My Beloved Is Mine and I am His

Yesterday was the last day.  For the last ten weeks a small group of women have been studying the Bible together at my home using Nancy Guthrie’s book, “The Wisdom of God:  Seeing Jesus in the Psalms and Wisdom Books”.   What a wonderful study!  We learned so much from her and from each other!  The sweetest thing was the way we saw Jesus in these Old Testament books.  The fellowship of us women as we study and share together is so indescribably precious.  


We finished the study in Song of Solomon.  Quite the book, in its description of love and sexual intimacy.  Written as a love poem that goes back and forth in the voices of a bridegroom and his bride.  We puzzled over God’s purpose in including it in His Word.  Nancy did a good job of explaining the various scholarly ideas put forth by people far more knowledgeable than any of us, about the meaning and intent of the book.  


In the words of the lovers in Song of Solomon, we can see a picture of Jesus and the love that He has for His bride, the church.  That is where my heart landed as I read Song of Solomon.  


I was captured by these comments and the question Nancy asked:

In the Song of Solomon, words of praise extolling the virtues of the bride’s beloved flow freely and abundantly from the bride’s lips, an overflow of her thoughts about and passion for him.  As a member of the bride of Christ, what would you want to tell us about your beloved?

That was the most awesome question!!  To write down and then share with the group the wonder of my beloved gave me so much joy!  My words are inadequate and incomplete, but this is my beloved.


My beloved is beautiful.  Though I have never seen Him face to face, I see His beauty in His character.  My beloved is kind, compassionate, forgiving, full of grace and mercy.  He loves with a self-sacrificing love, a love that demonstrates itself most fully in His willingness to give His life for mine.  He gave His life so that I might HAVE life – eternal, abundant – life!


My beloved loves me unconditionally, fully, and forever.  He has promised to never leave me.  His love for me is such that He’s preparing a home for me where He is, so that one day I will live there with Him and I will finally SEE Him face to face.  And I’ll be with Him FOREVER!


My beloved is always near to me, ready to comfort me with His presence and His supernatural peace, even in the most difficult circumstances.  He always hears me when I speak to Him, and answers with His best will and purpose for my life.


What a love His is!  It is like no other.  No earthly love can satisfy my soul the way the love of Jesus for me can!  


Thinking of Jesus as my beloved Bridegroom was a revelation to me.  I waited for sleep last night dwelling on this aspect of His person.  


Maybe we don’t think enough about Jesus in this way, I know I didn’t!  Certainly I don’t talk to others about Him enough in this way.  If I spoke to you about my Bridegroom would it woo you into wanting to know His love for yourself?  


If you sense that something is lacking in the kind of love this world offers, then you need to know Jesus.  He is the absolute lover of your soul.  He proved it at the cross.


He longs to reveal His love to YOU.  If you want to know Him, you only have to ask Him to reveal Himself.  


Song of Solomon, chapter 6, verse 3:

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.

An Introvert's Guide to Practicing Hospitality

The area I live in is one of the hubs of the hospitality industry here in the US.  Not far from my home there are hotels and rental condos for every pocketbook.  There are theme parks, water parks, and restaurants.  Hospitality is what is DONE here!  

You need a clean, reasonably priced room – we’ve got it!


You want a clean, luxury room with a ton of extras – we’ve got it!


You want a rental house that sleeps 12, we’ve got it!


You want a fast food restaurant – we’ve got it!


You want a nice, inexpensive meal in a family style restaurant – we’ve got it!


You want a high priced 5 course meal with wine pairings – yep, we’ve got that too!


Hospitality here is done on a grand scale.


I’ve been thinking a lot about hospitality lately since our pastor has been preaching about it.  It’s something I need to think about because the Bible has a bit to say about it.  


Take the following passages from the New Testament for example:

• ·       Romans. 12:10-13  Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.  
  
• ·       Hebrews 13:2  Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

These verses tell us that whether we have an opportunity to serve other Christians or total strangers with hospitality, we are to give ourselves over to it. 


Hospitality is also a desirable qualification for a church pastor as well, as the Apostle Paul says in these verses: 

• ·       I Timothy 3:2   Now the overseer (pastor) is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.
• 
  
• ·       Titus 1:8   (A pastor) must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

If you have ever met someone in the hospitality industry, maybe a waiter or receptionist, who was rude to you, or who ignored you, then you know how important this verse is:

·       1 Pet 4:9   Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

So what IS hospitality?  For this we look to the Webster and Oxford Dictionaries:

·       Hospitality = hospitable treatment, reception, or disposition;  the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors or strangers; the action of receiving a guest or guests and providing them with food and drink.

