Have you ever had a conversation with the enemy? You may not think so but you have. Maybe even this morning.
Let's look at the very first conversation with the enemy.
It is found in Gen 3.
Gen 3: 1-13
Just as God is real, there is a real enemy. We don't walk around looking for the enemy under every rock, but we need to know he is real.
Is 14 Lucifer became full of pride and wanted to be above God
Rev Angels continually sing Holy, holy, holy
There is no match or comparison to God.
When we get to heaven and see the enemy with spiritual eyes we will be surprised that this little thing caused so much trouble for us here on earth.
Jn 10:10 The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy
Gen 3:5 Your eyes will be open, this was truth, you will be as gods, this was not, you will know difference between good and evil, this was truth.
He will always wrap the lie in just enough truth to get you to believe it.
Gen 3:12 Adam blamed all of it on Eve
Lessons learned from the first conversation with the enemy:
1. Made her desire the one thing she couldn't have
Instead of being thankful and focusing on what we do have, we often focus on the one thing we can't have and are miserable.
2 Doubted what God had told them
Gen 3:1 The enemy questioned what God had told them and got her to doubt. The enemy brought doubt to the very words of God.
When God gives us promises in His word, the fist thing that happens is the enemy comes with doubt.
God will never question what He has already told you.
Matt 3:16-17 Jesus gets baptized, heaven opens, the Spirit of God comes down and speaks that this is God's Son
Mat 4:1 Jesus was led by the Spirit to the wilderness
Matt 4:2 the enemy comes when He is at His weakest and questions whether He is God's Son
Jesus answered him with the word of God. That is our greatest weapon when the enemy tries to talk with us other then not having the conversation at all with him.
4. Don't engage in the conversation in the first place.
Gen 3:2-3 By talking with the enemy she allowed him to cause her to doubt. She shouldn't have continued to carry on the conversation. We do the same thing in our mind thinking we are reasoning things out but it is the enemy talking with us sometimes. Even if you have peace with a decision, if it goes against what God has promised or told you it is not the right decision.
5. She made a choice to disobey God
Gen 3:6
She changed her perspective about the tree and fruit based on the conversation she had with the enemy. Before when she looked at the tree it was undesirable because God had forbidden it, now it was the one thing she had to have. When she took it and ate it she chose to disobey God.
God only gave free will and choice to mankind. He will never cross your free will.
God could have stopped her from eating it. He saw her, He sees everything. But He wouldn't cross her free will. When we are tempted we also have a choice to make.
Jesus had a choice when it came to the cross. He chose to go to the cross for us.
6. She hid herself from God
Gen 3:7-10
Until verse 10 there was no fear. Once sin entered fear entered. When we sin our first response if fear and to hide.
God can't restore anything that is kept hidden. He knows it is there. We can't hide anything from Him.
The longer you try to hide the greater the fear becomes.
Gen 3:21 God made garments of skin for them. This is the first account of shedding of blood for sin.
Even with their sin, God still loved them. Just as when we sin, He still loves us, but not our sin.
7. Identify the enemy
Gen 3:13 She came clean with God
She admitted being deceived and sinning.
At the end she did the right thing.
Women have a good sense of identifing the enemy. She didn't see it while it was happening, but she did in the end.
When God asked her she didn't run and hide or blame Adam. She told God exactly what happened.
No matter how bad your sin is you can come clean with God and ask His forgiveness.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Eve, the first daughter
Ps 119:11 I have hid Your word in my heart.
Gen 2:15-25
Gen 2:22 made in the NAS is fashioned
fashioned means to frame, to put in order, equipped for His intended purpose, or God's creative handiwork
God made us so special there are doctors who specilize in just treating women.
God created us with a purpose and for a purpose. He has equipped us with everything we need to fulfill that purpose.
Gen 1:26 God created man and woman to have dominion over the earth. He separated us between men and women. He gave man authority and woman influence. Men have influence but not to the extent women do and women have authority but not to the extent men do.
Eve was a daughter before she was a wife or mother. She was a daughter to the Creator and so are we.
We must realize what it means to be a daughter to the Creator before we can be a godly woman, wife or mother.
Some have fond memories of being a daughter to our natural parents. Most don't. I don't have fond memories. Because of that it is difficult for us to see God as a different kind of parent then our parents are/were.
If we didn't receive love, protection, forgiveness, mercy, grace, encouragement, etc from our natural parents, we have a hard time receiving it from God.
We have to stop looking at Father God with our earthly vision. We need to look at Him with spiritual eyes.
We must remember He is not like our natural parents.
Roles of daughters:
1. Receive our Father's unconditional love for us. God loves us period.
We can't earn His love. He loves us totally and unconditionally no matter whet you have done good or bad, or what you do in the future for Him. If you never did another thing "for God" He would still love you.
Jn 3:16 God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
Do you believe in Jesus and what He did for you?
Rom 8:35, 37-39 Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We may not accept His unconditional love but that doesn't change the fact that His love is there for us always.
2. Our Father has priority in our hearts.
He must come first. Period.
