Hi how are you today? I am well and spending a week at the beach. It is nice and warm and good for swimming and walking and relaxing. Such a great spot. I am hoping to get a lot more of my second book written which will be great.
This week I want to talk about reimagining our life continually living in the presence of God.
I read a verse this morning about Cain after he killed Abel and in Genesis 4:16 in the Message Bible, it states:
Cain left the presence of God and lived in No-Man’s-Land, east of Eden.
Cain sinned by killing his brother Abel. The consequences of sin is punishment. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross and rising again so when I repent my sins are forgiven. But Cain didn’t have a saviour. In verses 10 to 15, this was the exchange between God and Cain in relation to Cains punishment:
“God said, “What have you done! The voice of your brother’s blood is calling to me from the ground. From now on you’ll get nothing but curses from this ground; you’ll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. You’ll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You’ll be a homeless wanderer on Earth.”
13-14 Cain said to God, “My punishment is too much. I can’t take it! You’ve thrown me off the land and I can never again face you. I’m a homeless wanderer on Earth and whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 God told him, “No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over.” God put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him.
The punishment was in essence that Cain would no longer reap great results from farming the land and would therefore, have to wander the earth in order to find sustenance.
But notice one thing, God never banished Cain from His presence: Cain banished himself. He left the presence of God and dwelt in no man’s land. This is one of the saddest verses.
How often though do we do this very same thing? We have sinned against God and instead of running to Him, we banish ourself from His presence. Imagine if our children did this to us? We would be so hurt. You see in that moment, my love for my child has not diminished but discipline needs to happen.
How does discipline happen? By discipling- teaching and training in the right ways to go.
God longs to do the same for us. He just wants to love us, forgive us and discipline us so we know more of Gods ways and how to operate in them.
King David knew this principle and we can read his struggle in many of the psalms. They start off with David being so hard on himself and ending with him knowing Who God is and coming back to Him. Those struggles happen to all of us.
This year when you are reimagining what God can do, don’t forget there will be these times in your life. But remember don’t leave; run to God. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us. So what are you waiting for? If you need restoration, run to Him. You won’t be disappointed. This is how you continually live in the presence of God.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
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