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Noah Found Grace In The Eyes of The Lord

God is the same gracious God He always had been.

Some think that God was harsh in the Old Testament. But He showed grace then just as much as He does now.

There are instances of grace in the Old Testament. Did you know that?

The key example and even usage of the term is found in Genesis.

Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

Gen 6:8

When the whole world was evil, He spared Noah and his family. And the Bible clearly states that Noah found grace in God’s eyes.

This means that even though God had the right and the power to destroy the entire earth, He chose not to. And He showed mercy to Noah and his family.

And through careful instruction and obedience to God’s commands, Noah would prepare the ark to save his family.

God Saw Fit to save mankind despite nothing but evil mindsets. there was nothing but evil everywhere in the world. You may be able to imagine such a place in your mind’s eye. But I guarantee this world was worse than whatever you can imagine.

Everyone you look at, there is nothing but evil.

What God would have saved a world like that?

A gracious one.

A loving God who was the same then as He always has been.

God is not more gracious now than He was then. He has always been gracious to His people and mankind as a whole.

Daniel’s Excellent Spirit

The Bible teaches us that Daniel excelled because he had an excellent spirit in him. This is undoubtedly speaking about his animating energy. This excellent spirit is his attitude, his character, and how he conducts himself.

“Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm”.

We can have this same excellent spirit and generate similar results to Daniel. We may never be a high-ranking and powerful official in the land, but we will be infinitely more successful if we have excellent spirits. 

Attitude

A good attitude leads to success. This is where it begins. Attitude influences everything we do, but can also be shifted in a moment. Have you ever “snapped out” of a bad mood almost instantly? If you have, then you know it can be done. Knowing something can be done is incredibly valuable. Now all we have to do is figure out how to do it. 

Whatever you do, attempt to shift your thinking to an optimistic mentality. Approach every task as if you can do it. Approach every obstacle as if you could crush it. Maybe you can and maybe you can’t, but your optimistic attitude will propel you farther than a pessimistic attitude will. 

Aura 

Be enjoyable to be around. No one wants to be around a Loser who makes everything around him worse. When you enter a room, make a concerted effort to leave it better than you found it. Give the compliment. Start the conversation. Focus on optimistic outcomes. 

Look Beyond Obstacles 

Don’t let the struggles of the present distract you from what you can accomplish. We mistakenly magnify our struggles, whine about them, and make them much bigger than they should be. But nothing is ever that difficult in the modern world. To think it gives external events more power than they deserve and drains us of our strength. Instead, train your mind to look beyond the moment and into the future. 

Continual Effort 

Focus on the long term. Learn to be patient with and love the process. Deliver the same excellent results day after day and you will be rewarded in the material world. But beyond that, you will gain confidence that you didn’t have before. That sense of value in yourself is worth its weight in gold. 

Professional Efforts

Notice that Daniel became a success in the physical world. This physical success was due in no small part to his spiritual success. Do not let people discourage you from pursuing excellence in your earthly life. We are built to do work with all our might and truly attempt to achieve. It is only those people who want to justify their lack of success who look for moral reasons to avoid work and training. 

Recognition

Daniel’s efforts and successes made the king take note of him. When you do work to the best of your ability, eventually, the best may take note of you. It’s not guaranteed, but you are more likely to be noticed if you are excellent and have an excellent spirit than if you are mediocre in work or attitude. 

Competition  

The workers around Daniel were jealous of him. This is the normal course of events that occurs when you become more and more successful. Your success is a spotlight on the failures and missed opportunities of others around you. 

Humility

Daniel’s success did not make him arrogant. He kept it in perspective. Always placing spiritual things above physical things in a rank of importance. This is critical to remember that in all this success, we must prevent success from becoming an ideal we worship. 

Copy these traits of Daniel and become more successful

The Lord’s Supper: Remembering Christ’s Death and Sacrifice

Introduction

The Lord’s Supper, instituted by Jesus Christ on the night before His crucifixion, is the foundational event behind a solemn observance that we participate in today.

While Christ’s entire life and ministry are significant, the Lord’s Supper is meant to direct our attention specifically to His death and the cost of our redemption.

It is not about celebration.

It is not about the resurrection of Christ.

It is about the death of Christ.

I. Biblical Foundation

A. Christ’s Explicit Instructions

During the Last Supper, Jesus clearly connected the bread and wine to His body and blood:

  • “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19)
  • “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20)



These words pointedly refer to His sacrificial death, not His resurrection or other aspects of His life.

This is incredibly clear.

Christ set two emblems to be used for this practice: one for His body and one for His blood.

Those are the only symbols used in this act of worship.



