Doubt – Genesis 3:1-7

This passage is about the fall of man.  The Lord had made Adam and Eve, and provided a wonderful world for them to live in.  He asked them not to eat of one particular tree as it would lead to death, and yet we find that in the end, man succumbs to temptation and eats of the tree.

Firstly, why did God put that tree there?  This isn’t covered in my reading, but the question did pop into my head just now!  Thinking back to the beginning, God made man so that man could love God and have a relationship with him.  The thing is, you can’t make somebody love you, or make them want to be with you, therefore God allowed for choice.  If man still then chose not to partake of that tree, then things would still be as they were, and man would be in a permanent loving relationship with the Lord.   Unfortunately, we chose differently.

The daily devotional goes on to highlight how Satan can use the doubt of God and his goodness to draw us into sin:

 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan was trying to convince Eve that God knew that the fruit of this tree would be good for her, but had decided to hold it back from her.  She therefore doubted Gods goodness and eventually took the decision to eat of the fruit on that tree, as did Adam.

You see, when we doubt God’s goodness, we need only look to the cross for confirmation that he really and truly does love us!  He sent his one and only Son to die for our sins so that we may be able to continue in a loving relationship with the father and join him for eternity.  Therefore, don’t consider the current circumstances and convince yourself the God does not understand, or that

God is holding out on you, just remember the Cross!

God Loves You!

Obedience

Today Stuart challenged us to think about the things that we don’t always want to think about or discuss.  The word Obedience is one of them!  We first looked at how we have never needed to be taught to be dis-obedient!

Yes, my daughter aged 1 knows very well how to be dis-obedient!  It was described really well like this:  Any one born from a human father inherits the original sin of Adam back in the Garden of Eden.  That’s why it comes to naturally!  This also explains why Jesus was able to be on earth, without Sin and be the perfect sacrifice for our Sin as he, although born of a human woman, was the son of God!

Once we determined where dis-obedience stems from, we moved on to look at reasons that we should be obedient to Gods word and do as he wishes.

We looked at several verses (and I wish I had noted them down, I will probably ask for them) that described it as the desire to do Gods will, to be obedient.  I can’t describe exactly how Stuart put it, but will explain what I understood:

When we are born again as Christians, we accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.  It is the GIFT of God!  We did not earn it!  This of course does not mean we should then continue to live for ourselves.

Living for Christ, and being obedient to him, allows us to lead fulfilled lives, allows us to grow a strong relationship with him, as well as allowing us to do his will, including bringing others to the Lord.  I have never met anyone in my life whom has lived for themselves, and could tell me that they were truly happy.  And from my experience, when I have lived for myself and been dis-obedient, I have been miserable!  When you accept the Lord into your life, he sends the gift of his Holy Spirit who convicts your heart, and makes his desires your desires!

Before I was saved I could sin and feel no remorse!  Now if I sin, I immediately feel terrible and seek the Lords forgivness for it is our hearts desire to be obedient, to do his will, to reach the lost, and to be fulfilled.

Stuart also pointed out that although we are saved we are still to be judged, therefore if we are saved yet don’t live for him, we will still feel some loss when we reach heaven and realise there were blessings we could have benefited from!

In a nutshell, being obedient to his will allows us to grow and to be used for his glory.   And store up those blessings in heaven as you can’t take your possessions with you!