Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every
clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar –
Genesis 8:20
He begins well who begins with God – Matthew Henry
The first thing Noah did upon leaving the arc was to worship
God.
According to survival books, the primary concern for humans is food,
shelter, and clothing, but Noah chose to stop and acknowledge from Whom his
existence was found.
Man has changed little from Noah's day (Gen. 8:21).
From the time we’re born we are self-centered and prone to sin. Perhaps that’s
why so many of us no longer feel the need to set aside time each week to
worship God.
What better way to begin each week than with a group of people
who are heaven bent on serving their Creator?
Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the
sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy
to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
– Nehemiah 8:10
Des and I recently returned from a trip celebrating our
twenty ninth marriage anniversary. While perusing the local arts and crafts in
a Caribbean market, we were lamenting the fact that neither of us remembered to
bring a bible. (Well, actually, I thought that I’d downloaded a bible app but
as it turned out it didn’t work) One of the artists overheard our conversation
and immediately handed us her pocket New Testament saying, “Here honey, take
mine!” Of course we protested but she insisted; so, we gratefully accepted her
gift and asked for her name so that we could record the moment in the front of
the bible. She smiled and said, “Joy, my name is Joy!”Immediately Des and I exchanged knowing
glances as we simultaneously blurted out, “JOY!”
You see, the night before Des and I left for the trip, our
home bible study group was in a deep discussion regarding how the Thessalonian
believers experienced joy in the midst of their trials. Someone spoke up and
said, “I think we should all come back next week with a verse from the bible
that talks about joy. Then, we can each share it, telling what we think God is
saying in the verse and what makes it special to us.” Everyone thought that
this sounded like a great idea, so our “no homework” bible study group assigned
themselves homework with, well…joy!
As it turned out, Des and I returned from vacation the day
of the next scheduled small group study. We couldn’t wait to hear how God had
worked in the hearts of our little gang and of course share our remarkable
experience with Joy.
Here’s a list of verses
from some of our team members:
Des, Psalm 71:23
Gail, John 15:11
Marie, Romans 15:13
Kathleen, Isaiah 35:1-2
Shelly, Job 33:36
We all rejoiced in the passages that each person offered,
and the insights provided. Truth be known, we could’ve ended the bible study
right after this time of sharing, but we pressed on and found ourselves with
another homework assignment.
Each one of us will try to return with a scripture reading about
the unchanging goodness of God in times of trouble.
Des and I saw God’s goodness everywhere on our recent trip;
but, none more clearly than when our blunder became God’s blessing.
Father God
heard our hearts cry to hear His voice and He provided by showing us the face of Joy.
Here’s a link to an early 90’s song by Twila Paris titled “The
Joy of the Lord” that may help bring joy on your journey.