You probably know people who are really good at being hospitable.  They love having people to their homes.  They enjoy the cooking and preparation that goes into having guests.  They set a lovely table.  They’re good at small talk and manage to make everyone feel welcome.  The more the merrier is their motto!


Then there are others who are also good at being hospitable, but in a much more casual way.  They also love having people to their homes, but they don’t fuss.  The meal is simple, maybe served on paper plates, maybe bought at the local supermarket and not homemade.  They are also good at small talk and make everyone feel welcome.  Even if they were planning for six but four more show up, their attitude is, “Come on in!”  They may add water to the soup, but you’ll never know it.


Neither of those is me.  I’m quiet.  I have a lovely home but inviting a number of people all at once, even if I know them, is stressful.  Even if I’m buying the food at the supermarket.  Just thinking about having people over can cause me innumerable sleepless nights.  Practicing this kind of hospitality is torture for me.


This is the person I am, and the way the Lord made me.  Maybe He made you that way too.  So what is an introverted person to do to practice hospitality, as God intends us to, in a way that suits his or her personality?


Be intentional.


I don’t know about you, but spontaneous hospitality is a real hurdle for me (even more than planned hospitality!).  I’m thinking maybe someone’s response will be negative.  I’m worried we’ll run out of things to say.  I’m worried they’ll stay too long.  If I’m going to practice hospitality, I’m going to have to put those worries aside and be intentional about it.  


If there is a woman I want to know better, I begin to think about making a plan to meet with her and I tell her it’s because I want to know her better.  I might have to encourage myself several times before I actually make the call, send the email, but I will do it if I plan to do so.  Introverts don’t do spontaneous hospitality well, but if we plan it and keep it simple, it can be done, and the reward is worth it.


Look for the lonely.


I experienced so many times of loneliness since we moved here to a new place with lots of new people from all over the country.  I would venture a guess that I’m not the only one who has felt lonely.  


Ask the Lord to help you be aware of those around you who seem to always be alone.  They sit alone.  They go to activities alone.  They’re quiet.  They’re new.  They’re handicapped.  They’re from another country.  They speak a different language. 

Move outside your comfort zone, forget your anxieties, and reach out to someone who would be happy for someone to be hospitable.


Start small (and maybe keep it small)


Jim and I are often been invited to the homes of neighbors where there are a dozen or more people gathered.  It is not at all likely that when I do practice hospitality, I start by inviting six people over, never mind a dozen, even if I know them all!  However, I can start with one friend, or one new acquaintance, or a familiar couple, or two women who maybe already know one another.  Keeping it small greatly reduces the stress so that I can relax and be welcoming and actually enjoy my guest.  I may never graduate to inviting more than 2, but that’s okay, at least I’m practicing hospitality.


Keep it simple.


Who says when we practice hospitality that we need to go all out with our best table linens, flowers, a gourmet meal?  We can start with coffee and scones bought at the grocery store, or just coffee!  Having coffee limits the time we’re together to an hour or so, a good first step in practicing hospitality.  We can invite our guest to a local restaurant for breakfast.  In my community, we can meet at the clubhouse for coffee.  


I have a lovely home, as do each one of my neighbors, but we so rarely invite one another in.  I have to be intentional about inviting someone into my home as well.  Homes are such lovely, welcoming places to share coffee with someone. 


There’s a funny meme I’ve seen on Facebook that says:  I like to leave get well cards on my mantle so that when guests come and see my dusty house, they’ll think I’ve been sick!


So, intentionally invite when you know the house could use a dusting.  Leave the discarded magazines in a disorganized mess on the coffee table.  It will help remind you that hospitality isn’t entertaining, it’s welcoming someone in to share your life and your space and to allow them to share their lives too.


Be Jesus to your guest.


Remember Mary and Martha in the Bible.  When they were practicing hospitality with their guests – Jesus and His disciples – Martha was in the kitchen fussing over the meal.  She was pretty annoyed with Mary for sitting in the other room listening to Jesus.  When she complained to Jesus, He told her that she was worried about many things, but Mary had chosen the ONE thing that was of greater value – sitting at the feet of Jesus.


