Here's Mud In Your Eye

July 31, 2007

Several years ago I was diagnosed with low level depression. It is easy to control with one of the many types of anti-depressants on the market. What got me upset was the people in my church who said that if I had faith I could get over it. It was like I was not a good enough Christian because I could not get over the depression. People smarter than me cannot say if I am depressed because my body does not produce the brain chemical, or if I do not produce the brain chemical because of my getting into a depression. Somehow though, church people could say more faith will get you well. It was like we do not need doctors.

God never said that. Two books of the Bible were written by a doctor by the name of Luke. Then there is this interesting verse in the Bible:

Joh 9:6-7 TCNT
(6) Saying this, Jesus spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes.
(7) "Go," he said, "and wash your eyes in the Bath of Siloam" (a word which means 'Messenger'). So the man went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see.

All chemicals that go into medicine come from the basic elements that are made up of the earth. Notice what Jesus did. He spit on the ground. He made a paste. He made medicine. I do not know if it was known by Jesus if the ground was what the man needed for healing, or if he changed the elements in it to make the medicine. The thing is that it came from the ground. All medicines come from the ground as well. If it was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough from me.

While I believe that God can fix the imbalance in my brain, I will continue to take the medicine till I know for sure. If anyone ever says you lack faith because you take medicine, tell them that Jesus used them also.

==Translation Information
Twentieth Century New Testament (TCNT) (1904)

Stumbling

July 30, 2007

Jud 1:24-25 YLT
(24) And to Him who is able to guard you not stumbling, and to set you in the presence of His glory unblemished, in gladness,
(25) to the only wise God our Saviour, is glory and greatness, power and authority, both now and to all the ages! Amen.


I have read so much about how we have to keep ourselves from sinning. At first glance this verse looks like the opposite. Take a closer look. It says that He who is able to guard you from not stumbling. It does not say that we will listen. Too often we want to sin because it feels good to us (for the short term at least).

Years ago when one of my children was little, he tried to get up and walk when his muscles were not quite ready to. I held his arms to keep him from stumbling. After a while he got tired of me holding his arms and pulled away, and of course he fell. It was nothing serious.

How often are we like that little child? God wants to hold our hands and lead us and guide us and all we want to do is pull away and go off in our own direction. God can guard us, but we will have to listen to Him. We have free will and can do whatever we want to do. Take time to listen as God speaks and do as He asks, or He might get quiet on you.

==Translation Information
Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible by J.N. Young, 1862, 1898 (Author of the Young's Analytical Concordance)

Love

July 29, 2007

Joh 21:15-17 KJV
(15) So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
(16) He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
(17) He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.


I know that I am strange, but it always bothered me why Jesus asked Peter this question three times. Was He trying to embarrass Peter in front of the other disciples? Why repeat yourself three times?

Looking at the Greek tells the answer. The Greek language has several words for love that our English language does not. For example, if I say I love peanut butter is it the same thing as I love my wife?

Two of the Greek words for love are agapo and phielo. The first one talks about the highest for of love for another person. The second tells of a friend. If you look at the words used in the first two verses, Jesus is saying, "Do you agapo me?" and Peter replies "Lord, I philelo you." It is not till we get to the third verse here that Jesus asks him, "Do you phielo me?"

That can say a lot about us. If Jesus was to come to you today and ask "Do you agape me?" what would your answer be. Would you say that you phileo Him?

God's Chess board

July 28, 2007

Isa 28:10 BBE
(10) For it is one rule after another; one line after another; here a little, there a little.


God very often does not give us the big picture. That can be trouble for people who want to see the whole picture when they are asked to do something by God. He will reveal it a little bit at a time, but we want the whole thing.

I once compared God trying to lead me as I was a chess piece on a cosmic chess board. God moves the pieces as He sees fit. I can not see the whole board just my little piece of it. He sees and is thinking several moves ahead.

Next time you want more knowledge about what God wants you to do, stop and think about this.

Quick Fixes

July 27, 2007

This will be the last of the life of Saul. We now skip over a lot of years. David has been on run from Saul even though Saul has said several times that he will not chase David any more. Saul has gotten further and further away from hearing God. The Philistines are starting a war with him. He asks God what to do, but God does not answer in any of the standard ways. Desperate for any word from God he takes action:

1Sa 28:7-8 KJV
(7) Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.
(8) And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.

Saul is going to call up a spirit of a dead person, a practice that God had forbidden.

1Sa 28:9-10 KJV
(9) And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
(10) And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

Saul obviously told the truth, she would not be punished. But she knew she should not be doing it. Still, she most likely was not a true caller of dead people. Why you ask?

1Sa 28:11-12 KJV
(11) Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
(12) And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

Why would she be surprised if she saw dead people rise all the time. She was just as shocked as Saul is about to be.

1Sa 28:13-16 KJV
(13) And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
(14) And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.
(15) And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
(16) Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

Saul finally found out what he did not want to hear. His kingdom would be taken from him. It is no wonder that he committed suicide as we saw in the first devotional on him.

The thing to realize is that all this was a progression. We have seen over the last few days that he did a lot of things wrong. Some of those we have done ourselves. Saul's problem was that he never learned and he got further and further away from God. Then desperate to hear from God he does not want to take the time to build up his relationship with God again. In its place he goes for the quick fix.

