My Christmas Gift To You

I would like to share a paper my son, Tony Jr, wrote for school. Seven years ago he couldn't read and barely wrote. God has done so much in his life. So many people have loved and prayed and worked with him. Many thanks. Enjoy the beginning fruits of your labor. We choose to walk through life with those in need and it's wonderful to see the growth. This is my present to you for Christmas. Our children are a gift from the Lord. I thank his school so much for enforcing what we believe in his school environment.
I pray for you that next year is a year of prayer being fully developed in your life
and in your family!
Merry Christmas!

“The Lord’s Prayer”

By Tony Crawford, Jr

Jesus described prayer as a connection to Him. In Matthew 5:44 it says that in the hardest times, we need to pray for the strength to make it through. Prayer is a powerful tool that helps us fight the Devil. Prayer also helps to protect us from sin. Prayer helps us to know who we are in Christ and to remember that Christ died for our sins on the cross.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:5-6 that we should not pray for the glory of being seen by others, but that we should pray in secret, knowing that God will reward us in front of everyone. Prayer is not about using a lot of impressive words, but it is the prayer that comes from the heart that impresses God. Prayer is not about telling God something He does not already know. It is telling Him what we believe He will do for us.

God is the primary focus of our prayer. In Matthew 6:8 Jesus tells us to pray to our Father. This shows us that we should think of God as our heavenly Father. This means that God is powerful because He is God and He also loves us as a father and He wants to take care of us.

We should also focus on our needs and the needs of others. It is right that we should focus on our needs because the Bible tells us to do so. It says in Philippians 4:6 that we should take all of our troubles and concerns to God because He cares for us. I Timothy says that we should be thankful to God for everything He has done for us and everything He will do for us.

It is right that we should pray for our needs but it is wrong that we should only pray for our needs. James 5:13 tells us that we should pray for others who are in need. We should pray in faith for those who have needs. We should pray in agreement with other people. We should believe God that He will provide healing, lifting up and forgiveness of others who are in need. We are not just to focus on the needs of others but on how powerful God is and what He is able to do to help people.

What should we ask for when we pray? We should ask for salvation. God rescues us from sin and the Devil. We should ask for forgiveness. When we do wrong things, God forgives us. We should forgive other people also. In Matthew 18:22 Jesus tells us to forgive others, “seventy times seven.” We should pray for wisdom so that we can be full of the knowledge of God. We should pray for peace. Peace is the ability to be calm in the toughest of times. Peace is allowing God to fight our battles. We should pray for guidance. Psalm 119:105 says that we should let God’s word be the light in our darkness. We should ask God to protect us. He promises to be our refuge and our fortress in Psalm 91:2. We should pray for provision. The Bible tells us that God will provide all of our needs. We should pray for prosperity. II Corinthians 9:8 shows us that God wants to give us more than we need. We should pray for healing. We know that Jesus went around healing the sick. God loves people and wants them well.

Why do we pray? God tells us in the Bible that we need to pray. It is our choice to pray. We should pray because we want to be obedient to God, trusting Him that He will do what He says He is going to do. We pray to get what we need. Because we trust in God we pray to Him. We believe that He will do for us what He has promised.

We pray to God because we want to know Him more. When we pray God is able to talk to us. We pray for God’s will to be done in our life. Praying helps us to get the right thoughts, images and imaginations. God is able to give us signs when we pray. Prayer helps us to understand God. Prayer helps us as we study God’s word. Prayer also puts us in a better position for miracles.

We pray because we want to improve ourselves. Prayer allows God to be involved in our life. Prayer releases the gifts of God into our situations, making them better. God is able to fulfill our hopes and dreams when we pray for Him to do so. Prayer gives us peace in our hearts helping us to feel calm and secure, knowing that God is with you. When we pray we are able to make good decisions. We are able to choose right over wrong. Prayer helps us to have better self-control. When we pray we are kind and thoughtful toward other people. Prayer also helps us to be more loving and caring.

Babel, Babel, Babel

Let's continue our study of Genesis and look in chapter 11:1-9. We have seen the creation of earth, the universe, animals, vegetation, man, woman, family and nations. So, what happens when you have a bunch of people together? Sometimes, agreement. The power of agreement is....powerful! We see it here when the people agreed together to build a tower to heaven. The power of agreement is so....powerful...that God actually had to stop them. You would think He might look and smile at the people trying to build this tall tower. But God is alarmed and so much so that He actually changes the languages and the people disperse. Ever think that though you speak the same language as others in you country, sometimes the lack of agreement has a devastating affect? Or, the other way. The agreement has caused miracles to occur? The devil hates it when Christians are in agreement. He does everything he can to disrupt the flow of agreement.There is power in "one-ness". Verse 1 of Genesis11 is the key."The whole earth was one language and one speech". Oh that Christians understood the power of the tongue.If we did, words would be carefully chosen. Encouragement would be on the rise! Agreement would turn seemingly impossible situations around. Matthew 18:19 shines more light on the subject. Jesus is basically saying here that if two of us can agree as touching anything, it will be done. Unfortunately man hasn't changed. Verse 4 of Genesis goes to motive - the people wanted to "make a name for themselves". It's all about "me", "my name", "my accomplishments, "what I want" instead of what God wants. He wants it all about Him. In verse 6, God says if man was not restrained, anything imagined could be done. Think about it. Is it time for you to tap into this power. Want a better job, a better spouse, a successful child? Listen to what you are saying. Find a friend to agree with you in prayer. Be sure you are following God's plan. Be careful of that pesky pride. That pride caused division in Genesis and actually causes division today.

A voice was about to arise here in Genesis. God is about to select a nation for His own and a man to lead it and communicate for Him. You see, there was this promise to Eve. A seed was coming - a voice who calls everyone to come - follow Me. We celebrate His birth this month - know who it is?

The Nations

Chapter 10 of Genesis is the genesis of the world's nations. This is the account of when man began to replenish the earth after the flood. From Noah's line came three sons - we met them in the last post. Japheth's sons went North. From him came the Medes, Greeks, Europeans and Asians. Ham's descendents went to the area which became Arabia, Southern Egypt and North Africa. Their territory became know as Canaan, which would be where the Jews later settled. Shem's descendents settled in Arabia and Middle East. These people would be known as Jews, Assyrians, Syrians and Elamites. I thought this was an interesting FYI chapter. It's all in the Bible. Where and how life began, how nations came about - the Bible is the history of life and tells us the future as well.

Become a student of the Bible. It's truly the Book of Life!

Nakedness

Got your attention, didn't I? Uncomfortable situation. In Genesis 9:20-29, dad (Noah) got drunk and is lying in his tent naked!!! What to do....what to do.... Ah ha! I'll not cover him up and go tell my brothers what I saw! He's naked!!! Bad choice. How does one handle a situation like this? In verse 23, we see how Shem and Japheth, Ham's brothers, take the high road. They turn their backs (literally) on their father, get a blanket and cover him up - without looking. They cover his nakedness. Nakedness is a vulnerable state. There are times when covering another's "nakedness" is the right thing to do. It actually brings blessing. We have all been vulnerable at times - naked. Vulnerable and exposed. We are called to cover and protect, not run and tell like Ham did. No matter how ashamed they were of their father - respect for him won over. Jesus addresses nakedness in His own words, in a way only He can. In Matthew 25, Jesus is discussing the Judgement. He is describing those before the Judgement Seat. There are some prideful "saints" full of themselves and their awesome feats while here on the earth. On the other side are humbled saints, "righteous" Jesus calls them. In verse 36, Jesus says to the righteous, "(I was) naked and you clothed me". "When?", they ask? The prideful are told when He was naked, they didn't cloth Him. "When?", they ask. Jesus' famous response sobers all of us up. In verse 40, He says,"...inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of the, you have done it unto Me."

Nakedness is no laughing matter. Sometimes you are called to cover another's sin.

"Love covers a multitude of sin"

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

Jesus always cuts it to the quick.

