Genesis 2:17

Genesis 2:17
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shall not eat of it:for in the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."

" A date that will live in infamy." Franklin D. Roosevelt December 8th 1941. If there was any way to describe December 7th, 1941, this was it. I think it fitting to describe this date in history. This is the single most incredible day in the history of man kind. The day mankind fell and sin entered the world. On this day mankind was plunged into a life of toil, pain, and sorrow due to disobedience to the Lord. I've heard it said that sin is not bad because it's forbidden, sin is forbidden because it's bad. In other words, God knows what will happen if we fall into sin. On this fateful day, all of mankind was dealt a punishing blow by just 2 people. Now before you or I condemn them, think about it. These were the first 2 people alive on the earth. The had an intimate communion with God on a daily basis. Adam was as some have said, our champion. The best we had to offer. Look what happened. Would you or I have done anything different? I think not. Me personally, I would probably not have lasted that long. Either way, that day the human race died spiritually. The amazing thing in this story is God's grace. In chapter 3 where this all went down, we see God dealing with the sin in verses 14-19, but in verse 21 we see God's provision or covering. It said God made coats of skins and clothed them. In this one verse we see that there had to be sacrifice and the letting of blood in order to cover the sin of Adam. Up until this point there was no death. This sin caused death to enter into the world. In the old testament law, animal sacrifice was instated to be a covering for sin. Only temporary though. It had to be performed every year once by the high priest. Read Hebrews 9:22. So what does this all mean for us your probably wondering? In this picture we see human sin covered by God's grace and atonement made for it. It's a perfect picture of what was to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin. Christ's death on the cross was the final sacrifice for sin and was the final and complete payment for our sins, past , present, and future. God came down and became fully man while still fully being God, just so He could show us the way back to intimacy with God the father. Through His death and Resurrection, we have life. No more sacrifice need be made. It is paid for. The only sacrifice needed is for the individual to give his/her life to Jesus and become a true child of God. Could God have stopped all this from happening? Sure. Why didn't He? Choice. He wants us to freely choose Him. Not to be a robot that just automatically does something out of necessity. He wants real intimacy between you or I and Him. One on One. The reason? I think the cross speaks for itself. Love. Romans 5:8 " But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us." The world is winding down fast. Things are getting so unsure. Why not choose Him before it's to late? Have a great week and be blessed. Bob.

John 8:36

" If the son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed."

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. This verse from a worship song we used to play a while back, kept going through my mind this week. It led me to this verse. Freedom, what exactly is it? Websters defines it as this for one possible meaning," liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another. " I like that. It has application for the Christian. We've been set free from sin. It holds no more power over us. What is interesting is the use of the word free in this verse. The first time it is used, in the Greek it is eleutheroo and is a verb tense. It means to deliver. The second usage is the word eleutheros as an adjective, meaning freedom from restraint or obligation. It's perfect! Christ is our strong deliverer and is the only one who can deliver. After we have been delivered, we are unrestrained from the power of sin. Now does this mean we still won't struggle with sin? Of course not. Until the day we go home to be with the Lord we will always have the flesh to deal with and render dead daily like Paul said. Once we understand who delivered us and what price He paid, that's when real freedom sets in. That's when the power of God hit's you square in the eyes and you realize just how awesome and powerful He is. So not only is this verse descriptive but it's also a promise from the one who made all of creation, the heavens, and the stars. Pretty awesome when you think about it. So this week I urge you, think, dwell, meditate on this and realize just how incredible our salvation is, and how awesome the one who gave it to us is. That's real freedom. You see, my God can do anything but fail. He's the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He's our strong deliverer. Be blessed. Bob.

Ephesians 6:17

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."

This verse keeps going through my head for this weeks devotional, and as always I ponder and meditate as to why. Really the second part of the verse is what stands out the most for me right now. I will though, go through the whole verse. So this verse is taken from the well known chapter in Ephesians, written by Paul. In this chapter Paul is talking about spiritual warfare and how we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness. In short Paul is saying that the trials we go through, be it people or circumstances, are just tools and schemes from the enemy of our souls. He then gives a comprehensive list of our weapons we have at our disposal. The comparison is that of a soldiers armor from that day. Each piece of armor worn by that soldier is equally important but performs different tasks. When used together properly by a skilled fighter, it serves as protection from his opponent. From that list we have our text from which to work with. The helmet of salvation. I venture to say most of our battles are fought right there in the mind. If your anything like me, then one little thought can cascade into an avalanche of cataclysmic disaster that renders me useless for a period of time. If not, you are BLESSED! The helmet in days gone past served to protect the head obviously. This is one of the most important pieces of armor that could be worn. If the head was not protected, a soldier could go down fast. Plus all the decision making went on there. If the head don't work, the rest of the body is useless. I know there is another message in that just waiting to be jumped on. Anyways. So in our walk and battle against the enemy, if we leave our head, ( mind) , unprotected, the rest of the body will suffer. It is so important that when a thought comes into your mind, the process should include bringing it before the Lord first and letting Him decide and then guide. If it's legit it'll stick, if not, then out it needs to go. Easier said then done right? So now the sword of the Spirit. The text reveals what it is. It is the Word of God. The word for word is an interesting one. I like vines description the best. Here it is. " The significance of rehma (as distinct from logos) is exemplified in the injunction to take " the sword of the spirit which is the word of God", here the reference is not to the whole bible as such, but to the individual scripture which the spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need, a prerequisite being the regular storing of the mind with scripture." Whew! What a mouth full! The implication is that, if we study and read on a regular basis, when we need the right scripture to comfort, correct, or whatever, the Spirit will bring it to mind. Just like a sword for a soldier, it is our main weapon for attacking the enemy. When we are being accused or beaten down by his torment in this world, God's word will slice him to bits. The devil is the father of lies the bible says. God's word is truth. When Jesus went to the cross and paid our debt in full, the wind was taken out of his sails. He is just a bunch of hot air now. I know, I know, it sure is hot sometimes right? Yep. If we though, put on the whole armor of God, He is our protection. He is our defense. He is our offense. He is our everything. Just one word of caution here. Don't go around slicing off ears with your sword. Know when to wield it, and when to keep it in it's sheath. Be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. Man does that sound funny coming from me. So many times I led myself and you know what, it was an endless circle. Thankfully God is merciful and full of grace.
Have a great week and don't forget to suit up before you go out into daily life.

In Christ, Bob.

Proverbs 3:8

"It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."

Once again I find myself in proverbs 3. This verse has been in my head all week and like a cow chewing a cud, I have been going over and over it. Thinking to myself, self what does this mean? God what does this really mean? Just really pondering it. To start we have to look at "it". What is the "it" referring to? In order to answer that look at verse 7. That means open your bible and read! It has 3 parts to it. First, being not wise in your own eyes. I covered this somewhat last week with verse 5 and 6. Basically it means to trust God's judgement and not your own. He's pretty much right on the money every time. The second part is where I will get a bit more in depth. It says to fear the Lord. Now does this really mean we should be afraid of the Lord? Not exactly. This actual meaning is to reverence. The root word is revere which Websters defines as " to show devoted deferential honor to, regard as worthy of honor." That's what it means when we have a relationship with the creator of the universe. We are to have a sense of awesomeness about who He is and what He has done. I think personally this has been lost over time by most Christians. Yes that includes me too. Do we really take the time to think, wow, your God and you created all of this out of nothing. Do we look up at the stars or across the ocean and realize just how powerful and mighty He is? Sad to say, no. That's what it means to reverence God. Think about it and see how your mind will be tripped out by it. It's pretty amazing to be honest. The third part is to depart from evil. So the next logical question is.........what is evil. Evil as an adjective is described in Websters as "morally reprehensible." What a can of worms that is because I am sure people out there would argue what is morale. Or say it's all relative anyways. I will just say this and then move on. If it goes against what God says or has stated, then it is evil. Plain and simple. You might not like that, I might not either, but it is what it is. Especially when in the context of God. It comes down to this. God knows what is best for us and has provided some rules and guidelines to go by. Did He do it to put us under an oppressive yolk of do's and dont's? Of course not. He did it because He knows what is best for us and what will bring us into a relationship with Him that is full and rich. The bible says that man's heart is desperately wicked who can know it. Jeremiah 17:9. Who can know it? God. If that doesn't scare you and make you think nothing will. I know my heart and it scares me at times! Look we all have likes and dislikes and God doesn't want robots that all act the same. What He wants is relationship with each and everyone of us. Unique to each individual and special in it's own way. That's why He is a personal Savior. That's the whole reason for Jesus death on the cross. To provide a way for us to be in right standing with the father. All we have to do is accept it and start walking towards Him and with Him. It will be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones.

Sincerely Bob.