​God gave a major sign to our nation on New Year's Eve. Storms started along the eastern seaboard that included lightning and thunder. At about the same time, lightning struck the Washington Monument and the Capital building in Washington, D.C., and the Empire State Building and the Tower at Ground Zero in New York City. All four of these strikes were confirmed on the day that ushers in our new year, 2025.
 
Do you think God is trying to say something to America by this quadruple hit three weeks before Donald Trump will become the 46th president of the United States? I would say a strong yes! Rabbi Jonathan Cahn pointed out some interesting facts to consider about these lightning strikes. All four buildings are American icons that represent our nation. Washington, D.C. is our capital city and the center of our political world. New York City was the first capital of our country and the center of our economic world. Rabbi Cahn reminds us that both cities are capitals for abortion. On September 11, 2001, the terrorists struck significant buildings in these cities. Since September 11, the agenda of the darkness has progressed and continues to push forward in our nation. We must ask, "Where is the fear of the Lord in our country?”
 
It would be wise for us to investigate some of the Scriptures on lightning. When Elihu was speaking to Job, he told him, "He fills His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark." (Job 36:32) The Lord Himself questioned Job: "What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed or the places where the east winds are scattered over the earth?...Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?' (Job 38:24.35) The psalmist, David speaks of God's power through several of his writings. "The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning." (Psalm 29:7) "The Lord also thundered from the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, amid hailstones and coals of fire. And He sent out His arrows and scattered them; and He flashed forth lightnings and put them to rout."(Psalm 18:13, 14 - AMP) "Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles." (Psalm 99:3, 4)
 
These are just a few of the Scriptures in the Bible that talk about lightning, but all of them carry similar messages that convey to us the power of the Lord, His glory, and the use of lightning to demonstrate judgment. Jonathan Cahn reminds us of a Biblical principle that "in the day of judgment destruction returns to the ground where the nation was consecrated to God in prayer." This principle has already been played out. Our concern should be that the blessings of God on America will be removed if we do not return to Him. I believe God's warning signs are also meant to give us hope and to encourage us to pray for our country to be revived.
 
I have quoted the Scripture from 2 Chronicles 7:14 numerous times. It seems appropriate to do it again. "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." This verse is for the Body of Christ. The Lord is giving us signs because His desire is to heal our land. Only our steadfast prayers will do so.

​A principle that is especially important to God but rarely talked about in the Church is called the "Principle of Firstfruits." What we say to God when we practice firstfruits giving is that we honor and worship Him, we have faith in Him, and we bless Him. The idea is that we are setting aside the first and best portion of what we have in gratitude to Him.
 
God introduced the principle of firstfruits to the children of Israel as they camped at Mount Sinai and after Moses met with Him to receive the Ten Commandments and other laws. He told them, "Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me...Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crop you sow in your field...Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord." (Exodus 23:14, 16, 19)
 
Monthly, the Israelites celebrate what they called Rosh Chodesh (The Head of the Month) or The New Moon Festival. Firstfruits offerings were an integral part of these celebrations. Not only did they set aside the firstfruits of their time to worship the Lord, but also the firstfruits of their possessions and crops. When King Hezekiah was arranging for worship contributions, he assigned priests and Levites to give thanks and sing praises. Second Chronicles 31:4 and 5 tells us what he did next: "He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord. As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and all that the fields produced."
 
It seems to me that when we follow the principle of firstfruits we are showing God our hearts toward Him. Only the Lord is worthy of receiving our first and best offerings. What does this look like for us today? How do we acknowledge the one who provides for our sustenance and increase? For most of us firstfruits are no longer tied to fields and growing. Today it is all about our lives and sacrificing in a way that we put Him first in our lives. We must ask ourselves if we are giving the Lord our first and best in time, resources, and love. We must be intentional in what we do and how we do it.
 