Forget about the many things that go with hospitality.  Think about your guest.  As Mary did with Jesus, let go of your anxiety to sit and listen.  Really hear what she, or they, have to say.  Ask them about themselves, listen for things for which you can pray for them, be as welcoming to them as you would if it was Jesus you were entertaining.  Pray that the Lord will use that time to build a real friendship.


Ask the Lord for opportunities to practice hospitality and watch for what He provides. 



You don’t have to live in the land of hospitality to practice hospitality, but if we’re going to obey the Bible’s commands to do so, then we have to start somewhere.


Time to get started!


Be intentional.  Look for the lonely. Start small.  Keep it simple. Be Jesus to your guests.

God Delights

On Saturday mornings we have a standing breakfast date with our daughter.  We never know if it will be just her, or if breakfast will also include her husband, our granddaughter and her boyfriend.  A few weeks ago, our granddaughter joined us, which I absolutely LOVE!


At that particular breakfast, a memory, found in a file I’d written in October 2000, when Emma was three and a half, was fresh on my mind:


Dear Emma,

            Today was a beautiful fall day, warm with lots of sunshine streaming through beautiful fall leaves.  I came home from volunteering at the hospital around 3:30 and just had to get you out for a while.


            All I said was, “who wants to go down to the coffee store for a cookie”.  I didn’t need to ask twice.  Right away, you said, “I do!” and we were off.


            We took your wagon, already filled with Winnie the Pooh and your stuffed flounder, added a couple of books (which you never looked at the whole trip) and left.  I pulled for a good part of the way there.  


            At the coffee store we bought you a lemonade and a cotton candy cookie which you finished in no time.  We took a different way back, which took us past the animal hospital. You thought a hospital for animals was the silliest thing.  We were lucky enough to have a man drive up, his very unhappy dog in tow.  What doggie wants to go to the vet?  The dog was whining and pulling away, which led to a conversation about how you didn’t like going to the doctor either, and could understand how that doggy felt.

The way home was so much fun!  You alternated between sitting in and pulling the wagon.  While pulling the wagon, many stops had to be made, sometimes to sip your lemonade, and others to collect the beautiful fall leaves.  Especially pretty ones were stored in a little compartment under one of the wagon seats.  The most wonderful giggles erupted from you as you walked through, rolled through, and threw the crunchy, dried brown leaves.  

You found a tiny green inchworm, but didn’t quite grasp the concept of handling it “gently” with your chubby little fingers.  Eventually you “lost” him, but I wondered whether the little guy ever again saw the light of day!

Several times you stopped to climb and jump off a few fire hydrants we passed along the way. 

Collecting pine cones, which eventually would be covered in peanut butter for the birds, covered your hands in “sab” (sap), but you didn’t seem to mind.  


The way back home included a detour to pet the neighbor’s dog before a stop in the garage to collect your tricycle and ride.  Riding your bike led to our usual game of “gas station”. You drove up to the “attendant” (me), and asked me to fill it up with “the regular”.  I also needed to do some repair work on your tires.  After that, I played traffic cop for a while, directing you and other imaginary cars, until it began to get dark and chilly and time to go inside.  


At the end of the day, I found myself asking the Lord’s forgiveness for all the complaining I do about my current lot in life - helping your Mom through school and not being free to make my own choices for my time at this stage of life.  

Yes, there is some sacrifice, but with it comes the blessing of these very precious times with you, Em.  I’ll cherish every one, as I did years ago, when I did these very same things with your mom.  There just isn’t anything quite as special.  I’m one blessed Grammie.


Emma is now 22, and I still can’t wait to see her and hear all about what’s going on in her life.  Listening to her stories about work, birthday plans, and how she’s going to decorate her new apartment, give me the same sense of joy I had back when she was finding excitement in fall leaves and riding her trike.

I love it when the Lord uses moments like that as a teaching opportunity.  It wasn't long after that breakfast with Emma that our pastor preached a sermon on Psalm 35 and I was struck by the last phrase of verse 27:

(The Lord) delights in the welfare of His servant.

I have been going through a bout of depression.  It’s not my first, and may not be my last.  If you’ve ever been depressed, then you know it’s hard to find joy, even in the things you love.  


On one of the nights when sleep eluded me (not uncommon with depression), I found myself thinking about that verse and applying it to myself.

The Lord delights in your welfare, Dot.  

What does that mean, I thought, in this place where I cannot FEEL His delight?  And then I thought of how I feel about Emma.


