knowledgeofgoodandevil

The Enemy Is Out There

August 31, 2015 By Wendy Leave a Comment

I taught a writing class to some homeschool high school students last year. One week, I had a particularly bad week. It seemed that everything that could go wrong did. When I got to my class I told my students, “If you think someone is out to get you, they are. We have an enemy, who wants to destroy us. You are not paranoid, someone IS out to get you.” One of my students didn’t like what I had to say. She sarcastically thanked me for my positive comments and for scaring her.

My student is not alone in that thinking. We don’t want to think about an enemy that is out to get us. We don’t want to think about Satan and his minions at all. That’s probably one of his best lies – that he doesn’t exist. Even to an extent, in the Christian’s mind. We want to look at the world with rose colored glasses, that don’t acknowledge an enemy. But when we do, things make so much more sense. We shouldn’t dwell on him, but certainly, we shouldn’t bury our heads in the sand as if he isn’t really a problem. He’s a huge problem in the Christian’s life. God warned His disciples about him.

John 10:30 “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in me.”

Ephesians 2:2 “in which you formerly walked according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”

God even warned us to prepare as if fighting in a battle.

Ephesians 6:12-17 “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, after having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, AND HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

It is a biblical fact – we have an enemy who is out to get us. We are not paranoid. We don’t need to be hospitalized or be taking medication. If you are truly a believer, you inherited an enemy that wants to take you down. Be aware of this and fight the good fight.

Be aware, he doesn’t come dressed in red, with a pitchfork and devil’s tail. He doesn’t look like the devil. He comes as an angel of light. He masquerades as something else, to fool you, trip you up. He’s a counterfeit bill. Like a counterfeit bill, he looks so much like the real thing, you CAN get fooled.

You may or may not have heard the story of the FBI. In order to fight against counterfeit money, they spend hours and hours, studying the real thing. They don’t study fake bills, they only study the real bills. So when a counterfeit comes their way, they immediately know it’s phony.

We protect ourselves from the enemy by studying the real thing. We need to spend hours studying the Bible and praying. God is in the Bible. I know when I spend time in the word, I look up from the Bible, and look at the world around me, things are different. If I look at the world without Bible colored glasses, I start to panic. Things are really bad out there. But when I look at the world through the lens of the Bible, it changes my perspective. God promises peace, I feel peace. God says He loves us, I feel loved. God says He will protect us, I feel protected. God says He is good, I feel His goodness.

Be mindful, as a Christian, that you have an enemy. When those bad days come and everything seems to go wrong, you are probably dealing with a spiritual element to it all. Your enemy is doing what he does best, messing with you. Think about it, he’s had 6000 years to perfect his craft. But don’t lose heart. God warned us of this enemy, and He gives tools in His word to combat him. Stay in the Word. Stay in prayer. These will give you the proper tools for fighting your foe. Just don’t forget, the enemy is out there.

Adam and Eve

August 24, 2015 By Wendy Leave a Comment

We’re continuing our story of huge consequences people paid in the Bible after they committed sin. Let’s go back to the beginning: the story of Adam and Eve. You know the story: Adam and Eve, the first people on the planet, are given a beautiful garden to live in. They are told to populate the earth (be fruitful and multiply).

First of all, remember that John Calvin said God controlled EVERYTHING. Nobody has a choice in the matter. God is SOVEREIGN, controlling what people think, say and do. Even Satan was chosen to live out his life as an enemy of God and mankind. According to John Calvin this is all on God. So let’s look at this scenario and see if any of John Calvin’s view makes sense in light of the story of Adam and Eve.

So Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden. It’s a beautiful place. Adam and Eve are running around naked and completely unaware of this fact. They have the innocence of some toddlers who love to strip and run around naked. Adam’s got a big job, he’s a head of the ranger department, naming all the animals. Eve is being the domestic goddess that she is, and preparing meals and loving her man (like a good country song). All is good and wonderful. Adam and Eve get to enjoy the beautiful garden and all that’s in it. EXCEPT for one tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That’s it. There’s only one tree they can’t touch out of all the hundreds of thousands of trees, there’s only one they need to leave alone.

Everything is hunky dory until along comes enemy number one – that old expelled angel. He comes along in the form of a snake. He starts up a conversation with Eve.

