Good morning, all!
Father, we know that You alone are a defender of truth, a defender of faith and to live a life without them is to live bondage. You have equipped us with the strength and power to break the chains of darkness, to have dominion over the devil and nothing by any means can hurt us. Shine a light Lord on any darkness that would keep us from living in truth, that would keep us from living in victory and destroy every yoke and set us free, Amen.
Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Now the serpent was a slick willy better than anyone else which God MADE. And he asked the women, did God really say you couldn’t eat from any tree?
3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
She replied we can eat of all except the one in the middle of the garden or we will DIE!
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
And the Devil said you won’t really die…
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
God knows if you eat it then your eyes will be opened, and you will be just as smart as God.
Bottom line
The devil is a real trickster, a deceiver, he didn’t get to Eve to sin immediately…nope he laid some track first that would lead to sin. The very first thing the devil did was to create DOUBT in Eve’s mind, did God really say you couldn’t eat from every tree? Doubt will create all kinds of uncertainty in our life especially when it comes to believing in a God that loves and protects US. I would argue that doubt is the opposite of having faith, and without faith how can one live in the will of God? What next? The devil ACCUSED God of lying, you won’t really die if you eat of that tree. God said they would die so who’s telling the truth? Hmm…when I read scripture it tells us that God is the Father of truth, you know what other name God has given the devil?
[Jhn 8:44 NIV] You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. God called the devil the father of lies and when we believe the lie, we carry out the Devil’s desires…murder…the absence of truth. I mean Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life so TRUTH can’t kill you, but a lie sure can just ask Eve.
[1Ti 2:14 NIV] And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. What made Eve a sinner? She was deceived, she believed the lie, she listened to doubt, she questioned God’s word and His love. Did it open her eyes? It must have because she now knew she was naked so she saw nakedness which she couldn’t see before she took from the tree and good and evil. I believe her eyes were now open to a life of doubt, and life of lies, a life of darkness. What was missing? GOD!!! When you and I live with doubt, fear, anger, bitterness, also known as the evil that is in that tree, we are dead to a life of faith and living a lie. We listen to our feelings instead of having faith and listen to God, to His word. Simply put Eve listened to the enemy, the devil, the lie, the voice of doubt in her head. Now before we shoot Eve, have you ever listened to that voice in your head over the voice of God? Sure, we all have, His voice tells us how we should treat one another but our feelings tell us something different and we commit murder.
[Tit 3:2 KJV] To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, [but] gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. Hello…you remember what your momma told you growing up? If you got nothing nice to say then zip it. And did you notice WHO we should treat gentle with all meekness? ALL men…mankind. Of course, we have emotions both good and evil and we think we manage both but that is THE lie, we can’t. God didn’t say the just live by their “good” emotions He said the just live by “FAITH”. You know what makes you and I just in the eyes of God? OBEDIENCE, faith obeys the voice of God, it obeys His word, it refuses to give birth to sin. The very act of eating from that tree was disobedience, deceived or not it will produce death. Remember when Cain was angry because God didn’t accept his sacrifice?
[Gen 4:7 NIV] If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. Anger was crouching at the door of his heart and God told him you must RULE over it, which means he had the power to do so but instead he listened to the voice of anger and killed his brother Abel. God was willing to accept Cain all he had to do was “do what is right”, what might be “right”? LIVE BY FAITH!!! Don’t listen to the enemy, the devil, the serpent, don’t believe the lie, live by faith and you will find God and live with strength and power to conquer the enemy.
Point to Ponder
What did Jesus pray? [Jhn 17:15 NIV] My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. We’re NOT going anywhere, and the answer isn’t found in the world, instead look higher for our protection from the enemy and live by FAITH.
Never doubt God, He will never fail us, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends
