10/19/19 - Saturday - The First Sin

For today let’s take a look at the first sin.

In Gen 2:16-17 God gave Adam a warning.  “You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you eat of its fruit you will surely die.”

Let’s remember that Adam and Eve were new creations.  They had no idea what good or evil was.  They had no idea what it meant to die.

Along comes Satan, the serpent, as the New Living Translation (NLT) of the Bible puts it in Gen 3:1 the shrewdest of all the creatures God had created.

What does the word shrewdest tell us about the serpent?

• ·         Having or showing sharp powers of judgment; astute
• ·         Piercingly cold
• ·         Severe
• ·         Mischievous, Malicious
• ·         Origin from English is shrew (evil person or thing)
• ·         From Middle English – Evil in nature or character

Neither Adam nor Eve would be a match for the serpent.  Both of them were childlike and childish with no knowledge, experience, wisdom, maturity or adversity in their lives yet!

Listen to the serpent’s tone of voice throughout his conversation with Eve.

Gen 3:1 “Really?” he asked the women.  “Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?”

The serpent from the very first word he speaks sounds skeptical and invites Eve to question what God has said.  Then the serpent exaggerates.

In Gen 3:2-3 Eve answers “Of course we may eat it.  It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat.  God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die.”

Eve responds by sounding knowledgeable and exaggerating herself.

Eve has already fallen into the serpent’s trap by trying to match the serpent’s tone of voice.

At the same time, Eve has added to God’s warning or word.

Remember.  Adam and Eve are the first humans.  They have no idea what death or to die is.

Onto Gen 3:4-6. “You won’t die!” the serpent hissed.  “God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it.  You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.”

Remember.  Adam and Eve are the first humans.  They have no idea what good or evil is.

Gen 3:6.  The woman was convinced.  The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise!  So she ate some of the fruit.  She also gave some to her husband, who was with her.  Then he ate it, too.

Remember.  Adam and Eve are the first humans.  They have no idea what wisdom is.

Eve made a bad choice.

Now it’s Adam’s turn.  Does Adam remember God’s warning or question Eve’s choice?  No he doesn’t.  He ate of the fruit.

If Only?

Both Eve and Adam had a choice to make.  Both Eve and Adam could have remembered God’s warning.

Once Eve made the wrong choice, Adam still could have remembered God’s warning.

Adam made the same bad choice.

Both had an individual choice to make and chose badly.

By the end of Gen 3 Adam and Eve have been kicked out of the garden of Eden and their relationship with God was broken.

This is a conversation with a HUGE aftermath.

In these first three chapters of Genesis what layers and truths are there to see?  What can we learn from them?

I see God’s relationship with Jesus.

Gen 1:26 “Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves…”

Gen 3:22 “The people have become as we are…”

I see small children in Adam and Eve.  As a parent and as a person, I know that it takes repetition to build memory and recall.

I see that without God’s guidance and a good example, Christ Jesus, to follow I would forever be like Adam and Eve…childish.

I see the blame game and “Not Me”.

I see that without the serpent, I cannot truly grow and mature.  The adversity that I have and will face because of his influence and my choices is a necessary part of my journey.

I see where God created me in his image.  God would not have created me without a purpose or a plan for my good.

I see where God created, therefore, I can create too.

I see myself in Adam and Eve.

Born with a childlike faith, becoming childish, trying to live outside a relationship with God, following the examples I saw around me without questioning, playing the blame game.

It’s taken thirteen years to see these things.  I continue to learn from God, my Father, the still quiet voice of his Holy Spirit, my big brother, Christ Jesus, and all those God surrounds me with…past, present and future.

Right now for me it’s a time of letting go of my worldliness and letting Father take his rightful place in my life…in control.  That’s where he has always been.  I needed to acknowledge that in all matters.

It’s not easy.  It’s made easier knowing that Father is right here within me lovingly guiding me forward one day at a time towards fulfilling his promises and plans for me.

One last thing.  Without Father’s guidance through the Bible, I would not and could not know and continue to grow.

Having that personal relationship is what God wants.

I had to want it too.

Look at his relationship with Christ Jesus.  That’s the example to follow.

Ask Father to show you the truth.

He will.

10/12/19 - Saturday - Conquering Fear

In Matt 26:36-46 Jesus goes to the olive grove called Gethsemane to pray.

This is the only time in his earthly journey that the son of God shows fear. 

What was Jesus afraid of?

Jesus was afraid  of  feeling  God's wrath.

Jesus had never felt God's anger directed at him.

Jesus prayed three times that God would not ask him to do this one thing.

Jesus faced his fear  and did what his Father wanted him to do.

Through my journey to overcome my own worldliness and make it through my spiritual wilderness, I  have learned to overcome many things that I used to fear.

More than a few times it has taken being reminded of Christ Jesus' example to get me through my fears.

There is one last fear to overcome.

That is the fear of sharing what God, Christ  Jesus and  the Holy Spirit have taught me.

If I  am to be real from  the inside out  and play my role within the one true church,  I  have to overcome this fear.

Father tells me that if big brother,  Christ Jesus,  can overcome  his fear...I can too.

So let's start here...

Like any good book without  understanding the beginning  and the end you can't truly appreciate the whole story.

Where are you?

You  are in a beautiful place where all your needs are provided for...there is gorgeous plant life, all the animals you could ever want or love, there's never any bad weather,  always plenty to eat and drink.   To top it off you have the perfect partner.

Where are you?

God has shown me that I am in heaven.  In the story presented in Gen 1-3 it is called the garden of Eden.

What happened?

God created Adam and Eve in his image...Right?  God looked at everything he created.  He called it excellent.

What happened?

There was only one rule that God gave Adam and Eve.   They were not  to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Gen 2:17 "...if you eat of it's fruit,  you will surely die."  They ate of the fruit.