We need to know that it takes time to get into the problem we are in, we are not going to get out of it overnight. There are no quick fixes. Take time to build you relationship back with God.

What you see, is what you get...

July 26, 2007

We are nearing the end of the journey though Saul's life. We move ahead several years, after David took on Goliath and won victory for the land. Saul needs to get rid of David but wants to make it look death in battle. Since David likes Saul's daughter, he tries to make a deal:

1Sa 18:24-27 KJV
(24) And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David.
(25) And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
(26) And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law: and the days were not expired.
(27) Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

The plan backfired, at least for now. David went our and defeated the Philistines, twice as much as Saul wanted. So Saul was forced to give his daughter in marriage to David. But a seed had been planted in David. The idea that you can send your problem off to war in an imposable situation with the hopes of being killed. David did that with the wife of Uriah the Hittite many years later.

Our actions never are ones that appear in a bubble. Saul was the anointed of God and he was doing this, so David figures he can do the same when he gets anointed. What people see you do with your life affects things. If they are a Christian and see you do stuff you should not, they might think it is OK to do so. If they are not Christians, they may use it as an excuse not to become one. I am not saying that we should live perfectly sinless lives, only one person could do that. What I as saying is that we need to live our lives so that our actions not affect anyone in a negative way for God's kingdom. It is a tough job, but we can do it.

To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice

July 25, 2007

I hope that you have been getting something out of this walk through Saul's life. In many ways I can see that my life is similar to Saul's. Maybe yours is also. What I find to be a big difference is that Saul never seemed to learn from his mistakes. He just keeps on making them over and over again. In particular, as king, he thinks he has the right to do what ever he pleases.

Today we look at a turning point in Saul's life. God tells him through Samuel to do something for Him. It is clear as the nose is on my face.

1Sa 15:2-3 KJV
(2) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
(3) Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

God is saying to Saul, if it breathes, kill it. This will be a total destruction. Saul should have remembered his history because those who do not are bound to repeat the same mistakes. If you remember in the book of Joshua, God told the Israelites to totally destroy the city of Jericho. One of the men though chose not to and stole some things and hid them. Israel list the next battle and he wound up loosing his life. Saul did know his history because in v. 6 he tells the Kenites to get out of the way of the battle because they had shown kindness to Israel when they came out of Egypt.

1Sa 15:7-9 KJV
(7) And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
(8) And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
(9) But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

Well, it looks like Saul followed instructions. He killed all the people, and the imperfect livestock he killed. A king is like a brother to him so he could not kill him. Is this what God asked for though? No! God wanted utter and complete destruction.
Do we sometimes hear God and half follow His directions? Does the Bible say to men to love their wives as Christ loves the church? Does it say to woman to respect and submit to your husband? Does it say for children to obey your parents? Or does it say to do these things when it is convenient and save the best of your life for yourself? When we do not do what the Word says to do, much less what God tells us to do individually, are we any better than Saul? Sorry if I am stepping on your toes here but God is stepping on mine as well.

1Sa 15:13-15 KJV
(13) And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
(14) And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
(15) And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

Saul tries to hide from his sin by saying that he is doing it for God. Do we hide behind activities, good activities, clean wholesome activities, so that we can avoid doing those things that we are told to do? Again, are any better than Saul in these things?

That day Saul lost his kingdom. Our kingdom is in heaven. Will we loose our kingdom? Can we loose our salvation? I can not answer that question as I am not a Bible School graduate, though I have my own opinion. I would think that every time we do not do as God tells us we sin, and another piece of my mansion in heaven comes off. I could end up with a shack, but I will have a place in heaven. I could also do what God tells me to do and have a really nice place. Just my thoughts.

1Sa 15:22-23 KJV
(22) And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
(23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Making Vows

July 24, 2007

We pick up in Saul's life today where we left off yesterday. Jonathan, Saul's son, has infiltrated into the enemy camp and had a big victory. Saul decides to fight a battle seeing the panic in the Philistine's faces not knowing that Samuel was the reason for it. He then make a vow that will cause some problems.

1Sa 14:24-26 KJV
(24) And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
(25) And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.
(26) And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath.

Now I am sure that there were good reasons for him making this decree. In stopping to eat, there may have been much time lost that could be spent against defeating the enemy. The opposite is true also. An army marches on its stomach. The men were starving, but they knew that Saul had cursed the person who ate food. Guess who does it?

1Sa 14:27 KJV
(27) But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.

Saul had just cursed his own son. Jonathan showed the people that it was good for him, that the light came back into his eyes when he ate it. This now creates a problem. The people saw that the food was good, they saw that Jonathan had not come down with some disease, and, starving as they were, they went hog-wild in eating what ever they could find, some not even draining out the blood.

1Sa 14:33-35 KJV
(33) Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.
(34) And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there.
(35) And Saul built an altar unto the LORD: the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD.

Saul had not learned his lesson from yesterday. He could not make the sacrifices, it was not his place. Thought the intent of stopping the sin in the camp was honorable, it was still wrong. But the worst is still to come. He decides to go after the Philistines, and asks the priest to inquire of the Lord for him, but God is not talking. Now Saul makes a second vow. He calls for the lots to be cast to determine who it is.

