I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, so this might be pretty deep. I have been thinking about things like death, prayer, the Holy Spirit, Adam and Eve, food and where/how we all fit into that. This might seem like a bunch of hodge podge, so bear with me here as I explain where I am coming from.
As you likely know, our friend, mentor and pastor who married us passed away last week. Chad and I both struggled with this, because we both know and believe God could have saved him if He chose to. He could have healed him, He could have performed a miracle. My Bible says God is the same yesterday, today and forever, so I do believe that the same God who performed miracles in the Bible still does them today. I believe, as a believer, we have the same dunamis power that raised Christ from the dead in us and that miracles still happen, as I said. So when we heard Steve died, I was puzzled. Did the prayer not get answered? Did I not pray right? All these thoughts went through my mind....questions, bewilderment, sadness, etc. You get the picture.
As I often do in times like this when I need clarity, I pray. I also seek advice. As I prayed, I realized that God came to give us LIFE to the FULL. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. Death and disease are from the devil. Right? Still with me here? So in my mind, if we have the DUNAMIS power we can defeat the devil, right? Ok, well, that didn't happen with our friend. So, I reached out to another friend, mentor and someone whose advice I respect and asked them about this. They agreed with me, but they pointed out part of my theology that was missing. THE FALL. Adam and Eve. Here is what my friend said "Theologically there is one small tweak I would make to what you wrote. That is that Satan uses disease and death to steal, kill and destroy. But they entered our world because of the fall. They are consequences of sin. And though sin, Satan and the world have been defeated, God has chosen to let them continue for a time."
Ok, so let's look at the fall. What happened in the Garden? According to Genesis 2:15 " The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 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.” This was before Eve was created from Adam, mind you.
Fast forward - in Genesis 3:1-7, this is what happened - "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."
Ok, so what made Eve fall? FOOD. It was FOOD. Do you see that? FOOD made her fall. This is huge people!!!! Then look at verse 13 - "13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done? "The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
How did the woman get deceived by the serpent? WITH HER FOOD! Food caused the fall. Do you see that?
Later in verse 17 it says: "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."
I think Genesis 3:22 best sums up what happened as a result: " And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us,knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
Do you think the devil is still using food today to trip us up? I do. Why is obesity at an all time high? Why are people unhealthy? Why do people not know how to care for themselves? We are wounded, hurting, broken people who often use food as comfort. It is legal after all, right? It is good for us. We need to eat to live, right? Well, are we eating to live, or living to eat? Friends, I am concerned about the state of our nation and our relationship with food. I believe several of us are in bondage to it. It's not good.
If you feel like you are in bondage to food, please let me know. I'd love to share with you what has worked for me to bring me freedom. If you are in bondage to food and you don't feel well, you are tired all the time, are you effective for the Kingdom? No, you aren't. You are right where the devil wants you. So pick up your shield, and break the chains of bondage friend. You ARE worth it! There is a battle to fight and we need YOU!
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