Romans 11:16 says, "For if the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches." According to the Passion Translation footnotes, the firstfruit portion of the dough refers to Abraham and the patriarchs, whereas the batch of dough refers to those descended from them. Since the first "portion" was dedicated to God, the rest belongs to Him also and is considered consecrated to God's use. James 1:18 explains further: "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created."  
 
With the New Year upon us, it is appropriate that we offer the Lord the firstfruits of our time and resources. Let's remember all the ways He has been faithful to us in the year 2024 and that as the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He will be faithful to us in 2025. Isn’t He  worthy of our worship?

​We have another interesting convergence occurring on December 31. It includes New Year's Eve, Day six of the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), and Rosh Chodesh (Head of the Month) for the tenth month on the Hebrew calendar, called Tevet. Hanukkah is a reminder that God wants our temples cleansed. When the Maccabees overcame the Syrian Greek army, they found their temple in a shambles and went about restoring it. Only one vial of oil was discovered for lighting the menorah. The miracle of this festival is that the Temple was illuminated for eight days with this vial. By then the priests were able to provide freshly made oil so that the light would continue.
 
Since our new year is 2025, we highlight the number five as it represents grace, goodness, restoration, and God's favor. The prophets are reminding us that there are five books in the Torah (first five books of the Bible) and that this is the year that we should put emphasis on the Word of God. The fifth book of the Bible is Deuteronomy, which is all about preparing to occupy the Promised Land. Consequently, we should position ourselves to cross over into the promises that God has for us.
 
Now, let us look at the Head of the Month (Rosh Chodesh). Please note that the Hebrew word Chodesh comes from Chadash which means to renew, rebuild, repair, and heal. At the beginning of every month the moon is a slight sliver in the sky. I so enjoy watching it grow to a full moon. It is a prophetic picture of what is to come. The light of the new year and the light of the menorah grow just as the moonlight and the daylight increase. Likewise, God is all about expanding and renewing our lights.
 
There is another convergency to take note of. The tenth month of the Hebrew calendar, Tevet, has within it January 20. Since ten is the number of godly authority, we should be praying for our new Commander in Chief in the White House. We must ask God to fill Donald Trump with godly wisdom. Pray that every decision he makes brings the Lord's blessings and prosperity to our country. This month we should be cognizant of our responsibility to pray for all our leaders. Let us build them up with prayer so that the enemy cannot get to us through them. Tevet is associated with the Hebrew letter AYIN which is a picture of an eye and of a well or spring of flowing water. These pictures tell us to be watchful against those who look to do evil. However, we should be excited that new life will be flowing as we enter the new year.
 
I am so blessed that my church, The Crossing, is beginning the new year with a week of fasting and worship to the Lord. This is the best way for us to start the beginning of the year and the head of the month. Fasting is a discipline that cleanses our systems and allows us time to reflect on the past year and look to God for direction for our futures. Let us use the new year to develop our spiritual hunger for the Lord and to realign our priorities by putting emphasis on our relationship with Him. We must look for the path of ever-increasing light and follow it. "The path of righteousness is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” (Proverbs 4:18)

​For a moment, let us try to imagine what God gave up when He came into our world. Let us ponder the most magnificent, glorious, majestic setting we can envision. Let us remember the three words that describe our Lord: Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent. Now, let us turn our minds to the environment that Jesus first experienced when He came to earth as an embryo planted in the damp, dark womb of a teenage girl named Mary. He was bounced around on a donkey on a trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem where it was ordained that He would be born. The Word would become flesh. He who authored the story entered the story. That is what we celebrate at Christmas time.
 
What was to greet Jesus after he came down the birth canal? He was greeted by a stable filled with animals, a bed of a stone, animal feeding trough filled with hay, first-time parents who did not know how to raise a child, let alone the Son of God, and a jealous king who tried to kill Him. But these humble circumstances were ordained. Jesus would spend thirty years with His parents and siblings, working with Joseph in a carpenter's shop and then three years ministering to humanity.
 
