By Susan Bergstol
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08 Aug, 2020
New Beginnings We all have the opportunity for a new beginning in life. Everyone wants a new beginning in some area in their life, at some point. But the truth is that without redemption through Jesus there is no life. You may have physical life but void of any connection to God and purpose. That’s why God said in the Gospel of John, unless you are born-again, you can’t “see” the Kingdom of God. Without the Holy Spirit, you are blinded, still veiled, by the Spirit of the world. Since the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden what was intended for the beginning of a perfect life, for all mankind, ended up being the death to the human race. Both in the Spiritual and in the physical. Then God said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… (see Gen 1: 26). God created Adam and Eve in His Image, God walked with them, talked with them, and gave them all dominion over the earth. They even were given the authority to name all of the livestock, birds and animals, talk about power! “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:16). There wasn’t any interference in hearing from God, they knew what was right and what was wrong. Adam and Eve didn’t have any distractions that we have in the world today, they were in the perfect, right standing with God. They couldn’t blame their poor choice on their parents or learned behaviors from the world. They weren’t concerned about finances, relationships, or their health. God gave them the free choice to obey Him or not. Satan used God’s creation, disguised as a serpent, to get her to question God. Satan came with just a whisper of doubt was able to get Eve to communicate with him! Eve was completely content in the Garden, she wasn’t thinking about what she didn’t have, not until Satan tempted her to look, and whispered lies to her. He lied and told her she didn’t have enough, that God was holding out on her, that her life would be better if she had more. The moment she gave attention and listened, he was able to get her to question, doubt and then sin. Eve was talked into doubting God! Satan is still at work behind the scenes in the world today. Trying to get believers to doubt and go against God and His ways. We can learn a lot from Eve, she had everything, in perfect paradise, and Satan was still able to get her to believe she needed more. Our world today wants to sell you that “something more” and it leads to death. It’s deadly fruit, when you eat of it, it produces the same. It produces death in the natural, and in the spiritual. One thing as believers we have that Adam and Eve didn’t have was the warning of how deceptive Satan really was and still is! God didn’t warn them that a serpent was coming to the garden to tempt them to sin. Since Adam and Eve, we now know how deceptive the devil really is. We have their testimony, and the Bible that’s filled with wisdom to not make the same mistakes. We learn from the Israelites and all the people that walked with God before us, so we don’t make the same mistakes. Christians need to encourage each other stay close to God and far from sin and temptation. Adam was no help for Eve, he went along with her and sinned against God. We need to pray against being deceived, to be strong in the Lord, and not let Satan use us to pull each other down. The bible says that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking who he can devour. (see 1 Peter 5:8). The enemy wants to destroy marriages, relationships, and families. Divorce can cause lasting effects on self and others, and it’s a domino effect onto the children. God hates it, and Satan loves it. He will whisper to you or use others to cause you to doubt your mate, friendships, of their intentions, their love, their faithfulness. Just as he did with Eve, getting her to doubt God. When you surrender to the Lord, completely, He loves to work miracles. He knows He will get the Glory, because when there seems to be no way, He makes a way. He transforms lives to better than when than before. I’ve seen it over and over, and over again. The enemy has blinded the eyes of mankind, and many are still doing what Eve did. Doubting if God is real, questioning Him about sin, and thinking you’re missing out of a better life in sin without God. Pre-believers (unbelievers) don’t have the Holy Spirit therefore they won’t discern the lies. When you are a Child of God, and filled with the Holy Spirit, you have His divine power to take every thought captive, and make it obedient to Christ, by replacing it with the Truth of God’s Word. God provided a way through Jesus to redeem back what Satan stole! But it’s a choice! There is no middle ground, either we accept the offer of eternal life with God, through repentance and turning from Satan and sin. Or we don’t. Through Jesus Christ we are restored fully back to God our creator as if we have never sinned! Being restored fully means that we have the ability to have perfect intimacy with God, we have authority in the name of Jesus over creation, and we have a dual nature, citizens of heaven, and reining on the earth! The ability to see and hear in the Spirit realm is the bread for all Spirit filled believers. We were created to live in the physical world and in the spiritual world at the same time. We are Spiritual beings in an earthly body and a heavenly mindset. That’s the good news! The bad news is Satan is the god of the world for all of the unredeemed human race.