“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.”
Genesis 3:7-8 KJV
When Adam and his wife disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit, sin was born. They immediately tried to cover their sin. Then they attempted to hide from God.
We still do that today! Like the ostrich that pokes her head in the sand, if we can't see it, He can't either. We lie so long we begin to believe the lie ourselves.
“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” Genesis 3:9-10 KJV
Even as small children, we know when we do wrong and our first natural instinct is to hide. Then when confronted, our second instinct is to blame someone else.
“And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Genesis 3:11-12 KJV
We have to be taught, by our parents, (and we have to teach our children) to do right. It is not in our nature. Recognizing the difference between right and wrong can come, but it is not innate! Hiding (our wrongs) is!
Taking responsibility of our evil actions; calling it what it is; owning our sin, is a milestone in our effort for reconciliation with God! Without owning it, there is no repentance. Without repentance, reconciliation doesn't happen!
Humbling ourselves before God and admitting, with a repentant heart, our sins is the only way back.
Being sorry for getting caught, just does not get it!
Like Adam, who hid himself, we think because we WON'T look at our sins that He CAN'T see them. He IS God and sees everything! And yet, God in His mercy, still calls our name. Like He did Adam; he gives us the opportunity for repentance; to turn back to Him! His gentle way of exposing our sin (conviction) probably hurts more than if He hit us over the head.
Bankrupt; being painfully aware of our sin is completely and totally essential in our becoming His servant. We lay down the worst sin, our Pride, when we recognize our need for a Savior!
We don't come to God on feet but on our knees! There is no becoming His, without Him offering His hand to pull us up! If we do not realize there is nothing good in us, without Him, we are deceived in our belief, and have bought the lie from the devil!
Having the knowledge of good and evil, does not make us like God! He is God; we are not and can never be! Knowledge is not wisdom! Knowledge is not love!
Knowledge is not mercy!
Knowledge is not truth!
The only way we can even get close to God is through submission and obedience to His Word! Having His Word in our head is not the same as having it in our heart, and THAT is where it HAS to be! When we make a place in our heart for Him to take residence, through the confession and repentance (of the sins we have stashed there) then we make room for His attributes to reside!
Ask God to expose the sins of unforgiveness you have hiding in your heart, and He will. He will show you people and situations that hurt you. “Oh, I have forgiven them many times!” you say. The fact it still hurts now, shows that it is still unresolved.
Unforgiveness is sin and must be repented of.
You say, “After what they did! Why should I forgive them?” Forgiveness is a choice to obey God! He says forgive if you want to be forgiven! (Matthew 6:14-15) We all need forgiveness!
So, when that hurt is exposed, we must choose to forgive (even though our flesh may not want to) and repent of the unforgiveness we’ve held onto for all of those years! We also must repent of the judgments we’ve made of the people that hurt us. We do this in obedience to The Word Of God. When we obey, we show our love for Him and He blesses our efforts! Miracles occur! When He exposes those sins we have hiding, and we repent, it makes room for His attributes! His love! His peace! His joy! His mercy and His grace!
Repentance of our sin makes room for Him to live in us; to sit on the throne of our heart as our LORD & King!
Walking in love -
walking in forgiveness -
walking in repentance -
a way of life for His servant!
Him living in us; THE reason for living!
Nothing else satisfies!
Repent while there is still time.
Even so - MARANATHA!
From 10/31/14
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