1Sa 14:39 KJV
(39) For, as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him.


Now, a lot of people knew who it was that was causing God not to speak, that Jonathan had eaten when Saul had made a vow. Saul must have expected it to be someone else. As you can guess, the lots worked and Jonathan was chosen. The people would not let him be killed though as he had been the hero of this war.

Saul shows here that promises are not made to be kept, a fact that shows later as he pursues David time and again after promising that he would not. He also shows us the importance of vows. We can learn from him that it is not a good idea to make a vow if you can not keep it.

Vows come at us from all directions. For example, we buy a car and we make a vow to make car payments. If we do not, we are breaking a vow. Can God honor us when that happens? Just a thought.

Excuses

July 23, 2007

We now skip ahead a year in our study of Saul. He has taken over as king because the Spirit of the Lord came upon him to gather Israel to defeat the Philistines. Now a year later, they are better prepared to go to war with Israel.

1Sa 13:4-14 BBE
(4) And all Israel had the news that Saul had made an attack on the Philistines, and that Israel was bitterly hated by the Philistines. And the people came together after Saul toGilgal.
(5) And the Philistines came together to make war on Israel, three thousand war-carriages and six thousand horsemen and an army of people like the sands of the sea in number: they came up and took up their position inMichmash, to the east of Beth-aven.

We see that the Philistines came prepared for battle. They were ready to take revenge for what happened to them last year. And it was not lost on the men of Israel.

(6) When the men of Israel saw the danger they were in, for the people were troubled, they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows.
(7) And a great number of the people had gone over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people went after him shaking in fear.

Saul as a king was responsible for making these men ready for the battle. It is pretty obvious that he had not really done his job. Israel was hiding every place they could find. It is obvious that by what follows, Samuel had been what was keeping the kingdom going. Saul was waiting for Samuel to come down to do the sacrifice so the could go to war, but Samuel, for what ever reason, was delayed.

(8) And he went on waiting there for seven days, the time fixed by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were starting to go away from him.
(9) Then Saul said, Come here and give me the burned offering and the peace-offerings. And he made a burned offering to the Lord.

Like many of our elected officials, he wanted to do what pleased the people. It was not a smart move. It never is when you know what to do so that you do the right thing, and you choose to please the people instead.

(10) And when the burned offering was ended, Samuel came; and Saul went out to see him and to give him a blessing.
(11) And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were going away from me, and you had not come at the time which had been fixed, and the Philistines had come together atMichmash;
(12) I said, Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal, and I have made no prayer for help to the Lord: and so, forcing myself to do it, I made a burned offering.

Saul knew the law. He was not a member of the Levite priesthood. He had no permission from God to do what he did. And because he did it, he was going to suffer. But look what he does. He tries to weasel out of it. You were late getting here Samuel, we had to go to war, so I forced my self to do it for the good of the people. You see, excuses like that will not fly with God. They did not work when Adam tried to tell God it was Eve's fault and they will not work at any time. As people of God, when we do wrong, we need to stand up and take responsibility. Of course, our results when we do not take responsibility may not be as bad as Saul's.

(13) And Samuel said to Saul, You have done a foolish thing: you have not kept the rules which the Lord your God gave you; it was the purpose of the Lord to make your authority over Israel safe for ever.
(14) But now, your authority will not go on: the Lord, searching for a man who is pleasing to him in every way, has given him the place of ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord gave you orders to do.

Do you realize that if Saul had waited an hour more, he would not have had the kingdom taken away from him. In our lives, we may need to avoid that sin just one more hour. God has a reward waiting for you. Will you receive it?

== Translation Information
1949/1964 Bible In Basic English

The Bible In Basic English was printed in 1965 by Cambridge Press in England. Published without any copyright notice and distributed in America, this work fell immediately and irretrievably into the Public Domain in the United States according to theUCC convention of that time.


== Listen

Hiding behind the baggage

July 22, 2007

Yesterday, we looked at the fact that Saul had a low view of himself. Today we see he tried to avoid the work of God.

At this point in time Saul had been anointed by Samuel as the new king. All that was left was the official ceremony where God would pick the tribe, the clan, the family and the man. Saul knew what was coming. As each one was picked off, he knew what was coming next. When time came for him to be chosen, they could not find him. Why? They asked of God what to do.

1Sa 10:22 MKJV
(22) And they inquired of Jehovah further, Has the man yet come here? And Jehovah answered, Behold, he is hiding himself among the baggage.

Saul had so little faith in what God could do in his life. He did not want the power that God was going to give him. This is in contrast to later in life when he would try to kill David to keep power. At this point in time, he did not want the job. His low opinion of himself kept him hidden. God knows where you are however.

God has anointed everyone of us to do a job. I feel that I have two great church skills. One is to run sound (though I have no formal training) and the other is to teach. In a large church like the one I attend, it would seem that there would be lots of openings to do those sort of things. But God found the place where I was needed most, and directed me to it. I work with the children running sound so that the children's pastor does not have to be doing a dozen things at once. This morning I was encouraged to present any ideas I had to teach the youngsters. While I never pictured myself teaching children, I will take the chance as God allows. I only say all that to let you know, I used to hide among the baggage also. A seat in the church can let you hide from what God has called you to do. There are times when you have to sit and be fed, especially if there was burn out involved, but that is not forever. Find a place that God has anointed you in and go do it. Don't hide among the baggage.

==Translation Information
Modern King James Version, copyright © 1962-1998 by Jay P. Green, Sr. All rights reserved.

==Hear it read to you

Little People

July 21, 2007


Saul was getting anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel. Samuel is telling him what is going to happen. What is his reply?

1Sa 9:21 CEV
(21) "Why are you telling me this?" Saul asked. "I'm from Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my clan is the least important in the tribe."


Saul had a small opinion of himself. Here he is the tallest in Israel and he thinks of himself as little. He thinks of himself as unimportant. This is not humility, this is low self esteem. It is not surprising that what happened later in his life, his turning from God, comes to pass. The seeds of it were planted early in his life.

As a parent, I know I have to teach my kids that they are not little in God's eyes. That they have a purpose. Sometimes I even have to teach it to myself.

Next time that you start to say how unimportant your life is, remember Saul's words and how he wound up.

==Translation Information
Scriptures marked as "(CEV)" are taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Advice

July 20, 2007

Once again, into the life of Saul

1Sa 9:3-6 GNB
(3) Some donkeys belonging to Kish had wandered off, so he said to Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys."

We see here at least one redeeming quality about Saul. He honored his father and did what was asked of him to do with out any arguing.

(4) They went through the hill country of Ephraim and the region of Shalishah, but did not find them; so they went on through the region of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then they went through the territory of Benjamin, but still did not find them.
(5) When they came into the region of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, "Let's go back home, or my father might stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."

Saul did attempt to do what he was asked, but gave up quickly. I once gave a jar to one of my kids that had the lid on way to tight. I watched as they strained and did everything they could to open that jar so they could get what they needed to eat. Frustrated, they looked up at me and said they could not open it. I asked them if they tried everything. They told me yes, but I advised them they had not. When asked what they had not tried, I replied, you did not ask me for help. I then proceeded to open the jar and hand it back to them.

Saul had not tried everything yet, he had not asked God to help.

(6) The servant answered, "Wait! In this town there is a holy man who is highly respected because everything he says comes true. Let's go to him, and maybe he can tell us where we can find the donkeys."

I guess it is good to have a wise servant. Notice however that they did not seek God first, it was an afterthought. The man of God was nearby, they did not make an effort to see him first. How often in our own lives do we not seek God first for a problem? Do we turn to people who can help us, God given friends and ministers, to help us, or do we try to fix it all in our own power?

Let's make a vow to start turning to God first when we have a problem. He has the solutions.

Advice

July 20, 2007

Once again, into the life of Saul

1Sa 9:3-6 GNB
(3) Some donkeys belonging to Kish had wandered off, so he said to Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys."

We see here at least one redeeming quality about Saul. He honored his father and did what was asked of him to do with out any arguing.

(4) They went through the hill country of Ephraim and the region of Shalishah, but did not find them; so they went on through the region of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then they went through the territory of Benjamin, but still did not find them.
(5) When they came into the region of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, "Let's go back home, or my father might stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."

Saul did attempt to do what he was asked, but gave up quickly. I once gave a jar to one of my kids that had the lid on way to tight. I watched as they strained and did everything they could to open that jar so they could get what they needed to eat. Frustrated, they looked up at me and said they could not open it. I asked them if they tried everything. They told me yes, but I advised them they had not. When asked what they had not tried, I replied, you did not ask me for help. I then proceeded to open the jar and hand it back to them.

Saul had not tried everything yet, he had not asked God to help.

(6) The servant answered, "Wait! In this town there is a holy man who is highly respected because everything he says comes true. Let's go to him, and maybe he can tell us where we can find the donkeys."

I guess it is good to have a wise servant. Notice however that they did not seek God first, it was an afterthought. The man of God was nearby, they did not make an effort to see him first. How often in our own lives do we not seek God first for a problem? Do we turn to people who can help us, God given friends and ministers, to help us, or do we try to fix it all in our own power?

Let's make a vow to start turning to God first when we have a problem. He has the solutions.

People Pleasing

July 19, 2007

Yesterday we looked at the end of Saul's life. Today let's look at how he got started.

1Sa 9:2 ASV
(2) And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a young man and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

Notice the description of him. The word means that he was handsome. He was probably the guy that would have been on all the entertainment news magazine covers in his day (if they had them of course). And he was tall, taller than everyone else.

We as humans look on these outward appearances as what is good. God does not. He wants to know what is in the heart. As we go along, we will see that Saul had his good moments, but he was not always searching out for what God wanted. He was a person who tried to please the people.

Let's use him as an example of things not to do for now. Do we try to keep people happy, or do we try to keep God happy? We can do both, one though, has to take a priority.

==Translation Information
American Standard Version

Sucide

July 18, 2007


1Ch 10:4 KJV
(4) Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.


As far as I know, this incident is the first recorded incident of suicide in the Bible (someone correct me if I am wrong), so we have to ask ourselves, why did this happen?

Saul had leaned on what he understood rather than what God wanted him to do. He went from a man who could hear God's voice to one who was consulting mediums to hear from dead people. He no longer could hear from God himself.