God of Covenant

Genesis Chapter 9. It's interesting to me that God makes covenants. A covenant is like a contract. Why would God feel a need to make a contract with us? He's God. We are His creation. He reaches to us with a covenant and He asks us to sign. It's like the Mercedes Benz CEO reaching out to you with a car contract promising you the car paid for. The CEO wanting you to take the contract. He would actually search you out hoping you will take the car. Free and clear. Here in Genesis, It looks like this contract is a contract that binds God a little. He just destroyed the human race save Noah and his family. He flooded the earth. It was a sure way to completely clear away all He had created. He couldn't completely destroy everyone, though, because He had made a covenant with Adam and Eve in the garden. He promised a "seed" that would come and reestablish the relationship between God and man. God doesn't break covenants. In this covenant He restrains Himself. In verse 11, He states the terms. He will never flood the earth again. In verses 12 - 16, we see that He places a rainbow in the sky as a reminder to Himself - not to us! You thought that rainbow you saw was a "hello" from God. Nope. It's a "these people are in bad shape and I really should start again, but I made a covenant and can't". It's His sticky note reminder He has on His big computer in the sky. "Can't destroy them today". So you have another day. I'm glad I have another day to do it right. Like anyone else, I need the promise of a new day. Notice a couple of interesting things in this chapter. Meat is introduced as okay for man to eat. The Bible says in the last days, people will be forbidden to eat meat. God, here in Genesis, establishes meat as permissible. Notice God's take on murder, or shedding of blood in verse 6. He sees each human as made in His image - so don't touch. Isn't that interesting? He approaches murder from a very personal perspective. Later in the Bible He establishes capital punishment for murder. He is the judge of a human's life, not us. His covenant is with the animals, too. We see this in verse 12. In verse 2 He places the protection and management of all animals in man's hand. It's the beginning of a fresh start! I know things will be peachy from here! After all, God has given us everything we need to survive this beautiful planet and this wonderful gift of life He has given each of us. No worries! We are good to go!

Big Giants, But A Bigger God

Genesis 6:1-4 is a bit of a guess as far as I can tell. I'll take a stab at it. The "sons of God"here are the controversy. Some believe them to be fallen angels. These angels fell when Lucifer fell from heaven after his rebellion against God. One third of the angels fell with him (Revelation 12:4,9). Some believe they took human wives and produced giants. Another interpretation is that these were ungodly people probably birthed from the sin on the earth - Cain's relatives. The word "Giants" here is the Hebrew word nephilim meaning "violent" or "causing to fall". The root word here suggests "monsters" and "wonder". However they came, archeologists have unearthed giants skeletons up to 12- 15 feet. I personally don't believe angels can reproduce. They are spirit beings. They are not human. Can man be influenced by them? Yes. these fallen angels or "demons" are quite active in the Bible and in the earth today. Psychics tap into them. They are not to be played with. Whatever the case, God was not pleased with how things were going. It was time to wipe the slate. It has to be bad for God to decide to start again. He would do the wiping away one time only with a flood. It was a great flood. Read Genesis 6- 9. Read with a fresh sense of awe at the incredible power of God. This flood caused more destruction than anything we will ever see here on earth. He is not to be reckoned with. We think of God as such the loving Father that he is. But occasionally, it's good to see Him in his power. You have a big God who, when he says He will fight your battles (giant as they seem), He's not saying some long fight He has to take on. No, no, no. This is God we are talking about here. I'm guessing His wrath on your giants doesn't take a second (in time as we know it). "The battle is the Lord's". In the midst of the flood, there remained a place of protection and peace for the single servant, his precious family and God's beautiful animals. I can see the ark taking off on the waters. A few planks of wood carried these refugees in safety. The promised seed was preserved. Promises are carried through obedience. What a great example we have in Noah. Remember saints, Jesus will come soon and His return is compared with this moment in time Matthew 24:37, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Tell someone about Jesus today. Bring them in the boat with you. Maranatha (come Lord Jesus)!

People

Hi. Back again. Lost my hard drive, but saved most all of my information. It's not easy working from someone else's computer! I must be in my "prayer room", with the lavender fragrance coming from the plug in the wall and at my green desk. In the process of discussing people here in Genesis, I am reminded that we are faced with the best and worst of people every day. Life is full of both. Honestly, I have my own moments of best and worst - how about you? I'm happy to report that in the many years I have lived, I have been privileged to know some pretty great people. I have come to appreciate their kindness. It is a dying art - kindness. When experienced, whether given or received - it fills one's tank with good warm fuzzes. It reminds us that we are not in this life alone. Yes, God is with us and He graces us with others to fill the gaps and heal the wounds. Thanks to those who have shown kindness to me and my family over the years. You have a chapter in the book of our lives. I'll be back in Genesis next week.

Be Ye Separate

Life outside the garden begins. Cain and his wife, probably his sister, (God fixes that in Leviticus 18: 6,9) have children and this "super" family takes off. All would be lost, but that Adam and Eve decide to have another child. This child's name was Seth. We find this in Genesis 5:3. The words used here regarding Seth are the same words used when God created man "in His own likeness...and image". Eve sees him in Genesis 4:25 as a replacement for her beloved son Abel. Remember, God promised a seed to crush Satan's head. Seth would be the carrier of that future seed. God keeps His promises. As a side note, look at Genesis 4:3-31 and see how long people lived back then! Adam lived 930 years, Kenan lived 910 years, Seth bore children at 807 years old! I wonder what you look like at 807 years of age. Remember, this was a time right out of the garden. Sin had only just begun to take root and literally change the atmosphere. God soon reduces the life span of man to 120 years. Now, one of Seth's offspring was Enoch. What a neat story. How tight can you get with God? Apparantly tight enough for God to take you away to heaven before you die. That's what happened to Enoch. I guess He couldn't wait for Enoch to join Him in heaven. Enoch's special relationship with God came from what Enoch did. What did Enoch do? In the midst of the wickedness on the earth, Enoch was able to stay separate and tight with God. Let's see how this man developed such a tight relationship with God. In Genesis 5:24 and also in Hebrews11:5, we are told that Enoch walked with God and pleased God. The word "pleased" means agree. So Enoch agreed with God. In other words, as the Bible says, how can two walk together unless they agree? Enoch walked with God. You know, that's really God's big plan for man. To walk with you. He demonstrated that in the Garden of Eden. He walked and talked with Adam and Eve. Did you know God wants to walk with you...and talk to you? You ask, does God still talk to man? Uhhhhh,,,,yes! Know why you don't hear anything? You must have a relationship with Him where you pray, study His Word (Bible), meditate on His Word and just talk to Him. All of these things only help in tuning your spiritual ears to God. You will hear Him if you give Him a chance. If you read the verse following, in Hebrews 11: 6, it goes on to talk about faith. Without it it is impossible to please (agree with) God. Enoch was a man of faith. So are you. You will strengthen your faith as you study His Word. Another thing Enoch did was speak out against unrighteousness. We see this in Jude 14, 15. Please take a moment to read this passage. It is a prophetic word that applied then and now. You know how I write about grumblers, haters, complainers? Well, Enoch didn't like them either. He specifically preached here about "grumblers and faultfinders". He warns against this behavior. He says they "follow their own evil desires, boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage". Keep on the look out! Enoch's life is an example for all of us. Walk with God, please Him and speak out about ungodliness. You may get swept off your feet!

Time to Redirect!

Redirect - "to change the direction or focus of". This is a perfect example of redirection. Someone does something wrong. Another does something right. The one who did something wrong gets mad at the person who did something right. That person decides that destroying the person minding his own business and just serving God is the right thing to do. Problem solved, right? Wrong. Somebody is watching. That somebody is God. Cain killed Abel. There is no escape. "Where is Abel?", God asks. God asks a similar question in the Garden of Eden. Look in Chapter 3:6-8. "Where are you?", God asks Adam and Eve. Does God know where Abel is? Sure. Does God know where Adam and Eve are? You bet. Purpose of the questions? To get to the conscience (the inner sense of what's right or wrong in one's conduct or motives). Did the guilty confess? Not really. Adam explained that he heard God in the garden and "I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid". Cain's answer to where his brother was - "Am I brother's keeper?". Has your child ever answered you in a similar way under somewhat similar (but not as big) circumstances? Even better. In 3:11 Gods asks Adam, "Who told you you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?". The answer that has been passed from generation to generation - "She made me do it!". I'm thinkin' Cain felt the same way - "It's Abel's fault I killed him!". Cain's sentence is similar to his father's sentence, but one step worse. Not only will he till the ground, but the ground won't produce. He doesn't just get kicked out of an area, but he is sentenced to wandering the earth. It's also interesting that Cain felt and understood that he lost the presence of God. His parents felt that as well. The worst of the worst - no presence of God. Can you imagine? But blood cries out. What is the blood crying? It's crying out for it's right to live and to be alive. Murder is referred to many times in the Bible as "blood crying out". The murder can't be hid. It cries for justice. And justice it receives. You might think that the mark God puts on Cain to protect him from death is a good thing (see 4:15). I'm not sure. God is protecting his judgement. Cain will serve his time. No one has the right to take another's life. Life begins at conception and that life has the right to life.

Candygram!

Yep. I know what you watched in the 80's! Saturday Night Live. Me too. It was a show with very funny skits. One very famous skit was written around the time the movie "Jaws" was released. It would have people sitting in their home and the doorbell would ring. They would ask who was there and the "person" on the other side of the door would say, "Candygram". When the person opened the door, it was a "landshark" and the person would get eaten by the shark. Pretty funny. Well, this is God's version of the landshark in our lives. In Genesis 4:7, God began to deal with the issue of Cain's disobedience in the offering he gave to the Lord. He encourages him to repent. A neat thing about God is that He always gives us a way out. As a matter of fact, in I Corinthians 10:13 we read, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." God always shows us the way out. He doesn't want you to sin!!! He's not trying to test you to see if you will!! As a matter of fact, here we see Him reaching out to Cain. He was reasoning with him and warning him...there is a landshark at your door. It wants to devour you! In this case it's not a funny skit. It's the truth. Sin wants to destroy you. God made it plain to Cain. If...you don't do well (obey) - then...sin crouching at your door will destroy you. Sin, here, means missing the mark - like an archer. The door is the way into our heart and life. When we disobey God, we open the door to sin. Sin is a wicked monster just waiting to pounce. Picture sin sitting just on the other side of a door from you. It is patiently waiting for you to open the door and let it in. Sin can't open that door, only you can. Remember Eve's encounter with the devil? The devil couldn't just come in and take the garden over. He didn't have the authority. He needed the one in authority to let him in. Eve gave him that authority by giving in to the temptation. God told Cain that he could "rule over it (sin)". Even in the Old Testament, man had the ability to resist the devil. How? James 4:7 says to do two things. Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Cain didn't repent. He dug his heels in all the more. This one decision led to a hardened heart that eventually killed his brother. Guilt will do that to you. Careful, saint! Keep your heart. Resist!

Grumpy Offering

For many years, I have had the opportunity to receive offerings for the church. I know, because we give offerings ourselves, how precious they are to the Lord and to those giving. I also know how difficult offerings can be to give when....a. I don't want to give.....b I can't afford to give. I remember one Sunday when I was receiving the offering at our church, I told the congregation that "God doesn't want your grumpy offering". It was a funny thing to say, but I have found it to be true. God doesn't want your grumpy offering. What makes an offering "grumpy"? Well, you make it grumpy! Not only are we instructed to give, but God requires an attitude of a grateful heart. He doesn't want us to give under compulsion as we see in 2 Corinthians 9:7, but with a cheerful heart through a decision ourselves. In your relationship with God, you will find that most things established between you and God are based on a decision you make. God lays out the plan, are you willing to walk with His rules and instruction? They will always require an act of faith. But be encouraged, the Bible tells us that God has given each man a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). Let's get back to Genesis and watch this played out. We will be in Genesis 4:1-15 for the next few blog posts. Let's glean what we can from this moment in history. Adam and Eve have been extracted from the Garden of Eden. There are angels with flaming swords guarding the entrance to the garden - probably to this day! The new parents have two children, Cain, the firstborn, and Abel. Cain is the main character of this story. Now, when I say story, I don't mean fiction. The Bible is an accurate and true account of the history of the world and the history of man. Cain's name is from the word "Kun" meaning strike. This is our first introduction to Cain's character and his future as a murderer. I find it interesting that Adam and Eve's first born brought the first death into the world. Their disobedience in the garden brought death through sin as well. Anyway, their second son is Abel. Both sons were hard workers. Cain tilled the soil which represents the curse on the land (Genesis 3:17-19) and Abel tended sheep which is a reference to Jesus and His obedience. It came time for the offering. Cain brought his fruit offering of fruit and Abel his sheep offering. God's response? In chapter 4 verse 5, God "respected" Abel's offering. This meant he "looked upon" it with favor. Though we don't see the written instruction for the offering, we see it by God's response. Abel's offering was the first (or best) and fattest sheep required. Cain's offering got no "respect" from God - or no favor. In verse 6, Cain is not happy about God's response. A fallen countenance is not a happy person. We will find later, that he redirects his anger to his brother. What does God require of us today? Yes, offerings to the Lord. The best of our labor, the best of our work skills, the best of our attitude, the best of our service, the "first fruits" of our labor (money). He requires a servant's heart - one like the "offering" Jesus. An obedient servant even unto death. Do you have a position in your church? How about your job? Does it seem your work isn't recognized enough? Have you found yourself stepping away from it or have you dropped the responsibility? Don't blame others for your actions. Remember your service is not unto man, but unto God. If you drop it or walk away, it's God you are letting down - much less the people you are supposed to be serving. Careful! Serve the Lord in all you do and He will see to it that reward will come. Don't be a grumpy giver or a disobedient one!

Coverings

We see in Genesis 3:21 that God sacrificed an animal in order to cover man's nakedness. A real symbol of the covering sacrifice of blood for sin. Sin was represented in the nakedness of man. Blood is representative of life. Life is in the blood.The skin of the sacrificed animal represents covering. The flesh was revealed through man's disobedience and it wasn't pretty. The flesh is selfish and self serving. It's all about "me" and what "I" want. A temporary covering was all God provided at this time in history. The shedding of blood was instituted at this point and we see this blood requirement throughout the Old Testament (Old Covenant) in the sacrifices in the Temple. I've been in the ministry for 28 years. I have served as a youth minister, Children's Director, Christian coffee house barista, Pastor, Women's Ministry leader. I have traveled to a few countries overseas to minister. I've worn numerous other hats and I've been around a lot of people. We have bailed people out of jail, kept a few out of jail, been praised and hated. When it all sifts down, all people deal with the same temptations. Ecclesiastes tells us there is nothing new under the sun. The devil has the same tricks. He uses his only tool - pride. I've seen so many prideful people in various degrees. Pride sits and judges. We are not called to judge but to serve. That's it. Those that do serve - with no strings attached - find themselves in the most blessed of situations. These are the ones who just do the job. No gossip, tale bearing...just serving God through serving others. You know, God looks at the heart. These are those I love to serve with. These are the ones who get the work done. I remember when I was a barista in our church's first coffee house. For three years I read the Bible to a gentleman who came in every day. He was uneducated, just a few teeth and definitely from a poor background. We had some wonderful discussions about God. Many times, he had much better insight into God's Word than the "educated" people I knew. People used to ask me why I was reading to this man. They said I could have Bible studies with others - you know educated people! Well, after those three years, this man hooked us up with the the young boy we ended up adopting. Be careful how you judge. Are you "bigger" than the one God wants you to minister to? Are the "least of these" Jesus refers to too least for you? If so, you're missing an opportunity to minister to Christ Himself. Careful of that pride - it might bite you in the end - and you know what end I am referring to!

Chapters 2 and 3 Pt 2

Sorry I've been gone a week! Life gets busy! Maybe I was avoiding the part where the first woman ("mother of all the living" 3:20) blew it. Yep, our sex kind of started this fun path we are on by seeing, biting and taking the husband with her. You may look, but you may not bite. You bite, you pay....a hefty price. Women don't always realize their heavy influence on a man. Then there are some women who know their power of persuasion so well, they manipulate their husbands like puppets. Women are the master manipulators. I've known a few in my time....and still know some. Manipulation is a work of the flesh used to seduce and get your way. Beware!!! Whether you like it or not, God placed man in authority over woman. I mean, look at the curse God placed on her in 3:16 -"Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you". Though another 3:16 (John 3:16) redeemed us from the curse, we still are to be submitted to our husbands. I actually think men have the harder job - to love us as they love their own flesh. Study love sometime and you will see it is a really self sacrificing proposition. I say let him be in charge. Being in charge isn't all it's cracked up to be. I love to have my husband take care of me. Here is a challenge for you girls. Look up 1 Peter 3: 1-6. Meditate on that one for a while. With this sin of disobedience to God, Satan gained a stronghold in this world. Everyone (including him) were promptly removed from the garden. Satan is now given the title of "prince of the world" in John 14:30 and "god of this age" in 2 Corinthians 4;4. But again, through the second Adam (Jesus) we can actually get great victory over this horrible world prince. It takes faith - firm faith. But with God..all things are possible!

Chapters 2 and 3 Pt 1

Please read chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis. It begins by going into detail on the creation of man. We now see God referred to as the "Lord God". "Lord" has been added. The word "Lord" in Hebrew is "YHWH" or "Yahweh". This name is God's covenant name. It represents His love and closeness to man. Here we see that God is not a god who just creates something and walks away, but He is THE God who is wanting to be deeply involved in the life of those He has created. Man became a living being. This was different from all of the other creation He created. Into man He breathed His very life. This was more than just a breath. This breath concludes the creation being formed in the image of God. This breath moves man into intimate relationship with God. This breath gives man the very breath of God. Selah (means pause and think on that for a while!). This is what God wants for all people.The environment He created for man to live in was called Eden. The state man was in at the time was completely free from sin. No murders, lies, hate, pollution, death. Nothing ugly and hateful. It was the perfect environment spiritually and physically. Many believe this garden is located in Southern Iraq. In the garden there were planted two trees. The Tree of Life indicates an eternal life (Gen. 3:22). In the book of Revelation, chapter 2:7, the Tree of Life will be in the new heaven and earth. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil became a testing ground for Adam and Eve. God warns Adam and Eve about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Do not eat. Wouldn't life be great if there was no evil? Can you imagine? God did not want man to live in an eternal state of the knowledge of evil. That means there is evil out there. I asked earlier about whether you believe in the existence of God. Now I ask you this, do you believe there is a devil? AKA Satan. We know his mode of operation is temptation. What was the temptation for Adam? It was the temptation to be "like God". He convinced Eve that God was worried that if they ate from the tree, they would be like Him - knowing good from evil. But that wasn't the case. God didn't want mankind to live in a state of sin. Man had a choice. Man still has a choice. Either receive God and follow His instructions (always a good idea to follow the manufacturer's instructions) or don't. God didn't create robots, He created children. Made in His image but with a will of their own. In 3:6, Eve saw and ate. She didn't die...physically. But a spiritual death occurred. Physical death came later. From this event, all of makind is born of these spiritual parents. All people are born into sin. All people are in need of a savior. That savior is the seed God refers to in 3:15. The "he" God is referring to is Jesus. The promise of redemption begins here. Adam and Eve are removed from the garden. Why? To protect them. If they had eaten from the Tree of (eternal) Life, then they would be in the forever state of sin. This was a special garden. No sin allowed. Man would now survive from the sweat of his brow. But a second Adam was on His way.

Romans 5:12-19

¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— ¹³for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

¹⁵But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous."

Leave and Cleave

I think one of the toughest things for a woman to do is leave her family and cleave to her husband. Many times it's not because the woman doesn't want to leave home and start a new life. It is many times the parents not willing to let her go. The job of a parent is to train that child up to become an independent adult. Not an easy job. It takes a huge commitment and some skill to train them. But it also takes a strength in letting them go. I am blessed in my life to have parents who encouraged me to get my life going with my husband. I was the first of three daughters to leave the city my parents are in and move away. I've been gone for 28 years. The day we moved to Georgia was a tough one. We had a moving van all ready to pick our things up and go on a Friday. We stayed at my parents house the night before. The next day the moving company called and said they had to postpone our move one day. I was fine until the next morning. The moving morning arrived and I couldn't move. I was frozen. I couldn't leave my parent's home. I cried and cried and didn't want to leave. I tried to put my makeup on and cried through it. I tried to eat breakfast and couldn't do it. My Mom looked at me, dry eyed and said, "Go." I thought that was harsh! What? You want me to leave? She walked me to the car and Tony and I took off. The minute we were out of town the fear and sadness left me. I was fine. I needed my Mom to help me go. I can't imagine what would have happened if she hadn't done that. Sometimes you have to be tough as a parent. Sadly, parents are so wrapped up in their children, they lose perspective and become their child's friend. This is not healthy for parent or child. Your spouse is your best friend, or should be. Your must develop that relationship. I encourage you to look at your child as an individual who needs to step out and live their own life. God has a huge plan for their life and you want that to happen for them. Marriage is a God idea and it works great. Leave and cleave!!! Chapter 2 comes next.

It Is Good

I love that God said of His creation "It is good". He said it seven times. Light, heavens, ground,planets and stars, fish and birds, animals and humans, rest. All good. Don't you love all these things, too? You like what God likes. You were made in His image. I live in Georgia and I love these fall evenings. I look up in the sky and see the stars and think - that's really good. I see the Smokey Mountains and think - good! I go to Lake Allatoona near our home, sit at the lake and think - really good. I see my son sleeping and think - you are good God! I'm not sure anything in creation is bad. My niece, Michelle, and I were driving one day from our church to home. The prettiest small grasshopper was on my side window. He stayed there the whole trip. We worried about him as the wind became strong as I drove. He hung on. When we stopped we marveled at his ability to stay on the window. We looked at his tiny eyes and watched him clean his face. I figured he is a dare devil teenager and loves to ride car windows! He was beautiful - good one God! All of these creations shout - there is a God! Here I am! Look at Me! Evolution - come on! It's a THEORY. An unproven theory. Unproven and will never be proven. Interesting idea, but not true. God? Absolutely. There is such order to this planet, the chances that this world was created by a god is greater than the chances of evolution being true. Now, notice that the Bible says that in the creation of man, it says, "Let us create man in our image" (verse 26). Who is the "us" there? Well, that would be God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The trinity. We have a couple scriptures supporting this. John 1:3 says, "Through Him (Jesus) all things were made, without Him nothing was made that was made". Colossians1:16 says, "...all things were created by Him and for Him". I encourage you to look these up. Jesus was in heaven from the beginning. He was involved heavily in the creation process. We will discuss the creation of man and woman tomorrow. Until then, go outside. Look up, or around or down. It was all made for you to enjoy. It's good!

Let There Be Light

Let's begin by reading Genesis 1. The true beginning. God spoke. Now, you understand that there was nothing before the heavens were created. God is the only one who can create something from literally nothing. God created the heavens and placed our earth within it. The earth was without form, empty and dark. That's how life is if you don't know God. It has no form, no meaning. It is empty. Someone may say, "But I have lots of friends". I'm not talking about friends. I'm talking about an emptiness inside that no thing or person can fill. Life is dark without God, as well. In darkness, you have no direction. You feel your way around, but you are never sure of where you are going. Notice in Genesis 1:2, that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Even in the formless, empty darkness of life, God is there. He's hovering. Awaiting the next move. That move is your move. In verse 3, God says, "Let there be light, and there was light". Now, the sun and the moon and the stars weren't created yet. They aren't created until verse 14! So what was the light? The light was God's glory filling the earth. There is so much in these first three verses, we could sit here for weeks, marveling at these words. Do you have a friend to talk to about the Word? I do. My friend, Angela, and I have spend hours and hours over the years discussing God's Word together. It's such fun! We marveled at these first few scriptures today. We talked of the glory of the Lord. His glory is discussed and noted throughout the Bible. Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of the Lord and the skies proclaim the works of His hands." Psalm 148: 5 says, "Praise Him all you heavens and all you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord. For He commanded and they were created". In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah had a vision in chapter 6. He saw the Lord seated on His throne and, "the train of His robe filled the temple." There were angels all around and they were calling to one another. They were saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory." The whole earth is full of God's glory!!!!! What a wonderful sight. Isaiah saw the earth in the spirit and it was glorious - literally! Guess what. When you become born again, His very Spirit comes to live inside of you. The glory of the Lord surrounds you. I was at an airport with a friend. We went to a restaurant at the airport for breakfast before the plane left. The man serving us food saw light on us. It was the glory of the Lord. Can you find a few scriptures on God's glory? How about one on creation? Dig around this treasure of God's Word and share what you find below in Comments. Walk in His glory today! Know that it surrounds you. Let your light shine!

Is There a God?

Your first leap of faith in believing in God is believing the mere fact there is a God. Is there a master architect? Is there a mastermind behind all of this beauty? How does the body work? How did all of your parts and pieces form into an intelligent human being? Why is there one planet in our universe that is habitable? What about animal instincts? How do the birds know when to build a nest, how high it needs to be, how to build it in such a way that the wind can't knock it down? What about vegetation? The plants we have create within them the seeds needed to "recreate" themselves. Certain vegetation comes with fruit that is contained in some sort of skin (apples, oranges, bananas) that a human can peel and eat. Not only does it taste good, it has all the nutrients needed to sustain human life. Now if all these things were evolved independently, they somehow and at some point must have decided to work together to help each other. Plants said, "I'll produce things needed for oxygen and food", water changed so animals and man can drink it and rehydrate, the atmosphere decided on just the right amount of gravity. It said, "I'll make light in the day and cool things down at night". Some animals decided that they would be food supply. As a matter of fact, somebody decided the food chain. Some animals missed that vote. Yes, it all sort of worked itself out. Now believing all that takes faith!!!! OR....there is a God who is so big and powerful and wise who did all of this. You can't see Him, so how do we know he exists? You see Him in His creation for one thing. Have you ever looked at a beautiful painting or sculpture? Was the artist there for you to meet? Probably not. Someone told you there was an artist who created that piece. Maybe his name was Michelangelo. Did they show you a picture of him? No. Did you believe he existed many years ago? Sure, why not? There is his artwork, it didn't create itself!!! Hmmmmm. You believe that? A master artist did that creation? Hmmmmm. Well, only simple people believe that. After all, we can't see this artist. You know where I'm going. There always is a master artist, architect, musician because things don't create themselves. This universe (and that includes you) were created by God. Let me show you His art. Take a look at the Hubble Photo Gallery on my links. Look at the photos of the universe beyond. Think about who did all this. Don't ask why, just take a minute to enjoy the beauty. Does an artist need a reason to create beauty? No.

Beginnings

Everyone wants a new beginning. Somehow we think if we do something somewhere else or with someone else, things will change. Not always the case. New beginnings are sometimes excuses to stop (through boredom, etc.) and find something new and exciting. But unfortunately, unless God leads you to that new place, the same problems will arise. I'm not sure there are "new beginnings". Not sure who came up with the term. It sounds exciting. But there was really only one real beginning. It was in the creation of the universe. The vast universe that scientists says is still being created as it continues to expand is God's handiwork. After all, He never said stop, did He? You are one of His "really good" creations. Your life began at birth. From that time on, your life is a series of journeys. Depending on your perspective, the journeys can be pretty fun! God has a plan. His plan worked really well until He took the big risk and created man. I wonder if He thought twice. Oh well, He did it and His perfect world got a little upside down when we came along. Do you have a child? Remember life before a child? Don't think about it. It was calm, controlled and peaceful. Are you glad you completely changed your life with a child? Sometimes yes and sometimes no, right? I know, though, you would be heartbroken without them. God's the same (after all, you are created in His image). He had second thoughts, too. Remember the flood? At least Noah made it! He does love His children. He let you share all this beauty with Him. This blog on creation will be fun. Please feel free to comment. Would love to hear what you know about creation. Join the discussion and let's learn all we can about this cosmic reality we live in.

Now It's Clear!

Okay, I get it now. It all is making sense. Paul saves the best for last. Read Galatians 6:11-18. The big question was why? Ever have someone do something and you ask why? Was it something that doesn't make sense? The Jewish Galatians had it made. Their Messiah had come. Their world was fulfilled. The prophesy of the coming King was accomplished. Why go back to the law? Why pull others out with them? Why cause division? Paul tells us why right here. In this letter, we see Paul being very pointed to these Galatians. They persecuted Paul. Why? To undermine his influence in the churches. They challenge his authority and call. They charge that living in grace would cause "lawless living". Paul defends himself and his message in this letter. He is an apostle of Jesus Christ (Chapters 1-2), he defends salvation by grace (Chapters3-4), he defends the new freedom from the law and legalism as well as freedom from sin (Chapters5-6). He's pretty frank with his words describing these Jews. He says they are disturbers, perverters, hinderers, false brothers, people pleasers, manipulators. Come on Paul, tell us what you really think! Not sure that he had many friends here in Galatia. Let's get back to chapter 6. The question remains....why? The first reason is found in verse 12. "Those who are trying to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised". Why? Verse 13, "The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ". He points to their own hypocrisy in verse 13, "they don't obey the law themselves". The world and , unfortunately, wayward believers are going to try to pull you off track of your freedom in Christ and your call. Why? They are people pleasers. What really counts to Paul and should count to us? It's found in verse 15, "......a new creation". 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!". The only price "the new" has is the price you pay from the world and worldly believers. Are you willing to pay the price to follow Christ? Paul made that choice. He said in verse 14 that "the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." Crucified means death. All gone. Bye bye. Live this new life of yours through and for Christ. It's an adventure for sure. In closing I quote our brother Paul. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers."

Amen.

Gentle!

WOW! Galatians 5:26. Conceited, provoking and envying each other. Now in Galatians 6 a caution to be gentle and reaping what you sow. Why is Christianity so complex? Why are Christians so complex? Gee! Verse 3 says, fulfilling the law of Christ is done by carrying each other's burdens. I thought it was being the best Christian out there! Oh yes, that would be the law. Law being - you must perform to be accepted by God. Grace being - you are accepted by God. Period. It's everyone else who may or may not accept you. At least the Galatians had that problem. Must have been a fun group to be around. Verse 4 says they shouldn't compare themselves with one another. Fortunately that doesn't happen these days :) . Verse 9. Ever get tired of doing good? You only get tired of that if you need others to affirm you. As believers, affirmation comes from God. Your acts of doing good come with a wonderful plus. They make you feel good! Don't let your right hand know what you left hand is doing. A great old saying. Just enjoy the random acts of kindness and service you are blessed to perform. I remember hearing a story of a rich man who yearly gave thousands of dollars away at Christmastime to random people. Why? Because he wanted to. I'll bet it was his favorite time of year. He didn't tell on himself for years. I think someone ratted him out! Read verse 10. If you have an opportunity today, or tomorrow, do good to someone - especially another believer. Reward in heaven is much better than here. It will make you feel good that someone's day is better because of you. It's our secret! I won't tell anyone!

Works Verses Fruit

I hope you had a great weekend. I know I did. Let's continue with Galatians 5:16 - 26. Just the title of this post tells it all. You can have two ways of living. You can live by works or have fruit appear from your life. I prefer fruit appearing, don't you? The sinful nature and the Spirit are contrary to each other. There is a conflict here. Living in a sinful world there will be conflict. The key here is to be led by the Spirit (verse18). How do you get in the mode of being "led by the Spirit"? Well, first you must know what the acts of the sinful nature are. These are listed in verses 19-21. Keep reading the list, you'll hit one that applies to you. I promise. So, now you know what that nature does, so if you do one of those, it's not from the Spirit. Okay, now look at the fruit of the Spirit. The word "fruit" is singular. It means all of these manifestations of the Spirit led life are all one fruit. Fruit really means what is produced in your life by the life you lead. Verse 24 says you who belong to Christ have "crucified your sinful nature with it's passions and desires". So, we are to "keep in step" with the Spirit. I picture the Holy Spirit walking with me wherever I go. When I feel one of the works of the flesh rising within me, I have the Holy Spirit to lead me away from the temptation and not only that, but the Holy Spirit empowers me to make the right choice. Then the fruit shows up instead. I teach art at a local school. It's a Christian school. When the children begin to act up, I remind them them have the Holy Spirit in them, therefore they have self control. So, if you begin to act up, remind yourself, you are in step with and empowered by the Holy Spirit at all times. Let the fruit appear in your life. Verse 26 - let humility rule! Remember, it's not you doing the work, it's God.

• "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
• For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Philippines2:12,13

What is Freedom For?

Freedom!!!!! Sounds good! Yell "FREEDOM" now! Doesn't that sound good!! Your flesh hears that and says, "YIPEEE! I can do anything I want!!! I can bite and devour others!!! Get even!!!" Your Spirit hears that and says, "YIPEEE! (Your name here) is now free to love unconditionally, serve others, experience true freedom!!!". Listen saint. The battle is over. It's over, it's over. The flesh loses. Do you really feel better when you operate in Galatians 5:13 and 15 by taking your freedom and sin and bite and devour others? You really are miserable if your are operating this way. I encourage you to try another tact. Do something wild like....serve someone - with no expectation of getting anything in return. That's real service. Just do it for the sake of doing it. Let your reward be one that make you feel good inside. The Bible says things done in secret will be rewarded openly. God sees. He's a really good rewarder. Isn't that all that matters? If you want the joy that comes with helping others, joy will have to be the only thing you need for thanks. How about that crazy and wild verse 14? Love thy neighbor as thyself. Your neighbor will not be nice sometimes. Your neighbor will have a bad day - maybe many bad days. Can you love him through it? Like you love yourself? Verse 15 says if you,"bite and devour others" you will be consumed and the "others" may be devoured also. Do you really want to do that? I heard someone say once that their goal in life was to destroy a former friend's business and ship them home. The hate eventually got to point of physical threats. WOW! What a sad person. Does that sound like a God plan? Not according to Galatians 5:13-15. The flesh takes you to places you don't want to go. How do you fight these thoughts and feelings? Serve and love - unconditionally. Then you can't be hurt and you can't hurt others. Jesus says for us to be perfect as He is perfect. How? James 2:8. Operate one law - the "royal" law of love.

A Little Leaven

Hi there! Hope you are blessed this Friday! Let's begin by reading Galatians 5:1-12. The warning continues from Brother Paul. It's funny how people think that if you dabble in things that are opposed to the gospel it's okay. We are confident it won't affect us. How deceived is man. The Bible says "bad company corrupts good morals". Notice it doesn't say, "good company helps and corrects bad morals". So, guess what. It's not good to dabble in things not of God. Especially "religious" things. I knew a Christian once who went to a New Age gathering once a year. Now this person was a Christian. This friend said she was loved there. The devil will use anything and any "feeling" to draw you away from God. New Age isn't love. God is love. Sadly this person hadn't developed her relationship with Christ to the point of not needing anything else but Him. But Julie!!!! That's so narrow! Yes. "narrow is the road that leads to life". That's the Bible - not me - so stop throwing stones. Paul's example is leaven. From Smith's Bible Dictionary, we learn that every Passover, the Jews had to clean every particle of leaven out of their house. Why? Because leaven's very particles are corruptive. It's an Old Testament type and shadow of this very corruption the Galatians were experiencing. They were dabbling in the law. Not a good move. Jesus speaks in Matthew 16:6,12 - verse 6, "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."; verse 12, "Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees". So, even Jesus warns about teaching that is not His teaching. In this passage the disciples's faith is waining. Jesus has to remind them of past miracles. Why? Someone had been listening to someone they shouldn't! Naughty, naughty! Deadly, deadly. Let's look again at the effects of leaven. Smith's Bible Dictionary tells us that leaven is secret in it's operation (can't see the effects until the dough begins to rise and there is nothing you can do about it), it spreads easily - particle by particle, and it changes what it comes in contact with and causes it's nature to become the nature of leaven. I'm convinced, are you? What does leaven effect in you? Jesus points to your faith. Is your faith low? Don't blame everyone else. Listen to what you are listening to. become a pure believer and see what God can do in your life if you let Him.

Abraham Had Two Sons

It always helps me when someone can "paint a picture" by using an illustration to make the point. Does that help you too? Paul is using everything he can think of to redirect these Galatians back to the freedom they have in Christ. This is obviously no small task. When someone is redirected in the wrong direction, turning the ship around is a little difficult. The illustration Paul uses in Galatians 4:21-31 hits home. His illustration uses everyone's father - father Abraham. It's not just a good example, it is the example of examples when it come to understanding freedom. Abraham had two sons. He was supposed to have one - the promised son Issac. But Abraham and Sarah got impatient. OHHHHH! Patience is truly a virtue! Nothing ever works in our timing when it comes to God's plan, does it? We have obstacles....... like our own stupidity and the devil's snares to contend with. Much less God's time frame. Can you imagine how long it takes for His plans for us to work? Poor God! I often wonder how many of His perfect plans actually work the way He planned! He must be in constant Plan B,C,D.... mode. Anyway, Abraham struggled just like we do. So God will use the mess ups as examples for us to learn from. So, two women had Abraham's babies. Sarah had Issac - the promised child and Hagar had Ishmael. Read the scriptures in Galatians again. One woman, Hagar, was a bondwoman - a slave in the house of Abraham. The other woman was a free woman - Abraham's wife, Sarah. The bondwoman's child was "by the flesh" (referring to the law) and the free woman's child was "by the promise" (referring to the freedom we have in Christ). In allegory, these are like the two covenants. One covenant came from Mt Sinai (the 10 Commandments - the law which brings bondage) and the other covenant is from Jerusalem above - which is free. This is referring to the spiritual Jerusalem. It is a covenant written on our hearts. One covenant brings bondage, the other covenant brings freedom. Thus, the covenant of freedom writes the law on our hearts which causes us to "do the right thing". Our hearts are knit together with God and because we love Him we have a desire to please Him. That happens when a person gets saved. The Galatians (and you, if you are saved) have this freedom. The challenge was (and is) in walking it out. We also are the children of promise (verse 28). Cast out that bondwoman (verse 30). She does not produce promise. The two can't live in the same house! Your house is free! It's FULL of promise. Keep it that way.

Telling the Truth

Let's look at Galatians 4:12-20. You know that the truth will set you free? Well, for some people, it sets them on edge. Paul talks of being received by the Galatians initially. They loved him so much and received his teaching of Christ so fully, verse 15 says they would have plucked out their eyes and given them to him. Now, however, the people that were veering them from the truth had so convinced them, Paul was now considered an enemy for telling them the truth. Verse 17 should be a warning to believers today. It says, "They zealously affect you, but not well." Do you have people who affect you "not well"? How can you tell? Well, symptoms include...gossip. Are they gossiping about someone who has made a great impact on your life? Another is....strife. Is the person complaining and stirring up strife about that person among you and other believers? How about.... false teaching? Is someone around you feeding you "truth" that is not God's truth? It's always sad when someone pulls another believer away from individuals making a great spiritual impact on their life. How does that happen? Gossip is addictive. Tearing someone down is addictive. You should really analyze people's motives. I've learned that if someone gossips to you about someone else, they are gossiping about you, too!

Turn away from those who want to trip you up. Sadly people get out there on their own and have lost the support they actually were sent by God. Stand up. Let truth prevail. It's hard to do, but it keeps those God given relationships strong.

Two More Thoughts About Your Freedom

Okay. One more thing about sin and how important it is that we understand how free we are from it. Well, two things. First, it is important how you think. The Bible tells us to change the way we think. It tells us to meditate on His Word day and night. We are to talk about it at the table and discuss it before we go to bed. We are to think on things that are pure and holy and of good report. Where your mind goes, you go. Fill up that empty space formerly held by sin with God's Word. Life will change for you. The other point is that sickness and sin are related. Sin brought sickness into this world. You are going to come up against some things in life brought about by sickness, etc. in this world. You can take great care of yourself and still fall victim. So, your freedom from sin and it's effects causes you to tap in to God's supernatural ability to heal. But before the hit comes, you must renew your mind to God's truth in this area. Develop your "faith muscles" so you are ready for the fight when it comes. Read Galatians 4:1-11. You are God's adopted child. With adoption comes all the benefits a natural child has. Again, you are God's child. Wouldn't you do everything you can to protect and help your child? Well, God's the same way and even better! Verse seven says, you are no longer a servant (of the law) but a son and therefore an heir to all God has for you. It's time to dip into the inheritance! There is plenty to go around!

Another Left Turn

Okay. Turn left in your Bible to the book of Romans again. Go to chapter 6 again. Can't seem to leave this. Verse 11 says "...you are DEAD to sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ". Can you get a dead man to sin? No. Sin does not have power over you. You are dead to sin. Get it? How does sin, then, reign? You obey it's lusts! (verse 12). That's it. Yes, it's your fault. Obedience is key! Teach your children to obey you so they can then turn into adults that obey God! Don't obey the sin temptation. Verse 13 says your members (your body) should be instruments (playing for all to hear) of righteousness, not sin. How? Yield yourself to God. If you can yield yourself to sin, you can yield yourself to God. Verse 14 says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you". Why? Because you are under grace, not the law. Verse 15 says, whoever you yield yourself to, you become a servant to. Again, in this verse, it's all about who you chose to obey. The key is verse 17. It is the heart. Obeying from the heart. Are you protecting your heart? Are you careful what you see and what you hear? Do you listen to gossip and wonder why your life is falling apart? Do you look at inappropriate things and wonder why you lust? I'm just sayin'...... Your answer is verse 19. Yield your members to righteousness and holiness. You can do it! Do a word study on righteousness and holiness. "Have your fruit unto holiness..." (verse 22). There will be an end. What do you want to present to the Lord someday........

Free From Sin!

HUH? Free from sin? I don't think so! Well, as my husband says to dumb statements..."there you go thinking again". Thinking can get in the way of faith. If Peter was thinking when he asked Jesus if he could walk on the water, he would have never tried. There was a storm you know. Oh yeah, it was water he was walking on. You can't do that. But you can if Jesus says you can. Now that makes logical sense. Not really. It makes faith sense. Jesus did a lot of faith stuff. Healed the sick, fed 5000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves. yep, Jesus did a lot of faith stuff. Now, look at Galatians 3:27, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ". Put on Christ. Hmmmm. Interesting. Let's go back to Romans 6:6, 7. it says, "...our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed. that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is free from sin." Says it right there. You no longer serve sin. it is no longer Lord over you. So, why let it rule? Jesus Himself resisted sin when He was in the wilderness. How did He do it? He did it by quoting God's Word back to the devil (the temptor). Jesus had to get the words out of His mouth. He is our example. next time the devil tempts you to sin, say God's Word back - outloud. Loud enough for you and the devil to hear. It will empower you. You will feel the sense of victory as the devil flees and the resistance overcomes the temptation. Not to mention the good feeling you have when that same temptation isn't controlling you. Put on Christ today. it fits just fine!

Spiritual Life

The law. Just sounds kind of scary, doesn't it? I took Tony Jr to school today. We love to sing to music in the car. I had the top down on the car, we had the Newsboys blasting loud and this car we have demands a fast speed. I, fortunately, had the speed down when we passed our first policeman. I suddenly looked at my speedometer, foot on brake only to find I was fine - not speeding. I was not worried until I passed the cop. Why? The law. The law carries with it a constant feeling of guilt. Freedom from the law sets you free from that feeling. Is guilt a bad thing? Actually, in training up a child, for instance, it is a good thing. A child learns right and wrong from guilt and then correction then forgiveness. It's a process that trains. God tells us to" train up a child". There is a point, though, when the parent has to let the child "go" and pray the training guides their decisions. The problem is that the child and subsequent adult then has a constant struggle with the flesh. We find it is hard to stay consistent doing what we know is the right thing to do. Paul understood this in Romans 8. You should read this entire chapter. How do you stay consistent? The answer is to follow the Spirit. To "mind' the things of the Spirit. Stop fighting the flesh and follow the Spirit. What are the benefits? They are listed in Romans 8 and include life and peace (vs.6), being pleasing to God (verse7), life to the body (vs. 10, 13), a Spirit of adoption (vs.15,16), power and effectiveness in prayer (vs.26, 27), things working out for the good (vs.28), justification and glorification (vs.30), a true sense of God's love (vs. 31-36), being a conqueror (vs. 37). Okay, that's just the list in Romans 8. How do you get all this good stuff???? Go back to verse nine. "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you." There you go. Are you Born Again? If so, you have the Spirit in you. Now begin the "mind" the things of the spirit. Go after the Spirit, which means pray in the Spirit, read God's Word, study it, talk with others about Him. You will begin to see spiritual things happen in your life. Big time!!!! My favorite scripture is Matthew 6:33 - "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you." Everything God has given me came from time spent seeking Him first. Things have come to me that I didn't even know I needed until I looked back. The Holy Spirit knows these things. Seek Him today. His things He has for you will begin to appear.

The Law Abolished

We are now in Galatians 3:19-29. Paul continues to talk about the law. This subject was a HUGE issue with the Jews. Can you imagine living under the law and then in one swing of a hammer on a nail pierced through Christ, the law is abolished. The Bible says that at Jesus' death the veil of the temple was ripped in two. Supernaturally. Literally. This meant that anyone - and God meant anyone - now has access to God. This wasn't good news to the people who took the law and controlled others with it. This is what the majority of the Jewish priests were doing. Controlling people hate to lose control. If they only knew that relying on God everyday is so much easier than trying to control every person's move in their life. Ever see a Mom control every step of their child's life? You notice the child can't move without permission. Yuck! Poor kids! Some people thrive on control. When the person being controlled gets free, the relationship many times ends. It's too bad! Back to Galatians. So, what does the law refer to? Well, it includes the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible), the Ten Commandments, and all of the laws set up in the Jewish system. Now, in verse 22, we see that all (people) are under sin. In other words we are born into sin. Everyone. But in order to repent from sin, we needed a definition of sin. That's where the law came in. You could look, say, at the Ten Commandments and know you have broken at least one of those that day. You quickly then realize you don't measure up. You break the law - often. Sacrifices were constantly being made to release man temporarily from sin, but man needed a final sacrifice to finally free him from the grip of sin. Verse 24 says that the law was our "schoolmaster" or our tutor to eventually bring us to Christ. Salvation for man is now found in Jesus Christ. We are now children of God by faith in Christ (see verses 25,26). The Galatians were challenged with this new concept. Any revelation of this magnitude must be revealed by the Spirit and received by faith. This is a lot to digest for me! So, we will continue tomorrow!

Begin in the Spirit and End in the Flesh?

