One beautiful thing that was lost when Adam and Eve sinned was their daily walks with God in "the cool of the day". I imagine these walks to be both times of laughter and delight, as well as questions to God and words of instruction and their life purpose from Him. These were delightful relational times with the God who created and loved and provided for them. All that was lost because of sin, until Jesus burst upon human history and began to once again take walks with His disciples, bringing God near man once again. After Jesus' sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension back to His throne in heaven, He gave the promise of the Holy Spirit to not only walk beside us, but to live in us who have trusted by faith in the grace of God to forgive sins, bought for us by the person and work of Jesus Christ. Galatians 5:16 "Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" takes on new relational meaning in light of what was lost because of sin. The God of the universe who delights in His adopted chosen children invites us to once again walk with Him, now not only "in the cool of the day" but every moment of every day! Because of the indwelling Holy Spirit we are invited to walk closely with God, held by the hand of our Savior who promises in John 10:29 that "no one will snatch them out of my hand". We are invited into the very presence of God as we humbly acknowledge our sin, weakness, pain, and inability to live for God's purposes in our own strength, and cry out to our Abba, Father to apply His work of grace on our behalf once again. Heb. 4:15-16 tells us that we have a sinless, suffering, God-man Savior, who has bought for us "peace with God" (Romans 5:1). In our brokenness, we find wholeness in Christ when we will walk with Him. In our shame and grief and rebellion, we find the remedy in the sinless life of Christ and His taking on our shame and sorrows in both His life and His death (Isaith 53), and overcoming death by His resurrection (1 Cor. 15). Our total inability to live as we were created to live, for God's glory and agenda, should cause us to run to Jesus, to cry "Abba! Daddy! I believe - help my unbelief! Help my walks with you today to be transparent, with no hiding and no shame, because of the sinless sacrifice and resurrection of my Deliverer, Savior!"
I'm thanking the Lord today for his amazing grace. Last night, I had a sinful tantrum over some jars of stuff that got broken accidentally on the way in from the car to the house. I knew immediately that it was very stupid (actually the correct word is sinful) to be fuming over something so insignificant in the whole scheme of things. I'm thankful for God's always bringing just the hot water (trials) that bring out the tea in the bag of my heart so I can repent and change. I don't know about you all, but my very first reaction when money is involved in an accident, is to seize up with a fearful, "What if God doesn't provide THIS time?". I am always struck immediately then with the knowledge that, "Yes! He will provide and He's bringing this to show me my lack of trust in Him". That I'll not give into sinful first emotions and act on them is my prayer today. Perfect love definitely casts out fear. When I truly believe that God is t...
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