Satan's Secret Strategy

Continuing our series in Genesis we looked at Genesis 3:1-7. 

Satan has a strategy. Jesus pointed this out in John 10:10. "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

As we read the story of the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden we learn several things about the enemies schemes.

First the devil tries to get us to doubt God's provisions. Though God had given all things to Adam and Eve he did have one rule and that was not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan's goal was to take Eve's eyes off of what she had in abundance to what she could not have i.e. the forbidden fruit. Satan tries to convince us that God is holding out on us. He's not giving us everything when we want it. 

During this time of Hurricane cleanup in Galveston and the surrounding area we can easily be tempted to focus on what we have lost instead of what we still have. We begin to doubt God. We begin to question God. When we begin down that path without realizing it we begin to bring God's character into doubt. 

When Job lost everything in one day he fell on his face before God and cried out, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." At the end of the story of Job God gave him much more than he had to begin with. In other words God is able and willing to restore not only what has been lost but also more because of His great love for us.

Tell the devil to take a hike! We're not biting into his lies. I will trust God to see me through and I will do my best with God's help, to aid my neighbors and demonstrate the love of Christ.

Hurricane Ike

I know it's been a while since I posted something but we have been kinda distracted to say the least with Hurricane Ike. While many fared well with minimal damage to their property there are some who have lost much and it's going to take time to rebuild and restore. 

While we were in Dallas hiding from Ike I kept thinking about those FEMA trailers and if they would be big enough for my family and would I still have a job to go back to and what exactly was all that stuff in my garage since I had the presence  of mind to take a video recording of the interior of my house before we left, just in case, but I forgot about the garage so I lay awake at night and started making a list of everything in my garage for the insurance because it adds up pretty fast and i was surprised to see how many tools and other stuff we actually had and this is after I had cleaned up my garage and repainted it.

But alas, we didn't have any damage to speak of. I was secretly hoping for new rain gutters since the ones we have are so old and I was sure they were going to be gone but not one lousy rusted gutter was moved from it's place. We didn't even lose one shingle of roofing and I started to feel bad because I had prayed that the Lord would protect our home and now I was a little miffed because he did such a good job. I hope that doesn't make me a bad person and all. I think it just shows I'm human and sometimes not as spiritual as I would like to think. 

I did weep for those who have lost so much and I will do my best to pray for them and to help them as much as I can to recover.