Protecting Against Satan
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? Ultimately
the plot is to render you ineffective and separate you from your Father; to paralyze and to destroy
you.
The plot is run
by the CEO of Hell; a guy by the name of Satan. He is relentless in his pursuits and he
doesn't play fair. He breaks all the rules, and he is cunning and crafty. He
lies to and about you. He steals anything he can from you. And because of his
nature, he will appear as something good and even wants to befriend
you for a time.
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 there.
I know it is not a popular subject to talk about and there are many opinions and beliefs about this subject. Even Christian' views differ. But the truth is, God has an enemy and so do we. The Bible speaks of Satan and calls 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 not, is not the issue. The truth remains that he is real and he is formidable. If you and I don't know who we are and what power we have in Jesus Christ, we will have a hard time escaping the devil's schemes.
Sometimes something catches us completely off guard. After we have been assaulted
enough, we realize that we will face many more offenses
in life. Sometimes we learn the hard way that offenses will
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 was Satan's 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 is how the devil gets his foot in the door. 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.
Does this 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 says 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,
"Yeah, 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)
Shannon, I mostly read the articles from my phone now and it does not allow me to comment but I just want you to know I LOVE LOVE LOVE each and every one of your columns!
Posted by: Venus | July 17, 2009 at 06:08 PM