Month: September 2015

“No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5 HCSB

It is election time and it seems that most politicians will say anything to get elected. I recently watched a video clip of a candidate who in 2004 was against same-sex marriage and stated that marriage was designed for a man and a woman. Now she is totally in favor of same-sex marriage. It would not be politically correct for her to be against same-sex marriage today and could easily cost her votes. So, either she was lying in 2004 or she is lying now.

It seems that in our culture telling the truth is no longer valued. Today people lie about their income so as to not pay taxes. Others lie about sales figures to receive a bonus or job promotion. Some people justify their lying by saying that everyone does it. My father always told me that a man is only as good as his word.

In these two verses Satan was lying to the Eve. He was deceiving her by telling her lies. He told her that she would become like God. There is nothing wrong with striving to become more like God, but Satan told Eve to disobey God to become like God. Disobeying God will never lead us to become more like Him. Satan tempted her with the same temptation he used with Jesus in the wilderness; “Do this and you will become like God.” Satan tempted Eve to become her own god and disobey the One true God. In so doing, she could decide what was best for herself.

Challenge: Satan is the master of lies and will try to deceive you. God knows what is best for you. Trust Him and follow His instructions in the Bible. Never disobey God; but if you do, know that God still loves you and will forgive you. Always tell the truth, even if it means you will reap negative results, miss a promotion, or lose a job.

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” Genesis 3:2-3 HCSB

My wife and I taught each of our four children that some things were dangerous for them and should be avoided. For example, “Do not play in the street because you could get hit by a car”, “Do not play with the electrical plugs because you might get electrocuted”, and “Do not play with knives because you could get cut.” The list could be exhaustive, but the point is that we made rules because we loved our children and did not want them to sustain injury. We wanted the best for them.

God wants the best for each of us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “God has a plan for our lives, a plan to prosper us and not to harm us.” His plan from the very beginning of time was to spend time with His creation and provide for every need but also to protect us from things that would harm us. God told Adam and Eve to avoid the tree in the middle of the garden. He knew that the tree of knowledge of good and evil would bring separation, pain, and even death to Adam and Eve. On the other hand, God provided all the other trees of the garden to take care of every need that Adam and Eve might have.

Challenge: God’s laws are designed to help us live an abundant life; a life that brings honor and glory to Him. God has provided everything you need. Trust Him with your future. Pray for God to reveal His perfect plan for your life and to help you to resist the smooth talking schemes by which Satan will tempt you.

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the Garden’?” Genesis 3:1 HCSB

The dictionary defines “cunning” as having or showing skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion. I have heard of people who have sold bonds and retirement accounts using deceptive information and promising great return on investments. The reality is that these people actually have stolen money from the investors while providing information that made it appear their investments were doing very well.

Satan disguised himself as a shrewd serpent. The devil is the master of lies and deception. He constantly makes something look better than it really is. Satan is only concerned with steering people away from God. He cared nothing about Adam or Eve and hid the consequences of their actions from them.

Challenge: Satan is still alive and well and looking for others he can deceive and turn away from God. The master of lies and deception will try to tempt you. Stay close to God and seek His wisdom and direction in every situation.

The the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.” Genesis 2:18 HCSB

I had the privilege of performing the marriage ceremony for my son recently. It was a beautiful wedding held outside in the beauty of God’s creation. My son’s new wife is a wonderful complement to him. They go well together. They enjoy some of the same activities and each one adores the other. We could not ask for a better mate for our son. She is a wonderful Christian young lady and is committed to serving the Lord along side of our son. Her parents and grandparents had been praying that God would bring a godly man into her life and my wife and I had been praying that God would bring a godly woman into our son’s life. God is good. He has answered our prayers beyond what we could have hoped or imagined.

From the beginning of time God knew that it was not good for man to be alone. He created the woman to be the perfect helper that would complement the man. God’s gift to man and woman of a helper was intended for their good and to honor Him. God provided everything man needed – wonderful environment, food, purpose, work, and the intimacy of a human relationship. Man and woman were created by God to be different but to complement each other.

Challenge: If you are married, thank God for the wonderful gift of your spouse. If you are not married and you desire to be married, pray for God to provide a suitable mate for you. Pray for your marriage and the marriages of your friends and family to be strong enough to resist the temptations of the devil.

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on that day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:15-17 HCSB

I recently officiated at the wedding of my son. In one of the portions of the marriage ceremony I said, “Life is filled with choices and the choices you make will determine your destination in this life and for eternity. One poor choice can destroy a marriage.” A major responsibility of every parent is to raise his children to make wise choices.

Instead of creating man as a puppet on a string that is manipulated by God, our Creator made man with the freedom and ability to choose. Adam and Eve had a choice. They could obey God and do what He said to do or they could choose to rebel against God and His desires. Today God has given that same choice to each of us. Wrong choices often bring pain and suffering. When we make wrong choices we can learn from our mistakes. Suffering the consequences of our poor choices helps us to make better choices in the future.

