Is To PURSUE US

Geneis 3:6-9 says ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,^[b] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  ⁸ And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool^[c] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

So we know....Adam and Eve tripped, the sinned, they believed Satan over the promises of GOD.   We like them, JUST LIKE THEM have been abundantly blessed and provided for in this life, and at some end pass, we have all chose to take a bite out of, or of_________________ and immediately realized I SHOULD HAVE NEVER ____________________.   But the results of our sin or sinful ways is no different than in this scriptural excerpt.  When Adam & Eve realized their critical mistake, they hid, and GOD did what???????  Verse 9 informs us they heard GOD walking in the garden.   He wasn't there to pick vegetables or to fill his basket with the freshest  produce, but rather He was there to recover His lost children, and even though He was deeply hurt by their sinful choices blessed them (read on through Genesis 3 to see how He blessed them) after having to escort them out of the Garden.  HE STILL WANTS US after we have sinned against Him, My GOD!

It's been said that in life we are either running from GOD or to GOD, and I want you to pause long enough to assess what & which are you doing?  Have you disgraced or disappointed your Heavenly Father and have chose to hide yourself from attending a church, or joining a small group?   Do you actually think you are beyond HIS grace, mercy and forgiveness?  Let me assure you this, IF YOU ARE ALIVE, HE is pursuing you.   He's sending people much like myself that would dare to blog about Him, that would attempt to communicate His love on the job and in LIFE in hopes that you stop running away from him, and that you'd stop running and rest in His presence and then purpose your next steps for your well-being and His GLORY!  LGLP

Here's another scripture and a link to a song to help you reflect on what it is that you are doing?  ¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

 ³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.  (Hebrews 12:1-3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRLGOPG7QgQ&feature=related

IS TO PROVIDE FOR US

Geneis 2:16-20b-22 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for^[b] him.” But for Adam^[d] there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹ So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made^[e] into a woman and brought her to the man.

GOD's timing is always perfect.  He didn't create Adam before the foundations of the World, nor did He introduce Eve to Adam, before establishing Adams responsibility towards a relationship with Him, and work for him.  But He saw that beyond Adam's responsibility to have a relationship with Him, & work, but also that he would need to have someone by his side to "help" him through life.  Which is why GOD said it's not good for man to be alone.  

 No matter who you are everyone needs somebody.  This is just the way GOD wired us.  You can wrap it in the physical or emotional but spiritually we were created for community, with GOD & others.   Ask the single mom/dad is life easier without someone committed to them0, and them committed to them.  Ask the college student who could use a study partner.  Ask the person suffering through an difficult diagnosis.  The WORD OF GOD IS TRUE (Ecc.4:9-12)Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

So as you prepare to go to work, or just go out....think about this:  Have I been trying to do this alone?   Where has it gotten me?  It is not a coincidence that you live where you live and work where you work.  GOD has orchestrated you to have these neighbors that need you, and you need them.   THOSE PEOPLE on the job need you, and you need them.   Your challenge if you choose to accept, is to discover the unique blessing they have for you, and vice versa...cause their life & your life are gifts to one another.  For my single women/men commit your life and ways to the LORD  (As Adam did) and when HE sees that you are ready for your "help meet" HE will PROVIDE!  LGLP

Is To PROTECT Us

Genesis 2:16-17 says  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,  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.”

Here's a depiction of the Tree of Knowledge of Good/Evil at Disney, and while I am pretty certain this isn't what the tree GOD created and placed in the Garden of Eden, I believe it accomplishes or communicates the  appeal the tree had to have in order to get Eve's attention.  I don't envision that tree looking like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree with it's bare, depressing limbs.  

So GOD has created the literal perfect world......Adam & Eve have been placed in a place that has absolutely everything they could need.   After all GOD spent time creating for them, He chooses to also inform them that there is ONE stipulation, one rule, one WORD of advice and that is to not eat of....this one tree.  WHY?  Because He desired to see that they were truly devoted to Him, and thta they would choose to enjoy everything else and leave that one thing alone.  We know the story....and here we are today.

GOD still has placed many of us in a situation where WE like Adam & Eve have been abundantly provided for, but He asks that we don't:  choose the ONE THING that can cause us death.   WHAT IS YOUR ONE THING?  Is is pornography?  Is it drugs/alcohol?  Is it lying/cheating someone?  Is it glorfiying you, and not Him?  Is it adultery?  Whatever IT is, like eating from the Tree of KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, it will cause your death.  That bite of _____________________ is not going to make you smarter, it will make you sorry.   Ask the people that are dying of lung cancer if they wish they never smoked.  Or the people who praying for a liver/kidney after years of drinking.   Or ask the divorced father/mother who are now lonely because of an affair.   Or ask the felon if stealing was worth being locked up, and abused in prison.   GOD's WORD is enough, it's not a book about rules, but rather about relationships....and my prayer is that you choose to enjoy ALL THAT GOD HAS PROVIDED FOR YOU and forsake the ONE thing that SATAN is trying to tempt you with.  So what does this mean, love on your kids, your wife, your blessing from GOD, your very LIFE, and tell SATAN where to GO with his ONE thing.  TRUST that the ONE thing will not bless you, but rather curse you.   STAY FOCUSED FRIENDS.......LGLP

P.S. - Joshua 1:7
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

WHY AM I HERE Pt. 2: WORK

Genesis 2:¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.  (ESV)

Genesis 2:15  ¹⁵ God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.  (MSG)

No matter how many translations I use they all say the same thing, essentially God wanted Adam to have a job, to work at something, to be productive during his time here on Earth.  GOD PLAN is that WE'D spend much of our time here WORKING.    Adam hadn't and didn't even know sin, so while many people are under the misconception that WORK was a byproduct of SIN, that is completely FALSE.  Now, the TRUTH is WORK became HARDER because of SIN entering the world, so we are essentially left with remnants of that  when it comes to getting up daily to go to our individual 9 to 5's but really.......it's all about perspective.  Whether you scoop up Elephant poop, or you working your dream job, at the end of the day SOMEBODIES GOTTA DO IT.   Somebody has to be the smiling face to the disgruntled impatient customer.   Somebody has to deal with giving the unfavorable news to the family in the waiting room with compassion.   Somebody has to wait on some the most demanding people in the world.   Somebody has to teach and even babysit your disrespectful unruly kids.  Somebody has to carefully remove that tumor so that someone has the chance to live.   Somebody has to be the one that gets on their hands and knees and scrub the toilet so you don't have to see someone else's misfires or maxis.  SO if you treated each person you come in contact with dignity and respect for what they do......imagine the difference you'd make in their lives and the world.

It's funny how ESPECIALLY in today's economy WORK is hard to come by, and where we have social media to air our feelings about our jobs and how rare it is to read someone praising GOD for their jobs and the people on them.   BUT let me revisit perspective......would  you rather be unemployed?  Would you rather be facing utilities being shut off, car reposession, home foreclosure or homelessness because you complained & prayed your way out of a job?  THINK ABOUT THIS.....of all the jobs, of all the work groups and teams you could be on, GOD HAS YOU ON THIS ONE......WHY?  SO THAT HE MIGHT BE GLORIFIED and that SOMEONE THAT DOESN'T KNOW HIM, just MIGHT COME IN CONTACT WITH HIM BECAUSE OF YOU.....really!

Colossians 3:23-24 says Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

I wonder can it be said of you at the end of your WORK DAY, that you truly LOVED GOD, & LOVED PEOPLE?  Have a blessed day!   LGLP

WHY AM I HERE

Genesis 2:5, 7-8  These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.  ⁵ ... ⁷ then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.⁸ And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Can you imagine what it would be like to awaken to this, this picture?  This being the first thing you saw, not knowing where you were at, or why are you even here?  While we don't know what Adam's first thoughts were, we can reflect on our discoveries of our youth, or watch a baby discovering the world in which they live with joyfilled excitement and curiousity. God made sure we didn't have to experience darkness and void, He had created a world, a universe well before Adam or any of breathed or first breath.  BUT WHY?  So that we would enjoy His Creations.  That is no different now.....we are here because GOD has created much for us to appreciate and enjoy EVERYDAY!   He didn't birth Adam onto a vacant lot but rather a garden, and no matter where you were born, GOD made sure you had everything you needed.    

TODAY, chances are you didn't wake up under an overpass, or in a thicket, or in your car.....but wherever you woke up, the point is really YOU WOKE UP!  Can you focus not on the brown blade of grass in the picture, or the fact that this might make you sneeze....but rather on just the beauty of GOD's creation, and praise Him for blessing you with eyes to see.   SO WHAT you are on your way to work.....somebody wish they had a job to go to.   SO WHAT you don't feel 100%, someone only has 10% chance of living. LET's pause so that we don't miss what GREAT THINGS GOD IS DOING, and PRAISE HIM FOR THAT!

I pray we see today with FRESH EYES, like that of a newborn, and that we find ourselves delighting in HIM, and the simple things.  LGLP