlds if habitation is even possible. Go ahead and dream of a new land and new world, it not going to last either as far as man ability to develop a distant planet, it may only hope for a limited time period, designed by God.

What man thinks they can do to survive destruction in their planning, their plans might work to a point, but not full proof. God's plan of protection is full proof. Whether we face death in this world as we know it or protection in the life as we know it, we have nothing to fear because God provision and protection in life storms for the believer. What is my point this morning, our trust truly needs to be on the Lord especially in the days of evil. Yes even believer starve, go through trials and tribulation, but I guarantee if you trust, you will find God's provision in the storm.

After seeing how stuff being shipped during the pandemic effect many people and towns, down to even basics of toilet paper and even food on the shelves, I see New Orleans disaster and all disasters similiar a little clearer, of even if people broke into the store for food, unless you had a few months supply you might not make it, because of the need. You stock and you store for months ahead, but there no guarantee what you got will last you til you can get to the store once more. With this in mind the ants store for winter along with the bees and grasshoppers, and yet they to face disaster of the harshness of winter sometimes. What does it tell us there is things common to all creation and there things not common. It the things not common that we can not prepare for. We can plan for a pandemic in regards to having the best supplies available and prepared for use, but no guarantee science will come up with a cure, but Christ holds our hands whether we face death of love ones, or face death ourselves. Our immunity only as strong as the next vaccine, and God's will for us to finish the job he has for us to do. Colin Powell, Former Secretary Of State died at 84 from Cov-19 due to immune system was compromise, not because he didn't get the shot. He was vacinated. His time was over, his work done on earth. We have to ask ourselves are we ready for whatever God has in store for us. Are we prepared to the best of our ability, because God wants to take us further in life then our ability and be a testimony for him of his grace and truth. Who would of figured someone from the Bronx becoming Secretary of State? People can arise above the station the world around them places on them. They must stay focus on the task they are doing. However with God, He places us in places we can not imagine being from the beginning of our journey.

We can not be complacent with our faith or our work, we must strive to be like Noah willing to obey God despite those around us. He became a father to the next generation that would rule the earth. And he must of did something right for that story to be scattered all over the earth. I can picture old Noah saying to his grandkids, the ark story is true, so behave yourself and believe. I can see his sons looking as Noah told the story and say why tell the story so simply, why not tell how hard the storm was, how hard it was to load the animals, and how hard it was to rest in the ark at night with all them critters around about you. Yet the only story is told is how Noah was told to build the ark and given explicit instructions on how to build the ark, and what was to be put inside it for the time of the storm. How after the storm God gave a promise of never covering the whole earth with water. He did not say it would never flood, but that there would be no more flood disasters like that one. God's provision came with Noah obedience to his word. One sack of flour left out am sure a loaf of bread would not of been made.

Dear Heavenly Father, let us trust you in the storm, knowing sometimes you even take your people home and sometimes leave them behind to continue the work that needs doing. Help your people to stand firm first in faith and second busy about the work set before them. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: Luke 12:4-12 KJV
4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:
12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.