Defining Moments

One Year Bible THOTS:  Genesis 4:7 "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.  And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."

"If you do well, will you not be accepted?”  I hear the pleading in God’s voice over his beloved Cain.  I hear in this plea, “Cain, you know what is required for worship.  Blood must be shed for without it there is no forgiveness of sin.  Will you not give it?  Then all will be well between us.”

I have experienced this same pleading and care over my soul from the Lord.  From within it comes.  It is a still small voice urging me to turn from my rebellious desires to have it my way.   It is a cry to maintain Christ as Lord on the throne of my heart.  

It is also a call to worship God based solely on the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Good deeds, self-denial, meditation to seek enlightenment, rituals, going to church; none of these will bring us into a right relationship with God.  The rejection of Cain's brand of offering stands as a warning to us all.

This was the defining moment that set the course and direction of Cain’s life and future.  Are you facing a defining moment?   "If you do well, will you not be accepted?”  Hear the Lord plead with your soul.  “Sin lies at the door.  And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."   

Will you let Christ’s rule define your life?

The LORD God Walking in the Garden

One Year Bible THOTS: Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…

Maybe I’m just a romantic at heart but these words stir me.  What was the sound of the Lord walking in the Garden of Eden?  Was it the slightest rustling of shrubby that caught the attention of Adam and Eve? Could it have been a breezy swish amongst the trees, or footsteps upon the moist green grass? 

What did Adam and Eve feel in their hearts when they heard the Lord coming times before the events of this dreadful day?  Anticipation, exhilaration, pure joy, perfect peace, the ease that comes with feeling safe, secure and loved; I like to muse.

For Adam and Eve, it was familiar, commonplace, and expected to enjoy the presence of God on a daily basis.  How about you?   Today, the Lord God will walk in the garden of your heart.  Will you meet Him with anticipation or withdraw because of sin, busyness, or apathy?

Come to the Lord!  Come as you are and allow Him to love you freely and forgive you completely.  Come now for now is the cool of the day.

The Heavenly Vision

Sometimes as we move along from day to day, doing what we believe life holds for us, the Lord interrupts our ordinary with His extraordinary.  In a moment of time He opens our heart and mind to a new found aim and purpose.  This heavenly vision is a higher calling than we have known to bring Him greater glory.

Undertaking the heavenly vision may be the absolute joy of your life. At the same time, it may be the most costly, selfless, challenging ambition you have ever faced.  Certainly, it is impossible to accomplish without yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”  Can you say the same?

"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Acts 26:19-20

God's Love

God does not whisper about His love for you but yells it from a mountain top for all to hear.  He wants you to comprehend its magnitude; therefore, He is constantly at work to reveal it.  The question is; are you listening?  Will you receive?

The roar of the ocean, the hush of the starlit night, the timely provision of help, and a love letter called the Bible, a kind word on a down day, the oomph to get over that hurdle.  But never was His love more clearly demonstrated than when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. 

He freely proclaims His love for you.  Are you listening?  Will you receive?

Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.