Broken Worlds

Scriptural Guide for this lesson is: Genesis 4:1- 5:32

After Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), sin affected the life and death of every living creature. Sin and death reigned in every individual. Enoch, the one notable exception to the punishment of death, "walked with God." Cain, like Adam and Eve, wanted to keep his distance from God. Rather can confess his sin, Cain tried to hide it to keep it from God. Here is a good rule of thumb: Those who keep secrets from God keep their distance from God. Those who are honest with God draw near to God. This is nothing new. It happens between people. If you loan me your car and I wreck it, will I look forward to seeing you again? No. It is no coincidence that the result of the very first sin was to duck into the bushes. Adam and Eve ate the fruit, heard God in the garden, and crept between the leaves. "Where are you?" God asked, not for his benefit. He knew exactly where they were. The question was a spiritual one, not a geographical one. "Examine where you are, children. You aren't where you were. You were at my side; now you have hidden from me." Secrets erect a fence while confession builds a bridge. Once there were a couple of farmers who couldn't get along with each other. A wide ravine separated their two farms, but as a sign of their mutual distaste for each other, each constructed a fence on his side to keep the other out. In time however, the daughter of one met the son of the other, and the couple fell in love. Determined not to be kept apart by the folly of their fathers, they tore down the fence and used the wood to build a bridge across the ravine. Confess does that. Confessed sin becomes the bridge over which we can walk back into the presence of God. Ask yourself: What am I trying to hide from God? Confess your sins and your desire to live your your life independent of God. He wants us to live in full fellowship and communion with him.


Exploration: (Exodus 2-3); ( Samuel 11-12); (Jonah 1-4); (Matthew 26:69-75)

A Prayer for Forgiveness

(Psalm 51)

God, be merciful to me because you are loving. Because you are always ready to be merciful, wipe out all my wrongs. Wash away all my guilt and make me clean again. I know about my wrongs, and I can't forget my sin. You are the one I have sinned against; I have done what you say is wrong. You are right when you speak and fair when you judge. I was brought into this world in sin. In sin my mother gave birth to me. You want me to be completely truthful, so teach me wisdom. Take away my sin, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you crushed be happy again. Turn your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilt. Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again. Do not send me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me. Give me back the joy of your salvation. Keep me strong by giving me a willing spirit . Then I will teach your ways to those who do wrong, and sinners will turn back to you. God's save me from the guilt of murder, God of my salvation, and I will sing about your goodness. Lord, let me speak so I may praise you. You are not pleased by sacrifices, or I would give them. You don't want burnt offerings. The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.  Do whatever good you wish for Jerusalem. Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with right sacrifices and whole burnt offerings, and bulls will be offered on your altar.

Human Spirit

Scriptural Guide for this lesson is: Genesis 2:4- 3:24 

 God the Creator completed his masterpiece by creating man woman. God breathed life and spirit into his special handiwork. Though sin entered the world, God also provided for redemption from sin. God created people with the freedom to choose or reject him. When his creation chose to rebel, God revealed his plan for salvation. God did not create us as robots. Praise him for giving us the ability to serve and love him purposefully. Thank him for his gifts of freedom and creativity. Set aside time today for creative praise. Make that choice today.

(Job 32:8) But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives understanding. 

(Ecclesiastes 12:7) You will turn back into the dust of the earth again, but your spirit will return to God who gave it.

(Acts 7:59) While they were throwing stones, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 

God the Creator

Scriptural Guide for this lesson is Genesis 1:1- 2:3

 The magnificent story of The Beginning revealed God's creativity, majesty, and love. Yet the most humbling, puzzling, and awe-inspiring act took place when God breathed the breath of life into humanity. God demonstrated power and love by creating. With only a spoken word God created everything around us. Then, with loving care, he formed Adam out of the ground. With one decision, history began. Existence became measurable. Out of nothing came light. Out of light came day. Then came sky... and earth. And on this earth? A mighty hand went to work. Canyons were carved. Oceans were dug. Mountains erupted out of flatlands. Stars were flung. A universe sparkled. Our sun became just one of millions. Our galaxy became just one of thousands. Planets invisibly tethered to suns roared through space at breakneck speeds. Stars blazed with heat that could melt our planet in seconds. The hand behind it was mighty. He is mighty. And with this might, he created. As naturally a a bird sings and a fish swims, he created. Just as an artist can't not paint and a runner can't not run, he couldn't not create. He was the Creator. Through and through, he was the Creator. A tireless dreamer and designer. Probe deep within him. Explore every corner. Search every angle. Love is all you find. Go to the beginning of every decision he has made and you will find it. Go to the end of every story he has told and you will see it. Love... He created a paradise. A sinless sanctuary. A haven before fear. A home before there was a human dweller. No time. No death. No hurt. A gift built by God for his ultimate creation. And when he was through, he knew "it was very good." But it wasn't enough. His greatest work hadn't been completed. One final masterpiece was needed before he would stop. Look to the canyons to see the Creator's splendor. Touch the flowers and see his delicacy. Listen to the thunder and hear his power. But gaze on humanity and witness all three. Today you will encounter God's creation. When you see the beauty around you, let each detail remind you to lift your head in praise. Express your appreciation for God's creation. Encourage others to see the beauty of his creation.
(Nehemiah 9:6) You are the only LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, with all the stars. You made the earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; you give life to everything. The heavenly army worships you.

(Job 26:7) God stretches the northern sky out over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.

(Psalm 102:25) In the beginning you made the earth, and your hands made the sky.

(Acts 14:15) "Friends, why are you doing these things? We are only human beings like you. We are bringing you the Good News and are telling you to turn away from these worthless things and turn to the living God. He is the One who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

(Hebrews 11:3) It is by faith we understand that the whole world was made by God's command so what we see was made by something that cannot be seen. 

Perseverance

How do you respond when you are "thumped" by people at work, school, family, or anyone in general? Your initial reaction during these times reflects who you are. What responses need to change? The character of a person is checked by these thumps. Late-night phone calls. Grouchy teacher. Grumpy moms. Burnt meals. Flat tires. "You've got to be kidding me" deadlines. Those are thumps. They are those irritating inconveniences that bring out the worst in us. They catch us off guard. They're small, but if you get enough of them, watch out. Thump. Thump. Thump. How do I respond? Do I sing? Or do I thud? Jesus said that out of the nature of the heart a man speaks. (Luke 6:45) Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts. The true character of a person is seen not in momentary heroics, but in their day-to-day living. (James 1:1-27) My brothers and sisters, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and will have everything you need. But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to all people, so he will give you wisdom. But when you ask God, you must believe and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown up and down by the wind. Such doubters are thinking two different things at the same time, and they cannot decide about anything they do. They should not think they will receive anything from the Lord. Believers who are poor should be proud, because God has made them spiritually rich. Those who are rich should be proud, because God has shown them that they are spiritually poor. The rich will die like a wild flower in the grass. The sun rises with burning heat and dries up the plants. The flower falls off, and its beauty is gone. In the same way the rich will die while they are still taking care of business. When people are tempted and still continue strong, they should be happy. After they have proved their faith, God will reward them with life forever. God promised this to all those who love him. When people are tempted, they should not say, "God is tempting me." Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone. But people are tempted when their own evil desire leads them away and traps them. This desire leads to sin, and then the sin grows and brings death. My dear brothers and sisters, do not be fooled about this. Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows. God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made. My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily, because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants. So put out of your life every evil thing and every kind of wrong. Then in gentleness accept God's teaching that is planted in your hearts, which can save you. Do what God's teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves. Those who hear God's teaching and do nothing are like people who look at themselves in a mirror. They see their faces and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like. But the truly happy people are those who carefully study God's perfect law that makes people free, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God's teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy. People who think they are religious but say things they should not say are just fooling themselves. Their "religion" is worth nothing. Religion that God accepts as pure and without fault is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help, and keeping yourself free from the world's evil influence. I know I just threw a long scripture at you, but read it again and again and get the true meaning of it please. Like I said in an earlier post, we should never ever let someone that has no joy, steal our joy. When we come across ignorant and stupid people, we need to set an example. Not foe them, but for God. We need to show God that we have heard his message, and that it is in our hearts, and that we will remain faithful and on top of our game. It's all a test. Satan went about roaming the earth looking for someone to test, and he happened upon you. Why? I can't say. But I can say this, don't fall into the trap that he is trying to lay down for you because you will be losing out on a blessing. (Romans 2:7) Some people, by always continuing to do good, live for God's glory, for honor, and for lifethat has no end. God will give them life forever. Life forever... Can you even begin to comprehend that? Not only will you receive eternal life by following God's laws, but you will receive blessings here as well. (Romans 8:24-25) We were saved, and we have this hope. If we see what we are waiting for, that is not really hope. People do not hope for something they already have. But we are hoping for something we do not have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently.  No matter what challenges we face, and I know there are many, we must remain steadfast in our faith, hope, and beliefs. (2 Corinthians 6:3-7) We do not want anyone to find fault with our work, so nothing we do will be a problem for anyone. But in every way we show we are servants of God: in accepting many hard things, in troubles, in difficulties, and in great problems. We are beaten and thrown into prison. We meet those who become upset with us and start riots. We work hard, and sometimes we get no sleep or food. We show we are servants of God by our pure lives, our understanding, patience, and kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by true love, by speaking the truth, and by God's power. We use our right living to defend ourselves against everything. I want to end this post by saying that God allows tough situations in our lives in order to refine us and bring us closer to him. We should approach these times with a right attitude and seek his wisdom. God bless you all.

We Can't... but God Can!

Why things happen as they do
we do not always know,
And we cannot always fathom
Why our spirits sink so low...
We flounder in our dark distress,
We are wavering and unstable,
But when we're most inadequate
The Lord God is always able...
For though we are incapable,
God is powerful and great,
And there is no darkness of the mind
That God can't penetrate...
And all that is required of us
Whenever things go wrong
Is to trust in God implicitly
With a faith that's deep and strong,
And while He may not instantly
Unravel all the strands
Of the tangled thoughts that trouble us-
He completely understands...
And in His time, if we have faith,
He will gradually restore
The brightness to our spirit
That we've been longing for...
So remember, there's no cloud too dark
For God's light to penetrate
If we keep on believing
And have faith enough to wait!

When You Feel Angry

I was at work the other day and I had a customer curse me out over a pack of cigarettes that I refused to sell him. Can you believe that? I was called a name, that I will not repeat, over something that costs $3.63. I stood there and got so angry, that I wanted to go outside and beat the brakes off this man. Then I thought about it and realized that he must already have a sad existence if a pack of cigarettes means that much to him. I also realized that anger is not something that falls in line with the way God wants me to live my life. (James 1:19-20) My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily, because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants. Anger robs you of your joy and it robs you of your blessings. It's a way of letting the devil in and of you losing out. (Ephesians 4:26-27) When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day. Do not give the devil a way to defeat you. Anger shows that we have lost control, even if for a split second. We have lost our ability to listen to reason. It shows that we cannot listen to advice or even to reason. When we are slow to speak, it does not mean that we are weak. It shows that we are not going to let someone who has no joy, steal our joy. I know it is so much easier to go off on somebody and sometimes no matter how hard we try to keep a peaceful tongue, we end up going off. But as Christians, we need to try to do the best we can and be slow to speak and slow to anger. Words are just that, words. They do not define us as a person. (Proverbs 12:16) Fools quickly show that they are upset, but the wise ignore insults. (Romans 12:17-19) If someone does wrong to you, do not pay him back by doing wrong to him. Try to do what everyone thinks is right. Do your best to live in peace with everyone. My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you, but wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: "I will punish those who do wrong; I will repay them," says the Lord. So the next time you're tempted to say or do something out of anger, remember that Scripture tells us to wait on God to punish those who have wronged us. I know that as humans, we are emotional creatures, and it's easier to react than it is to think and remain calm. But we will be only hurting ourselves because we are giving power to the ones that made us angry. We should not give them that power over us. As Christians we need to rise above it all and put those things out of our lives. (Colossians 3:8) But now also put these things out of your life: anger, bad temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and using evil words when you talk. A deep personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ will transform every area of our lives. He is there waiting. All we need to do is make the first step. God bless you all.

