The Bible, Our Eden -- Genesis 2: 15-17

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"The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'"

As we begin this new year, we all tend to look forward with a Utopian mentality.  We are looking for lives that will be peaceful and as perfect as possible.  A lack of conflict and affliction will make for that perfect kind of year.  Yet in our hearts we know that this is not possible, at least not here.

As I began reading through the Bible again this morning, I was struck by these 3 verses.  I have read them many times before, but today their words leapt off the page and caused me to sit with them for a few minutes and contemplate them.  

The only perfect place on this earth is in the Word of God.  The Bible is my garden of Eden.  I am to be in it (daily), work it (working out my salvation with fear and trembling),  and keep it (obeying all that it says to me, taking care to cultivate it in my heart in such a way as to bear fruit for God).  I am to eat of it every day for my spiritual sustenance and growth.

Interestingly, I am also suppose to NOT eat of a particular "tree" found in it -- the tree of the knowledge of good and evil -- for it represents the LAW of the first covenant God made with man.  Because I am living in a day when the Jesus has already come and made sacrifice for my life, having died for me, I have been free to believe faithfully in His sacrifice and to choose to enter into a personal relationship with Him.  I am now a partaker (eater) of the Tree of Life -- which represents GRACE.  Both trees are present in the garden, the Word, but only one of them is the tree I am to eat of.  It is the only way to a true relationship with God.  That doesn't mean I am to omit the Old Testament (LAW) from my understanding, but instead am to study it too and learn from it.  I am to LIVE BY the words in the New Testament (GRACE).

Since the world cannot offer what we truly desire,  and the Word of God is the only place where we can find the "perfect, peaceful, joy-filled, and abundant life," I am planning to spend a lot of time there this year.  Forget the "resolutions"!  Instead, why not simply purpose in your heart to to work, keep, and eat the Word of God in 2014!  Choose to live in the only perfect thing that can be found on this earth!

Choosing Joy

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Ever had one of those days?  You know the kind I am talking about.  The ones that are a truly "Murphy's Law" kind of a day.  From the moment you get up, the snowball starts rolling down the side of the mountain.  Everything you touch seems to fall apart.  And if that were not enough to try to handle, the constant interruptions and the "rearranging" of your schedule seems endless.  Then there are the feelings of not getting anything accomplished, and the realization that you are just "spinning your wheels."  I had one of those days last week. 

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I was well aware that the Spirit was with me, residing in me with all kinds of power for me to overcome this day  in spite of how it was unfolding.  My Bible was available to me to be my moment-to-moment guide book for navigating through this already unsettling day.  But I soon learned as I sat down to read my devotional that both the Spirit and the Word would be useless to me unless I surrendered my "right"  to experience my feelings in full bloom, repented of them, and turned to face my God, bowing in His presence.  It would be in that posture alone that I could choose the joy of the Lord, the only strength I needed for my discombobulated day.

These are the words that the Spirit spoke to me in the midst of the waves that continued to sweep over me:

"This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep . . . Go your way.  Eat the fat and drink sweet wine . . . for this day is holy to our Lord.  And do not be grieved, FOR THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!"  (Nehemiah 8:10)

When I read those words a smile lit on my face, for in them I could see what my solution to my day would be.  If I would crucify my irritated flesh and surrender my right to be "grieved" by my day and to moan and complain about how much seemed to be going wrong, I would be able to celebrate in the day with joy.  Realizing my marching orders, I chose to receive the command to go and "eat and drink,"  the command to just continue through the day with a different attitude.

No matter what our days hold we will always have a choice in how we walk through them.  Frustration can become joyfulness; busy-ness can become joyfulness; being overwhelmed can become joyfulness.  Even sadness and mourning can become joy.  And when you choose joy, your inner man is strengthened.  Out of our inner being will flow rivers of joy, contagious joy, that will minister to those around you.  And through our emotional transformation from upset to joyfulness we will be strengthened with enough might to overcome even the hardest of days. 

Choose joy!  It will reverse the effects that a bad day can have on you and those around you!

