If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (‭Genesis‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ NKJV)

This is what I’m meditating on right now…..when I’m done gathering my thoughts, I’ll post them. Pray with me that God will give me clarity as I continue to think about it. I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now. 🙂

Boy! Am I glad God didn’t put a time frame on what He asked me to do! I’m still on chapter 3 of Genesis. There are SO many nuggets of gold waiting to be read, meditated on, and applied in our lives. So many that we don’t need to rush ourselves. 🙂

In my last post we read about Eve’s decision to sin, how it was a choice she made of her own free will.

As we read further in the chapter we learn that Adam and Eve, after they ate the forbidden fruit, were suddenly aware of their nakedness and were ashamed. As we continue, we find that they’ve hidden themselves from The Lord.

Have you ever wondered why God asked Adam and Eve where they were or who told them they were naked? He’s God…..He knows everything so is this contradictory to what we know about Him? Not at all!

What we read here is what we see throughout Scripture. God gives us the opportunity to confess our wrongdoing. HE knows what we’ve done but we need to come to Him with an acknowledgement of our sin. That acknowledgment should be followed by a prayer of repentance.

Now, just because we’ve admitted our sin it doesn’t mean we don’t still have to pay the consequences of our sin. That’s the next step we read about. God’s punishment for their sin.

It certainly wasn’t a pleasant consequence….ESPECIALLY the childbirth one….thanks a lot Eve!! 😦
But they still had to pay the price.

SO!!!!
Here’s where my eyes stopped and got hooked.

Genesis 3:21

“Also for Adam and his wife The Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them.”

I’ve read this passage countless times but, for some reason, tonight it grabbed at my heart and wouldn’t let go. I actually started crying.

WHY??

Even though His beloved creation, Adam and Eve sinned against Him, He still loved them, still provided for them, still nurtured them. He’d pronounced their punishment and now He was preparing them to leave His garden of Eden.

I cried because this is such lovely example of God’s forgiving nature. I thought of all my sins…(not one by one because that would take a VERY long time)….and I realized how much He’s forgiven me and still nurtures me through His Word.

He could have said, “Nope! Sorry but you chose to disobey Me so I’m washing My hands of you! Good luck!”
I don’t know about you but I am SO thankful He didn’t.

The picture this painted for me, what I related to, was one as a parent. There are times we must discipline our children. Do we LIKE to do that? NO! Do we HAVE to do that? YES!

It’s never easy to discipline your child. You don’t want to be the reason your child is upset; however, we all know discipline is a necessary tool in a parent’s toolbox.

After our child has been disciplined, what do we do? At least I do…..I hold my child, tell them that I love them, and that they need to think things thru a little more next time.

After all of that though….I don’t stop providing for their needs just because they made a mistake. Just like our Father in heaven doesn’t stop providing for us. He’s still there and He gave us a promise and He doesn’t break promises. He says He will never leave us nor forsake us.

I am so very thankful for that promise and so many more we’ll read about together in this path we’re on. Remember, seek to have a progressive spirit. That’s what we should strive for. To be better servants of The Lord than we were the day before.

The last two days I’ve had the passage in mind I wanted to write about but I haven’t done so. One of my doctors has started me on a new med and it’s made me tired so my body is still getting used to it. So I’ve been falling asleep a lot earlier than I normally do and taking longer naps. My mind is kinda fuzzy.

I believe God has done that for a purpose though. See, the section I’m writing about is in Genesis chapter 3. This chapter in God’s Word tells us about the temptation and fall of man.

It talks of the serpent, which we know is satan, tempting Eve to eat fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve, as we know, not only ate the fruit from the tree but she also gave it to Adam.

I then intended to go on to the passage about them hiding from God because of their shame at being naked.

There are so many lessons we can take from this passage.

1. Eve encouraged Adam to sin with her and succeeded. So we shouldn’t encourage others to join us in our sins.

2. Eve’s sin didn’t just touch her life, she took her husband with her. Thus our sins never effect just our lives, they effect those around us.

3. Beware of talking animals….especially snakes which are really creepy to begin with. 🙂

Then, the part I was going to focus on was why they hid from God. That when we sin we can find it hard to come before The Lord knowing how dirty we are. How deep our stains run. How we can commit a sin and not repent, then another, and another, so on and so on and soon….we feel like we’re not connected to God. We feel like we can’t get back to Him.

Which is silly because ALL it takes it a prayer of sincere repentance and we’re back where we’re supposed to be; in His Embrace.

I was going to tie that into how that type of behavior can creep into our relationships with those in our lives as well. With our loved ones. One bad behavior, one angry outburst and it can start a wall that, with each day, becomes higher and higher and harder and harder to overcome.

