Bible

Eve and the Snake

Eve – Original Bad Girl of the Bible

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Throughout the Bible, God tells us about some “bad” girls that made mistakes. Some of those were BIG mistakes.  I think God put their mistake in the Bible not for us to judge them, but to learn from them.

I loved reading Liz Curtis Higg’s book – Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them.  She also has a series on Right Now Media for the book that is engaging and will have you laughing.  Let’s get started with the original bad girl of the Bible.

Bad Girls of the Bible - by Liz Curtis Higgs (Paperback), 1 of 2

Eve was the original bad girl of the Bible.

She made the first huge mistake that brought sin into the world with her husband Adam.  She allowed the serpents words to put doubt and even a little ego into her heart.  The devil always has a base of truth, but sneaks in lies by expanding upon it.  We can’t stop the whispering in our ears, but we can refuse to listen and respond.

Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4:7

Take time to read the Bible.  This will prevent the “Did God really say…” doubt that can be so easily sowed into our heart.  Eve added to the word of God when confronted with the snake.   The Lord never told her not to touch it, just not to eat it.  When we exaggerate God’s word we can sow seeds of doubt in the minds of others even if we mean well.

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”  “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied.  “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”   Genesis 3:1-3

The tree had been in the middle of the garden for who knows how long and they obediently avoided it.  Suddenly the tree was the one thing on Eve’s wish it.  She fixated on the tree instead of looking to God for the truth, seeking her husband for shared counsel (probably because she knew he would say no….), and looking at fruit that was available to her.    Once this happens Satan doesn’t need to do anything else because the temptation will be so great.  Where you focus is where you attention will go.  Be self-aware if you are avoiding conversations with others that won’t tell you what we want to hear.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Philippians 4:8

God will always be a loving Father to us.  After they ate the forbidden fruit, they realized that they were naked and covered themselves with fig leaves.  This is what we tend to do also when we are living in sin or mess up.  We try to cover it up or worse surround ourselves with people with the same sin so we don’t stand out.  We try to hide just like Adam and Eve.  God knew what they did and that they were hiding, but still called out to them.  He is a God that provides and made them coverings with animal skins.  This was the beginning of innocent blood being shed for our sins.

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  Genesis 3:8-9

And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.  Genesis 3:21

We all fall short, but not short enough for his grace.

Tony Guthrie Shares: The Heart of God's Grace

 

 

 

Be an Abraham in a Nimrod World

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“I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary because social media has taught you an ordinary life is a meaningless life.”                                                                   – Brene Brown – Daring Greatly Book

An ordinary life can make a huge impact.  The rise of social media has improved our life to keep us connected, but also diminished our life as we can get caught in the comparison loop that makes us feel ordinary.  We see our friends going on big vacations, having fun when we were not invited, getting a promotion at work, etc….   We compare ourselves to that highlight reel when reality is probably something much different.  Comparison is the thief of joy, especially for our youth that are focused on how many friends, followers, likes, comments they get.   For adults, it can be their career, promotion, house, car, etc.   We can wrap our identity in that instead of what we should.  It becomes more about us and less about others.  It becomes more about what people can do for us versus what they can do for others.  

Abraham was an ordinary man that led an extraordinary life making a huge impact on the world.  He made that impact by being humble and following God.  Genesis 12 –  Trusting God’s plan for his life even when it seemed impossible.  There is another man in the Bible named Nimrod in Genesis 10.  Many of you probably have never even heard of him.  He was the first “celebrity” at the time known for his hunting skills.  Genesis 10:9 “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”  It was like people saying today, “Man, you are Nimrod good!” or “You have game like Nimrod.”  You had Nimrod jerseys you wore.  Genesis 11:4 – Nimrod and his followers were the architects of the tower Babel.  They wanted to make their own kingdom and power/dominance by building the tower.  It was based in fear that if they don’t do something they will be nothing.  They were building their life for their own glory and power.

We cannot build our life for the temporary here on Earth.  Everything in this world will fade.  We need the solid foundation of God.  We need to be an Abraham when our culture is telling us that we should be like Nimrod.   Our human soul is too weighty for something so fragile.  Chasing the temporary will have us running in the wrong direction.  We chase things and when we get to the top, we think “Is this it?”

Don’t build out of fear but walk out on faith.  Abraham built an alter to God while Nimrod built a tower for his own glory.  Abraham got to touch all of lives, while Nimrod fades in the background that no one really knows who he is.  God’s kingdom will never fade.

What does it look like to trust God with the course of your life?

What goals do you need to refocus to be more God centered?

How can you choose to be content with the life you have, and not covet someone else’s?

“Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”  Galatians 1:10

Reference:  Jesus in Our Generation by Ben Stuart

Adam and Jesus

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A tree brought sin into the world and a tree took our sins away.

A Tree…  Have you ever thought about how a tree has impacted our lives?

Adam ate the fruit from the forbidden tree that brought sin and shame to the world.  This single tree that God told Adam and Eve not to eat from.  Temptation will always be there even in the beginning of time.  It’s part of our human nature that we have to strive to fight against.  We do this by digging into the Bible, so we know the truth.  We go to church and groups to be together with each other.  We hold each other accountable and grow with each other.