Obedience--Our Gift To God

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(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)

"Take a moment and think about what sin you want to overcome on purpose, by fully focusing on its dispossession from your heart for good.  It is time that the gods that want to keep you trapped in bondage to sin be removed!  Begin with appropriating the armor of God every day, working on just one idol or sin.  Do this for one week.  God wants your full compliance to His command to be holy because He is.  He has given you the perfect armor with which to protect yourself from that sin, and to stand strong in Him.  And remember, your sin will always find you out.  Take it on today!  Defeat it with the transforming of your mind by renewing it in the truth of the Word!  Your sword, the very Word of God, is a dangerous weapon intended to be used on the father of lies!  Use it to push them out of your heart and mind.

Thomas a Kempis once declared that 'Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience.  Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from grace.'

Walk in obedience to His commands by doing what you are supposed to do, for this is God's plan for you!

INTROSPECTION

1.  What have the results of your willful disobedience been?

2.  What is the difference between telling God you are sorry for your sin and confessing your     sin to Him or another person?  Which on is more sincere?  Why?

3.  How did the response of the Israelites and ten of the spies (when they learned about the giants in the land) differ from Joshua and Caleb's response?

4.  Why does your full compliance with God's commands make a difference to Him?

5.  How can you better use the full armor of God to dispossess the gods in your heart?  Will you?"

God had shown us great favor by blessings our lives with innumerable gifts. But there is only one gift that is pleasing to Him. Do you know what it is?   It is the obedience that flows out of the heart of a child who is surrendered to Him!

The Most Powerful Belt You Can Wear

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"Let's begin to analyze the armor of warfare, piece by piece, and learn what can be accomplished by each.  Paul, the author of the letter to the Ephesians, begins with the belt of truth.  Why would the Spirit lead him to start there?  I doubt we can know for sure, but I do know this:  nothing is written in the Word without His touch.  So, I will offer just one suggestion.  Do you recall what satan's only weapon is?  It is his lies.  There is only one thing that I know of, for sure, that has the power to overcome a lie--THE TRUTH!  Our ability to know and grasp the truth is of great value to us in this fight!  When we begin to stop believing the lies, victory is just around the corner.  No matter how strong a Christian you are, satan's lies have infiltrated your heart, your mind, and possibly even your actions.  But the battles always begins with a thought in your mind.  Spiritual battles, more often than not, begin with a lie from satan that you choose to believe.

Do you pay close attention to your thoughts?  I have begun to, for this very reason.  I know that when I want to say something to myself, I phrase it somewhat like this: 'Now, why didn't I think to stop and pick up milk on the way home?'  But there are times when in the same situation I hear it more like this:  'You are so dumb.  It's just like you to forget.  You always forget.'  Do you see the difference?  I don't talk to myself with the second-person pronoun 'you'.  I talk to myself with the first-person pronouns 'I' and 'me'.  Second person pronouns are used when someone else is talking about me, to me.  This is an important point.  Who is talking to me, about me, if I am not talking to myself?  It can either be the Spirit or the enemy.  But it is the enemy for sure if your thoughts are using the second-person pronoun ('you') and also have an accusatory tone.  The enemy accuses the saints.  The Holy Spirit never does.

The Spirit's words might sound more like this, 'You have been very distracted today.  Fix your eyes on Me when you are distracted.  I will help you remember, if you will do this.'  The Spirit convicts us; the enemy accuses and whispers his lies to us every chance he gets.  Remember, his lies are his only weapon, so it is critical that we learn to discern the words in our head and to do combat with the lies by using the truth.

So just how do you handle this in battle mode when it happens?  The best way that I know is to speak the truth out loud to satan immediately.  Speaking out loud is important because satan is not all-knowing.  He has no ability to read your thoughts.  Saying something along these lines seems to work:  'It is not dumb of me to forget to stop and get milk.  I have been preoccupied and distracted today, thinking about other things.  And by the way, I rarely forget.  This is not my usual habit!'

I know that this example is very simplistic, and many of you have experienced the lies of the enemy regarding some very deep and hurtful things from your past.  This is still practical and useful to you, though you may have to work very hard to identify the false belief system and its associated lies.  Once identified and accepted as a lie, you still have to replace the accusing and false thoughts with truth.  Sharing with a Christian counselor, your pastor, or a close Christian friend might be beneficial, as they might be helpful in pointing out  thoughts that are lies.  And of course, the Word of God is your biggest source of truth!  The Sword of the Spirit is the most important weapon you can use!

No matter to what degree you experience false beliefs, fighting the lies with truth is always your best answer.  We are to strap on the belt of truth in order to overcome the lies that the enemy will always tell us."

(From Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory)