Author Archives: Nicole Vaughn

>The Original Rainbow

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The Lord smelled the soothing aroma;
and the Lord said to Himself,
“I will never again curse the ground
on account of man,
for the intent of man’s heart
is evil from his youth;
and I will never again destroy
every living thing, as I have done.”
Genesis 8:21
God was sorry that He had made man, and He sent the flood. What we see here is that even though God had to judge the earth, His heart still broke over the judgment
It reminds me of when I have had to discipline my own children. I knew it had to be done, but still it broke my heart to have to do it.
God promises here that He will never again destroy every living thing because of the wickedness of man’s heart. He promised that while the earth remained, so would hot and cold, seedtime and harvest, and day and night.
The earth was forever changed after the flood. Rain, once never seen, would now be a regular occurrence, a needed regular occurrence. What I love about God is that He knows the heart of man. God knew that the experience that Noah and his family had just been through was overwhelming, and He also knew that fear would grip them at every rainfall and every storm. Fear that somehow they had finally sinned badly enough that God had changed his mind and sent another flood.
So therefore, God, in His infinite mercy and grace, gave Noah a sign. He set His bow in the cloud. I love that. God didn’t say “a bow”; He said, “My bow.” This bow would be seen by every generation, by every nation, a reminder forever that God keeps His word.
God always gives us a sign. He never leaves us without hope. As believers in God and partakers of Christ, there will be times in our lives that we feel we have messed up so bad that God would remove us from Him, that we have lost our salvation.
Fear can grip us that we could be forsaken, but that is not the promise that Jesus gave us. Jesus promised that he would never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He promised that nothing could snatch us out of the Father’s hands ( John 10:29).
Jesus made us this promise and he gave us a sign to remind us of this truth. Just as God places His bow in the sky, He also places His Spirit in us as a sign that we belong to Him and as an ever-present reminder that He is with us.
Oh Father,
How thankful I am that You are who You are. How thankful I am that You are not a man, that You would lie or change Your mind. How thankful I am that You keep Your word. The true feeling of peace does not come when all is right with the world. The true feeling of peace comes in knowing that in spite of what is wrong with the world and what is wrong with me, You love me. You love me and You are with me.
Even though I stumble, even though I fall, You do not leave me in my failings. You might have to discipline me, allow me to fall, but You are always there to pick me up, wash me off, and assure me that You are still there with me, always with me.
My Father in heaven, great and awesome and holy is Your name. Thank You for Your longsuffering, for Your grace upon grace.
My Jesus, I love You, and it is in Your name I pray,
To You be the glory forever,
Amen.

>Rolling in the Deep

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On the same day
all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
Genesis 7:11
I remember the picture I had in my mind of the flood, the picture formed through the “story of the flood” before I had studied the Word of God for myself. This picture in my mind had the animals all nicely lined up two by two, walking up a plank into the entrance of the ark. Noah and his wife stood off to the side, watching the parade of animals and smiling at each other.
Then Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives would follow the last set of animals up the plank and into the ark and close the door. They would then look out a window and smile as the first raindrops fell to the ground.
In my picture, it would rain and rain and rain, and slowly the ark would rise and float off as the waters and the earth flooded. This is kind of a nice picture of the judgment of the earth—not at all accurate, but nice.
The truth is a little more dramatic.
First of all, it was not Noah who closed the ark door; it was the Lord (Genesis 7:16).
Second, the flood was not so slow and easy. The fountains of the great deep burst open.
Ever wondered how the Grand Canyon really was made? Let God burst open the fountains of the deep, and you’ll see a canyon. Have you ever seen the power of the geysers in Yellowstone? They can’t even compare with what must have happened on this day. If you have ever questioned the validity of the flood, just look at the real evidence around you in nature. It is there.
My husband and I visited Sequoyah Caverns in Valley Head, Alabama. In these caverns you will discover fossils of sea creatures in the walls and the ceilings. It is amazing evidence right before your eyes that the Word of God is true and that a worldwide flood did in fact occur. I am sure that these Alabama mountain caverns are not the lone evidence.
Some mighty powerful waters forever altered the earth as Noah and his family knew it. I also am pretty sure that Noah and his wife were not looking out the window and listening to the gentle rain on the rooftop of the ark. I believe they were inside the ark with their faces to the floor, praising an all-powerful God who had the authority and ability—and the right—to destroy them along with the rest, but was great in mercy and loving-kindness, and was true to His Word that He would save them if they trusted in and obeyed His voice.
Oh Father,
How mighty and awesome You are! You are He who creates, and You are He who destroys. You are He who creates life, and You are He who ends it. All things are in Your hands. All power rests in Your Word.
You are patient and You are compassionate and You are slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness, yet You will not be mocked. You will not strive with us forever.
One day we must face You—we will face You either in faith or in rebellion. Oh, how You desire that we face You in faith! You have made the way; the door is still wide open. Oh, that many would come. Oh Father, You have every right to destroy me, and yet You have chose to save me. How very good You are. How in awe of You I am.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

