September 20 | Genesis 9:1-17 |

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DAILY READING

Genesis 9:1-17

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REFLECTION

Rainbows and Butterflies

by David Thompson

If you are anything like me, you remember the covenant with Abraham where God said he would make Abraham "a great nation." It is considered the first covenant between God and man and showed the beginnings of what we see later as Grace. Then in our quick thinking, we fast forward to Moses and the beginnings of the Mosaic Law which brought many regulations to the Israelites, but it also brought us the 10 Commandments. Then we might move to Christ and what He did for us on the cross (The New Covenant). However, a careful reading of Genesis chapter 9 would show us that the first covenant after the fall of Adam and Eve was with Noah and his family. We see a covenant that many overlook or at least looked at it only for the "never going to bring complete destruction to the humans again" part.

A careful look at chapter 9:5 and 6a shows a promise that we most likely would think about as a Leviticus verse (all judgement and no mercy). It says, "And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed." Oh, my, God demands an accounting.

However, on the softer side, to backup His earlier claim not to destroy the whole earth again, He creates a rainbow in the sky that will show every time there is a rain. He states, "Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

I am touched by the seeming "justice at all costs" mentality of the Old Testament and Old Covenant. I am so grateful to be living in the New Testament and New Covenant world where Grace reigns supreme. Thanks to Jesus, we are freed from the Old Covenant. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast."

PRAYER

Dear God, thank you for the history lesson of the testaments. A lot can be learned by either one. However, we are so grateful for your "New Covenant" that positionally has us saved through our belief in your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

SEPTEMBER 19 | GENESIS 4:1-16|

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DAILY READING

Genesis 4:1-16

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REFLECTION

Read Until You Worship

by Judy Webb

The title for this site is called Daily Worship, and there is a reason for that. Daily Worship happens when we open God’s Word and read. Read until you worship. Every book in God’s Word provides space and inspiration to worship Him. For instance, take today’s scripture reading from Genesis 4:1-16. This is the story of worship: one man’s acceptable worship and another’s unacceptable worship.

“Then the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6-7)

So, what’s the difference? Abel had a good heart, he was generous and thankful for all God had given him, so he gave back to God from his best. Cain’s offering was just the opposite. How can we know if our worship is pleasing to God or not? It seems these two offerings reflected the heart. Abel’s offering, made in faith, was from a pure desire to worship God in Spirit and Truth.

Cain’s offering was the opposite. We don’t know exactly what his issue was, but study reveals that pride played a role in the entire scenario. When Cain understood that his offering was not acceptable he became angry and violent. This anger, rooted in pride was Cain's undoing. In verse 9, God gave Cain the chance to repent and confess.

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

This story of Cain and Abel teaches us a valuable lesson about living with sincerity. Not only our actions, but our attitudes matter to God. We must learn to handle rejection, accept responsibility for one another—especially in issues of poverty and injustice. Strive for genuine worship, reconciliation and redemption.

PRAYER

Dear Lord,

Teach us to Worship you each day. Prompt us to open the Word and dig deep for that special Word you have for us each morning. What a great way to begin a day, communicating with your Son, and seeking His truth. Help us understand that without You as our Master, we will be slaves to sin. Amen.

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AUTHOR BIO

JUDY WEBB

I have been a member of UALC for 26 years and have been writing devotions for this site for about 17 of them. Writing is my passion. As retired staff I still love everything about UALC and its members including my small group.

Sept. 18 | Genesis 3:21-24 |

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DAILY READING

Genesis 3:21-24

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REFLECTION

Paradise Lost

by David Thompson

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be totally innocent? That was what Adam and Eve were. They had it all; a place to live, all the food they needed, a land that didn't need weeding and all they had to do all day was to enjoy each other and name animals.

This passage opens up with God making clothing for the two rebellious beings that He had created. It showed that the life of Adam and Eve had changed forever. They now knew good and evil and would never be perfect and innocent again.

This reminds me of a similar time back in 1967. My brother who was three years older decided that I couldn't go to 7th grade and not know swear words. He proceeded to teach me as many as he knew and even shared when it would be a good time to use such words. I had never heard those words, but from that day forward, they have been swirling around in my head. My innocence was lessened, and to this day, I remember those words and unfortunately at least think them when I feel I have been unfairly wronged.

The passage goes on and we find Adam and Eve banished from the beautiful garden and were sentenced to hard work and painful childbirth. They had lost all the wonderful advantages of life due to not following God's simple command to not eat from a single tree. They were tempted by the serpent and unfortunately they gave into the temptation.

How often now that we're in a world of good and evil are we impacted by the sin of Adam and Eve. I watch channel 10 news and every day the lead story is about someone who killed another, robbed another or made a bad choice and drove drunk and killed an innocent person. Our world is a bit of a mess and it can be traced back to a single poor choice in the Garden of Eden.

Luckily for us we have Jesus and He acts as an arbitrator between God and man. You see God can't look upon sin. If we think about a sin we have committed and have asked forgiveness for, we can say to God, remember when I messed up? He says no as Jesus took all of our sin on the cross. Unfortunately the ultimate paradise was lost that awful day, but thank God we have an advocate with the father to take our sins and cast them as far as the east is from the west.

PRAYER

Lord God, I am so sorry that due to bad choices many thousands of years ago that you had to sacrifice your only Son, so we would not perish and will have eternal life. I so look forward to Heaven where once again we will have that paradise back. Amen.