“…indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?” The woman said to the servant, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.” The Serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!” For God knows that in the day you eat from it our eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate: and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:4-8

As you read this passage in Genesis, is there any part if it that says, And God made the serpent go to Eve and entice her? Or, God worked it out that the woman took the fruit, she had no choice in the matter. Where is the responsibility placed? The Bible says the Serpent and Eve. In verse 7, it says their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked. Eating the fruit did something to their innocence. The knew they were naked now.

Now the next few passages become the blame game, like trying to talk to your kids about who left the milk out on the table: he did it, no, she did it, no-I didn’t do it, why’re you blaming me?…and on and on it goes.

God asked Adam and Eve where they are? Now does God know where they are? Of course, He does. So why is He asking where they are? It’s an icebreaker question. God is getting the dialogue started about the fact that Adam and Eve are hiding. And it does just that. Adam blurts out that he heard God in the garden, and he was afraid because he was naked. And I just love God’s answer to Adam (it cracks me up). “Who told you that you were naked?” vs.11. How many times do you ask your kids: who told you, you can have that cookie? who told you, you can ride your bike in the street? who told you, you could eat that candy? who told you…you get the point. I can so identify with God at this point. And just like our kids, Adam says the woman YOU gave me, gave me the fruit from that tree we weren’t supposed to eat from (let the blame game begin). Then God asks the woman, “What is this you have done?” And of course the woman blames the serpent. So they are all sitting there pointing fingers at each other.

Now God dishes out the consequences of THEIR sin. He turns to the serpent and tells him his consequences. God turns to Eve and tells her the results of her sin. And finally, He turns to Adam and tells him his consequences for his sin. They each will pay the price. They each will pay for what they have done. God drives them out of the Garden of Eden to never enjoy it’s bounty again. We see God’s mercy, though, in verse 21, where God makes garments of skin for Adam and and his wife, and clothed them. It’s a tender picture, in that, in spite of Adam and Eve’s sin, God cleans them up and clothes them. He doesn’t leave them to die naked in their sins. This very fact shows His care for them.

Now John Calvin says God ordained all of this. Adam and Eve didn’t choose to sin. God made them do it. The serpent didn’t choose to come along and deceive Eve, God made him do it. Yes, this is what John Calvin believes. If we go along with John Calvin’s thinking who is to blame in this story? Why God is to blame. Read Genesis 3. Read who did what. And you decide: is John Calvin to be believed? Or did the Serpent, Eve, and Adam choose to do what they did? If we are to believe John Calvin and God orchestrated all of this, why is God giving consequences for their sin? According to John Calvin, only God is to blame. According to John Calvin, we should all be pointing our fingers at God and saying He did it.

Housework Disproves Evolution

August 17, 2015 By Wendy Leave a Comment

If you have ever been a housewife for any stretch of time, you would realize EVOLUTION IS JUST NOT TRUE. Seriously, people. Has anyone cleaned a toilet? We tentatively approach that great white throne with fear and trepidation . We know what’s in there. We know what’s been going in there on a regular basis. And when we approach that toilet, there it is, just as we knew. It hasn’t cleaned itself. It’s not all bright and shiny and white. An angelic choir is not standing over it while beams of light shine gloriously from it. It’s just plain icky. We have to get on our knees and scrub away the ick, germs, and crud. Bleh. I would love for evolution to be true when it comes to housecleaning. I want to walk up to my toilets and hear the angels singing. But that never happens.

Dust bunnies never turn into real bunnies. Toilets don’t get whiter and cleaner as time goes by. My windows don’t get clearer and shinier. Evolution is the theory that life was spawned out of chaos. Out of disorder, came order. But that’s backwards, as any good housewife would know. We don’t approach our houses, thinking a dust bunny has spontaneously become a real life bunny.

As we approach our work day in and day out, week after week, month after month, NOTHING IS GETTING BETTER. And if we don’t intervene, the dust bunnies multiply, the toilets get worse and worse, and the windows get more and more difficult to see out of. So how is this idea of evolution true? In real life, everyday situations, everything is going from order to disorder. That is called thermodynamics. How’s that for a good fifty cent word? Work that into your next conversation and impress your friends with it. Thermodynamics is the theory that order becomes disorder.