>Feeling Alone In A Crowd

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>I was asked to share this past Tuesday morning at a women’s group about feeling alone in a crowd and the art of friendship… I must say it was terrifying.

The morning began well.
I was up in time.
I had organized the points I had hoped to make and my flow of thoughts were written down. I had highlighted and underlined and asterisked all that I felt God was showing me was important for the ladies that morning.

I left my home ready.

Then, lost in my thoughts, I missed my turn.

Then, everyone’s phones are out of whack, including mine.

Finally I get in touch with my friends. (Just one of the many reasons I am thankful for my friends and that I do not travel this road of life alone)

So I make it to my destination with a little help from my friends… but now I am frazzled, unfocused, and terrified. All the old gut wrenching emotions of standing in front of others hits like a ton of bricks in the pit of my stomach.

Oh I was so disappointed in me. Confidence diminished, boldness gone, feelings of unworthiness crashing on the shores of my soul with unrelenting pounding… who in the world did I think I was to be standing up and speaking to anyone?

I thought God had moved me past this… but alas, here I was again in a cold nauseous sweat trying to smile with the best faked confidence I could muster. Contemplating on how could I turn around and run out the door without humiliating myself or the dear friend who believed in me enough to ask me to come and share.

Fear is now rushing over me, not that I will embarrass me…
I am used to that…
But that I will be an embarrassment to my friend.
What if I let her down? What if I make a fool of her? I mean for goodness sake, I am already coming in late… again.

Thoughts of faking an emergency phone call from home emerge… hey it could happen, right?

I thought I would be so well prepared, had hoped I would be so well prepared, had hoped that I would eloquently share all the wonderful things God had showed me as I researched all this stuff on friendship.

I stood up to share in my state of flusteration and absolutely forgot everything.
I even forgot to pray… which I am sure would have calmed me at least a little.
Here I was feeling utterly alone and foolish in a crowd as I stood to share about feeling alone in a crowd.

I have spent the time since my sharing trying to go back over the morning and trying to remember what I shared. Did I make any sense? And then the oh my’s, why did I share that’s?

I sent a text to another friend and shared my sick to my stomachness and my fear of how I felt I was a blubbering train wreck and she was so kind as to remind me that God used a donkey so she was sure he was able to use whatever I did (well at the moment I most certainly felt like a donkey in the King James translation)

It never ceases to amaze me how often God has to remind me that it is not about my capability but my availability. The power is not in me but in Him and in His Word. I am just a jar of clay with a treasure within it to share with whoever God chooses to bring into my path and with whomever I run into as I go in His commission command.

So now I have to remind myself of the same points I planned to share with others.

1) God said in the beginning that it was not good for man to be alone (Gen 2:18). We need help from each other (Eccles 4:11-12).

