Monday... He is so shrewd, he really is...

Monday... He is so shrewd, Satan really is.

Look at Genesis 3:1 (NLT). It says, "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?'" Are you sure?

Satan is so shrewd. He didn't come right out and say that they shouldn't listen to God, obey God. No, he came at them it seemed with an innocent question. And He does that with us, doesn't he? Are you really sure that you need to read your Bible? Are you sure that you really need to pray? Are you sure that God will really make a difference in your life? Are you sure that His way is best? Are you sure that you need a relationship with God? Are you sure?

I know that Satan is giving us a lot of these are you sure questions during this pandemic. Are you sure that God cares for you? Are you sure that He can be trusted? And if we listen and do what Satan suggests then there will be consequences just as there were back with Adam and Eve. They ate the fruit and all of humanity suffered from their disobedience.

Verses 21-24 (NIRV), "The Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife to wear. The Lord God said, 'Just like one of us, the man can now tell the difference between good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out and pick fruit from the tree of life and eat it. If he does, he will live forever.' So the Lord God drove the man to farm the ground he had been made from. The Lord God drove them out and placed angels on the east side of the garden. He also placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth. The angels and the sword guarded the way to the tree of life."

Yes, God clothed them but He had so much more that He wanted to give them. What if they would have responded to the are you sure questions of Satan with an emphatic, Yes, I am sure? And we can do the same thing, Yes, I am sure! Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...

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