Men of the Bible: Adam

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Geneses 2:15-17

Imagine being totally alone, it is dark and dirty, the ground is dry and not very lush. Trying to keep busy during the daylight but having fear and loneliness in the darkness of night, the place they now stay so much different than the place they were just a short time ago. Adam had Eve for company, comfort, and support but how much time did they spend blaming each other for their problems. Problems that neither of them ever knew existed.

 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.

 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

                              Geneses 3:17-19

For Adam this meant a new home, a home that required him to learn survival, a violent home full of wild consequences, animals, demons, storms, arguments, pain, and sin. Prior to sin Adam and his helper Eve walked freely in a bountiful garden of life and love and along with God himself. God gave Adam and Eve the right to choose, or as Christians call it, free will. Why did God do this? Because God made man in His own image and desired man to love Him. If he did not give man free will to choose that love would not have been really. Love is given without condition and free will removes those conditions. Eve was tempted by the serpent; Adam still had the choice to not eat from the Tree of knowledge. Sadly Adam ignored God’s warnings and chose to eat with Eve and Adam became the father of sin. Adam and Eve would be cast out of the garden, have children together and eventually find that the new world they live in full of scary murderous beasts would eventually include their own son.

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Geneses 4:10

Cain murdered Able because Able had it good with the Big Guy. Cain was insanely jealous and struck him dead. Because of that day in the garden when Adam, like many young children did not listen to his Father, the consequences became more than could have been imagined.

What is your forbidden fruit and what damaging affects has sin had in your life?

Are you willing to trade what God has given you (Grace) for some substitute?

Adam had huge regrets; he did nothing to prevent Eve’s actions, are you willing to help those around you, be accountable for, and learn together how God wants you to live?

 These are question I want you to ask yourself today, and every day really. We are all descendants of Eve, tempted by the evil one just as she was; will we follow him or except God’s grace and unfailing love?    

Injecting the devil

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Last week while preparing for group therapy at work my wife text me, our friend’s little sister had passed away. I immediately hurt for the family but what could I do? Later that afternoon I was told two young women died at a local hotel from an apparent drug overdose, I wondered if our friend was one of those young women. Later that evening as my wife and I prepared to head out to be with the family of our friend I received a phone call telling me that a friend had died in a hotel room from a drug overdose. It was then that it hit me, I knew both young women whose lives were taken so early in life by a terrible demon.

As a drug counselor I am often told about the addiction of heroin. It is unclear if that is what happened with these young women but more and more each day I hear new stats about over-dose, arrests, and deaths from this awful drug. I used drugs in my youth and never once did I have a desire for heroin, I have a thing against needles. Now that I help people with this and other addictions I have heard more than once the same statements. “Heroin gives an amazing high but the whole process of buying, cooking, setting it up, and injecting it is just as addictive.” This statement breaks my heart, what kind of demon thinks like this? Heroin destroys valuable lives, countless families, and God’s plans. The lust for those feelings is put in the heads of addicts by the devil and he needs to be stopped. I want to ask everyone who reads this to stop for a few minutes and pray for those in your community affected by this demon, pray for your neighbors, your friends, your family, and for yourself. If you have an addiction of any sort please seek help before the devil wins. I have added some help lines or you may get a hold of me directly by sending an email to brettdrawing@ymail.com

Alcohol and Drug Helpline

1-800-DRUG-HELP; 1-800-378-4435

24 hours a day/ AODA referrals

Suicide thoughts:

1-800-SUICIDE; 1-800-784-2433

24 hours a day

They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 2 Peter 2:19

All-in?

We gamble with so much in our lives. Seriously think about it for a second… our finances, our time, our love and companionship, and our salvation. For a professional poker player to go all-in it means they have a really good hand or they believe they are really good at bluffing. Some may say this is the same way Christians live their lives. I just wanted to share this small post today because God revealed it to me, it even stung a little, but I knew I needed to share. This morning when I received my text message from Jesus, and yes I did, it is an iPhone app, it said these words; I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! Revelations 3:15-16  

I think it is pretty clear that Jesus would like us to be all-in, to hold the winning hand which is salvation in Him. But if we choose to be the bluffer, the one holding the cards but they mean something different, Jesus will take our pot and send us away. I think it is easy to make the decision when it comes to this bet. I want to be all in.