WHEN YOU FEEL DEPRESSED

HAS ANYONE OUT THERE EVER BEEN DEPRESSED? I MEAN A REAL DEPRESSION WHERE YOU FEEL YOU HAVE NO REASON TO GO ON? YOU JUST WANT TO GIVE UP AND DIE?WELL, I HAVE BEEN FEELING THAT WAY FOR THE LAST FEW WEEKS. I HAD SOMETHING HAPPEN IN MY FAMILY THAT JUST BLEW ME AWAY. I THOUGHT THAT MY WORLD WAS OVER. I CRIED, I SCREAMED, I CRIED SOME MORE, AND I PRAYED FOR DEATH TO TAKE ME. I WANTED TO BE GONE FROM THIS EARTH AND I WANTED TO NOT FEEL ANYMORE. THEN, AS I WAS CRYING, SOMETHING TOLD ME THAT IT'S NOT MY TIME TO GO AND THAT THE PERSON I'M GRIEVING FOR NEEDS ME NOW MORE THAN THEY EVER DID. THAT'S WHEN I REALIZED THAT BY PRAYING FOR DEATH, I WAS ACTUALLY BEING VERY SELFISH.  I WAS ASKING FOR THE COWARDS WAY OUT. SO INSTEAD OF CRYING, I BEGAN TO PRAY. INSTEAD OF HAVING A HEAVY HEART, I BEGAN TO GIVE PRAISE. INSTEAD OF WANTING TO DIE, I HAD THE URGE TO LIVE AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GOD AND HIS UNDYING LOVE. I HAD THE STRONGEST DESIRE TO SHOUT OUT IN GREAT PRAISE FOR THE ONE THAT WAS GOING TO BRING ME AND MY LOVED ONE BACK FROM OUR DARKEST HOUR. AMEN! I'M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT THERE IS NO DEPRESSION SO BLEAK THAT GOD CANNOT BRING YOU OUT. NONE. (ISAIAH 40:31) SAYS: " BUT THE PEOPLE WHO TRUST THE LORD WILL BECOME STRONG AGAIN. THEY WILL RISE UP AS AN EAGLE IN THE SKY; THEY WILL RUN AND NOT NEED REST; THEY WILL WALK AND NOT BECOME TIRED."  WHAT GLORIOUS WORDS.  THE SCRIPTURE TELL US THAT WE WILL BECOME STRONG IF WE TRUST IN THE LORD. TRUST. THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT. TRUSTING HIM TO KNOW WHAT WE NEED. TRUSTING THAT THOSE NEEDS WILL BE MET. (ISAIAH 41:10) GOES ON TO SAY, " SO DON'T WORRY, BECAUSE I AM WITH YOU. DON'T BE AFRAID, BECAUSE I AM YOUR GOD. I WILL MAKE YOU STRONG AND I WILL HELP YOU; I WILL SUPPORT YOU WITH MY RIGHT HAND THAT SAVES YOU." GOD WILL BE THERE FOR US WHEN WE FEEL THAT WE HAVE NO ONE THERE AT ALL. HE TELLS US, DON'T BE AFRAID. PRAISE HIS NAME. WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED IN HIM. (1 PETER 5:6-70 READS: " BE HUMBLE UNDER GOD'S POWERFUL HAND SO HE WILL LIFT YOU UP WHEN THE RIGHT TIME COMES. GIVE ALL YOUR WORRIES TO HIM, BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT YOU." HE WANTS TO TAKE ALL YOUR WORRIES FROM YOU. HE'S TELLING US TO GIVE THEM ALL TO HIM, NO MATTER WHAT THEY MAY BE. LET THEM GO. THEY BELONG TO HIM. AMEN. (PSALM 43:5) SAYS, " WHY AM I SO SAD? WHY AM I SO UPSET? I SHOULD PUT MY HOPE IN GOD AND KEEP PRAISING HIM, MY SAVIOR AND MY GOD." CAN IT BE ANY EASIER TO UNDERSTAND? WE HAVE NO CAUSE TO BE SAD OR DEPRESSED WHEN WE HAVE THE LOVE OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER WITH US. I WANT TO END THIS POST WITH ONE LAST SCRIPTURE THAT SUMS IT ALL UP FRIENDS AND FAMILY... (2 THESSALONIANS 2:16-17) MAY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF AND GOD OUR FATHER ENCOURAGE YOU AND STRENGTHEN YOU IN EVERY GOOD THING YOU DO AND SAY. GOD LOVED US, AND THROUGH HIS GRACE HE GAVE US A GOOD HOPE AND ENCOURAGEMENT THAT CONTINUES FOREVER.