I delight in her now just as I did when she was three and a half.


I delight in her when she makes decisions or forms opinions I don’t like.


I delight in her when she wants to spend time with me and when I haven’t seen or heard from her in weeks.

I delight in her when she receives honors.

I delight in her when things are going badly.

I delight in her because I love her.  That will never change.


And that’s exactly how the Lord delights in me, even when depression distorts my feeling that He does.  


In the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 8, the Apostle Paul says this:

I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, not height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I may not be in a place where I can find joy in my usual activities, (unless they include Emma!) but one thing I know – I CAN find joy in the truth – that God delights in me because I belong to Him – and He is invested in my welfare.  

Depression is not an indication that He has forgotten me, or ceased to love me, or is busy elsewhere.

God delights in me and my welfare.  That is enough to hang onto for this season. 

GOD'S "WOW" FACTOR!

Jim and I just returned from a wonderful trip that took us to some of the National Parks.  Before we left, I was in a slump – mentally and spiritually.  I was missing meaningful ministry and friends I left behind in New Jersey and that sense of being home in a church.  I was anxious to get away, enjoy the beauty of God’s great creation and listen for His voice.


The trip was wonderful.  I was reminded nearly every day of how much I love being in God’s creation.  I think even someone with a facility for words that far surpasses mine, would be hard pressed to describe the natural beauty of the west. 

One of my photos is of the profile of George Washington high above me on Mt. Rushmore.  I could never describe just how big that mountain is, or how small George’s head is, but by accidently capturing a car driving by below, it’s possible to try and wrap the mind around the contrast.  Think huge, massive, way up there over your head!


Coming first from the noise and light pollution of Las Vegas, and then the busyness of Salt Lake City, it’s impossible to describe the silence that greeted us when we arrived at U+ (U Cross) ranch in Wyoming.  At that point, we had shared a bus and many meals with thirty other people, and it was very enjoyable, and occasionally noisy.  It was also why U Cross was memorable.  Not a single traffic sound.  No other residences as far as the eye could see.  Just the spray of the farmer’s irrigation system to break the silence and the smell of alfalfa in the air.  What a balm for my soul!  The Lord reminded me how good solitude is for me. In it, I am instantly transported into His presence.  I could have spent a few more days there.


From Arizona, to Utah, to Nevade to Wyoming to South Dakota, the terrain was constantly changing - from desert and cactus, to huge bare mountains of red rock, to the vastness of the great plains, to mountains covered with Ponderosa and  Lodgepost pines, to the sulfurous bubbling pots of Yellowstone.  Bison, moose, long horned sheep, bear, horses – all feasts for the eyes.  The Lord does all things well.


We had a wonderful tour guide who kept us enthralled throughout two weeks of travel.   Incredibly well informed, he taught us just about all there was to know about the geology, history and culture of the places we visited.  A Native American guide on our raft ride on the Snake River explained the proud culture of her tribe as she pointed out the beauties of her river canyon at Lake Powell, Utah.  I was reminded that the Lord gave me a mind to love learning, and I need to keep doing it.


If you’ve been reading my blogs for any length of time, then you know I am an introvert.  Introverts enjoy people, but we do tend to be quiet and not quite comfortable with people we don’t know, or in large groups.  So, we might go out to dinner with two friends, but we would probably turn down large parties and going on cruises with a crowd. 


Unlike extroverts who are totally energized when they’re with people, we introverts are exhausted by socializing, and need some alone time afterwards to recuperate.  Jim and I had never taken this long a trip (14 days) confined to a bus with thirty strangers (not counting the tour guide and the bus driver).  It was a little risky for us to do so, but I’m so thankful we did.


Our tour director changed our seats in the bus every day so that we each had opportunities to sit in the front and back, and across from different people.  Before we set out for the day, he encouraged us to get to know our seatmates across the aisle.  Jim and I got to know others a little at a time.  Perfect!


It was typical at breakfast or dinner for someone to come up and ask if they could join us for the meal.  In that way, the Lord blessed us with opportunities to get to know so many new people, many of them from outside the US.  It was so much fun talking with Brits, for example, about the words we each use to describe the same things!  Did you know that Brits call zucchini, “courgettes”?  


