Saturday 9 September 2017

Just Like Cain - Life’s Lessons PT 1

I used to think Cain is one of the worst persons who ever lived on earth. I mean, really, what sin could a brother commit that would be so terrible that you had to kill him? I thought he must have been a very wicked and evil person naturally and killing his brother was just one other thing an evil person did. Interestingly, in more recent years of my life, I have found that he didn’t have to be wicked to have done that. I have found that even the nicest of persons can do the most shocking of things when under the influence of jealousy and envy and without the strength to control themselves. Yes, it is true, these things happen even between the closest of persons if jealousy and envy are left to have free reign in any life.  They can be so blinding that they can make an otherwise sweet human being, very twisted and vile. They completely disfigure God’s beautiful creation (i.e. man) thereby attempting, albeit unsuccessfully, to discredit His craftsmanship.   No wonder God hates them both.  Cain totally took on another nature when he allowed jealousy to reign in his body lending himself to use by satan who never thinks to do good but always evil. It has become clear to me, that anyone controlled by those two evil emotions will do things even they will regret later or be ashamed of. The sad thing is they may have destroyed something God sent to them to bless them.

Proverbs 27: 4 “Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.”

1 Peter 5: 8 “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to deour”

After we get born again, a battle that didn’t exist in our lives prior to our salvation begins. The new nature which is the nature of Christ enters our spirit by impartation from the Holy Spirit, but the old nature does not give up easily. He consistently fights to take back the lost territory of our souls. This is a recurring battle in the life of every believer. This old nature, often referred to as the Adamic nature, is often controlled by satan. The evil is not the fact that the battle rages in anyone, but that one allows themselves side with the devil. For every, individual is the determinant of which side wins that battle in their own life. It is indeed our responsibility to resist the devil. God will not do that for us and neither will the devil who is very engaged in this battle. However, God ensures that all we need to win the battle is available to us so that if we have any need for any form of help as we are faced with ensuring that the new nature takes preeminence, we can be confident that God already met the need even before we knew we have the need. It is therefore not okay to make excuses for yourself blaming other people like Cain, for your own wrongdoing. If one does not accept responsibility for their wrongdoing, they may end up just like Cain – murdering their brother. It is the height of selfishness to assume that one’s selfish and vile heart is excusable because of a vile nature which God would rather that we did not have. The heart of the undegenerated man is so vile that God says even the man that carries it, is unaware of the extent of its’ capacity for evil. A number of us have been like Cain several times over though we castigate him because unfortunately for him, we do not physically murder our victims.

Jeremiah 17: 9 “The human hearts is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is.”

Interestingly, just like it was with Cain, God would keep warning and encouraging us to do what is right. The love of God for us is such that He exhausts every available option to facilitate our doing right always; and even when we do wrong, He is unrelenting in His effort to ensure that we repent Unfortunately, God is unable to do right for us; but He has left us, the right of choice so that it is always our decision what we choose to do. Even satan does not make our evil decisions for us. Our evil decisions are tied to the extent that we are enticed by what satan pretends to offer us. God is definitely not interested in our wrong; He is not looking to building a case round it; He is instead, interested in building a case round the fact that our wrong has been made right which was the thrust of His discussion with Cain before he murdered his brother. God, like He does with us, was trying to make Cain see that He still had an opportunity to make things right. He reminded him that he didn’t have to be jealous of his brother when he could still do right. Yet, he still left him the right to make the decision and Cain chose to align with his Adamic nature or satan which is the option we often choose despite that we are born again. Our enemy uses everything available to him including emotions. God gave us a brain and wants us to use it so He works with truth which He puts before us that we may then make the right decision. Decisions made on His truth are enduring and will stand the test of time because they are based on God’s truth which is unchanging reality.  It is wise to side with Truth always.

Psalms 119: Your eternal word, O Lord stands firm in heaven.”

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