Then today, I thought about this passage in a totally different light.

What Eve was presented with here was simple.

SHE WAS GIVEN A CHOICE!!

A choice between God’s path and satan’s path. A choice between right and wrong. A choice between easy and hard.

A choice to stand up for what is right, what God offered them or a choice to go wrong and take what satan offered them.

She chose unwisely huh??

The thing is this…..haven’t we all?? At one time or another, haven’t we ALL made bad choices? I know I have. Boy have I!!

It would have taken immense courage, I think, for Eve to have stood up to satan and said, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m sticking with God and whatever He has in store for me.”

Why do I say courage? Because she didn’t know what her future held. She didn’t know where God was going to lead Adam and her. What plans He had in store for their lives.

In my mind I see a picture of a man and a woman standing on the edge of a cliff and they’re about to take a step off, knowing once they take that step there WILL be something there to catch them.

THAT MY FRIENDS IS FAITH!!!!

Instead, Eve chose, as so many have done…..starting with Lucifer himself….
to be like God. She chose to to take something that wasn’t hers to take. Something she was told, explicitly, NOT to take.

So, how do we apply this to our lives?

We look and see….are we choosing God? Even when it’s hard, even when our beliefs aren’t popular, even when we’re ridiculed, made fun of, mocked?

DO WE CHOOSE HIM???

Do we choose to live by His Word and all that’s contained with in it? Do we live our lives with love? Do we try to make amends for our mistakes? Do we choose to be the absolute best we can be because we’re walking in the image of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ??

I’ll be the first to admit…..I struggle. I’m not perfect. Show me a Christian who says otherwise and I’ll show you a person who isn’t a Christian or, at the very least, is lying….which is a sin so hmmmm….. We are ALL flawed, damaged, dented, broken, hurt, and ravaged in some way and we’re ALL, hopefully, doing the best we can to be better people.

The question is….

HOW DO WE BECOME BETTER PEOPLE?

We read God’s Word. We pray. We fellowship with other believers. We strive to have a progressive spirit that is ALWAYS seeking to have more of Him and less of us.

It isn’t easy and we’ll mess up….a lot…
but we repent and we keep moving forward. Remember this verse for strength.

James 4:7

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Keep resisting the evil one, turning to The Holy One and you’ll be on the right path.

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE!!

If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please message me and let me answer any questions you have. Don’t wait. He loves you and is waiting for you. None of us are promised tomorrow. Don’t put it off.

Genesis 2:23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”

Every time I read this verse I feel a catch in my heart. Before this verse we read that God has determined that it isn’t good for man to be alone, that he should have a companion, so God brings all animals before Adam so he can name them and to see if he’d find a companion in one of them. However, none of them fit, none of them are “The One”. None of them cry out to his heart….
YES!!! You’re the one!!!

Of course God knows this, He knows what Adam needs, but I wonder if God wanted Adam to know it as well. Does God want Adam to see what doesn’t work, what’s wrong so he’ll recognize what does work, what’s right?

That got me to thinking; Isn’t that how God works sometimes? He allows us to have what’s wrong so we can then appreciate what’s right? Not just appreciate it but recognize it. For example….when God’s people cried out for a king they were warned what would happen; how badly they would be treated, the yoke placed upon them by the “king” they so desperately wanted would be a heavy one. They cried out, saying they didn’t care; they wanted to be like the nations around them. God gave them what they wanted. King Saul. It seemed, at first, to be a good idea but it went downhill quickly.

In God’s grace He removed the heavy burden of a bad king and gave them King David. They were able to recognize what was right because they experienced what was wrong.

So Adam recognized Eve as the flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. He looked at her and said, “There you are!! Where have you been all of my life!!??” (Obviously taking some liberty here.)

He looked at her and he saw the person who would walk life’s road with him. His partner. His friend. His lover. His helpmate. He recognized her and was SO excited to be with her.

So, what’s the application here? Do you recognize the bad so you can appreciate and recognize the good?

If you’re married, do you look at your spouse with that passion, that sense of profound recognition of who they are to you?

Young men and women who aren’t married, God has made someone just for you. Just like He made Eve for Adam. Are you being vigilant, watchful for the “bone of your bone”? Are you excited about the prospect of your future spouse?

Then be in prayer now. Pray for the man or woman He has for you. When it comes to your future spouse, don’t make the mistake of going thru the bad so you can recognize the good. How do you do that? As in ALL things, turn to the God’s Word.

I think of Philippians 4:6-8

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.

Keep yourself pure, keep your heart pure for that special one God made just for you. I speak with my girls all the time and advise them, there’s nothing more precious you can give your spouse than a pure heart. One unbroken by previous relationships but a whole one, ready to walk into the future with The One who is the bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh.