alienation

As I was doing my morning study in my CR Bible this jumped out at me and I wanted to share: "Denial tells us that we're getting away with our secrets. We think that no one knows - but they do. While denial may shield us from the full force of the hurt, it also prevents us from helping ourselves or the people we love the most. We don't dare to reveal our true self to others for fear of what they'll think or say if they catch a glimpse of the real us. We're convinced that we have to protect ourselves - and our secrets - at any cost. So we isolate ourselves to minimize the risk of exposure and possible rejection by others. But at what price? The eventual loss of all our important relationships."

I don't know about anyone else but I know I do this. I'm so worried about what others will think of me that I don't do the healthy thing which is share my feelings. I've seen the very dangerous place that this can lead to, depression. I've been there done that and I'm not going there again! I know that only God can help me and that's what I'm going through Celebrate Recovery right now. Wow, even admitting that is kinda scary and I guess freeing in a way. I don't want people to think that I'm messed up and am one of "those people" but you know what? I am one of those people. I am a human and I have hurts that haven't been addresses and I want to be free from that! While this journey may be a hard one I know that my God is faithful and he will guide me through to the other side of freedom and better relationships with people and I'm looking forward to that day.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

Eve & temptation

Genesis 3:1-5:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die'." "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

I was reading this passage this morning and I had an "Ah-HA!" moment. I've grown up in the church and I've heard my fair share of bible stories, this being one of them but this AM was different. I was thinking of temptation and how easy it is for the devil to tempt us but the truth is we make it easy for him. The devil couldn't tempt us as easily if we really knew God and His character.

Let's look at Eve here. She's in God's presence everyday and even still she was tempted! Why? because she really didn't understand. When God told Adam and Eve to stay away from the fruit she knew that this was "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen. 2:17). So in knowing that we know that if we eat the fruit from this tree we will gain knowledge of good AND EVIL. I know I wouldn't want that responsibility. But when the serpent comes over and asks Eve about these trees she leaves out the knowledge part and also adds that God told her not to touch the tree. I think deep down in her heart of hearts that was her out clause, she was probably frightened of the serpent and was going to use that piece of information to get away. But the serpent is just that, a serpent, "crafty" as the Bible calls him. He feeds this lie to Eve about how she won't die (which is true) but the serpent knows that what will happen will be worse than death! Eve trust this one liner from this sleazy snake instead of her WHOLE existence with God! Everything she knows about God she tosses aside for the one thing she was told not to eat!

That, my friends, is the devil's sole goal - to steer us even the slightest bit away from God and what we know about Him to lead us into a life of pain. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..." John 10:10a. If we hold on to what we know about God (learned from His word or from the good things He's given us) it will be harder for the devil to tempt us. We KNOW the King of Kings who holds the whole world in His hands, don't let one sleazy, crafty serpent separate us from that great relationship.