Good morning, everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”
Our Bible verse for today: That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth – and their wives.” Genesis 7:13 (NLT)
Our thought for today: “A new way of believing”
In this series of devotional messages, we are learning how it is that sound doctrine leads to strong faith, and that in turn leads us to a whole new way of living. That’s where Paul has been leading us in his letter to the Romans as he has been progressively laying out for us the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. These doctrines then become the firm foundation upon which our strong faith is based.
This does lead us to a whole new way of living (as discussed in yesterday’s devotional) but it grows out of a whole new way of believing. As I have been considering there’s a great Biblical example of it in the life of the man Noah. In Genesis chapters six through eight we learn of how Noah believed God even when he didn’t understand, and he then acted on that faith. At God’s direction Noah spent one hundred years building something that had never existed before (the ark), and for which there didn’t seem to be any practical use (there were no large bodies of water around for hundreds of miles.)
Finally, we read in Genesis 7:13 that when the ark was finished, Noah, his family, and all the animals entered it at God’s direction, and then the flood came. Thanks to his unquestioning faith in God and his willingness to act on and live by that faith, Noah and his family were saved when all others perished.
Noah had sound doctrine (to the extent that he could in the limited understanding of that day), and that sound doctrine led to strong faith which ultimately delivered him and his family from a catastrophe. By doing so he demonstrated for us a new way of living based on a new way of believing – it was unquestioned faith in God.
There’s a practical lesson for us in this. If you want to live your best life, you will need a new way of living, and it comes from a new way of believing. Trust God. Not just a little bit but completely. Without question and in full obedience just do what He has told you to do in the Bible. Live according to His ways, rather than your own. Like Noah, the best place for you and your family to be is right in the center of God’s will.
There is a new way of living that comes from a new way of believing, and it will always lead you to the life God wants for you.
God bless,
Pastor Jim
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