I intend to spend a few days looking at Saul's life and what was wrong in it that lead to this step. It is important that we know how his life ended though. He had lost hope in God. Think about that. We have hopes in our lives. Hopes that marriages will work out right, kids will grow up great, we will be settled in life in our old age, the list goes on. We also have a hope that when we die, we will be there with God. Saul had lost hope that all would work out OK because he had it in his head that the Philistines were going to kill him. Could God have gotten him out of that situation? Yes? Since he could not hear from God anymore, he could not get that hope, and so he killed himself.

I once considered suicide, years ago, had climbed up on the fence of the balcony of my apartment and was going to throw myself off. I can tell you I had lost all hope that everything was going to work out. And I was also running from God. Something inside me told me it was wrong and I climbed back down. Shortly after that I rededicated my life to Jesus.

I only say that to say this. If you see someone that seems to be in a hopeless situation, and they seem to have lost all hope, go over and talk to them and try to give them hope. God may very well working through you to keep that person alive.

Giving

July 17, 2007

I remember when growing up wanting to be like my dad. I also remember that my dad had false teeth. He had been in the navy and rather than work on his teeth, they pulled them all and gave him false teeth. One day, someone told me that I needed to brush my teeth real good. 'You do not want to grow up to be like your dad, do you?' they said. The truth is that I wanted to be like him and that gave me an idea (which did not last long, mom objected) to not brush so I could get false teeth to be just like my dad.

Dad has long ago passed away, and in some ways I am like him, in many ways I am not. In reality, I would like people to say I am just like my Father, just not my earthly one.

Joh 3:16 KJV
(16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.


God loves us. And He loves us so much He gave. He gave everything, He gave His son. I can only hope when people look into my life they see God in me. How about you?

Acts of God

July 16, 2007

Most every day when I drive around on errands I have to go over a bridge from my where I live in Jenks to Tulsa. This bridge goes over the mighty Arkansas River. Most of the time it is not mighty, it is just a little trickle that goes through and a lot of sand. The reason for this is that the government dammed up the river to control flooding, and to make a nice lake for people to have recreation at. Before that dam went up, the Arkansas River would overflow its banks quite regularly. We have had a lot of rain in Oklahoma recently. Without the dam there, the house I live in might be under some water now. The lake now holds what would be flood water and it gets let out as needed in amounts that the river can handle. In fact, the river is close to its banks right now.

Without that dam, this area would flood. Any one who bought the land I live on could expect it to flood. It would be a stupid thing to do. We see a lot of that in the world today. People live in flood prone areas, or areas that will get hit with hurricanes, and other weather problems. And what do they call it when these problems? They are called 'acts of God'. I guess things have not changed much in thousands of years. The writer of proverbs has this little bit of information:


Prov. 19:3 (Message)
People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed?


Why do we blame God if we want to live in an area that might flood or have other problems. It is our choice to do so of our own free will.

Are things much different in our every day life? Do you read your Bible or watch the latest repeat of some TV show. Do you listen to 'praise and worship' as you drive your car or listen to the latest pop songs or talk radio? I remember a preacher telling me a few years ago, 'when the problems hit, know that episode of Gunsmoke is not going to help you at all'. I am not saying that you should not do any of these things, but do we know what is important in life?

When the problems hit, are you going to call it an 'act of God' or are you going to act on what God tells you to do'?

Acts of God

July 16, 2007

Most every day when I drive around on errands I have to go over a bridge from my where I live in Jenks to Tulsa. This bridge goes over the mighty Arkansas River. Most of the time it is not mighty, it is just a little trickle that goes through and a lot of sand. The reason for this is that the government dammed up the river to control flooding, and to make a nice lake for people to have recreation at. Before that dam went up, the Arkansas River would overflow its banks quite regularly. We have had a lot of rain in Oklahoma recently. Without the dam there, the house I live in might be under some water now. The lake now holds what would be flood water and it gets let out as needed in amounts that the river can handle. In fact, the river is close to its banks right now.

Without that dam, this area would flood. Any one who bought the land I live on could expect it to flood. It would be a stupid thing to do. We see a lot of that in the world today. People live in flood prone areas, or areas that will get hit with hurricanes, and other weather problems. And what do they call it when these problems? They are called 'acts of God'. I guess things have not changed much in thousands of years. The writer of proverbs has this little bit of information:


Prov. 19:3 (Message)
People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed?


Why do we blame God if we want to live in an area that might flood or have other problems. It is our choice to do so of our own free will.

Are things much different in our every day life? Do you read your Bible or watch the latest repeat of some TV show. Do you listen to 'praise and worship' as you drive your car or listen to the latest pop songs or talk radio? I remember a preacher telling me a few years ago, 'when the problems hit, know that episode of Gunsmoke is not going to help you at all'. I am not saying that you should not do any of these things, but do we know what is important in life?

When the problems hit, are you going to call it an 'act of God' or are you going to act on what God tells you to do'?

Taking Blame

July 15, 2007

We have a lot of politicians in the recent current events that say words like 'I take full responsibility for my actions.' What does that mean when a person says it. Generally they are saying I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar and I can not get out of this. I can try to blame it on someone else, but I am caught.

David should be an example of some one who got caught doing the wrong thing.