2) We cannot bear our burdens alone (Ex 18:18, Deut 1:9-12, Rom 15:1, Gal 6:1-2) even Christ had help when it came to the burden of carrying the cross (Luke 23:26)

3) We are not alone in feeling alone (1 Kings 18:22, Jer 15:17, Ezek 9:8)

4) Sometimes we must be alone in order to discover where we are in life, in our hearts, in our minds, sometimes we must be removed from the distractions of life and others to hear God. (Gen 32:24, 2 Chron 32:31, Daniel 10:8, John 6:15)

5) When we feel alone is when the enemy will attack the hardest (Gen 3:1-5, Luke 4:1-13, 2 Chon 32:31)

6) If we belong to Christ we are never really alone, no matter how we “feel” (John 8:29, John 14:17-18, John 16:32, Psalm 9:10, Psalm 27:9, Heb 13:5)

7) Whenever we “feel” alone we must remember that our feelings will lie to us. Our heart will deceive us and our emotions will confuse us. We must be guided by our renewed minds, renewed by the Word of God, not our hearts, for God is greater than our hearts (Prov 28:26, 1 John 3:20)

8) Many times when we “feel” alone we have chosen to put ourselves in solitary confinement (1 Kings 19:3) either by running away from others or by putting up walls around us by lies we tell so that others, even hopefully God, will not discover who we really are (Isaiah 59:1-6). We weave an outfit of flesh that we think others want to see and we hide ourselves from our own flesh (Isaiah 58:7) and then we live in the darkness of the prison of our own making simply because we fear how others might receive our real authentic selves.

9) We must be honest with ourselves, others, and God (1 John 1:9-10). The biggest lie spoken in our churches today is “I’m fine.”

10) We must not fear each other or fear revealing ourselves to one another. Let us never forget that our Savior revealed Himself on the cross, He laid Himself bare in order to become our friend (John 15:15). A true friend loves at all times (Prov 17:17) and perfect love is supposed to cast out fear (1 John 4:18-19) because we can know that we are loved by our Creator God whether anyone else loves us or not.

11) We must love in truth. Our actions must match our words. We can’t just say we love, we must show we love (1 John 3:18-20) We cannot love with hypocrisy (Rom 12:9) and experience true fellowship and friendship 

Bottom line is we need each other. I need people in my life who know me. I need my friends to help me on this journey called life. God said it was not good for us to be alone and being in a crowd does not make you “not alone”.
Not being alone comes when someone shares your heart, it comes from friendships that are formed from commitment and complete trust. It comes from being willing to let someone see you for you, from being willing to allow them to see your very soul. It also comes from being willing to hear and receive the hard things from those you know love you unconditionally…  
So I don’t know about you, but I get by with a little help from my friends 🙂

