In Genesis, right after Adam and Eve sinned, they hid. The Lord God came walking along in the garden, like He did every evening, and the first question He asked them was: “Where are you?” The second one was: ““Who TOLD you that … you were naked?Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Genesis 3:11.

Recently the Lord put His big highlighter over those four words. ‘Who told you that…?’  was all He said, so I went away and looked that scripture up. Suddenly I realised, there is somebody who stands at our elbow whispering in our ears, constantly replaying our sins and disobedience – even after we have repented. Our enemy won’t ever remind us about what the blood of Jesus did for us, because he never wants us to live in the knowledge of our freedom from the compulsion and temptation to SIN! We were made free when Christ died. Once for all. 

I believe the Lord Himself wants to say to everyone reading this blog today – “Who told you you’ve failed me? Who told you I don’t love you? Who told you that you have to run and hide from Me? Who told you that I am angry with you? Somebody told you that … and it wasn’t ME!” …satan led Adam and Eve right up the garden path and then shoved them off a cliff of his making.

I believe the Lord highlighted those words to me today, because the devil used that ploy back there in the garden, and he is still doing it now, today. he hands us the weapons for our own destruction and then clobbers us with what we’ve done after we did it. The good news is – we don’t have to take anything from him! Seriously … turn your hand upside down whenever he comes at you, refuse to take guilt, shame and the blame. Instead, intentionally – repent, repair and restore things, with the Holy Spirit’s direction and help. Don’t give him a reason to accuse you – fix things.

There were two trees in the garden of Eden. Genesis 2:9b says: “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  In the middle of that garden was a choice! They could choose to obey God and live … or not. Genesis 2:16 says: “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”  And we all know what came next. 😵‍💫 Meanwhile did you ever wonder if Adam and Eve both lived a long time just because they actually did eat from the tree of life? That tree was not forbidden. I’m just saying is all …

Back to my point this morning  – the enemy can’t wait to hand us our sins. Meanwhile those sins are real! We do dumb disobedient horrible things, but … we don’t have to live under his lies. We can focus on our failures, or the cross. The choice is ours. Jesus Christ died to give us that choice. Now, we have access to redemption – because it has already been released. We must learn to embrace what has already been done for us … “IF we CONFESS our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

There were two trees in back in that garden, one brought eternal life and the other brought death. Jesus came here to die for all mankind. He hung on another type of tree and defeated death forever.  His cross truly was the tree of life for us! He released life for anyone who believes in Him. We don’t have to take the guilt and the shame that satan tries to hand out to us when we sin, accidentally, or not. Our enemy started that game back in the garden – but we have the power to live differently now – we don’t have to play that game with him anymore. Thank you Jesus! 👏

Our enemy will always try to tell us that we are trapped in the past, or stuck in our old behaviour – he’s a liar remember? he’s called the father of lies!  Jesus Christ FINISHED the work. We do not have to listen to the one who tells us we are failures, and that we can’t possibly belong to the Lord – the bible tells a different story!  We need to take note of who is telling us that we are not loved – and ask ourselves: “Who told me that?” 👋🏻