Why?

Let's look a little closer at Adam and Eve.

What didn't God give Adam and Eve?

When God's Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see more in the first three chapters of His living word the answer was....knowledge, experience,  wisdom and maturity.

Adam and Eve were the first humans.

They had no knowledge of good and evil.

They had no experience with good and evil.

They had no wisdom to discern between good and evil.

They had no maturity.

They were both childlike and childish having never faced any adversity.

They had no memory to call upon.

When I  understood what God was showing me,  it blew my mind and opened up the Bible in a whole new way.

That's where we all begin as babies.

Ask God to show you the truth.

Read it with him teaching you.

What do you think?

 

10/08/19 – Tuesday – Cantharidin Poisoning – Part 1

Has anyone ever heard of Blister Beetles?

Until September, 2009 I had not.

In late August, 2009, Kelsey and I went for a walk and to get a newspaper for Pop on a Sunday morning.

Let me back up just a bit.

There is some background information that needs to be shared.

At this point in time, I was still causing myself to stress out way too much due to my own immaturity and childishness.

Being able to look backwards is quite insightful.

Prior to the walk that day, I had gone to see my doctor.

The reason I went to the doctor was because I was retaining more water and my energy level was really low.  I was having a really hard time day to day.

The doctor gave me a prescription to help with the water retention.

I started taking the prescription on Tuesday of that week.

By Friday of the same week I stopped taking the prescription because I was getting worse.

I would get up for the day.  Then a couple hours later, I would be ready to go back to sleep.

To add to the mix, I was, now, feeling physically weak.

Now Kelsey and I go for the walk on Sunday.

Along the way, we stopped so I could pull some cat tails for at the house.

That was a mistake!

I was still physically weak.

While trying to pull the cat tail, I slid into the long grasses surrounding them.

Proceeding thinking no damage done and nothing was wrong, Kelsey and I continued our walk, picked some sweet peas, got the newspaper and went back to the house.

By the time we got home, I was so tired.

I laid down, went to sleep and didn’t wake up until the next day.

The first thing I remember after waking up was seeing Pop looking really scared.  I had never seen Pop scared.

The next thing I noticed was that my left shin was covered with orange-yellow blistering.

I didn’t know what had happened.

I called the doctor’s office.

Pop drove Kelsey and me down to the doctor’s office.

I left the doctor’s office with a prescription for allergy relief medication and a doctor who was shocked when I let her know how my body reacted to the medication that was meant to relieve the water retention.

The allergy relief medication was of no assistance in relieving any of the symptoms I was now feeling.

After that I went back to the doctor to try and figure out what was going on and get some relief.

Two to three weeks later Mom returned to the house after work.

Mom had been talking to her co-workers about what was going on.

One of those co-workers suggested that what was going on could have been caused by blister beetles.

10/05/19 – Saturday – Homeless?

Homeless?

Sorting through my head garbage.

Clearing the temple.

That’s what I have been doing since 2006.

Physically I have been homeless since July 2, 2019.

Since August 7, 2019, I have been living in a shelter located in Flint, MI.

Being homeless within my own temple is the worst.

Lately I’ve been reading Job.

Father has used our story, the Bible, to guide me out of my “worldliness” and through my spiritual wilderness all through the last thirteen years.

Job has been used repeatedly.

This time Father is using Job 30.

In Job 30, Job is speaking of his anguish in the situation he is faced with and how others are treating him.

What Job is not understanding is that God, Father, has allowed Satan to test him.  It is how God is perfecting Job.

The only way to clean out the temple or get Satan out of our home or to get through the head garbage is to face our fears.

Job still places value on what others think of him.

What God wants is for Job to put nothing before him within his own temple or…for Job to be a good high priest in his own temple or home.

While we are still here on earth that is what God wants from us too.

This is the only way that we can be good high priests and faithful servants to the Father.

Christ Jesus shows us this by facing his biggest fear too.

What was Christ Jesus’ biggest fear?  Read Matt 26:39-44.

Christ Jesus’ biggest fear was taking on God’s wrath for us.  He prayed three times, begging his Father not to require him to feel all that wrath for us.

In the end Christ Jesus did what his Father required of him.  He overcame his fear and returned to his, and our, Father, showing us the way by his example.

The ultimate example for us to follow.

With Job 30 and my big brother’s, Christ Jesus, example to follow it’s time for me to overcome this gut wrenching, literally, fear of what others may think of me.

This is the only way to make sure that my home is clear and to ensure that I am a good high priest and faithful servant to my Father.

It’s too personal is just an excuse for not facing that fear.

What’s your biggest fear?

Ask him for yourself and see what he says and shows you.

God love you too.  You were created in his image.  He wants to be your Father.

09/28/19 - Saturday - Beating Around The Bush

For the last week or so I have been working on getting this blog back up and moving forward.

As part of that, I have redone the introduction to the blog and added labels to my old posts.

Reading through those old posts, to add the labels, has been eye opening.

I was saying that I was going to be more open and share my journey.

What I was really doing was a lot of beating around the bush and not truly being open or sharing.

I was lying to myself.  I was still hiding.  I wasn't being true or honest in my journey.  I wasn't overcoming my obstacles.

It's been over three years since I've posted anything.

It's time to conquer this mountain.

I expect better.

God expects better.

Let's start here...

While reading through the Bible for the fourth time, God started to reveal more of our story to me with a question.

The question was...If God places no true value on material items why did he put so much detail and attention into the design and appearance of the ark, the tent of meeting and the other temples that followed?

The answer that was revealed to me was that these temples were symbols for us...the creations he made in his image and breathed life into.

That was a mind blowing discovery for me.

Ask him for yourself and see what he says.