>Grieved in His Heart

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The Lord was sorry
that He had made man on the earth,
and He was grieved in His heart.
Genesis 6:6
In the account of the flood, we see a part of the heart of God. We see that He grieves. He grieved over the wickedness of man’s heart to the point of being sorry that He had even created man. I see God’s grieving heart, and I immediately go to my own life and wonder how much grief my sins have laid upon the heart of God. How many times did I break His heart; how many times do I still break His heart?
I took a trip to Poland with the March of Remembrance and Hope in 2006 and walked through Auschwitz and Majdanek and other concentration camps and spoke with Holocaust survivors. My eyes were opened to the severity of the wickedness of the heart of man and the fact that sin is a contagious disease.
The Word tells us that “bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). I saw this verse lived out through the heart-wrenching stories of those who lived through this era of history.
Irving Roth was one of the survivors with whom I spent the most time. He also has written Bondi’s Brother, a book sharing his story. Irving shares in his book about a soldier that he met while he was a young teenage prisoner of Auschwitz.
This soldier had been wounded in battle and had been transferred to Auschwitz to recover. He had been around the world in battle. He was not aware of what these prisoner camps really were about, and he didn’t understand what Irving could have done to be there. Irving explained to the soldier that he was there because he was a Jew and these camps killed Jews.
The soldier thought this was crazy and even accused Irving of telling a fib. He knew there was a war raging, and he couldn’t understand why his country would be killing men who could be fighting for it. Irving tells how the soldier reached in his pocket and gave him a piece of candy, the first he had tasted in years.
Weeks later, Irving saw this soldier again; whip in hand, beating and cursing the Jews along with the rest of the Nazi guards. This soldier could have gone in and made a difference, but instead his morals were corrupted by the company he kept.
Oh, precious one, this is why we need Christ. God tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. This is a valid statement. If you attempt to deny it, you have never really looked at your heart.
In the account of the flood, we also see the reality of the judgment of God. He says that there is still yet another judgment to come, but this one will be final.
This is the hope God gives. He offers salvation from his judgment; salvation to those who humble themselves and walk in his ways and obey his Word. He offered an ark for a man named Noah. Noah was the grandson of Methuselah, the great-grandson of Enoch, the man who walked with God.
We must know that Enoch shared with Noah about the judgment that was to come, so when God appeared to Noah and told him to build an ark in the middle of a desert and told him that it was going to rain (something Noah had never seen) for forty days and forty nights, I am sure his great-grandfather’s words rang loud in his ears and in his heart. Not to mention the Creator of the universe, Elohim, had assured him of this truth.
God did not send His judgment without warning, just as His future judgment has not been and will not be loudly declared. We can praise God for the assured fact that just as an ark was prepared for any who would believe and climb aboard, God has sent us another ark, the Christ.
The sad thing is that in Noah’s ark there was much room. All who would believe were Noah and his family, yet God had allowed the design of the ark to carry many more, yet no more would come.
Just as there was room in the ark, there is room in Christ. There is room at the cross for all who will believe and come.
Oh Father,
Your heart breaks and grieves over the sin and fall of Your creation, yet even in our sin, Your grace abounds. You have never pronounced judgment without reaching out and offering salvation to any who would believe and come. Thank you for sending Jesus Christ, for in Him I am safe. He is my refuge and my shelter from the storm.
Thank you for not giving up on me and for sending people into my life to share with me about the judgment that is to come and about You, the God who judges sin but in His loving-kindness, has made a way for salvation from this coming judgment.
This sin, this disease, I receive at birth, I did not choose it; it just is, and in this life, my disease can become stronger and completely destroy me, but you sent the Great Physician, who can heal my disease and cleanse me.
Oh Father, I am so thankful that part of my salvation, part of the promise in the new covenant, is a new heart; a heart that no longer desires to sin, but desires to walk in your ways because it simply loves You and wants to please You.
My Jesus, be glorified in me.
In Your name I pray,
Amen.

>People Get Ready

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Enoch walked with God;
and he was not,
for God took him.
Genesis 5:24
“Enoch walked with God.” This statement amazes me. Is there any greater acclamation than to be written down in history and remembered as one who walked with God?
At 105 years old, Seth had his son Enos; then men began to call upon the name of the Lord. They began to pray, to call upon God for salvation.
One hundred and thirty years had passed since the fall of man and their being cast out of the garden. Sin was here, and its effect on mankind already quite evident.
We know this from what is written in Genesis chapter four, murders and lust and disobedience to our Creator already abounding. Yet here in this son of Adam, the one called Seth, God begins His remnant. Man began to call on the name of the Lord.
Six generations from Seth, seventh from Adam (Jude 1:14), Enoch is born, and Enoch walked with God. We learn from the book of Jude that Enoch was also a prophet, the first man to be recorded as a prophet of God.
At the age of sixty-five, Enoch had a son, and his name was to be Methuselah. Methuselah’s name means “when he dies, it will be sent.” I believe God let Enoch know that judgment was coming upon the earth. God let Enoch know when it was coming through the name of his son Methuselah. Methuselah would have a son, Lamech, and Lamech would have a son and name him Noah. In the day of Noah, God would send judgment upon the earth.
There is more for us to learn from Enoch’s relationship with God. He “walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Enoch did not experience the great judgment that would come in the day of Noah because he died a physical death, but because God took him.
Through Enoch’s experience I believe we can see a picture of the rapture of the church: “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Today the church is here. We are here walking with God. We have a relationship with God. We are calling on His name. We are to be telling others about the judgment that God has said is yet to come. We as the church are to be sharing the gospel of God, just as Enoch did, and one day before the great day of judgment comes, just as God took Enoch, He shall take His church.
My friend, if He came to catch up His church today, would you be ready?
Oh Father,
You are so good. How awesome it is to know that You are the living God. You are not made with stone or wood. You are not a God that I pick up and have to carry. You are a God that carries me! You are a God that walks with those who call upon Your name. I do not have to search You out, nor do I have to travel miles to a temple built by the hands of men, for You come to me.
Oh Father, that I would never take for granted the relationship that I have with You. That I too, will be recorded as one who walked with You and called upon Your name. How exciting it is to think of being caught up with You in the air. My Father, I love You and I am humbled to even be able to call You Father. Thank You for loving me.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen

>Time’s Up

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>Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11. This day ten years ago I was substitute teaching at West Morgan High School while my husband was at work and my three month old baby girl was safe at her Grandmother’s. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I remember the jaw dropping sight of the one smoking tower, and I then remember the hand over my mouth in utter disbelief as I watched the 2nd plane fly into the 2nd tower, and then I remember my hand to my chest and I remember no longer being able to stand when I heard the news on the Pentagon, because I knew then this was an attack on our nation.

Immediately I wanted a head count of all those I loved. Where were they? Were they safe? My husband left work and came to me at the school and then we went to his mother’s to be with our baby and his mother. My Father-in-Law was on lock down at the arsenal… a prime possible target. We lived on pins and needles for a while…

Then we went to war… we still are at war.

The churches did flood that day and for months after.

Hate was stirred that day as well.

Then “tolerance” was pushed in our nation like it had never been pushed before.

I would like to say that our world was turned upside down for good on that day… but sadly I cannot. All we have to do is look at the change in our prime time t.v shows to see which way our nation flipped.

Touched By An Angel had a prime time slot, Cosby, Sister Sister, Home Improvement, Wonderful World of Disney, Promised Land, Kids Say the Darndest Things, America’s Funniest Home Videos, etc.

What has those prime time slots in this day?
Think about it…

What I have learned is that when we realize that life is short we will increase the desires of our heart. You want to know the real state of your heart? What is your initial response to “You have one month left to live, how will you spend it?”

Is your answer “Wow how much of this world can I soak in and enjoy before my time’s up?”
Is it “I need to experience sex with as many different people as possible now, before I miss it?”
Is it “Alright let’s go to Vegas and LA and New York and fly to Paris and live it up?” 

(This mentality to me is about the same as saying, hey I am going down and I want to take as many as I can with me, I will stand either condemned or ashamed before God and I want you to as well)

When we discovered the men who committed the acts of 9/11 what did we learn about their last days? Days that they were fully aware were there last days?

Compare this with our Saviour. How did He spend His last days? Days that He was fully aware were His last days?

Whose example should we follow?
Man’s or Jesus’s?
We are in the last days… how are you spending them?

“God,
after He spoke long ago to the fathers
in the prophets
in many portions
and in many ways,
in these last days
has spoken to us in His Son,”
Hebrews 1:1-2

I believe our nation has exposed its heart in these post 9/11 days… Instead of our nation turning to God and seeking to grow in holiness and purpose, we showed ourselves to be filthy, and a pig that loved to wallow in it’s filth, a dog that returns to its vomit…

“And he said to me,
“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book,
for the time is near. 
Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong;
and the one who is filthy, still be filthy;
and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness;
and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.” 
“Behold, I am coming quickly,
and My reward is with Me,
to render to every man according to what he has done.
 I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.” 
Blessed are those who wash their robes,
so that they may have the right to the tree of life,
and may enter by the gates into the city.”
Revelation 22:10-14
 
So the time is near. We are not promised tomorrow. If you knew you were on borrowed time… would your desire be to soak up and enjoy more of the lust for the pleasures of this world or would your desire be to get even busier setting others free from the chains of slavery that are embedded in the momentary pleasures of this world?
 
If your time’s up, how do you want to spend each borrowed minute that is left?
 
 
 
 

But God

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If anyone has taken a class with me they have heard me comment about how much I love the “but’s” in the Bible.

“But God” is a phrase that encompasses the hope that is within the veil that is the anchor of our very souls.

We were in the depravity of our minds, the deceitfulness of our hearts, and the wickedness of our actions… BUT GOD!