One evening we were seated with a family from Nebraska: grandmother, daughter and son in law, and their twenty one year old daughter.  I had the privilege of sitting next to the young girl and asking all about her course of study at college.  At the end of a very pleasant conversation she thanked me for taking an interest in her.  That conversation was the Lord’s way of reminding me that I love getting to know younger women, and how much younger women are blessed when older women take an interest. As soon as I came home, I asked my daughter Becky if she and her friends would mind if I joined their book club so I can rub elbows with the younger women I love so much.  Who knows where it might lead?  It wouldn’t be the first time I counted a much younger woman as a friend.


There was a day early on that Jim and I were having breakfast, and sitting alone, which didn’t happen often.  We had bowed our heads and thanked the Lord for our meal and when I looked up, I noticed one of the British women smiling at us.  Later in the week when we had dinner with her and her husband and another couple, she leaned over and told me she was also a Christian and that we would have to “talk”.  We never did have that chance, but we promised to correspond.


There was also this completely serendipitous thing.  I was nearly finished reading the book, The Girls of Atomic City, by Denise Kiernan.  It tells the story of the secret city built during WWII to enrich uranium in preparation for making the bombs that would be dropped on Japan, putting an end to the war in the Pacific. 

One night we were seated at dinner with a couple from Tennessee.  Jim and I were chatting with the husband and I asked what he did before he retired.  When he said he worked at the labs in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, I nearly fell off my seat with excitement.  


If you’re a book nerd, you will probably get this.  The lab built to enrich uranium and build the bomb, was designed and built at Oak Ridge.  I was amazed to find that it is now a real city, and not a temporary one, and that they were still working with uranium – only now it isn’t secret, and now their work focuses on developing nuclear energy that is smaller and safer.  This was a gift I believe the Lord knew would excite and delight me.


I’ve done a lot of chatting with the Lord lately as well about how much I miss my dearest friends from New Jersey.  We had served together in the leadership of Bible Study Fellowship for around ten years.  We served the Lord together, worshiped together, and prayed together and even after our BSF class closed, we still met often for breakfast and have kept in touch since we moved.  I so miss the sweetness of their fellowship in the Lord.


I had emailed them before the trip and asked them to pray that the Lord would speak to my heart while I was away.  One of them said she would be away herself with her daughter and son.  Would you like to guess where?  The National Parks. 

With incredible excitement, we compared itineraries, and found we would both be at Page, Wyoming on the same day!  Really, what are the “chances”?  Her daughter, bless her heart, quickly changed their hotel reservation so we would be at the same hotel.  Our schedule, since we were on a tour, was not as flexible, but we managed to squeeze in an hour, an hour past both of our bedtimes, so we could meet.  


We spent that time catching up on things, but what we mostly did was hug, hold hands and marvel at the grace of God to bring both of us to the same place at the same time!  


So, this vacation was a marvel – of God’s creative genius, of His love for His children in all the ways He teaches and blesses them, and for His endless capacity to make them go, “WOW!”.  God is amazingly, incredibly, and unfailingly good. 

And He’s not just generically good (if we can even describe Him that way), He is also personal, intimately involved with His world and His children.  He has designed a world, though marred by the effects of the fall of Adam and Eve, to blow us away with its beauty, and direct our thoughts and praise to the One who made it.  All of what He has done highlights HIM and most especially Jesus, by whom and for whom and through whom, this world was made.  And the One who holds it together.


I saw God’s power and glory through His indescribable creation, and I also saw Him in the quiet of Wyoming, in the people He has made in His image (flawed though we be!), in the way He orchestrates things so that long-time friends can meet half a country away, in inquisitive children, in the gifts He has given people to carve huge life like faces out of stone, in the special gifts He gives just to delight us. 

All His works shall praise His name in earth and sky and sea.

Question 3 What can be done?

With Adam and Eve’s disobedience, the sin nature was passed down to the human race – and man was banned from the presence of a holy God because of it.


In all the centuries since, we have tried to earn our way back into God’s favor, usually by trying to be and do all the good things we can, things like:

o   Keeping the 10 Commandments

o   Doing “religious” things – faithfully attending church, observing the sacraments, practicing the golden rule.

All of those things are good, but if trying to keep them is what you have been counting on to win you favor with God, how successful have you been at keeping ALL God’s commandments, faithfully and consistently?  Did you know that to fail to keep even ONE, you have sinned, and sin breaks fellowship with God?


Would you like to know what God says about us when it comes to all the good things we try to do?  Here it is from Romans, chapter 3, verses 10-12:

There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God,

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.