Challenge: Certainly you know people who have or who are currently making poor choices. Pray for these people. God has given you the ability to make choices. Please choose wisely. Ask God to lead and guide you in making good choices.

The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9 HCSB

I have a bottle of water that I purchased as a souvenir from Ponce De Leon’s Fountain of Youth in Florida. Wikipedia reports The Fountain of Youth is a spring that supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world for thousands of years. The legend became prominent in the 16th century, when it became attached to the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, first Governor of Puerto Rico. According to the legend, Ponce de Leon was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to what is now Florida in 1513. It would be nice to have water we could use to maintain our youth. When someone lives to be over 100 years old, he is often asked his secret for a long life. We all are getting older and wish we could turn back the hands of the clock. But there is one thing that is certain – Everyone is going to die someday.

There is only one secret to eternal life and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. Someday all those who believe in Jesus will eat of the tree of life (see Revelation 22:2, 14) and will live forever in heaven where there will no longer be any pain, suffering, or death. Adam and Eve had the opportunity to eat from the tree of life and enjoy a permanent relationship with God. Instead, they chose to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This choice resulted in them being separated from God and the tree of life.

Challenge: Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ so you will someday have eternal life? Thank God that He has provided a way for your sins to be forgiven and for you to be able to someday eat of the tree of life.

Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 HCSB

In 2011, 730,322 legally induced abortions were reported to the Center for Disease Control from 49 reporting areas in the United States. The abortion rate was 13.9 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years and the abortion ratio was 219 abortions per 1,000 live births. Many believe it is a woman’s choice to end the life of an unborn baby. There are bumper stickers that refute that thought by saying, “It is not a choice, it is a life.” Life begins at conception and should be valued.

God is the giver of all life. God breathed life into man and created man and woman so they might multiply and fill the earth. Many boast of personal achievements and abilities, but we can do nothing without a life given by God and the unique abilities and talents He designs for each of us. We are nothing without God.

Challenge: Thank God for your life and the abilities and talents He has given you. How can you best use your skills to serve Him? Value life and take a stand against abortion.

No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land. Genesis 2:5-6 HCSB

I have heard it said that a weatherman has the only job were he can be wrong 50% of the time and still keep his job. A person can predict the weather, but no one can be absolutely sure of the weather forecast. A common adage is that if you do not like the weather, just wait and it will change. It seems rain can be either feast or famine. At times we get several days of rain and wish it would stop. At other times it is so dry we need rain to keep our grass alive.

These verses remind us that God is in control of everything, including the weather. Note that the Scripture says that God had not made it rain and that water came from the ground to water the entire surface of the land. There are some Bible scholars who believe that it did not rain until God brought the flood waters in Noah’s time. This would explain why many of the people of Noah’s time did not believe Noah’s warnings and even ridiculed him. It also points out the faith that Noah had to have to believe God and follow His instructions to build a large boat.

Challenge: Do you have the faith of Noah to trust God even when others may ridicule you? Thank God for His wonderful creation.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day. Genesis 1:31 HCSB

The students at Little Flock Christian Academy take tests each year to determine how well they are learning certain subjects in comparison to other schools around the state. This year the LFCA student scores were well above the national average. They have done very well and we are very proud of them. When we accomplish a goal for which we have been striving, we should be proud.

After creating everything in heaven and earth in six days, God stepped back and looked at His creation. He was proud of His accomplishment and stated it was very good. Observing the way that everything was created and how it all works so well together is reason to be proud. I have heard it said, “God does not make junk.”

Challenge: When God created you, I am confident that He stepped back and said, “It is very good.” You are fearfully and wonderfully made by God. Read the book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. Listen to the song “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” by Matt Redman on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ1SgS3ExgM

Note: My son got married on Friday, September 4, 2015 and in all of the activities of the day, First Things First did not get sent out. I am sorry this devotional was delayed in being sent out.

So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” Genesis 1:27-28 HCSB

Just recently the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled that all 50 states were required to issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples. There is one county clerk in Kentucky that has refused to give marriage licenses to any homosexual or straight couple. She is willing to go to jail if necessary because she feels that she should follow God’s laws and authority over the mandate of the Supreme Court.

For years there was no question what the traditional family should be – God’s design of a man and a woman through intimacy in marriage. Now the Supreme Court has redefined marriage. They did not create nor define marriage, therefore they have no right or authority to redefine marriage. God is the One who created male and female and He gave the woman to man. This verse says that God commanded them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. God never intended for males to be with males and females to be with females in a marriage relationship. There are many references throughout the Bible that says that homosexuality is a sin. It goes against what is the natural design that God created for a man and a woman to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.

Challenge: Pray for our country that we might return to being a country that follows the principles of a Judeo-Christian society, as it has for many years. Pray for those who are caught up in the life of homosexual sin.