As little girls the first man you give a piece of your heart to is your daddy. Sometimes they don't treat that treasure right. It causes you heart break and you think your heavenly Father will treat it the same. He won't. He will treasure it as it should be.
This was very hard for me to accept and at times I still struggle with it. My earthly dad was only concerned with me if I was in front of him. If I was out of sight I was out of mind. It affected me in alot of ways. I found it hard to totally trust a guy to not forget about me if we weren't right in front of each other. It was the only think I knew. But my wonderful husband of 36 years changed that. He always let me know from the beginning that he thought about me even when we were/are apart. He shows up sometimes with small bouquets of flowers from the grocery. For no reason other then he thought about me when he saw them. Those flowers mean more to me then the dozens of roses he has sent in the past. Don't get me wrong, I love the roses, lol, but usually those are for special occasions. The spur of the moment ones, those mean it doesn't have to be a special reason for him to want to bless me. Just as my heavenly Father doesn't have to have a special reason to bless me.
When we don't trust our heavenly Father with our heart, we will never be able to have the right relationship with anyone else. We will never fully trust anyone else with our heart.
There is a place in your heart only God can fill. Nothing or no one else can fill it. You may think for a little while that someone or something else has, but it will only be temporary.
3. Believe the words of affirmation our heavenly Father speaks over us.
We have no problem giving compliments but how do we receive them? We don't accept the affirmation God speaks over us either.
All you wanted to hear as a child was that we did a good thing, or did something well. If we didn't receive that from our natural parents we have a hard time receiving it from anyone else including from God.
Jer 29:11 His plan for us is good
Is 49:1 He called you before you were born
Ps 139:14 I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Eph 1:4-5 He chose us in Him before the creation of the world
4. His desire is to bless us, we cannot earn that blessing.
Love, peace, forgiveness, mercy, grace, etc. You can't earn those. They are freely given to you by God.
We must walk as a daughter to our heavenly Father.
Then we will believe and except all He has for us. Then we can be the woman, wife, mother He wants us to be.
Why is it so easy to hear and accept what is wrong with us, but not what is right with us?
It goes back to the way we look at God through our natural eyes.
Will God discipline us if we need it? Absolutely. But it is easier for us to receive that from Him then to receive the blessing He wants to give us.
Remember today, you are a daughter of God.
Gen 2:15-25
Gen 2:22 made in the NAS is fashioned
fashioned means to frame, to put in order, equipped for His intended purpose, or God's creative handiwork
God made us so special there are doctors who specilize in just treating women.
God created us with a purpose and for a purpose. He has equipped us with everything we need to fulfill that purpose.
Gen 1:26 God created man and woman to have dominion over the earth. He separated us between men and women. He gave man authority and woman influence. Men have influence but not to the extent women do and women have authority but not to the extent men do.
Eve was a daughter before she was a wife or mother. She was a daughter to the Creator and so are we.
We must realize what it means to be a daughter to the Creator before we can be a godly woman, wife or mother.
Some have fond memories of being a daughter to our natural parents. Most don't. I don't have fond memories. Because of that it is difficult for us to see God as a different kind of parent then our parents are/were.
If we didn't receive love, protection, forgiveness, mercy, grace, encouragement, etc from our natural parents, we have a hard time receiving it from God.
We have to stop looking at Father God with our earthly vision. We need to look at Him with spiritual eyes.
We must remember He is not like our natural parents.
Roles of daughters:
1. Receive our Father's unconditional love for us. God loves us period.
We can't earn His love. He loves us totally and unconditionally no matter whet you have done good or bad, or what you do in the future for Him. If you never did another thing "for God" He would still love you.
Jn 3:16 God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
Do you believe in Jesus and what He did for you?
Rom 8:35, 37-39 Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We may not accept His unconditional love but that doesn't change the fact that His love is there for us always.
2. Our Father has priority in our hearts.
He must come first. Period.
As little girls the first man you give a piece of your heart to is your daddy. Sometimes they don't treat that treasure right. It causes you heart break and you think your heavenly Father will treat it the same. He won't. He will treasure it as it should be.
This was very hard for me to accept and at times I still struggle with it. My earthly dad was only concerned with me if I was in front of him. If I was out of sight I was out of mind. It affected me in alot of ways. I found it hard to totally trust a guy to not forget about me if we weren't right in front of each other. It was the only think I knew. But my wonderful husband of 36 years changed that. He always let me know from the beginning that he thought about me even when we were/are apart. He shows up sometimes with small bouquets of flowers from the grocery. For no reason other then he thought about me when he saw them. Those flowers mean more to me then the dozens of roses he has sent in the past. Don't get me wrong, I love the roses, lol, but usually those are for special occasions. The spur of the moment ones, those mean it doesn't have to be a special reason for him to want to bless me. Just as my heavenly Father doesn't have to have a special reason to bless me.
When we don't trust our heavenly Father with our heart, we will never be able to have the right relationship with anyone else. We will never fully trust anyone else with our heart.
There is a place in your heart only God can fill. Nothing or no one else can fill it. You may think for a little while that someone or something else has, but it will only be temporary.