How beautiful these words are as we look up from the pits we have dug with our own hands… but God 🙂 

Below is a letter from an email prayer update I receive from a beautiful woman of God who leads precept classes in a women’s prison… don’t miss the “but God” and when you finish reading please also lift Mary Alice up in prayer as she goes to the front lines to teach the Word of God to those that a lot of us would never even consider as having hope of repentance and entrance into the kingdom of Light… but God… 

“For while we were still helpless,
at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 
For one will hardly die for a righteous man;
though perhaps for the good man
someone would dare even to die. 
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8

Dear Praying Friends,

2:30pm class:  Before class I noticed Virginia’s gigantic smile and couldn’t help but ask, “Virginia, what’s up?”

You won’t believe what the Lord has done!  I have been down (incarcerated) for 39 years!  I’m 73 years old!  They wouldn’t even give me a parole date!  The chairman of the parole board told me last time that I was lucky she was retiring because, there was no way she would grant me parole!  Well, there she was, sitting on the board again.

My lawyer leaned over to me and said, ‘This doesn’t look good, she’s back.’

And I told him, ‘God is in control of my future, not this board.’

Virginia said, “When I entered the room, I smiled at everyone….they smiled back!”

“It’s such a wonderful feeling when you know God is in charge,” she noted to me with absolute assurance. “Much to everyone’s surprise, they observed the change in me and granted me parole, my date is in March 2012!”

She continued her story, “I did some really bad things in the 60’s, she hung her head and whispered something about teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa, smuggling drugs and guns to Mexico.  I hurt everybody I came in contact with and if I do get out, somehow I want to make it up to them.  Especially my family and friends.  I caused a lot of pain, MaryAlice.  I caused a lot of pain.”

“Virginia,” I comforted, “We can’t make up for the pain we’ve caused people.  But what we can do is received God’s forgiveness and offer our sincere apologies.”

“Oh, I have,” she interrupted, “Everyone of them have forgiven me.  But I just feel like I need to do something for all I’ve done.”

“You can, Virginia,” I encouraged, “Please God by growing in Him and serving Him and He will take care of the rest!”

She proceeded to tell me about how mean she was and that she was sent to different prisons all over the US to house her.  “Some states didn’t want me,” she recounted.  “I was really bad.  I would slash officers if they got even close to me and if I couldn’t reach them I would slash myself,” she said as she held up her arms so I could see the scars.  “I was a wild man,” she shook her head, “But God….”

“Oooh, my favorite two words,” I interrupted!

“Mine too,” Virginia agreed.  “But God kept sending officers and health workers and even a warden to me who didn’t give up on me.  Who were compassionate and kind.  I would get even meaner, but they just kept being kind until I couldn’t take it anymore…I couldn’t be mean…how can you be mean to so much compassion and kindness?  It broke me!  I cried and cried.” (That’s a BIG deal in prison, no one admits to crying!)

I thought to myself…the love of God compels me…His mercies are new every morning…

Virginia changed from that day forward…it’s been 10 years since that day, but the last year has been a huge change!  She is totally sold out to our Jesus!  She handles the Word with accuracy and can make application.   Wow!  But there’s more…

When you break a law in prison,  “Bad points” are applied against you on your record.  The most “good points” you can earn in a year to remove the “bad points” are 8.  Virginia has over 400 bad points against her still but the parole board intentionally overlooked those due to the remarkable transformation!  “It’s God, MaryAlice, it’s God!  There’s just no other explanation for it!  I didn’t ask for anything, I was content with ‘whatever you want, Lord’  and look what He did!”