Jesus came to earth to experience life as a human. He came to mentor twelve disciples who would continue His ministry after His death. He came to "preach the good news, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release of the prisoner in darkness." He came "to comfort those who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion." He would "bestow on them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61:1-3) Here is how Philippians 2:6 and 7 describes what Jesus did:  "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."
 
In agreeing to give up His kingship and crown, every jewel in that headpiece would be removed. But the largest jewel of all was not removed until the end of His life. That jewel represents His life and the sacrifice He made as described in Isaiah 53. "...He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely, He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."  (Isaiah 53:3-5) Isaiah goes on to explain that it was Father God's will to crush Jesus so that His life would be a guilt offering for all of us. (Verse 10)
 
On the night that Jesus was born, the angel of the Lord proclaimed the bottom line to the shepherds. It was the real reasons Jesus came to earth. "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-12) The Lord gave up everything for love! That love required a sacrifice for our sins. In return for our belief in what Jesus did, we get to spend an eternity with Him. This is what He wanted.
 
In the traditional French carol, "Angels We Have Heard on High," verse two asks questions of the shepherds:  "Shepherds why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? What the gladsome tidings be which inspire your heavenly song?" I think we can see that these lowly shepherds got a glimpse of heaven and heaven's desire to save them and all of humanity. During this season of celebrating the Lord's gift, should we not rejoice with all of heaven over the magnanimous gift of our Savior?

​The town we know as Bethlehem, where Jesus the Messiah was born, was originally called Bethlehem Ephrath. The meaning of this name is significant with Bethlehem meaning "House of Bread," and Ephrath meaning "Fruitfulness." Many years before Joseph and Mary were sent to this town, God instructed Jacob to move his family from Bethel to the region of Bethlehem. Before sending Jacob to this new location, he changed Jacob's name to Israel and affirmed His intentions with a declaration for the future: "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you." (Genesis 35:11,12) Indeed, Jacob's beloved wife, Rachel, was pregnant and gave birth to her second son while on the journey to Bethlehem. Because she died in childbirth, Jacob set up camp near Migdal Eder, in the region of Bethlehem, where he mourned the death of Rachel and set up a pillar over her burial place. Genesis 21:35 tells us, "Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder." (Tower of the Flock)
 
In the prophetic book of Micah there is a reference to the Christ child being born in Bethlehem near Migdal Eder. "As for you, O Watchtower of the flock (Migdal Eder), O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem." (Micah 4:8) Part of the journey that Jacob/Israel and Rachel took as they moved toward Bethlehem was traced by Joseph and Mary some 1800 years later. They took a 90-mile trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem to take part in the census decreed by Caesar Augustus. It is fascinating to note that Mary would give birth in Bethlehem near Migdal Eder to Jesus, a descendant of Jacob and called our "Messiah."
 
We must not miss the significance of the location for the birth of Jesus. Joseph and Mary would have walked by the Tower of the Flock where shepherds, called Levitical Shepherd Priests by the Sadducees, were helping in the birth of lambs destined for Temple sacrifices. Just as the Lord told Moses on the night of the Passover, "The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect..." (Exodus 12:5), the lambs brought to the Temple for sacrifice had to be perfect. The Bethlehem shepherds were experts in animal husbandry and brought the ewes from the field into the Tower when they were ready to give birth. This was done to protect the lambs from being scarred by any defects. Upon their birth, the lambs were wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in stone mangers lined with hay.
 
What a rich context we have for the birth of Jesus who would become the Sacrificial Lamb of God thirty-three years later! Jesus stepped out of eternity as prophesied by Micah. "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me One who will be Ruler of Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times." (Micah 5:2) Micah continues: "He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will live securely, for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And He will be their peace." (Micah 5:4, 5)
 
God made a choice to become a humble servant that would redeem the world if the people of the nations chose to believe in His redemption. When we look at the details of His plan, how could we not embrace His love?

