Perfected in His Presence (April's Words of Wisdom)

April WOW

Genesis 6:8-9

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. (NAST)

coffee hour at Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me today, a special day: the very last day for my very last blog . . . Just kidding; April fools!  Grab your coffee and come on in for our monthly words of wisdom and weapons of warfare, definitely needed to keep us armed and alert.
So I’ve changed the title of this one three times and wasn’t sure what I was supposed to share and then when I stopped thinking, it came to me. Why is that? Because He requires us to be still . . . and that includes our minds.
I’m not sure if it’s menopause or all I’ve been going through since our last event, or a combination thereof, but from the outside looking in, whew, I must say I scare myself. Have you ever walked into a room and smelled a bad odor – I think they used to call it B.O. – only to discover it’s you? :) And if it weren’t for this women’s Bible study I’m participating in right now, I think I’d be tempted to pick up my broom and fly far off so as not to turn people away! I just haven’t been myself lately. Have you ever felt like that?
I’m so glad He sees you and me differently. Want to know how I know? It says so right there in Genesis 6, Verses 8-9. I have skimmed over this portion of scripture in the past and don’t recall this speaking to me like it has recently. I’m sure it’s because of the women’s Bible study I’m in called A Woman’s Heart, God’s Dwelling Place by Beth Moore. It’s a study of the tabernacle, and one of the definitions is “dwelling place.” Now put the “heart” and “dwelling place” together and what do you have? His home! Doesn’t that give you goose bumps? There is so many diamonds to dig for in His Love Letters and Lessons to us and for us, and as we dig, He makes His dwelling place.

Anyway, I can’t just jump right in the middle of the story here, and I certainly don’t mean to play theological hopscotch with you, but our WOW, and a couple of verses preceding it, raise a few questions, at least for me. In order to get them answered accordingly, we need to rewind and get the picture of where we are in scripture. I pray that as we explore together, you and I will find things that speak the reality of His love for us.

Creation beckons us . . .

Come exploring with me back to the beginning of creation, well, not the very beginning, but almost. Creation is alive and so is sin, sin of every kind, utter and complete despicable universal wickedness. In fact, that is what God Himself called it when He looked down upon His creation. Verse 5 says that “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Talk about regrets!
Let’s get our shovels and look at that last statement, about thoughts of the heart. See, one of the definitions in the Hebrew concordance for heart states that the heart is the seat for the mind. In other words, sin begins in the mind, the thought process. Some thought processes are fleeting and incredibly quick, and others are more pre-meditated. I just discovered that the use of the word “wickedness” in verse 5 also refers to thoughts as well as actions.
The reason that’s important in establishing before we move on to our WOW is so you will see the significance of how He sees us as He does and why.
Finish up our time today with remembering when you’ve had a time of intense regret. What did you do with that regret?
Join me tomorrow for the continuation of our words of wisdom.
Evinda