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Unstoppable

Words of Faith Final

Unstoppable
Words of Faith 2-18-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 8
     [13] By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. [14] By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
     [15] Then God said to Noah, [16] "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. [17] Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you--the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground--so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."
    [18] So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. [19] All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds--everything that moves on the earth--came out of the ark, one kind after another.
    [20] Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. [21] The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
     [22] "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."
 
      Several years ago, we were on a trip to Israel when things were tense in Bethlehem. We took our group to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem only to find that it was very crowded. The Palestinian Authority Police were supervising the Church and monitoring the long line of visitors waiting to see the little cave that traditionally marks the birthplace of Christ.
      We did not have the hours necessary to wait and see the cave, so we moved our group to one side of the altar area, and I read the story of Jesus' birth to the group. When I finished reading, the group began to sing very softly "Silent Night." There we were huddled in the midst of hundreds of people being watched by "the authorities" as we sang this beloved carol of birth.
      After a couple of verses, we suddenly heard a loud banging noise. I was startled and looked up to see a rather officious man on the altar platform banging a huge stick on the floor. He then shouted: "You can't pray! You can't pray!"  Apparently, he did not want any impromptu worship services starting up.
       I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I thought, "There is one thing you cannot keep us from doing right now, and that is praying!"  The man seemed to sense his inability to control our worship and demanded that we leave. I have always remembered this as the day we were thrown out of the birthplace of Jesus.
        I have had many thoughts about that day. I reflect on how there was no welcome for Mary, Joseph, and the baby in this same town. The political volatility today greatly mirrors the turmoil at the time of Christ's birth. But most of all, I realized that genuine worship cannot be controlled, dictated, or prevented.
        Noah and his family left the ark when commanded by the Lord. It had been one year and seventeen days since they had been outside. You can bet that they were eager to be on dry land! Can you imagine trying to get your "land legs" after a voyage like that?
       The very first thing that Noah did was to worship the Lord God. He built an altar and sacrificed some of the clean animals God had commanded to be brought along. This was pleasing to the Lord.
       Interestingly, everything Noah did before this came in response to the command of God. But this act of worship came from the heart. Noah did not have to be told what to do. There was nothing else to do!
       Worship is basically the only response to salvation. There is nothing else to do. In a sense, Noah could not help himself. He could not have been stopped from worshiping. The banging of a stick or shouting of authorities would have made no difference. This worship was going to happen. Are we not the same?
        Later in the history of God's dealing with people, He would give careful instruction regarding the manner of worship. But the heart of worship is a heart of gratitude. The heart of worship flows from the experience of salvation. We come through the waters to stand in safety, and we worship. There is nothing else to do.

        Lord, I worship You. I worship You. I give thanks for Your mighty acts of salvation. I give thanks for Your gracious watch over me. I praise You and magnify Your Holy name. In Jesus' name.
 
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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.