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Children Of God.......

by Shannon Heiden  
7/04/2009 / Devotionals

Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. (Genesis 2:15 NLT)

Beautiful One, did you know that to offend means to; cause difficulty, discomfort, or injury? To cause pain to. Offend means to cause one to sin or fall and offend also means to violate a divine or moral law.

So, what do you do when you realize that you are being repeatedly and consistently offended and wounded? What do you do when you realize that a plot has been hatched against you? To assault and bring so much discomfort to you that it throws you completely off course? Ultimately the plot is to render you ineffective and separate you from your Father. Paralyzing you with the aim of destroying you.



Beautiful One, this isn't new news. Evil has been in the world since the Garden of Eden. In fact, when God formed man and breathed the breath of life into him, evil was on its way.

I know it is not a popular subject to talk about. Many people have opinions and beliefs about this subject. Even many Christians. The truth is; God has an enemy and so do we. The Bible speaks of Satan. Calling him a roaring lion, accuser, adversary, and father of lies. Painting a descriptive portrait of the one we are dealing with. Whether you believe in Satan or whether you think he has power or not is not the issue. The truth remains that he is real, he is formidable and if you and I don't know who we are and what power we do have. We will have a hard time escaping his schemes.

Sometimes as we are walking along our way with God, something happens that takes us completely by surprise. After we have been assaulted enough, we quickly come to the ugly realization that we will face many more offenses in life. Sometimes we learn the hard way. Offenses come repeatedly. Maybe more so, because of who we are.

Children of God.

In the Garden of Eden, God immediately gave Adam a job to do- to tend and watch over the garden.

Why?

Because evil was there. God knew what Adam was about to find out. An enemy was lying in wait to bring deception, destruction and separation to the relationship of the Creator and His creation.

That is his plan, and he hasn't changed it one bit. You'd think after all these years, he'd come up with a new plan. He hasn't. In actuality, he's not wise. He just uses what has been effective in times past.

Beautiful One, sometimes the evil one will hurt and wound you through the people you are closest to. That's his way in. If God told Adam, to tend the garden and watch over it, then wouldn't he tell us the same thing about our gardens? In the Old Testament Hebrew, the word "tend" actually means to protect. God knew that Adam needed to protect what was given to him. God also gave him the power and ability to do it. Not to mention, the freewill choice to do so. But Adam got duped. He listened to the voice of another. Not to the loving instruction of the One who knew it all.

Sound familiar?

Beautiful One, our gardens are our hearts and homes. That is what we have been given by God to protect and watch over. When we fall into deception because we're listening to other voices, confusion creeps in and we can no longer discern between good and evil. You can see this in the world today. God set his standard, evil perverted it. God says love, evil says hate. God says forgive, evil says get back. God says do it his way, evil says have it your own way.

Whatever God says, evil comes in and asks, "Did God say that?" One of the most effective lies formed against us is when the enemy comes in like a flood during our difficulties and asks us; "where is this loving God now?" Right in the middle of heartbreak and hardship, our opponent hits us below the belt and causes us to ponder, "yea, where is God, why am I going through this?"

If this has happened to you, I want you to know that God is right where He's always been. Beside you. Within you. Before you. Behind you. He has never left you and He is the one who is sustaining you. No matter what set of circumstances has hit your garden. Remember, God is on the throne and though the battle of evil might look like it's winning, the wars not over!


When times of turmoil and turbulence rip though our gardens, we need to only do one thing! Protect and guard our hearts in Christ Jesus. God will be faithful to give us whatever aid we need to get through the hurricanes of life. Our main focus is; to lift our eyes up to the hills- from where does our help comes from? It comes from the LORD. The maker of Heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2 NIV)

Beautiful One, just believe. We are Children of God!!

Shannon Heiden
[email protected]
changingonelifereachingmany.typepad.com

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