3. Believe the words of affirmation our heavenly Father speaks over us.
We have no problem giving compliments but how do we receive them? We don't accept the affirmation God speaks over us either.
All you wanted to hear as a child was that we did a good thing, or did something well. If we didn't receive that from our natural parents we have a hard time receiving it from anyone else including from God.
Jer 29:11 His plan for us is good
Is 49:1 He called you before you were born
Ps 139:14 I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Eph 1:4-5 He chose us in Him before the creation of the world
4. His desire is to bless us, we cannot earn that blessing.
Love, peace, forgiveness, mercy, grace, etc. You can't earn those. They are freely given to you by God.
We must walk as a daughter to our heavenly Father.
Then we will believe and except all He has for us. Then we can be the woman, wife, mother He wants us to be.
Why is it so easy to hear and accept what is wrong with us, but not what is right with us?
It goes back to the way we look at God through our natural eyes.
Will God discipline us if we need it? Absolutely. But it is easier for us to receive that from Him then to receive the blessing He wants to give us.
Remember today, you are a daughter of God.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
God's Purpose for Women
Jer 9:23 Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
If we want to be proud of something, it should be that we know God.
Gen 1:1 God's spirit still hovers over His creation
God's creation of woman was not an accident. He had a purpose for creating her. And she has a purpose.
Gen 1:26-27 man means mankind here
Gen 2:18-20 God was letting Adam see there was no suitable helper for him.
Gen 3:12-14 Everyone was blaming each other
:15 enmity - means hatred
God spoke curse over devil because of his part in it
Most women wrestle with low self esteem
God put the enemy under our feet. Not him over us, but that is what he tries to make us believe.
We were made to walk upright not lowly.
3 Purposes we have as women:
1. Develop an intimate relationship with God.
We must spend time in His word and with Him daily to do this.
Not just do you believe in God, but have you received Him as Lord and Savior? Do you have a personal relationship with Him?
2. To be a helper to man
Man wasn't complete without woman. We weren't created to compete with men.
He created us to work alongside man but to serve a different purpose.
We have authority as women but it is a different authority then God gave to man.
He gave us influence. Our attitude if good, causes us to have a good influence on others. But if our attitude is bad, we will have a bad influence on others.
It isn't our decision whether or not to be an influencer. But we can choose whether to be a good or bad influence.
3. To be a crown to your husband.
Pr 12:4 A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
crown: hebrew definition is to encircle against attack, to bring protection
Our husbands bear a weight every day that we will never understand. We weren't designed to bear that weight. We were designed to bear a different weight. But we shouldn't add to that weight they bear. We are to come alongside and help however we can.
God is the only one who can change someone else's heart. We only have the power to change our own.
Sometimes when we try to change our husband, we get in the way of the Holy Spirit. All we can do is pray and turn it over to God and get out of His way.
We each have a full time job watching the condition of our own heart.
If God were to look at our husband's crown would it be beautiful or rusty? We are responsible for the condition of his crown.
God won't hold you accountable for your husband's heart, but He will hold you accountable for your heart and for the crown you are to your husband.
:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
If we want to be proud of something, it should be that we know God.
Gen 1:1 God's spirit still hovers over His creation
God's creation of woman was not an accident. He had a purpose for creating her. And she has a purpose.
Gen 1:26-27 man means mankind here
Gen 2:18-20 God was letting Adam see there was no suitable helper for him.
Gen 3:12-14 Everyone was blaming each other
:15 enmity - means hatred
God spoke curse over devil because of his part in it
Most women wrestle with low self esteem
God put the enemy under our feet. Not him over us, but that is what he tries to make us believe.
We were made to walk upright not lowly.
3 Purposes we have as women:
1. Develop an intimate relationship with God.
We must spend time in His word and with Him daily to do this.
Not just do you believe in God, but have you received Him as Lord and Savior? Do you have a personal relationship with Him?
2. To be a helper to man
Man wasn't complete without woman. We weren't created to compete with men.
He created us to work alongside man but to serve a different purpose.
We have authority as women but it is a different authority then God gave to man.
He gave us influence. Our attitude if good, causes us to have a good influence on others. But if our attitude is bad, we will have a bad influence on others.
It isn't our decision whether or not to be an influencer. But we can choose whether to be a good or bad influence.
3. To be a crown to your husband.
Pr 12:4 A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
crown: hebrew definition is to encircle against attack, to bring protection
Our husbands bear a weight every day that we will never understand. We weren't designed to bear that weight. We were designed to bear a different weight. But we shouldn't add to that weight they bear. We are to come alongside and help however we can.
God is the only one who can change someone else's heart. We only have the power to change our own.
Sometimes when we try to change our husband, we get in the way of the Holy Spirit. All we can do is pray and turn it over to God and get out of His way.
We each have a full time job watching the condition of our own heart.
If God were to look at our husband's crown would it be beautiful or rusty? We are responsible for the condition of his crown.
God won't hold you accountable for your husband's heart, but He will hold you accountable for your heart and for the crown you are to your husband.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
I'm Coming back to the heart of worship
I am doing my fall cleaning and listening to praise and worship music. Thought I would share this one with you today.
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