The Word of God!

It's time to refresh the Blog! Launching into this New Year, the Lord has impressed upon me that I need to be more active in posting some of the gleanings i receive from my time with Him in His Word. My personal Bible Reading Plan is a combination of the Life Journal from Wayne Cordeiro's new hope Ministry in Hawaii (http://www.lifejournal.cc/), Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest, and the Daily Bread. I recommend some type of directed reading plan because it provides structure to assist in developing this much-needed, yet oft-neglected, personal discipline.
January begins in Genesis & Luke. This morning I read about both the Fall (Adam & Eve's original sin) and the birth of Christ. What a great comparison! reading these two accounts, which took place thousands of years apart, is an incredible testimony of God being in control and working His Divine providential plan.
Immediately following God's creation, Satan (the serpent) goes after Eve in his subtle blind-side, twisting the truth of what God has really said. In Genesis 2:16-17, the Lord gave instruction to Adam & Eve: "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden...". This is a postive statement, eveidencing God's abundant provision. he qualifies it with a very important warning of only one tree that they were to avoid. This was a test, but also an importtant condition in the bigger picture of our relating to our Heavenly Father. Right off the bat Satan goes on the offensive. He takes God's instructions and subtly alters the words, catching Eve off-guard - and also un-covered. The Lord had given His instructions directly to Adam, before Eve was even created. Interestuing to note that the serpent focuses on Eve. And where was Adam? Right beside her not sayng anything when he should have steeped into the gap in protection of his wife, and in the authority that had been given to him by his Creator.
But because of his lack of awareness and silence, Satan turns God's positive statement ("You may surely eat...", to a negative laced with doubt: "Did God really say, 'You shall not eat from any tree...?' " (3:1).
God's directions are clear and intentional. He has given us the way to walk, and there are blessings for obedience, and consequences for not obeying. Eve entertained the slick words of the serpent, and led away ended up being enticed away by her eyes. Adam obviously had passed on God's instructions, because she knew that the forbiden tree was out of bounds. So did he not communicate correctly? The bottom line is that even if he had not, he knew what God had said and he should have stepped in on his wife's behalf, as her covering and head.
Satan will do whatever he can to lead us off track and away from God -m down the road to eventual destruction. If we know the truth of God's Word, and walk in it, we will be alert to the schemes of Satan to take us out.
Also, this highlights the mandate for men to rise up and be leaders in their homes, to be good stewards of the truth of God's word, and to stand in covering over our families (wives and children).
As we set forth into this New Year I would like to make the exhortation to be commit to the truth and direction of God's Word, and to pass that truth along wherever our speheres of influence may be.
Happy New Year!