Finding the right people to do life with is critical, but we also have to get out of our comfort zone to go out the people who are not like us.  This is where Jesus came in.  Jesus hung out with all the “wrong” people.  He gives us the example of being able to avoid temptation and hang out with the people that need to know God.

There was another tree that made the BIGGEST impact to our lives.  That’s the tree that was used to make the cross that Jesus died for our sins on.  Jesus died so we could be saved.  That would enjoy forever with God by his sacrifice.  He was the ultimate sacrifice that we can never be worthy of.  Jesus makes us worthy in God’s eyes.  Jesus gave us grace so we must give grace to others.

 

God is Always at Work

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Esther is someone that I would now consider a role model. If you haven’t read this book yet, get your Bible out and read it. It will inspire you, give you hope, and let you know that God always has a plan.

Here is the story in my own words and my own understanding. Esther becomes Queen after the original queen refused an order from the King. She was picked from among thousands of beautiful women. She was humble when it came to meeting the King and took others advice.  Before she became queen, Mordecai adopted her. She was his cousin. He told her not tell the King where she came from or her religion. This will become important later in the story. Esther listened to him and the King never knew or asked. This is definitely a God plan in action.

Fast forward in the story – Mordecai overheard a couple guards talking about assassinating the King. He told Esther who then went to the King to save him. She saved the King with Mordecai’s help.

Meanwhile, Haman, who was the 2nd in command from the King, was a very prideful, boastful man. Everyone that he met had to bow before him. Mordecai refused to do this which made Haman so angry he couldn’t see straight. Haman went to the King and convinced the King that the Jews were a problem and they needed to be destroyed. The King trusted Haman and made the decree that a year from then every Jew can and would be killed. Mordecai and the rest of the Jews heard the decree and went into mourning. Basically waiting for their death. Mordecai went back to Esther to ask for help to save HER people. Remember, the King doesn’t know that she is a Jew. Esther at first refuses because you have to be called to see the King. If you just show up, you will be killed. Mordecai begs again and this time Esther agrees to do it even if it means she will die. She is willing to give up her own life to save her people. She asked Mordecai and the rest of the Jews to fast for 3 days beforehand. They all fast for the 3 days.

This is where the story gets fun. She goes to the King and requests a banquet with the King & Haman. The King is delighted to see her and basically tells her he will do anything she asks. She requests the banquet to which he agrees and has someone get Haman. During the banquet, the King asks her what she really wants. She tells him that she wants another banquet tomorrow with him and Haman and she will explain everything to him.  Haman leaves the banquet feeling on top of the world and who does he run into but Mordecai. Again, Mordecai refuses to bow to him and Haman is seeing stars right now he is so mad. Haman gets home and boasts to his wife and friends about how important he is that Queen Esther only invited him and basically how great he is. He is still fuming about Mordecai that his friends talk him into putting up a 75ft pole to stake Mordecai on the next day after asking the King for approval.

That night the King can’t sleep so he has someone read to him the history of his reign. Just after the part about Mordecai saving him from the assassination attempt, Haman shows up with all intention to ask the King to kill Mordecai. Before Haman can speak, the King asks Haman how he should honor someone. Haman probably thinking the King was talking about him, tells him to put that person in the King’s robe and ride on the King’s horse telling everyone how great that person is. The King agrees and tells Haman to do that for Mordecai. Alright guys….come on….Mic drop right here. Can you just imagine Haman’s mouth drop open. Not only does Haman not get to kill Mordecai, he has to publicly yell around the entire city how great the man is!!

After basically humiliating himself, he went to the 2nd banquet that Queen Esther has requested. The King again asks Esther what her request is. This time she requests that her life and the life of her people be spared. It’s the tone she puts this request in that just has me in awe. She is humble, not manipulating. She speaks honestly to him that if it was them being sold into slavery she would remain silent, but this is not a trivial matter. The King has no idea that she is a Jew and asks who would do that to her. She points right at Haman. The King goes into a rage and leaves the room. Haman goes to Queen Esther basically pleading for his life because he knows the King will kill him. Haman falls on the couch and lands on the Queen just as the King was walking back in the room! Not only is is trying to kill the Queen, but also appears to be assaulting her. One of the King’s assistants spoke up and told the King that Haman has a 75 ft pole in his yard. The King used the pole that Haman wanted to kill Mordecai to kill Haman.

Mordecai then takes over for Haman. The King allows him to reverse the decree, but Mordecai adds into it that the Jews can kill their enemies on that same fateful day. In response to the new decree, many people became Jewish in fear. On March 7th, the Jews killed their enemies and the King even allowed a 2nd day on March 8th for them to finish their work. On March 9th, they rested which became the Festival of Purim.

There you have it. We will never know what God’s plan for us is. Most of the time, we have no idea why God is putting this in our life or making us go through something. There is a purpose for everything. God’s purpose is all knowing. We are intertwined together to make God’s plan come together.