Discovering True Intimacy with Our Savior

Doubt

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“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the women, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” – Genesis 3:1

Let’s take a walk in the Garden of Eden for a moment.  God has given Adam and Eve a beautiful place to live, food to eat and fellowship with him.

It’s paradise.
It’s perfection.
Everything is as it should be.
In God’s very own words, “It was good.”

But then, the serpent slithers alongside Eve. Can you hear it as he hisses, “Did God really ssssay…”?

All it took was those four little words to doom humanity for eternity, and at the heart of those four little words is doubt.

My first reaction is to wonder:

Why is she’s talking to an animal?
Did the animals talk back then?
If not, didn’t it raise a red flag that it was talking?

Second, Adam is standing next to her.  The very person that heard God say NOT to eat from that tree.  Why in the heck didn’t he jump in?

But instead of shoving their fingers in their ears and running away screaming, “La la la…I’m not listening,” they both stand there and have a conversation with a snake and decided to take his word over God’s.

And so begins the battle for our souls.

How does the serpent get Eve to sin?
How does he get her to doubt God’s very words?
He uses logic!

The serpent is described as “crafty” and the Hebrew word means “sensible, prudent.”  Sensible means to show good sense or sound judgement, and prudence is exercising good judgment or common sense.

Do you see?  Do you see how he uses common sense to make us doubt God?

How many times has God said something and our mind rationalizes that it’s impossible?

How many times have we looked at a line clearly dawn in the sand of scripture and chalked it up to the culture “at the time” so we didn’t have to accept it?

How many times have we prayed for God to meet a need, and then when that need is met, we call it a coincidence?

Doubt is a detestable, ugly, nagging word.  It’s the antonym of belief – the nemesis of Christians since the beginning of time.  It’s a weapon that Satan wields far too often.  A weapon that inflicts mental, emotional and spiritual pain, and inevitably separates us from God.  Doubting God, in my assessment is a sin, and at the very least a slippery slope that leads there.

Think about it this way.

How do you feel when someone doubts that what you say to them is truth?How do you feel when someone you love doubts your intentions or motives toward them?
How do you feel when you tell someone you are going to do something and they don’t think you will come through?

It’s insulting, aggravating, and it hurts!  I have to wonder if that is exactly how God feels when we doubt him.

So, how do you kill the slithering serpent of doubt?

Grab the “sword of the spirit which is the word of God (Eph. 6:7).”

Arm yourself with scripture.
Get in the Word.
Memorize it.
Sear it into your very soul.

And when you hear that familiar hiss, “Did God really sssay…” don’t have a conversation with it, don’t entertain it, just grab your sword and chop off its slimy head.

This post originally published in January 2010

Memory Lane

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“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children, and their children after them.”
— Deuteronomy 4:9

For a God who remembers our sins no more, He is all about some remembering!

In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are standing on the edge of Canaan, about to enter the land promised to them generations before, by the almighty God.

After all they’d endured, after all the years of wandering, after picking up and moving their camps day after day — with plenty of mistakes along the way, mind you — they’d been on quite the roller coaster!  And here they are, finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  The land of milk and honey.  The opportunity to exchange their nomadic ways for a life of wealth, and a chance to settle.

Can you even imagine their emotional state?  Fighting exhaustion, but energized by what lay before them.  Anxious and nervous about the uncertainty ahead, but relieved to finally be there.  My heart races at the thought of it!

While they’re chomping at the bit, Moses is very aware of the temptations that are on the other side of that river, and he is faithful to pause, and to remember.

He reflects on Israel’s history, their journey together, and the LORD’s constant provision in their lives.  They remember the Egyptian army’s attack, and watching the Red Sea part at just the right time.  They remember starving and thirsting in the dessert, and the manna and quail, and water gushing from a rock, that satisfied.

As believers, we’re wise to reminisce, to honor God’s faithfulness in our own journeys, and thank Him for His provision and blessings along the way.

Change is a guarantee, but so is God’s unchanging nature.  So whether I’m staring the proverbial promised land in the face, or whether I’m wandering in the desert, I want to be faithful to pause, and to remember.

Memory Lane is a sweet stroll!

Light Post

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 “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.”  (Isaiah 42:16)

Back when I was doing triathlons, I would often be up before the sun to go on a run.  Running in the dark was scary.  I always worried about falling because of cracks or debris in the road – especially when the gum ball trees bloomed.  So, I bought one of my most valuable (and glamorous) training tools – a head lamp.

Head lamps are great levelers.  There is no one that can make a head lamp look cool.  Actually, I take that back.  There is one person that can make it look cool, and that is the person using it to illuminate a gaping hole in the head of a fellow runner who tripped over something they couldn’t see in the dark.  Yep.  That person makes a head lamp look cool.

I remember the first time I ran with my illuminated training partner.  I felt secure, and I noticed something interesting:  The light was of the most benefit when focused not on the horizon, but on the ground two or three feet in front of me.   When the light was focused on the horizon, my vision was distorted.  I couldn’t see clearly the path in front of me nor could I make out what lay ahead.  Everything was fuzzy.  

Just like my head lamp, we are of the most benefit to Christ when we spend our time focused on what is directly in front of us.  When we try to see where He’s taking us or what’s around the corner, we can miss the things He wants us to see today, or have trouble discerning the short-term steps He’s calling us to take.  God wants us to trust Him moment-by-moment, step-by-step, day-by-day. 

The Israelites spent more years than I’m sure they care to remember learning that very lesson.  Just as God led them with the pillar of fire at night, He leads us today, not with just a light, but with THE Light: Jesus. 

God knows how dark our lives can seem at times.  But rest assured that if you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are never without the Light, for His Word says, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). 

King David knew the secret to brightening up the dark places when he penned these words:  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

If your world seems bleak or your hope seems lost, grab His Word and trust that He will light your path.

Sing Sing Sing

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“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.” – Acts 16:25-26

Is there anything in your life that you feel is keeping you prisoner? Perhaps there is a sin that you feel powerless to overcome. It doesn’t have to be what we consider a “bad” sin. Maybe you overeat, or TV has become your idol. Maybe you spend more time at work than you do in the Word, or maybe you are struggling with simply being obedient to something God has called you to do (or not do).

As humans we have a tendency to make a hierarchy for sin. Murderers and child molesters at the top followed by people who rape and steal. Then maybe we’ll put in those who commit adultery next. You get my drift.

We want to believe that the sin in our lives isn’t as bad as the sin of others. It makes us feel better. But the harsh reality is…it’s all sin. As much as we hate to admit it, those little white lies we tell are the same in God’s eyes as someone who steals or kills. But praise God for His amazing grace!

I have this “little” sin that keeps popping up in my life. I found myself last night doing the very thing I prayed I wouldn’t do that morning. I’m completely in touch with Paul in Romans 7 when he says, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (v. 15). So. Very. Frustrating.

This morning, I bowed before the LORD ashamed that I had failed Him once again. That’s when God gave me an idea.

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were imprisoned. There they sat shackled in the midst of robbers and murderers and child molesters. Did they complain? Oh, no. They prayed and sang praises to God.

I love what happens next. “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose (Acts 16:26).”

Could it be that singing praises and praying are the keys to breaking the chains of sin in our lives? What would happen if, instead of visiting that website you shouldn’t be going to, you sang praises and prayed? What if the second you wanted something sweet to eat, you praised God and asked Him to send his sweet presence to you instead?

It’s just a theory. I don’t know if it will work, but I’m willing to give it a try. What about you?