​An unusual synchronization of our month of December with the ninth month on the Hebrew calendar (Kislev) happens this year. Kislev began at sunset on December 1 and runs until December 30. We should also note that both Christmas and the beginning of Chanukah occur on December 25. The messages of both holidays are the same:  Light overcomes darkness and good overcomes evil. It is fitting that people from both the Jewish and Christian faiths will be celebrating together this year.
 
Though we are in the season of increasing darkness, by the time Christmas and Chanukah roll around that cycle will be slowly changing. The winter solstice, which marks the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, occurs on December 21. After this date, the days will slowly get longer, and the nights will get shorter. Also, let us remember that we are celebrating the entrance of Jesus Christ or Yeshua into the world. In John 8:12 He is called "The Light of the World." In the meantime, the Jews are lighting the candles on the Menorah for eight nights and recalling how the Maccabees overtook the evil armies of Antiochus in 164 B.C. after three years of battle.
 
I think the nightly candle lighting of the Menorah is representative of the ever-increasing amount of light that is shed upon the earth. It is significant that the number eight represents new beginnings. The eight candles are lit by the ninth candle, positioned in the middle of the Menorah and named the "Shammas" or "Servant" candle. We can see how God paints a picture through the lighting of the eight candles. Yeshua, Jesus, came to earth as a servant to provide light in the darkness. What a prophetic picture!
 
When Jesus was born the Roman empire had placed King Herod in charge of the region around Jerusalem. Being one who despised those he was to oversee and who was jealous of anyone who might challenge his position, he put in place an evil plot to kill Jesus the Messiah and Light of the World. He had learned from the magi who came to worship the "King of the Jews" about the prophecy that was written in Micah 5:2, 4. "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel." (Also written in Matthew 2:6) Herod was so disturbed by this prophecy that he ordered all the baby boys in the Bethlehem area to be killed.
 
The star that God placed in the sky at the birth of Jesus shed a path of light to the place where He was born. After worshiping Jesus and leaving gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the magi returned to their homeland by a different route from the one they came by. God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. Later, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him of Herod's plans. He was told to flee to Egypt with his family where they would be safe. This is where they would stay until God called His Son out of Egypt, fulfilling the prophecy of Hosea 11:1.
 
God will not be outsmarted or outdone! No matter what kind of darkness tries to overcome the light or evil that tries to prevail over goodness, the Lord is a step ahead and has plans that He will bring to fruition. We would do well to remember these stories in the difficult season we presently live in.

​For as long as I can remember, my brother has always been intentional about encouraging others with special cards on their birthdays and anniversaries. He just sent me a birthday card that delights me. It says, "Cupcakes are muffins that believed they could be so much more. It's your birthday; reach for the stars." As I read this card images began to form in my mind of steps I want to take to be so much more than I am. I think this is God's desire for all of us. In fact, a line in His prayer says, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God's Kingdom is the kingdom of more, so why not for us?
 
Psalm 139:13-15 reminds us that God made us uniquely:  "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place..." Every individual on the face of the earth has a distinct call on their life. It is what allows us to contribute, in a positive way, to the plans and purposes of God for humanity so that everyone will be saved and join the Lord in heaven for eternity and that everyone will live life to their greatest potential.
 
When the book of Genesis describes creation, it is very clear that God intended for us to be like Him. "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So, God created man in His own image in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:26, 27) Imagine for a moment what being created in the image of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God looks like for us! Think about the latent talents and abilities that lie within us!
 
Let us also remember what the angel Gabriel said to Mary when she was told that she would bear the Son of God. "For nothing is impossible with God." (Luke 1:37) We have been created by One whose word contains seeds of life. The Lord reminded the prophet Isaiah of this:  "My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purposes for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)
 
When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, he wanted them to understand what God had placed within them. Here is some of what Paul wrote:  "...He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all those in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In Him we were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:9-12)
 
Paul reminds us in Ephesians 3:20 that He "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us." He told his protege Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God which is in you..."  (2 Timothy 1:6) He also said, "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." (2 Timothy 1:14) So, why don't we get out of the “muffin mindset” and aspire to be a “spectacular cupcake”? Let us stir up the gifts that are in us and spend more time with the Lord. The more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him.

