Jo’s Place

​ God Confirms His Covenant - the Rainbow  🌈   Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply.  Fill the earth.  All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror… I have placed them in your power.  I have given them to you for food, …just as I have given you grain and vegetables.  But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.  “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life.  If a wild animal kills a person,  it  must die.  And anyone who murders a fellow human must die.  If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands.  For God made human beings in His own image.  Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”  Then God told Noah and his sons,  “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on t

​ The Flood Recedes …God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat.  He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede.  The underground waters stopped flowing, and the torrential rains from the sky were stopped.  So the floodwaters gradually receded from the earth.  After 150 days, exactly five months from the time the flood began, the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.  Two and a half months later, as the waters continued to go down, other mountain peaks became visible.  After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat and released a raven.  The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up.  He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground.  But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground.  So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside.  After waiting a

The Flood Covers the Earth When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, …for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous.  Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others.  Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird.  There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood.  Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth.  And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”  So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.  Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth.  He went on board the boat to escape the flood—he and his wife and his sons and their wives.  With them were all the various kinds of animals—those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those t

The Story of Noah In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.  The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.  So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth.  It broke his heart.  And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth.  "Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky.  "I am sorry I ever made them.”  But Noah found favor with the Lord.  This is the account of Noah and his family.  Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.  Noah was the f

​ The Descendants of Adam: a World Gone Wrong This is the written account of the descendants of Adam.  When God created human beings, He made them to be like Himself.  He created them male and female, and He blessed them and called them “human.”  When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image.  He named his son Seth.  After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters.  Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.  When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh.  After the birth of Enosh, Seth lived another 807 years, and he had other sons and daughters.  Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.  When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan.  After the birth of Kenan, Enosh lived another 815 years, and he had other sons and daughters.  Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.  When Kenan was 70 years old, he became the father of Mahalalel.  After the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan

God’s Judgment of Sin You may think you can condemn (sinful) people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse!  When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things.  And we know that God, in His justice, will punish anyone who does such things.  Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?  Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you?  Does this mean nothing to you?  Can’t you see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?  But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself.  For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.  He will judge everyone according to what they have done.  He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality

​ God’s Good News May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.  Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith, in Him, is being talked about all over the world.  God knows how often I pray for you.  Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about His Son.  One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you.  For I long to visit you, so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.  When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.  I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now.  I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles.  For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized

​ God’s Anger at Sin But God shows His anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.  They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them.  For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky.  Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature.  So they have no excuse for not knowing God.  Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks.  And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like.  As a result, their minds became dark and confused.  Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.  And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.  So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.  As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.  They traded

The Lord is My Shepherd… This is a Psalm of David ———————————- The Lord is my shepherd;  I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures;  He leads me beside the still waters… (Where) He restores my soul;  He leads me in the paths of righteousness  …For His name's sake.  Because those of us who do what is right come to the light so others can see that what we are doing is what God wants. …and so, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;  …For You are with me (Father);  Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me…  (You discipline me and You protect me) For I know the plans that You have for me, Lord, plans of peace and not of evil, plans to give me a future and a hope.  Now I call upon You and pray to You, and You listen to me.  I seek You and I find You, because I search for You with all my hearts.  You have brought me back from my captivity;  Now, You will gather us from all the nations and from all the places where You have allowed

​ Habakkuk’s Prayer This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:  I have heard all about You, Lord.  I am filled with awe by Your amazing works.  In this time of our deep need,  help us again, as You did in those years gone by...  And in Your anger,  remember Your mercy.  I see God moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran.  His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with His praise.  His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise.  Rays of light flash from His hands,  where His awesome power is hidden.  Pestilence marches before Him;  plague follows close behind.  When He stops,  the earth shakes.  When He looks,  the nations tremble.  He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills.  He is the Eternal One!  I see the people of Cushan in distress, and the nation of Midian trembling in terror.  Was it in anger, Lord, that You struck the rivers and parted the sea?  Were You displeased with them?  No, You were sending