Month: January 2019

There is More to Eve Than Meets the Eye

Ever since I was a small child I was taught the story of Eve. I was taught how she was deceived by the devil, how she talked Adam into eating the fruit and how because of her they were thrown out of the Garden.

But since those days, I have studied on my own. I found out thing about Eve that I was never taught. Life’s lessons that were put in the background. It hit me as I was watching all of the so feminist spouting their rhetoric about equal rights, blah, blah, blah. How women need to be empowered.

I went back to Eve. When we sit down and really look at Eve, we find that women have been empowered since the beginning of time. They have been leaders, they have been powerful. Let’s just start with Eve.

Yes, Eve sinned that is a given. Yes, she was deceived, that is a given. However, there are two thing that get lost in the translation. While she was deceived and while she did sin. She led a man. She led Adam into joining her in that sin. Adam was supposed to be the stronger one. The wiser one. The one who would resist. However, he fell under Eve’s spell and followed her into that sin. That shows power on  Eve’s part. Yes, it was wrong. But on the flip side of that same coin women can lead men into taking paths of greatness. They can lead men into making the right decisions. So when I hear women say they need to be empowered I scoff at their ignorance. They are already empowered they have not yet learned how to use it the proper way. Sure they still lead men, but the consequences of that path are not what they should be.

Now, let us look at the rest of the story. God told Adam he would live by the sweat of his brow. In other words he would have to work hard in order to make a living for himself and his family. While on the surface that might not appear to be a big deal it is. Adam should have said no. He should have showed the woman that by sinning they would be separated from their Creator. He did not. He followed. Gen 3:17 ”

17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

Now let’s look at Eve. While she was punished for her sin in that she would bear children in pain and sorrow, the promise of salvation came through her. God promised that he would strike the devil’s head through the woman. Which he did. God did not give the promise to Adam, he gave it to Eve when he cursed the Devil. Gen 3: 13-15

13And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
 Now back to this day and age. When Women say that we need to be empowered we need to “put men in their place.” I cringe. Both have a place God made it so. Both are a balance and both need each other. Women already have the empowerment. They were given it by God. They have forgotten how to use it for the greater good. They have forgotten how to honor men by helping them and in turn helping themselves.
 As women let us return to the understanding that we are already empowered, we just have to stop trying to be men and embrace ourselves as women and use the tools God gave us. Let us go back to treating men with respect they deserve as men and encourage them to be the best they can be. In that light not only will they be successful we will as well.

How We Walk With the Broken Speaker Louder Than How We Sit with the Great

This morning as I was scrolling through my Facebook page, I saw something made me stop in my scrolling and not only read it but soak it in.  “How we sit with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great.”

That one sentence speaks volumes. It puts in perspective how Christ walked on this earth. He sat with the broken, he walked with them and he healed them. When asked why he did this, he said that the broken was the reason he came to earth.

The great don’t feel they need healing. They think they have all the answers to the questions already. They understand all, know all and they need nothing. Sadly, this is not true. The broken know they are broken, they are looking for healing. They are looking for a better way. They are so broken the only way they have is up.

As children of God, should we not follow that example? Sure, our human nature wants us to be right up there with the great. They can offer us something. The broken can offer us nothing. We need to reverse that way of thinking. The broken can offer us something. They offer us the mindset of Christ. They offer us the ability to be humble, giving, and kind.

The great on the other hand, many times have to idea how to achieve the above much less put them to use in their lives. Would you rather sit with the Great and feed the broken the crumbs that drop from your table as you soak in every word of the great? Or would you rather walk with the broken to find more than crumbs and learn why and how they became broken then show them a greater way of life?

Would you rather sit with the great and never be challenged or would you walk with the broken and find way to help them on a different path.? Sitting with the great is indeed comfortable, however walking with the broken is challenging and rewarding. It teaches us as we help them.

When we are no longer sojourners on this earth, we will not be known for how many greats we sat with, in fact they probably won’t even show up at our service because they will be too busy. We served our usefulness and when we are gone, we will be replaced. The broken on the other hand will be there to pay their respects and honor our lives. They will be the legacy that lives on to shine as a light for others to follow.

Again, I make this statement, “How We Walk with the Broken, Speaks Louder than How We Sit with the Great.”

Think about how you walk with the Broken. Is it healing and helpful or is it condemning and destructive? Would you rather play it safe and Sit with the Great?

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Planting A Seed

In nature a seed is planted so that something might grow. Notice I said might. Just because the seed is planted does not mean that thing will grow. There could be a myriad of reasons. The seed was to young to old, diseased, infertile, etc. However, the one who plants that seed will not know that until the seed is in the ground.

If the farmer was to afraid to plant his seeds in the springtime there would be no food to harvest. If we are too afraid to plant our spiritual seeds there will be no harvest. To add to that there will be spiritual starvation for lack of food.

In Galatians 6 : 9 we are told:

Galatians 6:9 English Standard Version (ESV)

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

We are promised that in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

In 2 Corinthians we are told ;

2 Corinthians 9:6 ESV 

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Let us not grow weary of sowing the seeds, for even though not all of them will sprout, some will, and those will be the ones we tenderly care for so that the harvest will be rich.