B. Apostolic Interpretation

The Apostle Paul provides clear guidance about the focus of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:26:

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”


This unambiguously emphasizes that the focus of the Lord’s Supper is on Christ’s death.

Not His resurrection.

Not His ascension.

Not His life.

Not His ministry.

Just His death.

II. Symbolic Significance



A. Elements of the Supper

The bread and wine used in the Lord’s Supper are symbols that Christ used to direct the attention of the disciples (and now ourselves):

  • Bread represents Christ’s broken body
  • Wine represents His shed blood

These elements specifically represent His physical sacrifice on the cross, not His resurrected state or other aspects of His ministry.

This is incredibly clear. With each passage of scripture it becomes clearer.

It becomes clear that the focus of the Lord’s Supper is strictly on His death.



B. Passover Context

Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper during the Passover meal, which itself commemorates deliverance through sacrifice.

This context further emphasizes the focus on Christ’s sacrificial death as the means of our redemption.



III. Theological Implications



A. Reflection on the Cost of Redemption

By focusing on Christ’s death during the Lord’s Supper, our desire to focus on the resurrection or “celebrate” is short-circuited.

We are compelled instead to reflect on:

  • The immense cost of our redemption
  • The gravity of sin
  • The extraordinary lengths to which God went to secure our salvation

What falls away is the desire to make this some happy occurrence.

The sacrifice of Christ was not happy.

While it produced redemption for us, the cross is nothing to celebrate.



B. Proclaiming His Death

Paul’s instruction that we “proclaim the Lord’s death” through this practice emphasizes its public aspect:

  • We declare to the world the central message of the gospel
  • We affirm that Christ died for our sins

Notice that nothing else is involved with this reflection.

We don’t proclaim his resurrection or ascension or even His life.

We proclaim His death.

That’s what the Bible specifically says that we proclaim and that is where the argument stops.

C. Self-Examination

The call to self-examination before partaking (1 Corinthians 11:28) is directly tied to recognizing the significance of Christ’s death:

  • We consider our own sinfulness
  • We acknowledge our need for the redemption provided by His sacrifice

This meditation will shortcircuit our desire to celebrate or ponder the ressurection if we do it correctly.



IV. Maintaining the Focus

While remembering Christ’s resurrection is vital to Christian faith, the specific context and symbolism of the Lord’s Supper point to a focused remembrance of His sacrificial death for our sins.

We can remember the resurrection any other time. We have all week to be joyful about the resurrection. But Christ has set one act of worship that calls us to focus specifically on His death.



A. Honoring Christ’s Instructions

By maintaining this focus, we:

  • Honor Christ’s explicit instructions
  • Preserve the profound meaning of this observance



B. Regular Reminder

The Lord’s Supper serves as a regular, tangible reminder of:

  • The cost of our redemption
  • The depth of God’s love demonstrated through Christ’s sacrifice



Conclusion

The Lord’s Supper stands as a solemn reminder to the central truth of the Christian faith – that Christ died for our sins, securing our redemption through His sacrifice.

We must focus on His death during this act of worship.

Women Take Your Strength

Proverbs 31:3 – “Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings”

What is the Bible talking about when it mentions “giving your strength to women”? The text is almost certainly talking about sexual discipline. Many ancient texts throughout history have taught the importance of controlling one’s sexual drive. As the Bible is the true authority for life, it is even more impactful when a similar teaching is found in the scriptures. 

The lesson of Proverbs 31:3 is quite clear: a man is supposed to control his sexual drive.

The Bible teaches that uncontrolled sexual drive leads to a depletion of strength. 

  • Physical strength
  • Mental strength
  • Emotional strength
  • Spiritual strength
  • Strength of will

All of these are damaged when men mindlessly engage in sex or sex substitutes. 

This is what the Bible means by “do not give you strength to women”.

We know what to do. 

We are told to control our sexual drive. 

We are taught that uncontrolled sexual drive depletes our strength. What are some quick tactics for doing it?

The first step is to maintain a controlled environment. The environment contains triggers that lead to craving which leads to failure. The best way to control yourself is to control your environment. Environmental control is 80% of discipline. Get out of those situations that would lead to temptation:

  • Parties
  • Late night one-on-one interactions with women
  • Late night on the computer. 

Be very selective about the information and media you consume. If you want to walk into a cesspool of lust, log into your social media feed. 

You have to maintain control of what goes into your mind. If you feed your mind lust-producing entertainment, you will make your struggle ten times harder. The sexual urges will be more powerful and will surface more often. You have to cut off the supply at the root. Prevent your mind from being able to generate those cravings in the first place. 

