The rainbow

Genesis 9:12 (ESV)

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:

The rainbow is one of the most beautiful meteorological phenomena we can enjoy. Reflected in airborne water droplets, the sun’s rays create an optical miracle.

Growing up I remember seeing a rainbow after a rain shower made me feel happy. I was mostly excited about the fact that the weather was finally getting better and I could do outdoor activities. I still remember after reading the Bible I discovered that the arc of the rainbow signifies much more than simply the end of a spell of bad weather.

The rainbow has to do with the everlasting covenant, or agreement, that God made with all of Noah’s descendants and every living creature on earth after the flood. “Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood.” That was God’s unconditional promise, and the rainbow is God’s beautiful and powerful sign of that promise.

In the Bible we find descriptions of various covenants. All of them foreshadow the ultimate and most important one called the new covenant. Just like the covenant with Noah, the new covenant is an unconditional divine promise. Our Lord Jesus instituted this covenant by his death on the cross. It is a saving covenant of God’s grace, sealing the forgiveness of our sins and God’s special relationship with us.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your new covenant! We trust in Jesus Christ alone for righteousness and the forgiveness of sins. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

A promise your can trust

Psalm 85:7-8 (NIV)

7 Show us your unfailing love, Lord,

    and grant us your salvation.

8 I will listen to what God the Lord says;

    he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—

    but let them not turn to folly.

How many times have you found yourself pushing a grocery cart down supermarket aisles and thought "there must be a better way!"? For most people, the weekly shop is a chore they'd like to avoid. When e-commerce started to boom years ago, the Internet looked like a way to dodge this boring task. Like a lot of other promises of the dot-com era, online grocery shopping hasn't set the world on fire. The struggles of two high-profile US online grocers deflated a lot of the hype. They all had a promising idea: help people avoid the supermarkets and the business would roll in, it was thought. The only problem was that to service these customers, grocers needed to build warehouses and courier systems to get the groceries out to customers which made it hard for companies to pay for all their development programs and still make a profit.

So, another promise of the technology age had fallen on stony ground. Computer technology also promised a paperless office, you certyainly can’t tell by my desk.  These promises, and others like them, lacked the necessary end vision to ensure their success. Not so with the promises of God – designed to support, comfort and assist, and with an end vision. There is that wonderful offer: "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." (2 Pet 1:3,4).

So what can we learn from God’s promises? We can have confidence about the future in these times of global economic uncertainty. We can know that God is faithful. We can know that God has a plan. From the rescue of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt; God’s promise of the arrival of the messenger, John the Baptist; the birth of His son; through to the witness of countless men and women of this present age who have called upon His name, God’s promises are real.

So many promises today fail because they are paper promises – easily given and quickly blown away. Not so the promises of God: "I will bless Thee", Gen. 12:2; "I will not fail Thee", Josh. 1:5; "I will heal Thee", 2 Kings 20:5; "I will satisfy Thee", Ps. 132:15. Within those four promises alone, God promised the birth of a great nation; God promised safety and security and that He would be with them always; God promised healing for Hezekiah; God promised abundant provisions and to satisfy the hungry.

The promises of God are real. They have an end vision. They are not based on what seems on the surface to be a good idea. God does not need warehouses and courier services to deliver those promises. They are not promises based on hype and the prospect of profit. Relying on the promises of God is a better way. Trust Him.

Dear Lord, thank You that we can rely on Your promises. Help us put our trust completely in You and not put our trust in the promises of this world. In Jesus’ Amen, Amen.

How far would you go?

2 Timothy 4:5 (NIV)

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

How far would you go? What would you be willing to do to save somebody's life?

In 1989 over 30,000 people died in an earthquake, which hit Armenia. One father raced to his boy's school and found it had been leveled. Uncertain of what he should do, he stood there. He stood until he remembered a promise he had made: “Son, no matter what, I'll always be there for you.”

The father started digging at the place where his son's classroom had been. Soon other parents arrived. They were also shocked by what they saw, and they sympathized with the man. Still, they needed to be practical. They said common sense things like, “Don't do this to yourself. There's no hope. Try to help where you can make a difference.”

Without stopping, the father asked: “Are you going to help me now?”

What would you have replied? The other parents left and the man kept digging alone.

A policeman came by and warned, “What will happen if you keep digging and the rubble caves in? You'll be caught and then somebody will have to rescue you. Go on home. We can take care of this.”

The head of the fire department arrived. He said, “Trapped gas is causing explosions and fires all over. You're risking your life and those of others. Let the professionals do what they've been trained to do. Go home.”

The father asked them both, “Are you going to help me now?” He ended up digging alone.

What would you have done? If you had stayed to help, how long would you have stayed? The father dug for eight hours. Would you have still been there, by his side? Twelve hours of steady scraping by hand went by. Would you have been there then? Twenty-four hours and the entire day had gone by. The father dug alone.

In the 38th hour, the father moved a large stone and heard his son's voice. “Dad, it's me! I told the other kids not to worry. I told 'em if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, you'd save them. You promised, 'No matter what, I'll always be there for you!' You did it, Dad!”

The father shouted down, “How are you? How is it?”

The son told him, “There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We're scared, hungry, thirsty and glad you're here.”

“Come on out, boy!” the father called down.

“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, I know you'll get me! No matter what, I know you'll be there for me!” All 14 of the children came out. With bleeding hands, the father hugged each of them.

How far would you go to save someone's life?

housands of years ago the Lord made a promise to save His sinful children. It took a long time for that to take place, but God kept His promise in the Person of His Son. For 33 years Jesus did all which needed to be done so we can be saved. He lived, He died, He rose, and sent His Holy Spirit. Now that same Spirit of God searches for the lost. He doesn't give up ... but He asks, “Are you going to help?”

Only you can say how the story will end.

Dear Lord, we give thanks that You have rescued us. Give us the desire to help in the rescue of others in our world that don’t know You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

God's promise

God had repeatedly promised it. Men, women, and angels had long anticipated it. Now, in Jesus, it happens. God is with us. Jesus is Immanuel. We live on a visited planet, touched by the very presence of God among us. And it was just as the prophets of old had said.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."

— Matthew 1:22-23

Dear LORD, thank you for keeping your promises, especially when it was so incredibly costly for you to do so. We want to know you better, O God, not just as someone we study, but as someone we encounter in our daily life. Please make your presence known as we seek you. In Jesus' name, Amen.