Have you ever made a mistake? Perhaps, it was a little tiny mistake, or a giant mistake that delivered great consequences to you.
We all make mistakes.
Have you ever thought that you heard God, only to find out you may have missed the point of His direction? You may have wandered off the path He set you on, and you find yourself lost and things are not going well for you.
Do we ever take what God has spoken in His Word (the Bible) or directly to our spirits and twist it to meet our own needs?
Once again, I am guilty of this. Let's face it, as people we want to hear what we want to hear! We don't want to hear things that are difficult or challenging to us. We want life to be easy. We want to find happiness without trial or suffering. We want the quickest way to achieve our goals. Why wait?
Perhaps, God has a plan in all of the waiting, and the trials. Maybe...God is working out something in our lives that we cannot comprehend at this current moment in time. Maybe, God's plans for us are good and He is attempting to prosper us, but our impetuous nature gets in the way. We are selfish and impatient with God. We want it...and we want it NOW!
Look back in the Bible to the Garden of Eden. One fateful day, Eve shows that she is exactly like us. She has been told not to eat from a certain tree in the garden, but she doesn't seem to fully understand the direction she has been given by God (a command, for that matter). He just tells her "DON'T DO IT!"
Like any parent knows, children are given guidance and direction (even commands) from parents to NOT do many things. Children will ask "Why?" and parents simply answer, "Because I said so."
God tells Adam and Eve, "Don't eat from that tree. It's forbidden (paraphrasing)."
One day, temptation comes along in the form of a serpent. He says, "Did GOD really say you couldn't eat from this tree?"
Eve begins to doubt what God has told her. Her mind quickly analyzes the situation (the current circumstances) and she thinks, surely...God did not mean what He said. I will not die! God was just playing around. God was just being overly zealous in His commands to me. God can't possibly mean that He doesn't want me to do this. The fruit looks so good and delicious!
How can such a good thing possibly be harmful to me?
Flash forward...a young woman is working at restaurant and a handsome man walks in. Just before coming to work that day, she and her husband of just one year had a major fight over money issues. Her husband has a part-time job, but is looking for a full-time job at the moment after finishing college. She is a waitress and the handsome man, dressed in an expensive suit, is directed to one of her tables. Immediately upon sitting down, while taking the drink order, he begins to compliment her on how beautiful she is, and he asks her why she is working at a small restaurant when she could be so much more...she waits on him throughout the meal and he constantly compliments her and flirts with her. At the end of the meal, he leaves her a giant tip, and his phone number on the receipt.
The young woman is a Christian who has devoted her life to following Jesus and obeying His commands. She knows the sanctity of marriage and she loves her young husband, but she is angry with him over the fact that they are financially struggling. He is not providing the way she had hoped when they got married. There is pressure and strain in their new marriage.
The handsome man is a stock-broker. He seems to be doing quite well financially. Surely, his wife or girlfriend would not want for anything. He would take good care of her.
She is tempted.
Later that night, while her husband is sleeping, she calls the number on the receipt. The handsome man answers the phone and says, "Hey sweetie, I was hoping to hear from you. Let's meet up after work tomorrow--I'll take you to a nice restaurant and we'll just talk--you seem like you have a lot on your mind." He is the serpent in disguise.
Did God really say not to lust after someone other than your spouse? It's just one dinner--it's perfectly harmless. He just wants to be my friend, and my husband rarely talks to me (the woman thinks to herself). He CARES about me.
This is the serpent, with the fruit from the forbidden tree, in the Garden of Eden--except now this happens every day, all over the world. Sin is the forbidden fruit and it looks good to eat, but the result of eating it--DEATH!
Two months later after their fateful meeting, she is sneaking out every chance she gets to meet with her handsome prince. She is ignoring her husband, leaving him at home. Suddenly, she finds out she is pregnant--but which man is the father? Her husband or her lover? The consequences of sin are great. She has stopped going to church, reading her Bible or praying. She is caught up in a web of deceit, lying and pain.
She meets with her handsome lover and tells him the love affair is over. She is going back to her husband and begging for His forgiveness. The lover tells her, "You can't go. You're mine now. If you go, I will hurt you." It's a trap, devised by the devil himself to keep her from returning to the arms of a loving husband--one who she surely knows wants to forgive her--if she will just repent of her sinful behavior.
As she tells the handsome lover that she is leaving, he reaches out and grabs her arm, leaving quite a bruise as evidence of the struggle. She returns home, weeping and lamenting what she has done. She goes to her husband and says, "We need to talk. I've done some really bad things. I'm sorry for all the pain I have caused you and the way I have betrayed you. Please take me back."
Her loving husband looks her in the eye and says, "I already know what you have been doing. I've just been waiting for you to come back to me. I wasn't going to let go of you. You're my wife and I love you. If you're sorry for what you have done, I forgive you completely and will remember this no more."
Instead of blaming others for our temptations, we need to fall on our knees with weeping and sorrow for the sins we have committed and turn back to the One who truly loves us, and will always forgive us for all sin. In the Garden, when God confronted Adam and Eve about their sinful behavior, they began to blame--Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent was punished for what he had done. However, Adam and Eve did not escape without consequences of their sin--but God went with them and would never leave them nor forsake them. He clothed them with skin and took care of them--even in their sinfulness. His love was stronger than death, and it's stronger than any sin we can commit today.
He will always take us back, with love and forgiveness...and that is the true meaning of GRACE.
