February 27, 2024
Happy Tuesday,
Sin Cultivates in The Mind and Heart
Before the action of sin, we allow it to grow in our hearts and minds. The first sin began before Eve and Adam took a bite of the forbidden fruit. God had told them this:
Genesis 2:15-17
New King James Version
15 Then the Lord God took [a]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to [b]tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you[c] shall surely die.”
Yet, when satan asked about the tree, she said this:
Genesis 3:3
New King James Version
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Eve was so angry with God for withholding that one tree that she added that God said that they could not touch the fruit. She was bitter that God told them not to eat of the fruit. Eve had cultivated the sin of bitterness in her heart.
The Bible said that every evening God came and walked with Adam and Eve. Eve was not able to see how glorious it was that God chose to walk and talked with them. Eve became envious of God.
Genesis 3:4-5
New King James Version
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The appeal of the fruit was to rebel against God’s command and then become like God. Just as Eve told a lie to satan about touching the fruit, satan lied to Eve implying that she would be come like God. Before Adam and Eve they were clothed in righteousness. When they sinned, they were no longer righteous, and their nakedness was revealed. Adam and Eve did not become Gods as satan hinted they would be, but became sinners, bringing sin into the world.
When we are tempted to sin, we should pray to God to help us resist sin and to stop thinking about it. The more we brood over a sin, the more the devil will make a sin appetizing.
James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Pray for the people of Israel. Pray for lost souls.
Maranatha,
Betty
Revelation 22:20
I Am Coming Quickly
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!