Next, work to fix the parts of your life that are lacking. Uncontrolled sexual drive is often the result of a lack of purpose and other emotional problems. 

Men do not use sex because they want sex. They use it to numb negative feelings in other avenues of their life. Negative feelings exist because we are doing something that is in opposition to our nature. 

If you begin to work on this lack of purpose, the problem of compulsive sexual urges will begin to resolve naturally. This is because many men use sex and pornography as a way to numb emotional pains. These emotional pains are often the result of problems with a man’s day-to-day life.

Identify the problems in your daily life.

Where are the areas of life that are leaving you unsatisfied?
What are you unhappy with in your life?
And What is within your power to fix [almost everything]?
And What are you going to do to fix it?

Many men find that with increased purpose through meaningful work, family, the church, and marriage they can take the high ground against sexual temptation.

Not all of these will be motivating for everyone. For example, I can tell you the church itself does not motivate me to be sexually disciplined. I don’t draw much strength from my local church – which I understand is a problem, but it is a reality at the moment. 

Whatever you can find to draw strength from, use it. Use everything in your arsenal.

Nothing is off-limits. 

Start with these tactics and begin to go to war against lust. 

Drinking Damages Justice

The NKJV quote of Proverbs 31:4-5 is: “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink; lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.”

Key lessons from Proverbs 31:4-5:

1. Abstaining from Alcohol 

The text advises kings and princes to avoid wine and intoxicating drinks. This applies not only to people in high-ranking positions but also to people who rule their own lives. We are all kings over our own lives. We make decisions that impact our immediate and future success.

The same applies when we make decisions for our families. We have to be careful to ensure that our minds are sharp, and in the best possible condition possible or we risk making poor decisions.

Alcohol is one of many ways we blunt the strength of our minds. If you want a guaranteed way to perform worse, think slower, make worse decisions, and damage your mind, choose alcohol. It is great for all those outcomes. 

2. Maintaining Mental Clarity 

In this text, drinking is linked to the risk of forgetting the law. The lesson is clear, a man’s mental facilities are damaged by using alcohol. I don’t think this is a surprise to anyone. Did anyone think that a person’s mental abilities are improved by drinking alcohol? Better decisions are made with a clear mind. Keep your mind clear. 

Otherwise, you may forget the law and cause suffering for those around you. 

3. Preserving Justice 

Sobriety is crucial for leaders to ensure just decisions, safeguarding the rights of the afflicted. The negative effects of alcohol are widespread. This teaching demonstrates that society as a whole can be negatively impacted when a ruler makes poor decisions.

We’ve seen the effects of when immoral men rule in positions of power. It’s also the case that many times they are using drugs to keep them focused and driven and alcohol to keep them relaxed. Their foundation of immorality prevents them from making just decisions at every stage of Justice. 

4. Responsibility of Rulers 

This passage is a teaching for rulers to maintain sobriety. They have a unique responsibility to keep their minds clear when making legal decisions so that justice within a nation is preserved. When a ruler’s mind is unclear, those he rules over suffer. The ruler carries a heavy responsibility to make the best decisions possible for those around him. And good decision-making is the result of clear minds. 

5. Avoiding Moral Pitfalls

Moral problems arise when those in positions of power dilute their mind through the use of alcohol. There is no benefit to a leader who cannot think clearly. At that point, you would be better off having no leader than having a drunk leader. Many modern leaders have difficulty thinking clearly as it is! There is no need to worsen the problem by adding alcohol. 

6. Focus on Legal Principles 

Leaders are meant to concentrate on legal matters and think clearly with their rational minds. This demands that their minds be clear and unaffected by intoxicating compounds like alcohol. So much rests on the mind of a leader. The leader then has the responsibility to keep that mind in perfect working order and firing on all cylinders. 

7. Recognition of Vulnerability 

Leaders are vulnerable to corruption and indulgence. With high-pressure work comes the need for ways to relieve that pressure. Many leaders and modern executives in the world turn to depressants like alcohol. While they use these compounds to relax and destress, they end up adding to the stress in life because they generation so many poor decisions of their own. 

8. Prioritizing Societal Health

The passage implies that leaders must prioritize the greater good of the afflicted over personal indulgences. Something bigger than the leader is at stake. The system of justice within the societal system hangs in the balance of a leader’s clarity of thought. 

9. Wisdom

Leaders are urged to use wisdom in their choices, recognizing the potential impact on the administration of justice. A man can’t be wise while under the influence of a compound. Wisdom demands complete presence of mind. 

The principle of this passage is clear – kings and princes don’t drink. And if it’s good enough for kings and princes to be sober, it’s good enough for us as kings and princes over our own lives and individual family units. 

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