TUESDAY, August 19th, 2008

HAPPY FAY DAY!!!

Hey Everyone! I hope you enjoy your day today. Today just happens to be my wedding anniversary!! Cool Huh! Can you believe that we have already been married 2 years? Katie and I sat around the house last night watching our wedding DVD... It is amazing! I think you should all watch it sometime soon. In fact, next time we do a movie night, I will bring it and show you the music video of the day. I guarantee you will be impressed; It is so great!

Anyway! Great job on the devotions yesterday! I am thankful for such a wonderful youth group! Each of you are a blessing to me, more than you realize. Love you all!

Genesis 4

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.”
2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,
5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”
13 And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!
14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”
15 And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch.
18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
21 His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.
22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Then Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.

This is a great passage as well, many of you probably grew up listening to the story of Cain and Able. Here is the story in a nutshell. Cain was a farmer, Abel was a shepherd. Abel sacrificed his sheep, while Cain "sacrificed" his crop. Which do you think is more valuable? Sheep or veggies?

Now, my first thought is that Cain gave God what he had, so why did God punish him?? Right? The issue is that God told them what He expected from them, He wanted a sacrifice that required blood. Cain had to find a way to honor that request. He could have gone out and searched for a wild sheep, or He could have traded one for food from his brother, but instead... Cain disregarded Gods requirements. Cain basically ignored Gods request for His life.

Not only do we see cain disregard Gods requests, then we see Cain disregard Gods man... Cain was jealous because of Abels relationship with God, so Cain killed him!!!

God then asks Cain, where is your brother... Let me ask you? Did God know where Abel was?? YES! Duh! But Cain doesnt even think about that... Instead Cain get SARCASTIC WITH GOD!!!! can you believe it?? UNBELIEVABLE!! It is one thing to be sarcastic with your friends, and another thing to be sarcastic to your parents... BUT TO BE SARCASTIC TO GOD???!?! What was He thinking??

Well... Sin makes you STUPID!

and Sin made Cain stupid. God then poured out the consequences of Cains sin upon Him... and what does Cain say? The punishment is too much for me to bear... Can you believe him? He is now whining about the consequences of the sin that he commited...

It would be easy to sit here and judge Cain all day, but if we are honest... we often act JUST LIKE CAIN... here is what I mean... We get mad, and instead of dealing with the situation rationally, and Godly, we blow up! and although we may not literally kill someone, often times we slay them with our words, or with some other actions...

Then when we get caught often times, we respond sarcastically! Who you?? No!!! Well... think about the last time you were sarcastic to your parents? Was it two months ago? was it two minutes ago?

Probably closer to the latter.

Well, I think there is (once again) a lot of good stuff in this chapter if you are willing to take a few minutes and think through it, and allow God to work on your heart about it!

Stay faithful! Don't get washed away in the storm today!

See you tomorrow night! In Church!!

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