Failure. Dang. Sin stinks...but Rigtheousness Rules!

I. Have. Failed.

Yep.

I'm not beating myself up...but I tell you what, when you see the power of sin in your life, it makes you want to go to war OR wallow. I choose to war. :)

Yesterday, I outright complained. Yep. I confess, I dumped and complained. Did it do me any good? Nope. It never does. After I did it, the Holy Spirit spoke to me - this compalining? It begins in your mind.

AAAAHHH! How true! How TRUE! You see, my mind has been focused on something that bothers me. Instead of rolling it off to the Holy Spirit, setting my mind on things above, I set my mind on my irritation and BLAH!...out of my mouth it came. Complaining begins with a thought. Isn't this what the word of God says?

• Romans 8:5 - those who live according to the sinful nature, set their minds on the things of the flesh...
• 2 Cor. 10:5 - bringing every thought captive
• Col 3:3 - Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

So...I'm setting my mind on Christ. In fact, you know what? I can't SET my OWN mind apart from him. If I do, it's in my own efforts and I will fail. If I stay connected to Him through admitting my weakness and his absolute strength, then I am yielding to his life inside of me.

So...that's that, dear friends. I wish there were more of you who would ACTUALLY challenge me when you hear me complain. Please, please do. I give you permission!


I thought I'd also share a bit of my journal with you today. I was reading Genesis 3 this morning when a question arose in my heart. I went to God with it and he shared some things with me. Here is some of the journal entry below:

Lord, in reading Genesis 3 I am caught off guard by the statement, ‘now man is like us, knowing good and evil’…when you created man in your image and likeness. I will not presume anything, but I do have a question about it. I trust you to show me truth. What is the knowledge of good and evil? The awakening of sin…like the law?

You were not created to weigh out right and wrong. This will always lead to sin. You were created to know Righteousness, to live and dwell, move in righteousness. The atmosphere of your heart was set towards righteousness alone. This is how you were created. I alone can see rightly. My eyes alone can discern right and wrong. I saw the seed of sin in Lucifer’s heart long before any created thing did. I am uncreated. I do not seek man’s approval or mans understand of my ways. I am God. I see things that no eye can see. I see the depths of mans heart and mind. I now the capacity of good and evil that is present; long before any one else sees it, I do.

How does this apply to Adam and Eve in the garden?

You were never created to wrestle with this truth (of good and evil). I alone can rightly handle the weight of understanding sin and righteousness without falling into its trap. I am above it, you are not. I was not created, therefore, I sit above all created things, even sin, which was not created in me but in Lucifer. It was awakened in him and I alone understood its ramifications because I alone am God and I alone am right. I look with eyes of care upon my creation and see and understand their struggle in a way no one else can...Adam and Eve were not created to wrestle with what is pure and what is right. They were made to know Me…I AM purity, Righteousness, Grace, Mercy, Love. They were rooted in this…to simply know me and my ways. When they walked in this truth, who I am and how I behave, then and only then would they be able to expand my kingdom and see sin for what it truly is. Apart form me you truly cannot know good and evil and choose good. Your eyes will be deceived because you are not created ALONE with the capacity to choose right and wrong 'rightly'. This is a divine trait.

Well, weren’t Adam and Eve created with your mind, though? Didn’t they have that? They weren’t apart from you…you were with them in the garden, they were clothed with you. So, how then could they choose wrong?

Proximity to me is a huge reason. Yes, they were created to house my glory, to know my ways. I walked with them and they chose to walk with me because they loved me. They made the mistake of casting their gaze off of me and onto themselves. This takes them away from ME.  They were created to know me and I was with them. But worship is about your gaze. It is about your hearts intention and it is about trust. This is heart proximity. Even if I am ‘not there’ walking with you, and you trust my voice over another’s… therefore, you are in direct connection and proximity to me because you choose my words which are living, alive as a person, over the lie. Eve could have chosen this. She could have. She had the power inside of her to do so. She had my Spirit living all around her and my Spirit breath was inside of her. All she knew was good but it started with her gaze. Her heart moved away from me in that moment. Although small, it created a chasm. One step away from me can lead to ultimate death…it’s all about the heart. You cannot imagine only knowing good. It is hard for you to grasp the seriousness of her choice. If all you have ever known was purity and goodness, and in that moment you doubt my words??? It’s an amazing leap.

I can see that, Father.

You see with fragile eyes when you see from man’s plane of existence. I am calling you to see higher, to go higher and look with my eyes. I want you to see the corruption of sin and the vastness of my mercy. I want you to see what you cannot understand apart from me. This requires you to come up higher in your words, in your actions, in your heart of hearts.

How?

Every little act of obedience is love towards me. Even as Eve’s choice of disobedience brought death, though it seemed so small….every choice of obedience towards me brings life, though seemingly small to you. Eternity is shifted by your decisions.

Wow. That’s huge.

But I have given you the power, just like Eve. In fact, what you have is far greater than what she had.  Because you know right and wrong, and you have tasted of the seed of death, you know greater the power of redemption. The second Adam is greater because corruption cannot take hold of him…and now you are heir to this same promise. Corruption cannot take hold of you. You are empowered far beyond what you know. You are awakening to this. You can choose rightly every time now. Why? Because my Spirit lives in you and bears witness of ME; of my ways and my heart in you. You know right from wrong because you know RIGHT. You have eaten of the tree of Life and will live forever in this knowledge: that sin had been conquered forever in your body because of the precious price of my Son. You know the price of sin; this makes your heart even more tender than Eve’s.

Father, I see that Jesus lived in a world where the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil was everywhere…YET he committed no sin. This really makes it come alive for me. Truly, this is why I am created with MORE than Eve had. In the very midst of sin, Jesus CHOSE righteousness…something man could not do before...NO ONE had ever done before. Now, because of Jesus, I CAN CHOOSE what Eve did not...to live in divine obedience.

Yes! Now you see! Your eyes are open!