REVERSE THE CURSE

Time with Jesus - 3 Sept 2013 

Hi all,

“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times …..” Have you heard that? Have you said it? 

I have – more than once – a thousand times may be stretching the truth a little. Mom used to say it to me when I was young. My Dad said it too, but a lot less frequently. Because, if I heard him say it, I knew that there was trouble on the horizon.

When we become adults and have children of our own, suddenly the expression takes on a new and different tone. No longer is it mom or dad, now it’s us. What is different is the determination behind the voice. Some parents say it often and the child takes no notice – much the way we didn’t take much notice of our parents all those years ago. 

Incidentally, as a grandfather, my observation of what now takes place has changed very little. Grand children seem to have a sort of built in “radar” which recognises whether or not the words are for real! Mostly, they are not. Have you ever wondered why?

Cast out of the Garden

The simple answer is, because we don’t really want to do what we’ve threatened. Much depends on our mood at the time. If we feel cross and irritable, we react differently from when we are in a good mood, or a happy frame of mind. If we feel angry, the child suffers far more than if we are in a good mood. 

It’s the problem we all have. We are not perfect. We know we aren’t perfect and we don’t want to let our mood; our state of mind; prompt us to be more or less severe, depending on the circumstances. We don’t have a mechanism whereby we can ensure we are utterly consistent. This means, for the same offence, we are undecided whether to laugh with, or thrash the blighter! 

The outcome is, we either under or over compensate depending on how we respond to our own frame of mind. We have no means of having consistent reactions!

Children know this instinctively. It’s a sort of an instant, “Will he; won’t he?” detector, which registers on a scale in the child’s mind, just how critical the situation might be. Furthermore, the child may have reached a point where he/she wants to push the boundaries a bit further. All this is part of the sin nature we are born with. Those who don’t believe that children are born with a sin nature have forgotten how quickly babies learn as they grow. It takes them less than a week to realise, that if they feel in need of attention, all they need to do is bawl and squall. In very short order they will have a bottle, or equivalent, thrust into their mouth. We call it hunger. Babies know better!

The Shield of Faith

Fortunately, God knows everything. Furthermore, He is completely consistent. If someone falls off a roof, he/she will land on the ground and get hurt. It doesn’t help saying, “But Lord, I’m a Christian! This shouldn’t happen to me.

Helmet of Salvation

Another fact is God doesn’t need to repeat Himself! ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ 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." Gen 2:16-17 ESV

Please note this was a command. He didn’t ask Adam’s opinion about eating the fruit from this tree. There is no evidence that He surrounded it with razor wire and land-mines. We know it was in the middle of the garden. It says nothing about its colour, texture or aroma. In the words of Eugene Petersen, God told Adam, “Don't eat from it (the tree). The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead!”

It seems very clear and unambiguous. It didn’t require a towering intellect to get to grips with the warning. Adam may or may not have known precisely what “death” or “dying” was. Whatever it meant, eating fruit from the tree was a definite “No-No”! Incidentally in those days there were no lawyers, advocates, juries and no judges. There was no Constitutional Court to appeal to if not satisfied with the verdict. God Himself was the Judge, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. There was and is no higher authority. Perry Mason would not be born for some 6000 years. What God says goes! So if Adam had decided to throw a fruit tasting party, it would be “game over”, the instant he ate therefrom. Sadly, it was!

Now I’m not suggesting we kill every new born baby who cries. We don’t have to. It’s going to happen anyway. Satan made very sure that whatever it was Adam ate, the result would be repeated for all his offspring unless or until, God came up with an antidote for fruit-poison.

God came with His solution 2000 years ago. He sent the Tree of Life, in this instance, Jesus Christ Himself, to give us a new and better “diet”. We know it as His Body and His Blood. 

Some call it Holy Communion! Furthermore, if He’s told us once, He’s told us a thousand times, salvation from our own stupidity is available. Just do as He says. His grace is available to anyone. All we need do is come to Him in humble repentance from our past life of sin. Then we can partake of His body and blood. It sounds like a new and better “diet” to me. Who wants to die from fruit-poison anyway?

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

It Isn't Cute - It's Poisoned Fruit

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 3 Sept 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	REVERSE THE CURSE
Man’s history contains within it, a devastating root. We were made in the image of God. Exactly what this means is still a matter for debate. Many think they know. Mostly it’s speculation. Don’t be surprised at that. We are inquisitive by nature. We want to know who, how, where, why and when. If we don’t know, we investigate. Sometimes, to our own detriment, we don’t believe. That’s the whole point. No one compels us to believe anyone or anything. It is a non-negotiable, God given freedom. We are free to obey or disobey. He will not interfere. God appears to have a law in place, the effect of which is, He tells His people once only. He advises them of the consequence of disobedience and then leaves us to get on with it. This is exactly how it should be. If He never tells a lie, why should He speak more than once? If at the end of a jetty there is a big sign which reads, “No parking beyond this point” Try it by all means. But you and your vehicle will get wet. One sign is sufficient! Any more signs are superfluous. I’m fascinated by the fact that the forbidden fruit was on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Presumably the fruit on all the other trees contained the knowledge of good only. I can’t prove this but it seems logical. There was another tree in the garden. The tree of life. Apparently neither of them ate any of that fruit. I’ve occasionally wondered why? My guess is that there was no actual fruit on it at the time. They already had life – the life of God in them. Presumably the fruit of this tree in some way “reverses” the curse. Perhaps it’s the “antidote” to the effects of the curse? Perhaps a Divine cure for snake-bite? It’s interesting that the armour of God referred to in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, does not have a reference to trees. The armour is summarised as follows: 1) Prayer in the Spirit; 2) The belt of truth; 3) The breastplate of God's righteousness; 4) The sandals of the good news of peace; 5) The shield of faith to stop the devil’s fiery arrows; 6) The helmet of salvation and 7) The sword of the Spirit - the Word of God. (Eph. 6:11–18) Of course, Paul was using the “equipment” of a Roman Soldier as his reference point. The fact that it was the reference point of 2000 years old armour, does not invalidate the picture. If anything it reinforces it. It’s the description of a Roman Soldier prepared for war. Primarily, battles in those days were hand to hand. There were some mechanical contrivances but they did not change the way a soldier prepared for battle. Today, our battle is a hand to hand spiritual battle. Yes, there are other items used in the fight. But these are more for general use than for hand to hand fighting. This indicates that our preparation for “war” is much the same, or at least similar, to what it was in Paul’s day. Are we wearing our armour? Never take it off! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			4 "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4-5 TNIV	It happened in the garden when Satan tempted Eve. He posed to her a question about what she believed. The Lord had made it very clear. To eat it was to die. Satan said she wouldn’t. “So give the fruit a try”. And so she took a little bite to see if it was true. Gave a piece to Adam to see what he would do. Adam took a little bite. He did it without thought. And in that little sample, Satan knew he’d caught, Adam and his partner. They now belonged to him. And death in all its horror resulted from that sin. The story of what happened next. Creation sort of groaned. Distorted by sin’s power and all that it now owned. Adam’s inner spirit-man was darkened and then died. Eve and all creation must certainly have cried. They were unprotected; They now were Satan’s slaves; And stayed in that position; for only Jesus saves. All of their descendants were in the self-same boat. Christ alone is able to grab Satan by the throat. So Satan’s been defeated and Jesus Christ can be, The Saviour of God’s people and all humanity. Nonetheless we’re living in a world of death and sin. Fighting evil forces over which we have to win. But we’re not defenceless. God’s armour we must wear. Thus we are protected; a part of this is prayer. Praying in the spirit, is what we need to do; On all times and occasions for folk like me and you. Fasten tight the belt of truth, which goes around the waist. The breastplate of God’s righteousness must always be in place. So in the Name of Jesus, we’re able to resist! The shield of faith securely, gripped within the fist. The gospel of God’s peace is worn like sandals on the feet The Helmet of Salvation shared with everyone we meet. We have a deadly weapon that can’t be overcome. The Word of God from which the enemy is sure to run. Quench the fiery arrows the devil shoots at you. Stand firm in the victory that’s certain, sure and true. You needn’t be outsmarted by all of Satan’s lies. If you will resist him, see how rapidly he flies. This is what to do so everyone may take the curse, And in the name of Jesus, put the whole thing in reverse. Jim Strickland Written 3rd Sept 2012
			3 And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 MSG
			10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God's armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armour of God's righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:10-17 NLT
			11 We don't want Satan to outsmart us. We know how he does his evil work. 2 Corinthians 2:11 NIrV