Genesis 3:1-13 (NASB)
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden '?" 2The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" 4The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" 10He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." 11And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
We all make mistakes.
Have you ever thought that you heard God, only to find out you may have missed the point of His direction? You may have wandered off the path He set you on, and you find yourself lost and things are not going well for you.
Do we ever take what God has spoken in His Word (the Bible) or directly to our spirits and twist it to meet our own needs?
Once again, I am guilty of this. Let's face it, as people we want to hear what we want to hear! We don't want to hear things that are difficult or challenging to us. We want life to be easy. We want to find happiness without trial or suffering. We want the quickest way to achieve our goals. Why wait?
Perhaps, God has a plan in all of the waiting, and the trials. Maybe...God is working out something in our lives that we cannot comprehend at this current moment in time. Maybe, God's plans for us are good and He is attempting to prosper us, but our impetuous nature gets in the way. We are selfish and impatient with God. We want it...and we want it NOW!
Look back in the Bible to the Garden of Eden. One fateful day, Eve shows that she is exactly like us. She has been told not to eat from a certain tree in the garden, but she doesn't seem to fully understand the direction she has been given by God (a command, for that matter). He just tells her "DON'T DO IT!"
Like any parent knows, children are given guidance and direction (even commands) from parents to NOT do many things. Children will ask "Why?" and parents simply answer, "Because I said so."
God tells Adam and Eve, "Don't eat from that tree. It's forbidden (paraphrasing)."
One day, temptation comes along in the form of a serpent. He says, "Did GOD really say you couldn't eat from this tree?"
Eve begins to doubt what God has told her. Her mind quickly analyzes the situation (the current circumstances) and she thinks, surely...God did not mean what He said. I will not die! God was just playing around. God was just being overly zealous in His commands to me. God can't possibly mean that He doesn't want me to do this. The fruit looks so good and delicious!
How can such a good thing possibly be harmful to me?
Flash forward...a young woman is working at restaurant and a handsome man walks in. Just before coming to work that day, she and her husband of just one year had a major fight over money issues. Her husband has a part-time job, but is looking for a full-time job at the moment after finishing college. She is a waitress and the handsome man, dressed in an expensive suit, is directed to one of her tables. Immediately upon sitting down, while taking the drink order, he begins to compliment her on how beautiful she is, and he asks her why she is working at a small restaurant when she could be so much more...she waits on him throughout the meal and he constantly compliments her and flirts with her. At the end of the meal, he leaves her a giant tip, and his phone number on the receipt.
The young woman is a Christian who has devoted her life to following Jesus and obeying His commands. She knows the sanctity of marriage and she loves her young husband, but she is angry with him over the fact that they are financially struggling. He is not providing the way she had hoped when they got married. There is pressure and strain in their new marriage.
The handsome man is a stock-broker. He seems to be doing quite well financially. Surely, his wife or girlfriend would not want for anything. He would take good care of her.
She is tempted.
Later that night, while her husband is sleeping, she calls the number on the receipt. The handsome man answers the phone and says, "Hey sweetie, I was hoping to hear from you. Let's meet up after work tomorrow--I'll take you to a nice restaurant and we'll just talk--you seem like you have a lot on your mind." He is the serpent in disguise.
Did God really say not to lust after someone other than your spouse? It's just one dinner--it's perfectly harmless. He just wants to be my friend, and my husband rarely talks to me (the woman thinks to herself). He CARES about me.
This is the serpent, with the fruit from the forbidden tree, in the Garden of Eden--except now this happens every day, all over the world. Sin is the forbidden fruit and it looks good to eat, but the result of eating it--DEATH!
Two months later after their fateful meeting, she is sneaking out every chance she gets to meet with her handsome prince. She is ignoring her husband, leaving him at home. Suddenly, she finds out she is pregnant--but which man is the father? Her husband or her lover? The consequences of sin are great. She has stopped going to church, reading her Bible or praying. She is caught up in a web of deceit, lying and pain.
She meets with her handsome lover and tells him the love affair is over. She is going back to her husband and begging for His forgiveness. The lover tells her, "You can't go. You're mine now. If you go, I will hurt you." It's a trap, devised by the devil himself to keep her from returning to the arms of a loving husband--one who she surely knows wants to forgive her--if she will just repent of her sinful behavior.
As she tells the handsome lover that she is leaving, he reaches out and grabs her arm, leaving quite a bruise as evidence of the struggle. She returns home, weeping and lamenting what she has done. She goes to her husband and says, "We need to talk. I've done some really bad things. I'm sorry for all the pain I have caused you and the way I have betrayed you. Please take me back."
Her loving husband looks her in the eye and says, "I already know what you have been doing. I've just been waiting for you to come back to me. I wasn't going to let go of you. You're my wife and I love you. If you're sorry for what you have done, I forgive you completely and will remember this no more."
Instead of blaming others for our temptations, we need to fall on our knees with weeping and sorrow for the sins we have committed and turn back to the One who truly loves us, and will always forgive us for all sin. In the Garden, when God confronted Adam and Eve about their sinful behavior, they began to blame--Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent was punished for what he had done. However, Adam and Eve did not escape without consequences of their sin--but God went with them and would never leave them nor forsake them. He clothed them with skin and took care of them--even in their sinfulness. His love was stronger than death, and it's stronger than any sin we can commit today.
He will always take us back, with love and forgiveness...and that is the true meaning of GRACE.
Genesis 3:1-13 (NASB)
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden '?" 2The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" 4The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" 10He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." 11And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
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