David had numbered the people, something God had forbidden unless He commanded it. David was given a choice of what to take as punishment. I guess he thought God might go easy because he let God decide. God did not go easy. God released a plague that killed seventy thousand people. And he was not finished yet. So David spoke up.

1Ch 21:17 GNB
(17) David prayed, "O God, I am the one who did wrong. I am the one who ordered the census. What have these poor people done? LORD, my God, punish me and my family, and spare your people."

Notice what David did. He took the blame. He did not say 'I did it BUT', he took it square on the chin, said I was wrong. Then he did something that our modern day politicians should do. Not only did he take the blame, he said, punish me. You are punishing the people God, but they did not sin, punish me instead.

I wonder if our politicians, will ever take responsibility and the punishment also. I wonder if the rest of us humans will also.

==Translation Information
Scriptures marked as "(GNB)" are taken from the Good News Bible – Second Edition © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Additives in the car

July 14, 2007

I am a fan of NASCAR. Now I have not been a fan for years and years just the last few years but I find it exciting. It is like a high speed chess match at times.

One of my favorite drivers is Michael Waltrip. Now if you follow NASCAR I do not need to tell you about Mikey's season. It started when an inspector found a foreign substance in the carburetor. It was never released what it was but some suspected that it was jet fuel added to make Mike's car go faster for the qualifying session. Mike says he did not know how it got there, but the only people that could get to his car were his own people. For that reason, Mike and his team were subject to penalties and fines that they never were able to recover from. In the end, they never found out who was the one who did it. I am sure that the person who did it is glad they did not have God's way of finding things in Joshua's time.

God had given the people of Israel instructions. They were to take the city of Jericho and totally destroy it. Nothing was to be taken as bounty for the soldiers. The we find that Achan did something really stupid.

Jos 7:1 KJV
(1) But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

What did he take? A goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight. Was it a lot? No, but it was God's not his.

The people of Israel were full of pride now. They felt they had taken Jericho (not God), so they felt that they could take on the next city. God told them there was sin in the camp and not to go, but they did not listen. And they got whipped. They turned to God and asked how to get rid of the sin. He replied:

Jos 7:14-15 KJV
(14) In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man.
(15) And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.

Needless to say Achan was found out. He and his family were killed. He paid for his sin.

Know that when you sin, it is not a secret, God will find out. You will receive the punishment. You may be like the person who added the bad substance to Mike Waltrip's race car and believe that you will never get caught by the authorities, but you have been caught by God.

More importantly, what you do affects others. Mike Waltrip has had a terrible season because of the scandal. Israel got beaten. Your sin will affect others that are in the organization that you are doing the sin for. Do you really want that.

Slingin stones and VBS

July 13, 2007

I have heard many sermons on the story of David and Goliath. I have even written one or two on devotions on it myself. But one day God caused me to stop and read something that caught my attention. And while it involves David and Goliath it is no where near the story in the Bible.

1Ch 12:1-2 CEV
(1) Some time earlier, David had gone to live in the town of Ziklag to escape from King Saul. While David was there, several brave warriors joined him to help fight his battles.
(2) Several of these warriors were from King Saul's own tribe of Benjamin. They were experts at using a bow and arrows, and they could shoot an arrow or sling a stone with either hand.

Think about what you have just read. The people who were relatives of Saul were so expert with a sling they could use either hand. That means that not only Saul's relatives could have taken out Goliath, Saul himself could. His people were expert with the sling. Why did David have to come along and take him out? Saul should have been out there to take him down himself.

Sometimes we see the problem and do not see what we can do to fix it. God wants to take the skills that you have and use them for His good.

The reason that it comes to mind to me right now is that my church just finished Vacation Bible School this week. I have spent 4 days with about 200 screaming kids, and a lot of time in the main auditorium it was just me and the children's pastor. If you had told me that I would have been doing what I was doing 2 weeks ago, I would have questioned your sanity. But I was out of work, they had a need, and I stepped in. The church did not need adults that could lead kids in worship, they did not need people who could entertain kids, they did not need eloquent speakers to tell the Gospel to them, though we had those. We did need adults that could maintain order. It did not take a Bible School education, it took people with a brain and a mouth. It did not even take two good legs. There were a lot of people that could have done what I did, I was one that did it, and we could have used more.

And you know what happened with David. God stepped in and made him king. No, I did not get made children's pastor, but I did get rewarded. I have been laid off 7 weeks. Last severance check came in today. I have had no nibbles in all that time though I have flooded the Tulsa are with resumes. Starting Monday all of a sudden I found favor with hiring people all over the area. I have had four interviews, one with a well paying job, and a job offer that is on hold till I see if the well paying job gets offered.

You can tell me all you want to that was a coincidence. You may even get yourself to believe it. I believe that it was God. God took my availability and gave me what I needed most. Do you have a way that God can use you today?



== Translation Information
Scriptures marked as "(CEV)" are taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Going to battle

July 12, 2007

I used to work out at the gym. I was never buff like some of the guys, but working out did make me feel good. I always hoped that one day I would have the six-pack abs those guys did, and not the keg I had. Working out did build strength in me, a natural strength.

