While in my family’s game room this past week, I continued to see God help me dream about ways to love others during this time of distance. As some of you know, I have been having the privilege of leading a girls ministry monthly since this past July. God birthed Cultivate as a part of my assignment of being faithful in all things this freshman year at home. You can read more about the beginning and ministry of Cultivate here.
One of the ideas God gave me to still connect with girls while we cannot meet physically was sending out weekly devotions. I saved about seven “gifs” off of Instagram that Jesus used to help inspire the messages of the devotionals. The first devotion is on Noah from the Bible. Instead of just sending out super long text messages to the girls in my ministry, I really wanted to share the messages on here with you too! It was honestly crazy that my pastor spoke on Noah yesterday in his online message. I took that as confirmation for the words coming to you today! While the style of these Bible study posts may look different from our usual chats and stories of God’s faithfulness, I pray they breathe hope into you!
GENESIS 6-8 CSB WITH * DEVOTIONAL NOTES
CHAPTER 6
6 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves. 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.
Judgment Decreed
5 When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time,
*Wickedness was widespread. The people who lived in Noah’s day had evil thoughts.
6 the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.
*God was deeply grieved with the ways His created humans were living in sin.
*Have you ever regretted making or doing something?
*Jesus looked at mankind and saw a picture that was not His initial vision of or for us. His heart is grieved over the ways we live in sin over spending time with Him.
7 Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” 8 Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.
*Out of all the people living, a man named Noah found favor with the Lord.
*I once heard that FAVOR means demonstrated delight. An example of favor is seeing God bless someone in ways they could not imagine.
*Jesus’ mother Mary was favored by God (Luke 1:28-33). A common theme of people favored by God is that they are righteous before God, walk in His Word, and live pure lives (Luke 1:6).
God Warns Noah
9 These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
*Noah was righteous and blameless.
*Someone who is blameless lives free in God’s love not taking for granted God’s forgiveness. They are constantly asking God to purify them of sin and make them clean.
*How can we find favor with the Lord like Noah did?
- focus on living to please God above all else
- rid our lives (through Jesus) of sins that hinder our fellowship with God
- walk with God daily in relationship
Practical Applications:
- read and study the Bible
- talk to God in prayer
- worship Jesus in song and whatever you do
*I love that God’s Word says Noah was “blameless among his contemporaries.” Noah did not blend in with the crowd. He didn’t let the evil around him define his choices.
*Are you standing out and shining with God in the midst of darkness around you?
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.
*The things happening on earth are not hidden from God’s sight.
*God and evil are not friends. God is holy and perfect. He hates sin. It hurts His heart seeing people do bad things that hurt them and stand in the way of right relationship with Jesus.
*In different ways, God removes darkness from the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.
14 “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. 15 This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.
17 “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. 19 You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive. 21 Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.” 22 And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.
*Jesus gives His children instructions to follow to be saved from His judgment on the world. He gave Noah detailed instructions on building the ark that would protect his family during the flood. God used Noah to protect animal life too.
*WHO IS GOD ASKING YOU TO REACH OUT TO AND INVITE TO JOIN THE FAMILY OF GOD?
SOMETIMES WE GET ON A ROLL WITH INVITING PEOPLE TO CHURCH AND GROUPS.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE ACTUALLY INVITED SOMEONE TO JESUS?
^that is convicting!
HOW ARE YOU TAKING CARE OF THE PEOPLE THAT GOD SENDS TO YOU?
*Noah did everything God commanded him to do.
-HOW ARE YOU CURRENTLY DISOBEYING GOD?
-IN WHAT WAYS CAN YOU FOLLOW GOD BETTER?
CHAPTER 7
7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation.
*GOD SEES THOSE WHO DO EVIL, BUT HE ALSO SEES YOU STANDING OUT AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
2 You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals, and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, 3 and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky—in order to keep offspring alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing I have made I will wipe off the face of the earth.” 5 And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. 7 So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters. 8 From the clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and every creature that crawls on the ground, 9 two of each, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, just as God had commanded him. 10 Seven days later the floodwaters came on the earth.
