Wednesday, July 24, 2013

July 22, 2013 For our Word of God today, we are going back to the beginning. Genesis 3:1-6Now 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'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 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.'" "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 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. I have a question for youWhat is your apple? Most likely, your apple isn't an apple at all. This morning, I discovered mine. I have always prided myself in being able to handle the tough situations. Better than some, not quite as well as others, but able to handle 97% of what comes down the pipe without additional guidance from my superiors. I believe that is why I am paid a suitable wage for my work. This morning, God revealed to me that my abilities are my apple. What does our bible tell us we should do? Proverbs 3:5 tells us, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." But I was not doing that. I had a tough situation at work, and I was scrambling though my brain for a solution to somehow make it work out. About half an hour into my day, God pretty much spoke to me and said, "Let me handle this." I turned it over to God, and the solution was given to me. Satan was trying to get me to bite on that apple. Make no mistake, my brothers and sisters, Satan is more cunning than you and I can ever imagine. He knows exactly what your apple is. Just as I spoke in my previous message about Satan knowing what buttons to push, he also knows your apple. He knows what is pleasing to your eye. He knows what is desirable to you, that can draw you in without a moment's hesitation, and he will use it to drive a wedge between you and God. This morning, Satan dangled a pretty apple right out there in front of me. He knew I would jump at the chance to grab hold of it with both hands and devour it. And he knew that if I did, I would be leaning on my own understanding rather than turning to God. Fortunately, my Father in Heaven had enough of him playing with His servant, and He intervened on my behalf before I could take that first luscious bite. God gave me what I needed, and schooled me on two things. How cunning Satan is, and how I am to turn to Him first in all things. Now, through this ministry, He is sharing it with all His Servants. Why? Because He loves you. But also know this. Each of us have more than one apple. Now that I have recognized my first, I will need to be even more watchful for the next, because Satan is already pulling it out of his bag. Ready to dangle it in front of me, hoping I will bite. And he's doing the same to you. But trust in the Lord to help you through. I mean just think about itGod just used words that were spoken by King Solomon over 3,000 years ago to guide His children here in the year 2013 AD. Do you really think there's an apple out there that He can't handle? Ah yes, I do love serving the LordPastor Elmer
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