I first heard the word, thermodynamics, in my 8th grade Life Science class by the same teacher who wrote, “God is dead,” on the chalkboard on my first day of school. I was a Christian at this time. I caught my breath when he wrote it on the board. I stared. Nobody in our class said anything. He didn’t say anything. I’m not sure why he wrote it on the chalkboard. But it’s one of those memories that are so clear and burned in your brain. Maybe he wanted to cause a reaction in the class and see what he was dealing with. Well now, I knew WHAT I was dealing with. Me and the teacher WERE NOT going to be friends. He wasn’t going to be my mentor.

Besides writing, “God is dead,” on the chalkboard, he taught us evolution AND the theory of thermodynamics. I remember liking that word. I remember having conversations in my head about how that word seemed to contradict the theory of evolution. Here evolution is saying out of chaos came life – ordered. But thermodynamics said everything ordered becomes disordered. My teacher didn’t seem to catch on that he was talking out of two sides of his mouth. How could evolution work, when the theory of thermodynamics says everything ordered becomes disordered and not the other way around?

The theory of thermodynamics matched what I already knew to be true about this old earth. I knew God created the world and everything in it, in six days. How did I know that? Well the Bible said He did. I also knew the theory of thermodynamics was totally true. How did I know that? Well I had already cleaned a few toilets by this time and I hadn’t found one that cleaned itself yet. I had also swept a few rooms and cleaned a few windows and washed a few dishes. Nothing was getting any better. I also had to clean a few school buses.

My grandpa owned the school buses for the schools in my town. He paid me and my sister to clean those buses every once in awhile. I hated that job. Imagine cleaning a school bus in the middle of winter. Everything froze to the floor. There would be partial black bananas frozen to the floor of the bus. I would have to take the handle of the broom and chip away at the banana to free it. Apple cores froze to the floor. Brown paper sacks all over the place. I remember entering the bus and looking down the long aisle. If only the theory of thermodynamics wasn’t true. If only things went from disorder to order. If that were only true, I wouldn’t have to spend my Saturday chipping black bananas and apple cores off the floor of a bus.

Find Something Sturdy

August 10, 2015 By Wendy Leave a Comment

I love disaster movies. It all started with the Poisden Adventure back when I was young. The movie about an upside down ship and the survivors have to fight their way through to save themselves before drowning with the ship. I love movies like that. I love watching people fight their way out of difficult situations. People fighting the odds, working their way through extreme problems and then making it through. Conquering heros. I absolutely love that.

I just went and saw the movie “San Andreas,” this past week. The basic premise of the movie is California has massive earthquakes up and down the San Andreas fault, flattening towns, toppling buildings, causing explosions and fires, and basically totalling EVERYTHING. This divorced couple has to fight their way up to San Francisco to find their daughter. There was one line in the movie that gave me goosebumps. The hero of the movie answers a lady, after he directed them to a safe place so they wouldn’t get hurt. He said, “You have to get up against something sturdy to protect yourself.”

I immediately thought of God. “You have to get up against something sturdy to protect yourself.” Isn’t that true? We have to get up against something sturdy to protect ourselves. Because those storms will come. Those disasters will happen. The rug is going to be ripped out from underneath you. And you better be prepared. You better be up against something sturdy to protect yourself.

Isn’t God the most sturdy Person we know? His love is unfailing. He is all powerful. He is all knowing. He is everywhere at all times. He is loving. He’s been through a major crisis Himself. God sent His only Son down to earth TO BE KILLED. His son was sent down here to die. It wasn’t going to be an easy death either. He was to be crucified. Before His crucifixion, He was to be beaten so badly, He would be beyond recognition. His back would be basically shredded to ribbons. Then, He would carry His cross, that would be His place to die, upon His back. The crucifixion would be more brutality. Talk about a cruel way to die. The Romans would nail his hands and feet to the cross. He would hang on the cross until He died. Before All of this, He would be mocked, spat upon, and a crown of gnarly thorns placed on His head. Jesus knew what He had to do. He even asked to have “this cup taken from me.” However, in obedience to God, Jesus took it all. AND then He rose from the dead. He…rose…from…the…dead!

I would say God is “something sturdy” we can “get up against.” He asks us to “get up against” Him.

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you,” 1 Peter 5:7

“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken,” Psalms 55:22

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light,” Matthew 11:29-30

Those are just a few favorite verses of mine that comfort me in times of trouble and show me that God is sturdy and I can get up against Him. He WILL hold me up. He WILL sustain me. He WILL take care of me. God IS good. And the best part of all, He IS very sturdy, we can get up against Him. When those storms come. When the earthquakes happen, we have God to get up against, to protect us.

