7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Noah found grace - he experienced God's favor because of his obedience. So, he, his wife, his three sons, and their wives were saved in the Ark that he was instructed to build. God was merciful to Noah's family, and this story can remind us of God's intent to choose for Himself a people upon whom He would show His favor. Noah was placed in a covenant relationship with God, and this relationship continued to grow through the time when Jesus came, who fulfilled perfectly and completely that covenant and navigated a new one, which we enter into through our accepting of Jesus as our Savior. God desires a relationship with His people - the Ark reminds us of that!
It's Day number 2 of 25, this year's Advent-ure, exploring symbols that can help us think about Jesus and His coming. Today, a rather large symbol - Ken Ham's ministry just built a life-size replica of it - yes, it's the ARK of Noah. We see the original story beginning in Genesis 6, but I want to go to 1st
Peter chapter 3, where the ark is mentioned in the context of salvation:
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
21 There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
Noah's Ark can remind us of the safety we can experience in the arms of Jesus. And, the security that a young lady is finding through a relationship of obedience to Him can challenge all of us.
She's 18 going on 19, has more than 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, and her channel has garnered 181 million views during a span of over 5 years. Her video channel and blog are about fashion, but her life is about Christ.
Meet Chelsea Crockett, who is part of the cast for a DVD and digital release from PureFlix called, Wish for Christmas. According to a story on the Christian Examiner website, her YouTube bio describes her as a "beauty guru that loves God and makeup," but she wasn't always bold enough to discuss her faith. She told the online publication, "I used to be scared to tackle subjects, but I realized that I have a voice and God gave me this voice for a reason," adding, "And so I'm going to use it."
She says that her channel started after she accessed a video that had been suggested to her, and she discovered an "entire community that had this passion for makeup." She started her own channel.
She relates:
Chelsea adds:
Not only are there security and confidence that we can experience as we obey God, but we also recognize that obedience involves laying down our lives, as a living sacrifice, according to Romans chapter 12. Tomorrow's symbol is that of a Lamb - Jesus, the Lamb of God, came to take upon Himself the sins of the whole world. Abraham saw a glimpse of that perfect sacrifice when, after He was instructed by an angel to lay his only son, Isaac, on the altar as a sacrifice to God, he told his son, according to Genesis 22: "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." Remember, Jesus came to die so that in Him we might live.
Also, think about this: God will test us, as well, to see what's on the inside, how willing we are to trust Him. Abraham's faith was tested, and he was found to be faithful. When we face suffering, we can remember what Jesus suffered for us, and know that we are under the care of a loving God Who was willing to send His only Son so that we might enjoy the blessings and security of obedience.
+++++
It's Day number 2 of 25, this year's Advent-ure, exploring symbols that can help us think about Jesus and His coming. Today, a rather large symbol - Ken Ham's ministry just built a life-size replica of it - yes, it's the ARK of Noah. We see the original story beginning in Genesis 6, but I want to go to 1st
Peter chapter 3, where the ark is mentioned in the context of salvation:
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
21 There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
Noah's Ark can remind us of the safety we can experience in the arms of Jesus. And, the security that a young lady is finding through a relationship of obedience to Him can challenge all of us.
She's 18 going on 19, has more than 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, and her channel has garnered 181 million views during a span of over 5 years. Her video channel and blog are about fashion, but her life is about Christ.
Meet Chelsea Crockett, who is part of the cast for a DVD and digital release from PureFlix called, Wish for Christmas. According to a story on the Christian Examiner website, her YouTube bio describes her as a "beauty guru that loves God and makeup," but she wasn't always bold enough to discuss her faith. She told the online publication, "I used to be scared to tackle subjects, but I realized that I have a voice and God gave me this voice for a reason," adding, "And so I'm going to use it."
She says that her channel started after she accessed a video that had been suggested to her, and she discovered an "entire community that had this passion for makeup." She started her own channel.
She relates:
But as I grew up and grew older I began developing passions for different things. My faith is the No. 1 thing in my life. It used to not be. ... I just continued doing what I was doing but started implementing [faith] into my videos. What I tell people is that I want my channel to be a reflection of who I am, and not necessarily just what I like to do. I have changed so much as a person; you can see that on my channel. It's almost like if you want a journey watching someone actually growing up and finding who they are through Christ, just look at my channel, and you can see that I have completely changed.In a blog post in July, she addressed issues surrounding modesty, saying, "...Your body is meant for His glory. I think that a lot of people think that modesty is just with your clothing, but it's also in the way you speak and in the way you act and in the way you live."
Chelsea adds:
Modesty can be carried out in multiple areas. But with clothing, I try to at least set the example. ... It is tough to talk about, because when I posted that article, I got a lot of hate. In our culture, we're told to, "If you got it, flaunt it." Modesty goes completely against the world. I got a lot of hate on that, but at the same time I realized that that's what's going to happen when you have a completely different set of morals from other people.Here is a young lady who can inspire each of us to be determined to be more obedient to God, and to glorify Him in the manner we conduct ourselves. And, there is security in obedience. Just think about Noah, the first man with whom God made a covenant. Noah was chosen and blessed because of his obedience - not his perfection, but his willingness to follow God. He was instructed to build an ark and admitted into its safety. 1st Peter 3 reminds us of that security which we can have in Christ.
Not only are there security and confidence that we can experience as we obey God, but we also recognize that obedience involves laying down our lives, as a living sacrifice, according to Romans chapter 12. Tomorrow's symbol is that of a Lamb - Jesus, the Lamb of God, came to take upon Himself the sins of the whole world. Abraham saw a glimpse of that perfect sacrifice when, after He was instructed by an angel to lay his only son, Isaac, on the altar as a sacrifice to God, he told his son, according to Genesis 22: "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." Remember, Jesus came to die so that in Him we might live.
Also, think about this: God will test us, as well, to see what's on the inside, how willing we are to trust Him. Abraham's faith was tested, and he was found to be faithful. When we face suffering, we can remember what Jesus suffered for us, and know that we are under the care of a loving God Who was willing to send His only Son so that we might enjoy the blessings and security of obedience.
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