We are now in Galatians 3:1-5. Again, remember Paul's spirit. He loves these people in Galatia. But they are being foolish. He actually wonders who has bewitched them. Did you know witchcraft is a work of the flesh? He was right in saying they were bewitched. When your Christian life begins to wain, demonic activity could really be going on. I can't imagine my life without the Spirit of God. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1980. Yeah, yeah....a long time ago. Anyway, that experience changed my Christian life totally. I thought being a Christian was good before, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit took it over the top! I could pray in tongues, lay hands on the sick, have words of knowledge and words of wisdom. WOW! The Holy Spirit is full of great gifts! So, begin in the Spirit and be made perfect in the flesh - or end in the flesh? I shutter to think. But any of us could fall for the deception. Remember, the flesh is full of pride and a "know it all" kind of spirit. It's easily flattered and full of strife and very puffed up with knowledge. It's easily offended and kind of touchy. How do you get the Spirit? Paul says in verse 2 it's by "the hearing of faith". I remember hearing of the Holy Spirit and the more I learned of Him, the more faith I had to receive Him into my life. There was no Holy Spirit for those under the law. The Holy Spirit was sent after Jesus ascended to heaven. Read Acts chapters 1 and 2. You don't work for a gift! Receive the precious gift of the Holy Spirit! It will change your life! Under the law - no miracles. In the Spirit by faith - is the miracle place. Don't go back and operate in the flesh! It doesn't work! The Galatians entertained the words of people who didn't live in the Spirit and it wore them down. Do your friends talk faith talk? Are they standing with you in godly pursuits? Be careful who you fellowship with. Protect this precious gift.

I Am Crucified With Christ

"....it is no longer I that live but Christ lives in me". Powerful! Paul goes on to say" This life I live I live by the faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me". All this good stuff is Galatians 2:20. This entire scripture sums up why you and I made this decision to follow Him. Who needs to think about the decision to follow Christ when we understand that he loved us so much that he died for us. Would you die for a friend? Maybe. Would you die for someone you don't like? Be honest...... Here's a tougher question, would you die for someone who didn't like you? Jesus did. Even on the cross, He forgave those who crucified Him. If I have died, then how can anything hurt me? Sin no longer has dominion over me - or you! These are all things you have to meditate and chew on for a long time before the depth of the reality of these words and His actions sinks in. Colossians 2:13 - 15 - Wow! "¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the circumcision of your flesh(remember the Jewish Christians? - that's a Julie thought - not in the Bible), He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." I highlighted my favorite parts. I guess that's just about all of it. It's good to be loved. It's good to be accepted. It's good not to be judged. It's just good to be a Christian. Your new walk in forgiveness is a part of the "triumphing over principalities" that Paul is talking about. We must become righteousness conscious instead of sin conscious. In other words, become conscious of who you are in Christ, not the snake you used to be. Think about who you are in Christ and the old habits of sin will fall away. I remember when I got Spirit filled, I was smoking at the time. I loved smoking (and really thought I was cool doing it - college mentality). I figured that wasn't a good representation for Christ so I wanted to quit. Well, that's easier said than done. I asked God for help. I trusted Him to help me. I know He wasn't judging me. I knew He loved me. So, I prayed and smoked for a number of months until one day I realized I wasn't smoking anymore! The desire was gone. I filled up with God and there was no room for smoking. It was a habit that had to break. God loved me through the process and the Holy Spirit gave me the power to stop. "I have been crucified with Christ."....thanks God!

Face to Face

Look at Galatians 2:12-15. It would be so nice if everyone was perfect, wouldn't it? If everyone did Christianity right, we would never have to do the hard thing of actually going to someone if we feel they are wrong (or we are wrong). Paul did the right thing and went to Peter face to face. Peter fell into some fear of man. He feared the Christian Jews. They were circumcised and felt all should be as well. The Gentile Jews were not circumcised because Christianity frees us from the law! No more circumcision required. Circumcision was a sign of the Jews' covenant with God. They also didn't eat with the Gentile believers because Gentile believers didn't observe the Jewish customs and diet. Again, no longer under the law. Peter's call was to minister to the Jews and was sent by God to convert them to Christianity. But Peter found himself compromising and a friend, Paul, challenged him. Did this ruin their relationship? No. As a matter of fact, Peter refers to Paul later as "our beloved brother Paul" in 2 Peter 3:15. Galatians 6:1-5 gives us a hint as to Paul's heart on correcting his friend. ^1"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. ² Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴ But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. ⁵ For each one shall bear his own load." The word "restore" here in the Greek is katartizo which refers to the "mending of nets" or "perfecting human character". If people are approached with a hope of restoration, then we continue as "beloved brothers". Paul recognized this great man of God had a very important job to do and he reached out to his friend and pulled him up, corrected him and kept the relationship. Not only because he was a friend and associate but also for the big picture. After all, this walk of ours is all about God's kingdom, not ours!

The Right Hand of Fellowship

Read Galatians 2:1-9. I love the "right hand of fellowship" (Galatians 2:9) . Paul reviews his acceptance in the apostleship. That was a big deal considering his reputation. He had a special call to the Gentiles (AKA - the heathens). A perfect job for this bold disciple. Peter was called to the Jews. Paul notes the two callings. We are each called to a particular purpose. Paul notes in verse 6 that God isn't impressed with "who" someone may be. Paul was pretty focused on the job to be done and understood his specific call. This is very important. We, as believers, make up the body of Christ - literally. The Bible tells us that each part of the body plays and important part, no matter how insignificant a particular part may seem. Your little toe assists in your ability to stand as much as your big toe does. So what is your gifting? You have one, you know. It's important to the big picture. You must see it that way. You know what your gifting is - you're just not sure you can do it. Well, you can't!!! Encouraging, huh? Jesus said in John 15:5, "for without Me you can do nothing". Okay, so with Him you can "do all things" Philippians 4:13 (look that one up, it's really good). The right hand of fellowship brings you in to the body. Reach out and grab a hand. We need each other to build God's kingdom.

Left Turn

Little left turn here. As I am spending this time in Galatians, I wonder how time is spent. When was the last time you picked up your Bible and instead of flipping through it looking for a scripture to get you through the day, you opened it searching out the truths of His Word....just because. Is it your quick fix or your daily bread? Have we learned to love the Word for the Word's sake? Or are we constantly needing assurance of our salvation, or of God's protection, or His provision? I challenge you to begin approaching God's Word in a new way. Get a notebook, get a concordance and your Bible, of course, and dig in. Find a subject that has nothing to do with a need you have. You will be amazed that the journey will open up new revelations God is just waiting to show you. It will be something He wants to show you. Something not all about you, but all about Him. You will feel closer to Him. He loves to sit with you and reveal His Word to you! I'm inspired by Paul's single purpose and sense of urgency in fulfilling his call. Okay, I'll continue and try not to take a left turn again. Well, can't promise that for sure!

Put Your Big Girl Panties On!

I can't seem to get past this revelation of Paul's. What a change this man experienced. How passionate he is in this truth he now possessed. Have you ever read of Paul's conversion? It's in Acts 9:1-19. Pretty amazing stuff. He was pretty much minding his own business of killing Christians and BOOM! God showed up! Jesus told Paul basically, if you persecute Christians, you are persecuting Me. Did his life change! He went from being the persecutor to being the one persecuted. In his new life as a Christian he was stoned and left for dead, in a shipwreck, bit by a snake, rejected by man. And we complain about our Christian journey. Brother! All the while, he stayed the course and continued in the faith. Will you continue in the faith? Do you remember your conversion moment? Do you remember the love that shot you out of the saddle and on your face before God? Has life and the persecution that comes from being a Christian knocked you off course? Well, it's time to get up, wipe the dust off and press on. Has anyone stoned you lately? Shipwrecked anyone? How about jailed for your beliefs? Okay, then stop complaining and get back to work! This man wrote two thirds of the New Testament - from prison mostly. Philippines 2:12 tells us to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling". Do you know what that means? It means - work it out! Do what God has for you to do. Be bold! Be strong! Fight the fight and finish the race! Remember, there are rewards to be had!