Maybe you’ve never read that, and you’re wondering, “Whoa, is that how God really sees me?  All of us?  How can that be?”.  


Let me ask a question.  When you’re trying to determine whether you’re doing enough to earn God’s favor, with whom do you compare yourself?


The problem is that we tend to compare ourselves with the people around us.  (Admit it, it’s what we do, right?)  We can always find people who, in our estimation, are not as “good” as we are. 



But OTHER PEOPLE are not the standard God uses.  Would you like to guess what standard He uses?   Wait for it ----- Himself!  

(The Bible: Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; and I Peter 1:15)

Be holy as I am holy, says the Lord.

I read that and see immediately that I am in serious trouble if I think my own goodness could ever come close to God’s holiness.  I understand then that no matter how hard I try, something – gossip, a little white lie, making judgments of others based on their dress – and a ton of other things – will do me in.  Just one of them is enough to cause me to fall short of God’s perfect holiness. 

Nope, we could never earn God’s favor by trying to be “right and holy”.  Actually, what the Bible says is that what we have actually earned through our sin is DEATH.  (The Bible: Romans 6:23)

So, what happens now?   How can I EVER hope to live a life that pleases God when sin taints everything I think and do?  God is right when He says, “there is NO ONE who does good, not even one”.

Question 3:  What can be done about my sin so that I can be right again with God?

What can be DONE has been done, but it could not have been done by you, or me, or any other sinner, no matter how hard we tried.


God is righteous and holy and just and because of that, He can not, NOT punish sin.  We, sinners all, HAVE to die to pay that penalty.  


The only way we could avoid our deserved death was if a substitute – who was NOT also a sinner – offered to stand in our place – the guiltless for the guilty - to satisfy God's just judgment against sin. That is exactly what GOD had planned.


Out of His great love, mercy and grace, God provided the dearest thing He had, His Son Jesus, to be our substitute – the sinless for the sinful - to stand in our place and endure the death that was meant for us.  


But that’s only half the story.  


On that Good Friday more than 2000 years ago, Jesus satisfied God’s righteous judgment against sin in His own body on the cross and because of it, God forgives your sin and mine, and imputes (transfers to OUR account) the very righteousness of Jesus Himself.  Now, when God looks at me, He sees, not my sin, for that has been paid for by Jesus, but the righteousness of His Son in which I am now clothed.


Finally, by faith, I can be in a fit state to draw near to God, to enjoy the intimacy of relationship with Him for which He made me!


And what’s more, Jesus’ death broke the hold sin had on me.  Whereas, before Jesus, I could not NOT sin, now that my faith is in Jesus, I can say NO to sin!  I can choose NOT to sin by His power.


And what about that last enemy, DEATH?  


Jesus overcame death by rising from the dead three days after His crucifixion.  Because He lives now, I know that I will live also.  Death no longer holds any sway over me.  When I die, I will go immediately into the presence of Jesus.  I will see Him face to face and live with Him for all eternity.


At the cross Jesus also won the war with Satan.  Although skirmishes are still being waged by him against God's purposes, and against those who belong to Jesus, he knows he has LOST, and one day will be destroyed.


If you went into a Walmart tomorrow to exchange a dishtowel and they offered you in exchange something SO much more awesome, valuable and priceless than anything you EVER imagined in your life – wouldn’t you take it?


How then, do we take hold of this gift Jesus has made possible for us?

What CAN we do to about our sin so that we can be right with God?

• ·       Agree with God when He says that I am not, nor can I ever BE, righteous before Him.  No matter how hard I might try, how much good I do that I think outweighs the bad, a sinner who sins is who I am.
• 
  
• ·       Accept that when Jesus died on that cross for sin, He was taking MY place, atoning for MY sin – bearing the death I had earned and rightly deserved.
• 
  
• ·       Believe that Jesus’ death paid completely for my sin and amazing as it seems, His own righteousness can now be credited to MY account and clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, it will be forever the way God sees me from this point on.
• 
  
• ·       Believe that Jesus rose from the dead, as a sign of His Father’s approval and acceptance of His sacrifice on my behalf.  Because He lives forever, I will also live forever with Him.  
  

All of the blessings of what Jesus did for you, God offers to you as a gift of His grace.  All you need DO, is receive it.  

The Bible:  Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

If you think that that’s IT, as awesome as it IS, you would be wrong.  There is so much more – “above all that we can ask or even imagine”.   