Did you realize that our strength is not important? All of our strength in the natural could not stop someone from dying if they were sick. And when people are out to get you, they will get enough people around them to take you out. Joshua, Moses' servant had a problem one time, he was seeing the armies that they were going to take on, and wondered how they were going to get through it all. His leader, Moses had passed on and he was in charge now. Do you know what God said to him?

Jos 1:9 KJV
(9) Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.


God was with them. Their strength was not what was going to win the battles, it was God's strength. They still had to work themselves to the point they could do the job, but God was going to win the battles for them. When we face a battle, and I do not mean a big one like a war, I mean any type at all (including that secret sin that you may battle), God is the one that will give you strength to overcome it if you let Him. You just have to listen to Him when He speaks encouragement to you.

Fruit of the spirit...

July 11, 2007

How hard is it to walk the Christian life? If we read Galatians and the list in chapter five, it would seem impossible.

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

In stead of looking at this as a huge list that you seemingly word not be able to do, why not try to do just one of them, the first one. You see, walking in love should make doing the rest of them easier to do. It is much easier to do each one of theses if we are walking in love. Can you be short with someone is walking in love or will you be long-suffering. Take each command and ask. yourself the some question.

You will see that the true fruit of the spirit is one things- LOVE!

Out in the field

July 10, 2007

How often do things seem better on the other side of the fence? Things are not always the best there though.

Rth 2:8-9 VW
(8) Then Boaz said to Ruth, You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women.
(9) Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.

In the story of Ruth, if you have not studied it, Ruth is a type of us who have committed ourselves to God. Boaz, the Lord of the harvest, is a type Jesus. In the end, Boaz takes Ruth, a woman from Moab, Israel's enemies, and marries her because she is a close relative, her husband was related to Boaz before and then he died.

Before things got to that point though, Boaz saw the type of woman she was, the dedication to her mother-in-law. He wanted to reward her and made sure she was taken care of. He made sure that she stayed in his field. She could have ignored his advice. She could have seen that another field looked like better pickings, but she chose to take his advice.

What about us. Do we see sometimes that things look better and want to jump ship and not wait on or listen to God. I personally have had a long time in being out of work. It would have been easy for me to take some lower job doing something that God had not called me to do. I have wanted to do it, but I have been patient with the whole thing. Now, I have a job interview making at least 7,000 more a year than I was making. Do I have the job, nope, but the person talking to me about it seems to think I am on the fast track.

Stay in the 'field' God wants you to be in. It will bless you in the end.

--Translation Information
A Voice in the Wilderness
Box 9531
Spokane, WA 99209
USA
Website: www.a-voice.org
E-mail: www.a-voice.org/mail

Sacraficing Your Children

July 9, 2007

So often when people speak of the father of faith, they point to Abraham. While it is true that he is a man of faith, I think his son had to have just a little bit more faith.

Gen 22:7-8 UPDV
(7) And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Look, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?
(8) And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together.


Picture yourself walking along with your dad. You know you are going to make a sacrifice. You see the wood, in fact, you are carrying it. Dad has the fire so the sacrifice can be made. Where is the sacrifice itself? Dad is a little up in years, guess he forgot it. So, you ask the question. And he replies, God will provide it. Now at this point you have two choices. You can believe that he knows what he is doing and not have a 'senior' moment. Or you can drop that wood and get out of there as fast as your legs will carry you.

I can not speak for you, I think my first inclination would have been to hit the road running. And yet, they walked on together. Issac had a lot of faith to walk along with his dad for one very good reason. His dad had not given him any reason to doubt him.

As a parent, and as a dad, I can only hope that all my children would have that faith in me. I also pray, that God will not call me to sacrifice them, but I know that He has in a way that continues to let them live.

--Translation Information
Updated Bible Version 2.11 (Sep. 11, 2006) Copyright 2003-2006, Updated Publishers, Thousand Oaks, CA. This Bible may be copied but not modified. See website at www.updated.org for details and updates.

More are with you than you know...

July 8, 2007

Never feel like you are alone. You may think that no one but you is standing up for what is right. Elisha's servant felt the same way. Elisha however taught him a lesson.

2 Kings
15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
These men were not there to buy them lunch. They were there to take Elisha prison because he seemed to know all the plans of war of their king,

I am sure that the servant looked up and counted fifty or sixty men. Then he looked at Elisha and himself and counted, one, two.

17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

So often we only look at the natural. Elisha looked at the supernatural and saw that God was with him. We need to learn to do the same as well. How often are our angels about to take care of our problem and we give up on them? Let us learn to stop doing this.

What do you own?

July 7, 2007

Joh 3:26-27 KJV
(26) And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
(27) John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

Everything that I have comes from God. John's followers were upset that the people that followed John were now following Jesus after he had pointed to Jesus as the way. John, however, knew who the power source was. God had given him those followers and God could move them to other people as He saw fit.

It is that way in our own life as well. We are the ones that want to hold on to everything (and sometimes everyone) that we have. But they do not belong to us. Often we need to learn to let go and let God run things.

Do you worship false gods?

July 6, 2007

2Ch 25:14-15 KJV
(14) Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
(15) Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?

How silly is this? Amaziah, one of the kings of Judah, after he has a war with Edom and wins, goes to the town of Seir and takes their gods home. Now, to take them to melt them down for the value of the gold or silver would make sense, but to take them home and worship them? If they could not protect their own people why worship them? You obviously have the superior God on your side. Why would you risk angering the God you follow to worship something else.