​Could our Thanksgiving feast be patterned after the Jewish feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot? This week-long harvest festival commemorates the 40-year journey that the children of Israel had in the wilderness as they made their way to the Promised Land. It is the final festival of the year and always occurs in the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. There is a dual significance in this festival:  historical and agricultural. God desires that the generations remember that the Israelites lived in booths in the wilderness when He brought them out of persecution in Egypt. (Leviticus 23:43) Thanksgiving was to be the focus of this festival because God had blessed them mightily.
 
Thanksgiving in America was started by the pilgrims who settled in our country. When they came to America they were fleeing persecution in England. Some of them, before arriving in America, settled in Holland and found the Sephardic Jews who had been exiled from Spain in 1492. Because of this and other reasons, some surmise that our Thanksgiving feast could be patterned after the Jewish feast of Sukkot. Let's look at some of the similarities between the two feasts:
 
    - Both began with people that were being persecuted and escaped from their homeland.
    - Both festivals celebrate harvest.
    - Both happen in the fall.
    - Both are based on Biblical commands to give thanks.
    - Both include family gatherings.
    - Both involve feasting.
 
I read on the "One Israel" web site about the first Thanksgiving in America. It reports that ninety Wampanoag Native Americans joined fifty-three Pilgrims in a fall feast. It was these native Americans who befriended the Pilgrims and taught them how to plant corn, fish, and gather nuts and berries. Because of the help of the Indians, the Pilgrims survived the challenges of their new homeland.
 
As people of the Bible, the Pilgrims would have read all the admonitions to give thanks contained therein. I am sure they must have recognized that without God's help they would not have been able to survive. In addition, they most assuredly read about the yearly Jewish feast of thanksgiving called The Feast of Tabernacles. Being people of faith, the Pilgrims would have recognized that their relationship with God was strengthened when they praised Him and gave thanks for His provision and care.
 
When President Lincoln gave his speech describing the purpose of Thanksgiving he said it was, "to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks." We must keep gratitude at the forefront of everything we do. It is God who oversees our lives and gives us provision, peace, guidance, and love. Not only so, but He sent His Son, Yeshua or Jesus, to earth as a human being through the people of Israel to "tabernacle" with Him. Jesus sacrificed His life for us, taking our sins upon Himself so we could have eternal life. This truth needs to be at the forefront of our Thanksgiving celebration.

​Drought has decimated life in the eastern part of the United States this fall. What usually is a rainy season has become a parched one. As we drive around Bucks County, PA we see how the lack of rain is taking its toll on farm fields and ponds and streams. There is a pond that we pass every time we drive to our church. For decades it has been the home of birds, turtles, and insects. All that remains now is a depression in the land with a cracked, muddy bottom. I thought of the Scripture in Jeremiah 2 where God is chastising Israel for forsaking Him. Here is what God said through His prophet: "'...But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror.' declares the Lord. 'My people have committed two sins; They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.'" (Jeremiah 2:11-13) Verse 19 continues: "'Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me.' declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty." 
 
In the parched lands of Israel, spring water was and is extremely rare. Cisterns, hewn out of rock, were frequently used to collect and store water. No sane person would trade a clean and flowing spring for an unreliable cistern. In His discussion with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, Jesus identified Himself as the One who dispenses living water. (John 4:10) Referring to Jacob's well, He says, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13, 14)
 
God was telling the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah that their worship of false idols had subjected them to slavery and allowed the destruction of their lives. Their broken cisterns (religious systems with false promises that had become idols) could not be sustained. What are the unstable cisterns of today? What are the idols we as individuals and as a nation have allowed to take the place of God? There are multiple ways in which this can happen. Here are a few: Striving for power, putting our trust in religious systems, depending on money, looking to technology to solve all our problems, or consuming drugs and alcohol.
 