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creature;
the old things passed away; behold,
new things have come.” 
2 Corinthians 5:17
 

>Must Be Alive To Die

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Adam had relations with his wife again;
and she gave birth to a son,
and named him Seth.
Genesis 4:25
God’s mercies are new every morning. Adam and Eve grieved over the death of Abel, and in their grief, God blessed them with Seth. Seth called upon the name of the Lord.
A distinction was now made between those who would go the way of Cain and those who, like Seth, would call upon the name of the Lord. The distinction is so great and so evident that when God inspired Moses to write the book of Genesis, there is no mention of the death of Cain or the death of his children.
On the other hand, with the generations of Seth and his descendants, beginning with Seth’s father, Adam, God made the point to say, “And he died.” For someone to die, he must first live. Cain never lived.
There are many like Cain who appear to be alive but are not connected to the life, and so therefore, are already dead.
An illustration of those without Christ can be seen in a vase. We can see a beautiful vase of flowers on a table. The flowers appear to be alive and thriving. You can even smell their fragrance and touch the softness of their petals, but if you return to that same vase of flowers a week or so later, the truth is made evident. Those flowers in that vase are now wilted and slimy, and they stink. Death has made itself evident.
The flowers only appeared alive for a short time because they had been cut off from their life-giving source. Now, someone who knows more about flowers than I do could have taken those cut-off flowers and placed them back into their life-giving source and those flowers would have lived.
We are like those flowers.
In the garden, when sin entered the world, we were cut off from our life-giving source; we were separated from our Creator. We may appear alive, but left without him, we too become wilted, slimy, and we stink. Death makes itself evident. Cain remained dead in spirit, and his children followed him. Never coming to God to receive life, they merely existed, and then existed no more.
Oh Father,
The death of your children is precious in your sight (Psalm 116:15); the death of the righteous, those who have called upon your name and waited for your promise. Even though they did not receive it in this life, they waited. Father, your Word is true, and they died believing your Word was true. They believed in the promised seed before he came in the flesh, and that faith, that belief, brought them life then as it does me now. Father, I pray that my life will count. Thank you for my life in Christ, for I did not even know I was dead until I finally lived.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.

[Since the publication of this book I have continued my research and study in the Scriptures. I would like to share some insight that I have gleaned concerning the verse that speaks of Seth calling upon the name of the Lord. At first I interpreted this verse to mean that Seth began the generation of prayer communication between man and God, but after further study, I believe it is much more. As we study further in the Word we discover that when men called upon the name of the Lord it was usually a cry for Him to move on their behalf, to deliver them from an enemy or an oppressor, it was a cry for help. If we consider the placement of this chapter in God’s Holy Word we have to notice that this reference of calling upon the name of the Lord, precedes the chapter of the flood and follows the chapter that speaks of the murders of Cain and Lamech. I believe that Seth’s call upon the name of the Lord was the righteous ones calling upon God to deliver them from the great oppression of the wicked that now filled the earth… thus the flood. Seth’s calling on the name of the Lord was much more than a simply prayer of fellowship it was the same cry we see over and over again in the Word of God clear up to Revelation 6:9-10 “I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ]

The Angry Voice

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confessions

The other day I was fixing supper and my youngest came into the kitchen to tell me about something her big sister had done to her. She came in explaining in her poor pitiful me voice that her big sister was getting on to her in my “angry voice” and was acting like she was her momma.

What? My children? My little precious bundles of joy recognize that I, the one who gave birth to them has an “angry voice” and it is “my angy voice“?

I was shocked!

Well not really…
Yes, I have an angry voice and yes, I use it.

At first I felt condemnation at this realization? Am I not to be kind? Am I not to be sweet tempered? Am I not to be gentle?

Oh I hear sweet soft spoken mom’s who never seem to “lose it” with their children…

I hear them and I think. I will do better. I will become like them. I will remain calm always. I will become even tempered if it kills me. But alas this red-head (yes, I shall blame the red-head, I have it and I shall use it, lol) along with my touch of Irish blood (you know “the fighting Irish”) just seems to get me every time.

The most frustrating thing is that the “angry voice” does not rise up out of my throat until my sweet voice has already asked at least twice, there just is something about that third time…

But somehow, for some strange reason, my children amazingly seem to comprehend my words and act upon my request the moment the “angry voice” emerges.

Sometimes I feel as though I should just skip the polite requests and just jump straight to the “angry voice”

As I have pondered my “angry voice” I was reminded of a passage in Isaiah…

 Again the LORD spoke to me further, saying,
 “Inasmuch as these people have rejected
the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah; 
“Now therefore, behold,
the Lord is about to bring on them
the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates,
Even the king of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will rise up over all its channels
and go over all its banks.”