Be willing to plant a seed, be willing to watch it wither, be willing to watch it grow. That is our mission. Be willing to produce a harvest.

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The Broken Pieces of Yesterday

This morning I read something that made me stop and think. The saying was ” Don’t start your day with the broken pieces of yesterday.Every day is a fresh start. Every morning we wake up is the first day of our new life.”

Let’s just stop and think about that for a moment. Yesterday is gone. We cannot revisit it – the past is the past. Old hates, old grudges, old habits can be left there because today is a new beginning. The night has washed away all the things that happened the day before. We alone make the choice to drag all of the baggage into the new day and the new beginning.

God’s grace is that way . When we are covered by his grace, and we ask for forgiveness for all of  the baggage we collected during our day, then we have a new day, a new life, a clean page on which to write our life story upon. We choose to bring over the old way, the old habits, the old sins. Once we have asked God to forgive us, his page is clean.

It is so important to understand this. To know that God’s grace is nothing we can earn. His son has already paid the price. However, even though it is offered we have to be willing to also receive it. To leave the old in the old day. To have a new day, a new page a new life with which to live doing his work and to live in his presence.

So, begin today the first day of your new life – write those things which are pure, honest. holy and productive.

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If You are Not Enough with it- You will Never Be Enough without It

I heard this on a movie I watched for the hundredth time. The movie was called Cool Runnings. The back story is they were the first Bob Sled team from the islands that went to the Winter Olympics.  While they didn’t win a medal that year because the sled broke, and they crashed, they carried the sled across the finish line to finish the race.

In our daily lives, sometimes we think that we are not enough unless we have A,B,C. What we fail to understand is that if we are not enough with A,B, C we will never be enough without it. How many of us say to ourselves, if I only had A, B, C  I would be happy. Or if I had A,B, C I could do this or that. Or if I had A,B or C I would be able to do this or that.

What we need to look toward is that we are already enough without A,B or C. We are enough because this world is not our home. We are only pilgrims on a short journey. Our ultimate goal is to understand that we are enough. We are enough because we are heirs to a kingdom that is not of this world. We have riches beyond all comprehension. We are enough because we are children of the Most High. We are enough because his son gave his life that we might live.

We do not have to wonder if we are going to be enough without it because we are enough with the promise that God has given us. We just have to reach out and receive it.

We just need to keep our eye and hope on the finish line no matter how many times we break or fall down. We are more than enough without A,B or C. The prize is not how much we accumulate. The prize is being with our Father forever. The journey is not how much we gather here on earth, the journey is how we look forward to that which transcends gold or silver. We are enough without it and we are enough if we have it.

As we go through our daily lives let us all understand, We are all enough with it, but we will never be enough without it. The it being  God’s grace, Christ’s sacrifice and the understanding of being with them always.

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The 2019 Journey Begins

For Christmas this year I was given a wonderful gift – This gift is the One Year Bible. Each day is a devotion for that day. This Bible will take me through the entire year of 2019. The beginning starts with the creation. So, in order to share with each of you my journey and to being you along with me, I will start with creation and the ancestry of Christ. All of these things were part of God’s plan. He has the big picture.

As I was reading this I was struck by two things I had overlooked many times. Genesis talks talks about the Garden of Eden and the rivers that ran through it. There were four.

Gensis 2:10-14 “A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found.  The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.

What is interesting to me is when one looks up those rivers, we see they still exist today, even though the ebb and flow has changed over the centuries – yes the garden is underwater, however, we do know it existed. The Bible tells us so and facts prove it. God had a plan.

The second thing I had never been taught in all of my years and had never noticed before hit me like a ton of bricks. The genealogy of Christ is amazing and human. The ancestors were not anything special, they were every day people with flaws and failings, strengths and weaknesses just like we have today. The women, were strong, determined and the backbone of the ancestry.

For those of us who study ancestry to determine where we came from in order to better understand who we are, can appreciate, the fact that in Matthew Chapters 1 and 2 the writer talk about the genealogy of Christ. He spares nothing. He tells us the names of four women who were instrumental in the linage. These four women were not perfect in fact three of them would be considered criminals.

Tamar slept with her father in law

Rahab was a harlot who hid the spies of Israel

Ruth- after Ruth’s husband died – she left her own people and traveled with her mother in law to a strange land and became part of her mother in law’s people

Bathsheba was an adulteress whose husband was murdered by King David.

And yet God used these women as vessels to bring forth his son.

God has a plan- he knows the plan even before we are born. He knew Adam and Eve would sin, he knew what these women would do – and yet, even knowing the events would happen, his perfect son arrived.

My point in all of this is none of us are perfect, we all have flaws, we all sin. We have to understand where Christ came from in order to better understand why he came. That includes the Garden, the women and the journey of the ancestors. Imperfect  they were.

Yet, we have a perfect way to our creator. He descended from imperfection.

So take this journey with me. Learn things . Have a greater understanding. Learn that none of us are perfect, however,  we have a perfect way.

We have Hope!