God reminds the people of Israel how they turned their backs on Him yet cry out to Him in times of trouble. He says, "You have as many gods as there are towns in Judah. Why do you accuse me of doing wrong? You are the ones who have rebelled,' says the Lord." (Jeremiah 2:27-29 - NLT) In spite of their sins, God holds out hope. He says, "'O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and committed adultery against Him by worshipping idols under every green tree. Confess that you refused to listen to my voice. I the Lord have spoken.'" (Jeremiah 3:12, 13 - NLT) "'My wayward children,' says the Lord. 'Come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.'" (Jeremiah 3:22 - NLT)
 
We should examine ourselves today to determine if we have replaced the worship of the Lord with any idols. When we have, we can repent and return to the Lover of our souls. Mercy and grace are always flowing from God's throne for those who repent. We must destroy cracked cisterns that cannot hold water and return to our Fountain of Living Water, a constant source of love and mercy and wisdom.

​God has always been looking for a people who will be faithful and obedient to His Word. In the days of Noah, the Lord was grieved by the explosion of evil in the world. He said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet their days shall be 120 years.” (Genesis 6:3 - NKJ) We understand that these 120 years would be the time it took Noah to build the ark. Verse 6 goes on to say, "So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart." He determined to destroy every living thing except for one family. It should be of particular interest to us because it happened during the month that we are in, the eighth month on the Hebrew calendar called Cheshvan. Eight is known as the number of new beginnings. Appropriately, the flood began on Cheshvan 17, and one year and ten days later, on Cheshvan 27, the flood had ended. On Cheshvan 28 Noah brought God a sacrifice.
 
Genesis 6:9 reports that "Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God." (NLT) God decided to share His plan to destroy the earth and all living creatures with Noah. He was instructed to build a huge boat. The length of it was the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a four-story building. The footnote in my Bible explains that the boat was six time longer than it was wide which is the same ratio used by modern ship builders. The boat would be the mechanism by which God would save Noah and his family (eight people) along with a pair of every kind of animal. (male and female)
 
Imagine the commitment Noah and his three sons made to build a ship in the desert on dry land!  In doing so, he became the second father of the human race. His obedience and persistence paved the way for a new generation of people and animals to be born on the earth. The writer of Hebrews explains the importance of Noah's faith in his relationship with God. "Faith opened Noah's heart to receive revelation and warnings from God about what was coming, even things that had never been seen. But he stepped out in reverent obedience to God, and built an ark that would save him and his family. By his faith the world was condemned, but Noah received God's gift of righteousness that comes by believing."
(Hebrews 11:7 - TPT)
 
Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters came. He and his wife and three sons and their wives, along with the animals, entered the boat in pairs, male and female. There were enough animals taken on the ark for eating and for sacrificing to God for an entire year. Scripture reports that the "rains fell in mighty torrents," for forty days and nights. So much water covered the earth that the boat rose twenty-two feet above the highest mountain peaks. For 150 days the floodwaters covered the earth. Five months from the time the flood began the boat rested on the mountains of Ararat. The meaning of Ararat is "curse reversed." How appropriate! One year and ten days later, on Cheshvan 27, Noah, his family, and the animals left the ark so that they could "be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth," as God had originally planned.
 
Noah's first act upon leaving the ark was to build an altar to the Lord so that he could sacrifice burnt offerings. The pleasing aroma filled the nostrils of the Lord, and He promised to never again destroy all life by flood waters. (Genesis 9:11, 15) A covenant made between Noah and God was confirmed with the sign of a rainbow. God said, "The rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures." (Genesis 9:14 - NLT)
 
Today, when the storms of life crash down on us, we have the ark of Jesus to run to. He is the one who is faithful to calm the storms and bring us to a safe haven. With this in mind, I believe it is our season to establish an altar to the Lord so we can bring Him a fragrant offering. Just as God made a covenant with Noah, He has made one with us through His Son Jesus. He is worthy of our sacrificial worship.