I don’t know what I would do without God. What do people do when the world explodes, when tragedy strikes, when they experience incredible loss? What do they do? Without God what does the non believer lean up against? Nobody skates through life without pain and suffering.

If God has been through suffering Himself. If God has the power to raise the dead back to life. He is definitely sturdy enough for us to get up against. He is our rock. He is our salvation.

Not only that, but He asks us to cast our cares upon us. He tells us to take His yoke upon us. Do you know what that means? I have a picture of two oxen stuck together with a wooden yoke. I saw them at the fair once. This farmer was explaining the oxen and their yoke. They have more power when they are yoked together. They also train the young oxen by yoking them with the old oxen. God is saying He’s the old oxen, we don’t have to fight through life, He will bear it for us.

So ” get up against something sturdy.” Get up against God. He will sustain you. He will carry you through ANYTHING!

In Search of Sea Turtles

August 3, 2015 By Wendy Leave a Comment

I just got back from a trip to Hawaii. I know, I know…rough life. We stayed with my sister and had a blast. We hiked, swam, and walked Waikiki. AND we saw sea turtles. We looked for sea turtles. We discussed where one can see sea turtles. We drove all the way to North Shore to see sea turtles that hall themselves up on the sand to warm up and dry off. We stood for about fifteen minutes staring at this big sea turtle just laying on the beach. Water came up and washed over him. He just laid there barely moving. My sister took tons of pictures. Not that the turtle changed positions or even bothered moving his head. He just laid there, this dark circular mound on the shore. But the excitement to see this guy. When my husband went out paddleboarding, he came back with tales of spotting a sea turtle while out there. When you spot a sea turtle it’s like sinking a 3 point shot in a close basketball game. It’s like winning the sea turtle lottery. You are dubbed amazing if you spot one. You gain major bragging rights. Why all this excitement?

Well we don’t see sea turtles everyday. Here is one of God’s creatures. One of millions, God designed on the 6th day of creation. This slow moving greenish creature that swims in the ocean. All this excitement to see a simple creature of God’s creation. I started thinking about heaven. If we are so excited to see a sea turtle, imagine what it will be like to see heaven? Imagine. We have a few descriptions God’s given us: a gate made out of gargantuan pearls, a crystal clear river running through it, streets of gold…They just put new asphalt on my parking lot. They think that looks pretty and new. I’m not impressed. WE’RE talking STREETS of GOLD, PEOPLE! Imagine that.

As I look around the world today, there is beauty to behold. There are sunsets, ocean views, animals, trees, snow capped mountains, blue skies, and babies, to name a few. I just can’t seem to picture heaven. I only have what John described in the book of Revelation, but that’s all I have. My mind can’t seem to grasp it. Of course, I’ve never been there. I can’t wait for the day I do see heaven. I long for it. I just can’t seem to picture it.

I remember when I was in high school and I worked at the local grocery store. There was this college guy who had come up to work at the store for the summer. One day we just so happened to be in the same aisle and chatting. I can’t remember how it started, but we got on the topic of heaven. I said I was a Christian and was going to heaven after I die. He looked at me and laughed loudly. He asked me why in the world did I want to go to heaven, where everyone floats on a cloud and plays a harp? I was taken back by this sad description of heaven. Where in the world did he get his idea about heaven from? A cartoon? Or, some kid’s book? He said that he couldn’t think of anything more boring than that. He said he was an atheist, but if there were a heaven or hell, he’d much rather go to hell and party with his friends. Heaven was just too boring. I had never heard anyone speak about heaven that way. I was too young and not versed enough to counteract his “most excellent argument about heaven.”

I would have more to say to him now. I would have told him about the sea turtle. I would have told him how God created the sea turtle and people flock to see this creature. God made him and we are fascinated to see it. God made you. God made clouds. God made man who made things like harps. Look around at the world you live in. God made all of it. He made man in HIS image. He made man with the capacity to love, think, celebrate, laugh, invent. God made heaven. It is God’s place of residence. Heaven will never be boring. We have a tiny, partial picture of what it will be like. Floating on a cloud, playing a harp is not God’s idea of heaven. Now hell on the other hand…the absence of God…eternal separation from our creator…I really don’t think you want that.