Enoch - To Be or Not to Be!

People, being polite often ask,  how are you doing?  Often, we just respond, fine!  But, if we happen to be in each other's presence for a longer time, we feel obligated to tell them what we've been doing.  See, our value system as American's is determined by our productivity.  So we make ourselves busy, or convince others that we are, so we can feel worth!

God created us for fellowship, no matter what we do or how busy we get, our inner man is not satisfied unless we are in right relationship with Him.  God doesn't reward us for what work we do for Him, we are rewarded for simply being with Him, for our righteous deeds are as filthy rags apart from Him. God has gives us free will, it is our choice to be with Him or not to be.

Enoch is the ultimate example apart from Christ of someone who chose to be in continual fellowship with God.  Let's look at the few passages of scripture that describe the life of Enoch.

Genesis 5:22 Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.  23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years.  24 And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him]. [Heb. 11:5.]

We have all experienced close relationships, where commitment is made but not followed.  We have had loved ones walk out, leaving us broken.   With enough broken relationships, hardness of heart develops, where we are afraid of commitment because we don't want to experience pain again.  Many of us will only go so far with someone and if things get too close we distance ourselves.  As long as this is true, our relationship with God will be the same, "in and out, up and down, no consistency!"  We may say we love God but we don't live it.

Enoch walked in habitual fellowship with God, meaning continual, consistent, committed.  It was more than a one night stand, or a fling.  God is about habitation not just visitation.  He doesn't just want to stop by now and then, He wants to move in, to dwell in our hearts.  Enoch became so close to God, so filled with Him, that who he once was became hidden, and who God is became seen.  It went beyond God dwelling with Enoch to Enoch dwelling with God for he was taken up.

Being should always precede doing.  For when we walk with God, He will lead us, and He will do great things.  Yes, this brings us to a place of humility, for we cannot take credit for anything.  The earlier we discover the reality that apart from God nothing else matters, the less of a pretender we have to be.

When I wanted something from someone I would say whatever was necessary and pretend to mean it.  In Jude 1:1-13 we are cautioned to beware of the danger of false teachers.  Those who use the name of God appearing to be righteous but only care about themselves, deceiving people for their money.  They are gifted, talented, smart but have no godly character.

Jude 1:14Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones 15to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

The bible says God desires that we would all prophesy.  To grow in prophesy simply takes growing in relationship with Him.  God sees and knows all.  As we grow in God we grow in our ability to see and hear spiritually.  We pick up things we cannot perceive with our natural eye or ear.  So as our relationship with God deepens we should expect the gift of prophecy to develop as well!

Enoch is prophesying of a multitude of people set apart bringing conviction to the world because of God's holy presence upon them.  We have historical testimonies of individuals but never a multitude. To see this prophecy fulfilled we must choose to follow in the footsteps of Enoch.

Hebrews 11:5 Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven, he received testimony [still on record] that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God. [Gen. 5:21-24.] 6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

Let' choose now to increase our faith by earnestly (seriously) and diligently (persevering) seeking to know God in a more personal way.

To Sin or Not to Sin that is the Question?

* Gen. 3:1-5
 
   Have you ever heard a message that was completely distorted from the original?

   The more something is spoken to others the more the intent of the message is lost.  We have all experienced being accused of saying something we did not say, or having our words twisted to mean something totally different than what we meant.

     Don't you wish that people would come to you to insure what they heard was really true!

There are certain things you don't reveal to children until they are mature enough to handle it.  Yet, how can we protect our kids when others don't hold the same standards?  How do we respond to our kids when they ask a question that we don't want to answer just yet? 

I used to hang around people I knew were not good company.  They knew how to get the worst out of me, to convince me to do things I knew I shouldn't.  I tried to avoid them but they just knew when to show up.  

When God is not acknowledged, Satan is at the door.  Satan does not create evil, he distorts truth. As long as God is not present we are open to deception.  

* Gen. 3:6-13

Evil always looks good initially.  But, we quickly know what we did was wrong because we feel shame and want to cover it up.  We may try to convince ourselves it is no big deal but then why do we feel so guilty.  We may blame whom we think is at fault, but who pays the price for a crime, all those involved.  To be a witness and stay quiet brings the same severity of punishment.  

If we feel uncomfortable around someone suddenly it is the inner witness that we did them wrong.  It is amazing to hear of those who have cheated on their spouse yet lived together as if nothing was wrong?  When two people really love each other and have become one flesh they feel each other's pain and know when they are separated.  How can we Christians sleep with the enemy by following his lies and still parade around church as if everything is fine?

As long as someone has things to hide,  they are living a lie, and are bound to Satan, who can now use them to distort truth and deceive others.  We must beware of those who have no accountability and avoid allowing anyone to get personally close to them.  Just because someone is gifted and talented does not mean they are free.  The truth sets one free!  Those who are open and honest, transparent, are those that reflect the mirror image of Jesus Christ.  

* Gen. 3:14-24

Have you ever felt your life is an endless cycle of misfortune?  This is why we long for vacation, so we can escape the daily struggle of work and relational hostility, yet it is never enough.  So we long for Heaven, the hope of an eternal vacation where all our problems are forever gone.

The result of sin is separation from God, but through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the wall has been torn in two, the curse can now be broken through faith in Jesus Christ.  The Garden is now being restored, not in Eden, but in our heart.  God has extended His hand and if we choose to grab hold His blessings come simply by walking with Him.

Transparent - Adam & Eve

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In The Beginning....

The Dominion Mandate

• Gen. 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground."
• True Life Purpose
• Made in the image of God to be like Him.
• Called to reign over creation.
• To be fruitful and multiply.
• To fill the earth and govern it.

• Gen.2:15The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—17except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
• Life Lessons
• What God has entrusted into our care we are called to tend and watch over it.
• Our stewardship will determine our increase.
• Love must be tested so choice must be given.
• God the creator has made nothing but good.
• Evil is that which is good being used for wrong.
• All knowledge separate from God is distorted.
• All evil can be redeemed to it's original intention as our heart becomes pure.

• Gen.2:18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”21So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22Then the LordGod made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.  23“At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh!  She will be called ‘woman,’  because she was taken from ‘man.’”24This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
• We Need Help?
• We were created in need for one another.
• Man and woman are incomplete without the other.
• The joining of man and woman signifies the joining of God and the church in mutual partnership.
• A relationship can only go as far as it's level of transparency.