Psalms

Psalms: Just the name seems to have a calming affect. What is it about Psalms that draws us in times of need, or distress, times of loneliness or depression, times of worry or weariness, and even in glad times to this book? I have heard and preached funerals from Psalms 23. I have heard and preached regular sermons from Psalms 23. I guess one of my favorite sermons on Psalms 23 is from J. Vernon McGee. We did a lake service a few years back and the campground was full of campers from New Orleans the week after Katrina and they were not able to return. When the service was over they wanted to recite the 23rd Psalm. I have many times sat down in times of sorrow, depression and worry and after praying turned to Psalms and began reading. It does have a calming affect. Recently we lost our kitty in a terrible accident with the garage door. We were all distraught. After I buried her, I came to the living room and sat down. My Bible was next to me and I opened it to Psalms. My daughter came in with tears and sobbing and curled up next to me saw my Bible open and asked if I would read to her. Some can't imagine what that means to a dad to hear those words from your child. After reading a few chapters she said thanks and that she was feeling better.

So what is it about this book that brings so much comfort to so many? Well possibly because since it is God speaking to us and He is showing us that He cares for us. But I have another thought that I have found to be true in my life. A few years ago I heard Tony Evans say when you are in a time of turmoil and distress, Go to God in prayer and instead of pouring out your complaints and demands, start by praising Him. Spend the "Majority" of you prayer time praising Him. Does God know what is in your heart and what your needs are? Yes, so why spend so much time in prayer focused on that? I am not saying to not pray for these things and make our requests and petitions of God, because I believe He wants us to. But spend more time in praise and worship of Him daily and especially during those times. During my quiet time I looked over the introduction to Psalms again. I found that the Greek word from the Septuagint is Psalms. The Hebrew word is Praise. As we read Psalms we are reading praises to God. Maybe that is why we are drawn to Psalms during these times. I have found that when I give praise to God I receive a peace from Him. What do you think? What are your experiences?

Adam's Sin

So, here's my first post. I think I will make it a treasure hunt. This is a discussion that started in my class a couple of weeks ago and it has had me exploring this for a few weeks now. We were studying the Doctrine of Sin. We came to the part where I stated that we inherited the Sin Nature from Adam. This opened a great discussion. Part of the discussion led down the path that if we inherit something from someone it had to be in their genes, so did God create the sin nature. Of course the response from my whole group was no. But I began to explore this a little more. This is what I determined.

Genesis 1:31 (KJV) 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God is Holy. God could not have created anything evil. If one speck of unholiness is found in God, then He is no longer Holy.

To change either of these would be to say that God is the Author of evil, sin and death.

My conclusion is that since God created us with a free will, then we chose to sin through the temptation that Satan set before us. Also that the Sin Nature was not in Adam's genes, but a result of his sin action. Much as the desire to do drugs may not be in the genes of the mother, but once she has tried it and is hooked, it can be passed along to the child.

Now the next question I have started to explore is since Adam had no sin nature, why did he choose to sin? James says (KJV) 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. So if we are drawn away of our own lust, then is that something that God placed in us, and was it a bad thing. I have to go back to the previous statements, that God said that all He created was "Very Good" and that God is Holy. So if lust and any desires that were placed in us had to be good at the beginning. What was the source of Adam's sin. I know that Satan was the tempter and what all he did, but there had to be something in Adam that made him want to sin. I know we have preached and taught that pride was at the heart of this. So was pride a good thing if God created it? Did God create it? Some interesting questions. What do you think?

June 14, 2009

I thought I would add onto this post. As I gave some more thought to this post, I asked myself about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Since God said everything He created was very good. Them I am left to conclude that this tree was not bad. And since God is not the source of temptations, then this tree must have been created with another purpose. Here is what I think. The tree was put there for Adam and Eve to grow in there walk with God, and to Honor God. As we say yes to God and obeying Him we grow in our Christian walk. I don't look at it as saying no to sin, but as saying yes to God. Also, how do we show honor, respect and love to God. By obeying Him. What do you think?