*All water broke out and fell down for 40 days and 40 nights.
The Flood
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the vast watery depths burst open, the floodgates of the sky were opened, 12 and the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On that same day Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, entered the ark, along with Noah’s wife and his three sons’ wives. 14 They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, all the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, every flying creature—all the birds and every winged creature—according to their kinds. 15 Two of every creature that has the breath of life in it came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 Those that entered, male and female of every creature, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
*The Lord shut Noah, his family, and the certain animals in the ark!
*We have experienced outbreaks in our world today. Many of us find ourselves shut inside of our homes.
*PROVISION AND PROTECTION COMES FROM GOD ALONE.
17 The flood continued for forty days on the earth; the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. 18 The water surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
*Do you realize that as a favored daughter or son of God, you do not have to drown in the events that are consuming the world. God is your boat. Go seek refuge, safety, and protection in HIM. Use this time to cuddle up close to your Father.
*Noah and his family were floating safely while the rest of the world and all who lived in it drowned and died! Don’t you think Noah and his family was curious about what their lives would look like after coming out of the flood?
19 Then the water surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. 20 The mountains were covered as the water surged above them more than twenty feet. 21 Every creature perished—those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm on the earth, as well as all mankind. 22 Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils—everything on dry land died. 23 He wiped out every living thing that was on the face of the earth, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. 24 And the water surged on the earth 150 days.
CHAPTER 8
8 God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside.
*GOD DID NOT FORGET HIS PEOPLE WHO HAD WEATHERED THE FLOOD.
*I BELIEVE A CURE OF THE CURRENT DISEASE WE ARE SEEING IS GOD’S PEOPLE STAYING FAITHFUL TO HIM AND PRAYING BOLD PRAYERS FOR OURSELVES, OUR HOMES, AND OUR LAND. GOD HEARS THE CRIES OF HIS RIGHTEOUS CHILDREN LIVING TO PLEASE HIM.
2 The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped. 3 The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the water had decreased significantly. 4 The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
*There was a process full of expectancy waiting to see the flood waters come down.
5 The water continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. 6 After forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, 7 and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, 9 but the dove found no resting place for its foot. It returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought it into the ark to himself. 10 So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. 11 When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down. 12 After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but it did not return to him again. 13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.
*The bird who brought Noah an olive leaf back has always stood out to me. The first bird <raven> sent out did not bring anything back to Noah. He just flew around back and forth. The second bird <dove> went out on a mission, found no place to rest, and flew back to the ark. Noah sent the same dove back out 7 days later after the first journey. On the second time sent out, the little bird found a sign of life-an olive leaf! He or she (the bird) returned back to Noah bearing the good news.
*GOD HAS SENT YOU AND I OUT INTO THE EARTH ON A DIVINE MISSION. ARE WE SEEKING OUT JESUS’ LIFE ON EARTH, SHARING IT WITH THOSE WHO NEED HOPE, AND REPORTING GOOD RESULTS TO GOD MAKING HIM PROUD?
The Lord’s Promise
15 Then God spoke to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the earth—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
*God has no limits. He was not scared by the fact that Noah’s family alone made up the entire human population. THOSE FEW PEOPLE COULD DO MIGHTY THINGS IN SPREADING OUT. He wanted the pairs to grow and produce new life. The world would grow from them.
*How have you been viewing this time where everyone is spread out?
WILL YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD CAN, WILL, AND IS USING THIS FOR GOOD?
HOW ARE YOU BEARING FRUIT FOR GOD’S KINGDOM WITH THE PEOPLE PLACED INSIDE OF YOUR HOUSE?
18 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. 19 All the animals, all the creatures that crawl, and all the flying creatures—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark by their families.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.
22
As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night
will not cease.”
*Noah worshipped God and offered things to Him after the worldwide flood event was over.
*God created the rainbow as a sign that He makes covenant with us (Genesis 9:12-17).
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO LIVE DIFFERENTLY IN LOVING GOD BETTER ONCE OUR ACTIVE SCHEDULES RESUME?
Undeniably His 