Wait for it. . . . . . .

Question 2 What went wrong?

It was beautiful, the garden the Lord God made for Adam and Eve.  The best part of life in the garden was the wonderful, intimate relationship they enjoyed with Him, and with each other, until something went horribly wrong.

Question 2 – What went wrong?

Genesis, chapter 2, verses 16-17:

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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 shall surely die’”.

There was a cunning serpent in the garden who had a way with words, and he introduced doubt in the mind of the woman about the truthfulness and faithfulness of God.  (Genesis, chapter 3)


The serpent said to the woman:

Has God REALLY said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’

You will NOT surely die.  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.

Suddenly, the fruit of that tree was a MUST have!  But when Adam and Eve had eaten it, everything changed.


They instantly realized they were naked, and in their shame, they covered themselves with fig leaves.  


When they heard the sound of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, instead of running to greet Him, they hid themselves from Him.


When God called out to them, Adam acknowledged his new found fear of God, a fear that caused them both to hide from Him.


When confronted with God’s, “What have you done?”, the blame began – she did it, no the serpent did it!  


The Lord, who had made them in His own image, the One who loved them, and gave them free will to choose relationship with Him or not, pronounced the consequences of their rebellion and disobedience.


First, He addressed the serpent:

You are cursed more than every beast of the field.  On your belly you shall go all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed (descendants) and her Seed (Descendant).  He shall crush your head (a fatal blow), and you shall bruise His heel.

Then to the woman, He said:

I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception.  In pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.

Then to Adam, He said:

Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth.  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for dust you are and to dust you shall return.

The Lord made tunics for them of the skin of animals and then sent them out of the garden, placing angels with flaming swords to guard the way, so that they could not reenter, and eat of the Tree of Life, and live forever in their sinful state.


Paradise lost. . . . .


What Adam and Eve did that day, in exercising their God given free will in an act of disobedience to the One who had created them for Himself, is the cause of everything that is wrong today.  


In what way, you might ask: 


First, they passed down a sin nature to everyone who came after them. 


Sin is not just the things we do that are against God’s commands.  Sin is the source of our rebellion, disobedience and indifference towards God.   Adam and Eve first exhibited that rebellion in the garden, and then passed it down to us – the way we pass down blue eyes, or curly hair, to our descendants.  It’s as if sin is part of our DNA.  Every member of the human race since, has been born with it.


Observe any two year old, and you will see that nature in action.  We cannot NOT sin, it’s against our nature.


That sin nature is evident in broken relationships – not only with God, but with each other.  It’s the underlying cause of selfishness, meanness, murder and all kinds of evil, as well as those things we think of as lesser evils – gossip, anger, immorality and pride. It’s the source of a me first, nobody is going to tell me what to do attitude, that sets me up as the center of all things – and not God.


Sin doesn’t just affect us, it affects all of creation. Coronavirus. droughts, floods, disease, weeds, mold, birth deformities, infertile soil that’s difficult to farm, crop eating locusts – the Bible tells us that all creation is groaning under the curse of mankind’s sin.  


Adam and Eve’s sin initiated a war between the “seed of the serpent” and the “Seed” of the woman that continues on to this very day.  There is a war going on all around us between Satan, the ancient serpent of the garden of Eden, and all those since who want no part of God – and the “Seed” of the woman, those who belong to God by faith in His Son Jesus.  


Death entered the picture.  When the Lord told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He warned them what would happen if they did.  They would surely die.   They didn’t die immediately, but die they did, and death has been the ultimate enemy of mankind since.  


You and I are suffering under the curse of Adam and Eve’s fall right up till today – a curse that affects all of creation, our relationship with God Himself, and our relationships with each other.  A curse that resulted in physical death.  A curse that has so tainted us that it is altogether impossible for us to please God in our current state.  A curse that initiated a battle between those who belong to Satan and those who belong to Jesus.  


What a bleak picture!  What a terrible loss.  How can we ever hope to enter back into the relationship of intimacy with God that was lost when Adam and Eve fell?


What can we do??  All seems hopeless. . . . . ah, but IS it?


Watch for question 3 to hear about a hope beyond your wildest imaginings!!  


Question to ponder:


What is your source of hope in our world of pandemics, wars, broken relationships, natural disaster, disease and heartache, and especially DEATH – when God seems so incredibly far away – if you think of Him at all?