Isaiah 8:5-7

And here it is. The children ignoring the gentle sweet voice of their Father, not seeming to hear Him at all… then comes the “angry voice”.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of the “angry voice” of God?

How many times has God gotten to the point that He has had to use His angry voice simply because we will not obey the sweet gentle sound of His small still whisper?

I do not believe that God enjoys having to whip out His angry voice to get His children to hear and obey Him anymore than I enjoy having to use mine to get my children to hear and obey me.

Now the “angry voice” is not to be used to belittle, bash, or abuse, it simply is re-stating the exact same request in a more forceful tone, the “I mean business, now!” tone.

My angry voice is usually preceded by the question “how many times do I have to tell you to…?“

And it usually ends with the “do you understand me?” or “if I have to tell you again it will be with the belt“

I don’t enjoy disciplining my children. I don’t enjoy the angry voice. I would much rather they choose to simply do what I ask, when I ask them…

Hmmmm… I am sure my Heavenly Father looks down upon me with the very same sentiment.

>Attitude Adjustment

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>

But for Cain and for his offering
He had no regard.
So Cain became very angry
and his countenance fell.
Genesis 4:5
I have to admit that on a casual reading of this particular passage of Scripture, one could easily think God was a little unfair. I have to confess that I once held that thought. However, what I have learned in my walk with God is He is never unfair. Taking a closer look at this passage, at this famous story of Cain and Abel, so very much can be seen.
God is our Creator, and He will be honored.
God had regard for Abel’s offering because his offering came according to God’s way. In the garden after the fall, God slew an animal to cover Adam and Eve. This animal was slain to cover their sin. Here God showed them that “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Abel brought God an animal from his flock as his offering. Abel also brought Him the firstlings. God is deserving of our first priority and deserving of our best.
For Cain’s offering, God had no regard because he did not come with a blood sacrifice, and he came in the course of time and not with his firstfruits. Yet even in Cain’s blatant disregard and lack of respect, God’s hand of mercy extended out to him.
God remained patient with him, and He gave him guidance and encouragement. He instructed him on what he needed to do, how he needed to do it, and gave him a warning concerning the sin of his heart.
Oh, precious one, our Creator is still patient with us. He has instructed us on what we need to do. We need to come to Him through the blood of Jesus Christ. He has instructed us on how we need to do it. We come to Him by grace through faith. He has given us a warning concerning the sin of our heart. God’s Word, His commands and precepts, show us the truth, and by them we are warned because by them we see that our way is different from God’s way. We then must choose to heed God’s warning and submit to his way or disregard this warning and experience the consequences.
Cain continued to disregard God and His word of warning, and in this he hardened his heart. This hardening led to jealousy and hatred toward his brother, which ended in Cain murdering Abel.
When we ignore God’s warning, when we blatantly disregard his commands, our hearts grow hard. When our hearts grow hard, we lose our sensitivity to sin, and in this state we can do things we never dreamed we would be guilty of doing.
God cast Cain from his presence. Even in this judgment we see Cain’s hardness of heart. He showed no remorse or repentance, only concern for the greatness of his own judgment. Cain was self-centered, not God-centered. His offering and his reaction toward Abel demonstrated the state of his heart.
In the book of Jude we read, “But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain” (Jude 1:10–11). Cain did not understand why God would only accept the offering if it came according to His way. Cain wanted the offering to be according to his instinct of what was right. Cain refused to accept God’s way by faith. He chose to act according to his own understanding, and by this he was destroyed.
My friend, we may not completely understand God’s ways, but let us accept them by faith and trust the Holy Spirit to bring us into understanding.
Oh Father,
You are God. You are holy, and You will be treated as holy. You will be honored, and You will be exalted. You know my heart. You know my coming and my going.
Oh Father, may I always give You my best. May my walk with You always be priority in my life. When I fail You and Your Holy Spirit convicts me of my sin, may I always be quick to confess and repent. May my heart always be soft and eager to be molded by You. Thank You, for Your mercies are great and Your love endures forever.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.