I would like to say that we as humans are better, but in my own experience I can not say that I am. About 3 years after I got saved, I got delivered from smoking. I was never a heavy smoker, I smoked a pipe, and did it mostly to relax myself. About 8 years later I got laid off from my job. I lost my focus of God and the first thing that I wanted to was do some thing that would help me relax to have some peace. I was burning money that I did not have to be honest. In the end God got me where I needed to be for a job, I just lost my focus. I turned back to the gods that God had defeated in my life.

How about you? When things are not going the way that you want them to, do you follow back to bad habits or addictions from your past? If God delivered you from them in the past, why are you going back and worshiping them? When you get upset, unsettled or hurt, it is time to go back the the one that defeated them in the first place.

Meditation

July 5, 2007

Mat 22:29 CEV
(29) Jesus answered: You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God.

What an indictment on these people that Jesus was talking to. They were the Jewish leaders, the ones who could quote the scriptures from memory. They were the ones that the people looked up to tell then what the words meant. Jesus was lambasting them real bad. So what hope can you and I have.

The answer is in the words that Jesus says. They did not know about the power of God. They knew the words, but they did not know what they meant. They looked at them as do and don't, not as arevelation from God.

Take some time. Read the word. Then meditate on it. Let the Word rumble around in your brain. Think about it. As you think on it, God will speak to you its meaning. Learn what the meaning is. Would you like when God sees you in heaven for Him to say 'You don't know what the Scriptures teach'?

--Translation Information
Scriptures marked as "(CEV)" are taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Independence Day

July 4, 2007

Here in the United States, as I sit and write this, we are celebrating Independence Day. On this day in 1776, the United States declared its independence from Great Brittan and fought a war to get the right to govern ourselves.

There is a war that goes on until this day for many people. They have yet to claim their independence and so they look for other things to blame. Satan is the god of this earth. He gained that position in the garden of Eden. But Jesus came and allowed us to be free of Satan and his influences.

Rom 10:9-10 MKJV
(9) Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.
(10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.

Does that mean that Satan is just going to roll over and play dead, that your life will be a bed of roses. No it does not. It does say that you have to acknowledge that you are sinful. Once that step is made and Jesus is Lord of your life, then you have the power to get out of what ever binds you.

It is time, if you have not, to listen and have your independence day. If you have confessed Jesus as your savior, then it is time to live in the strength that Jesus gives to you and move out of the influence of Satan.

--Translation Information
Modern King James Version, copyright © 1962-1998 by Jay P. Green, Sr. All rights reserved.

July 3, 2007

Earlier this week I talked about how even the perfect environment could stop bad things from happening in a life. But we must always realize that a bad situation is not anything to stop you from succeeding.


Jdg 11:1-2 UPDV
(1) Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gilead begot Jephthah.
(2) And Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, You will not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman.

He had every right to be bitter, but he did not. He took risks and turned things around.

Jdg 11:3 UPDV
(3) Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

He went out and gathered a group of people who became loyal to him.

Jdg 11:4-6 UPDV
(4) And it came to pass after awhile, that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel.
(5) And it was so, that, when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob;
(6) and they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the sons of Ammon.

Even though things looked bad, he had become so powerful that his half brothers came and asked him to lead them.

Never say that a bad situation keeps you from succeeding in what you want to do.

-- Translation Information
Updated Bible Version 2.11 (Sep. 11, 2006) Copyright 2003-2006, Updated Publishers, Thousand Oaks, CA. This Bible may be copied but not modified. See website at www.updated.org for details and updates.

God I want a blessing

July 2, 2007

I always want to be in the blessing of God as I am sure that you do also. How do we get the blessing of God? Is it in doing His work? Is it in praying? The answer is in the first book of the Bible.

Gen 1:28 CEV
(28) God gave them his blessing and said: Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.


Did you catch the beginning of that verse? God blessed them and said! Anytime God speaks in the Bible, the people have a chance to be blessed. It is up to them to decide to be blessed or not.

How does that relate to me. While I can pray and listen to what God speaks to me, the blessing I get will not come to pass unless I do what He asks me to do. I have to hear His word to a point of doing it. And what if I never get an answer from God? How can I hear His word then? Do you have a Bible. It is the written word of God. I have not ever had a time that I have picked it up and not gotten some insight into God as I read it. His word speaks to me and I get blessed.

Now, go, get a blessing.

If only it were better...

July 1, 2007

Did you ever think that if circumstances were different you would not act like you do. If she did not burn the toast every morning everything would be better. Or maybe: If he will only get a job that pays more we could live better and all would be well. The Bible shows us that circumstances even when they are perfect, they cannot change the way man (or woman) act.

Gen 2:8-9 KJV
(8) And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
(9) And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

If anyone had the perfect place to live, it was Adam and Eve. They had a perfect environment to live in. There were no problems. Yet, they failed.

I am not saying all this to excuse bad behavior. We cannot say that well they had it perfect and could not make it how can we do it. We can take what happened to them and see that even when it is perfect, humans will fail, and God can forgive us. We need to forgive those around us and ourselves as well. Who do you need to forgive today?