THE STORY OF CAIN AND ABLE.....DOES IT STILL EXIST TODAY ?

4/6/2019

ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PASTORS IS DR. MICHAEL LAKE. HE IS AN AMAZING MAN OF GOD, AND HE IS A BOLD FOLLOWER OF JESUS, WHO HAS SOME OF THE MOST PROLIFIC TEACHING ABOUT GOD’S KINGDOM THAT I HAVE COME ACROSS. HE HAS A YOUTUBE SERIES THAT ARE SPECIFIC TEACHINGS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD THAT WILL TAKE YOU FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION. HIS TEACHINGS ARE EYE OPENING AND DEEP REGARDING THE KINGDOM OF GOD, VERSUS THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS. IF YOU TRULY WANT TO GO A WHOLE LOT DEEPER, CHECK HIM OUT. TRUST ME, YOU WILL BE BLESSED !

I HAVE JUST FINISHED A TEACHING THAT FOCUSES ON THE CHARACTER OF CAIN AND ABLE, AND WHO THEY WERE IN CHARACTER AS MEN, THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AND HOW THEY LIVED THEIR LIVES. THEIR STORY IS A KEY TO SHOWING US HOW MANKIND BEGAN TO DEVELOP ONCE ADAM AND EVE HAD BEEN DISPLACED FROM THE GARDEN. IT IS A STORY OF WHERE WE CAME FROM, AND HOW WE HAVE EVOLVED AS PEOPLE AND IN HOW WE ENVISION GOD.

CAIN AND ABLE WERE SONS OF ADAM AND EVE. ABLE WAS A SHEPHERD WHO TENDED LIVESTOCK, AND CAIN WAS A FARMER. THEY WERE BOTH EARNING THEIR LIVELIHOODS FROM THINGS THAT GOD HAD DECREED AS THEIR FUTURE PATHS. LIFE WAS GOOD, UNTIL CAIN CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT WHAT GOD HAD COMMANDED EVERYONE TO DO AS AN OFFERING FOR THE ATONEMENT OF SIN JUST WASN’T THE WAY HE WANTED TO DO IT. YOU SEE, GOD SPECIFICALLY CALLED FOR THE SACRIFICE OF AN UNBLEMISHED ANIMAL. CAIN WAS A FARMER, SO HE DECIDED THAT HE WOULD OFFER THE BEST OF HIS PRODUCE AND GRAIN AS AN OFFERING INSTEAD, BECAUSE SURELY GOD COULD SEE HOW IMPORTANT IT WOULD BE FOR HIM TO DO THINGS HIS WAY. SHOW OFF HIS TALENT. ABLE AS A HERDER OF ANIMALS HAD A MORE CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S DESIRE, AND HE ALSO UNDERSTOOD GOD’S COMMANDMENT. SO THE BURNING QUESTION IS WHY CAIN DIDN’T FOLLOW GOD’S COMMANDMENT AND SIMPLY TRADE HIS BOUNTY TO ABLE FOR A SUITABLE ANIMAL TO SACRIFICE ? AS WE KNOW IN GENESIS, GOD ACCEPTED ABLE’S OFFERING AND BLESSED HIM, WHILE REJECTING CAIN’S OFFERING COMPLETELY. IN A RAGE OF ANGER, CAIN WENT TO HIS BROTHER AND TOOK HIS LIFE. WHEN GOD CAME LOOKING FOR THEM, CAIN TRIED TO HIDE WHAT HE HAD DONE. THROUGH HIS ACTIONS, CAIN HAD EMBRACED SIN, AND HIS INIQUITY RULED HIM. NO LONGER THE FARMER, CAIN HAD CHOSEN HIS OWN THRONE AND WAY, AND HE LOST THE PROVISION OF WORKING THE EARTH THAT GOD HAD AFFORDED HIM. HE WAS A WANDERER, FAR AWAY FROM GOD, DESTINED TO BE RESTLESS FOR ALL THAT REMAINED OF HIS LIFE…..SEEPED IN SELF, FULL OF PRIDE AND SELF ADULATION. PROBABLY LIVING THE LIE OF HOW HE HAD SHOWN GOD THAT HE COULD DO IT ON HIS OWN. GOD REALLY DIDN’T MATTER.

IF YOU READ THE NEWS TODAY AS A CHRISTIAN AND THINK ABOUT IT, HOW FAR HAS THE SPIRIT OF CAIN GROWN SINCE THAT ORIGINAL TIME PERIOD ? DO YOU THINK THAT TRUST AND FAITH IN GOD IS GROWING ? I JUST READ A VERY SAD ARTICLE BY TYLER DURDEN ON HIS WEBSITE “ZEROHEDGE.COM THAT EXPLORES HOW AMERICA’S MORAL COLLAPSE IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL. READ IT. IT IS SHOCKING. AND IT SHOWS INDEED THAT THE SPIRIT OF CAIN IS ALIVE AND WELL AROUND US TODAY.

“AN AVERAGE OF 100 CHURCHES ARE DYING IN AMERICA EVERY SINGLE WEEK”; THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS WITH NO RELIGION HAS INCREASED BY 266 PERCENT OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES”; “THE SUICIDE RATE IN THE UNITED STATES IS UP 34 % SINCE 2000, AND SUICIDE IS NOW THE SECOND LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR AMERICANS AGED 15 TO 24”; “AMERICANS ARE NOW MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM AN OPIOD OVERDOSE THAN FROM A CAR ACCIDENT”; “THE NUMBER OF AMERICAN BABIES ABORTED EACH YEAR IS ROUGHLY EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF U.S. MILITARY DEATHS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN ALL OF THE WARS THE U.S. HAS EVER BEEN INVOLVED IN COMBINED”……I COULD GO ON AND ON, BUT TO WHAT POINT. FACTS CAN TELL YOU A LOT, BUT THEY ARE ONLY FACTS. THE BIGGER QUESTION IS “WHAT IS THE TRUTH” ? “WHAT ARE WE DOING IN OUR LIVES THAT MATTERS” ? “WHERE ARE WE IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD” ?

GOD ASKS US TO SEEK HIM. GOD ASKS US TO HAVE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. GOD ASKS US TO RESPECT HIM AND FOLLOW HIS COMMANDMENTS AND WILL FOR OUR LIVES. TO LOVE HIM ABOVE ALL ELSE, AND TO LOVE ALL THE PEOPLE THAT SHARE THIS WORLD WITH US. TO CARE MORE ABOUT WHO WE ARE THAN WHAT WE DO OR HAVE. TO DENY SELF, AND GIVE OUR LIVES TO OUR LORD, THAT WE MAY “BE LIKE HIM”.

IF WE LOOK AT THE WORLD AROUND US, IT IS FILLED WITH CHOICES. ARE YOU GOING TO LIVE AND BE LIKE CAIN, OR WILL YOU STRIVE TO BE LIKE ABLE? ARE YOU GOING TO BE WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE, AND WALK IN HIS WAYS, OR ARE YOU GOING TO GO IT ON YOUR OWN, AND WANDER ABOUT KNOWING DEEP INSIDE JUST HOW EMPTY YOU REALLY ARE …..GOD GIVES US THE CHOICE. WILL YOU LOOK TO BECOME LIGHT FOR THE WORLD, OR WILL YOU SLIDE INTO THE DARKNESS.

CHOOSE LIGHT, CHOOSE ETERNITY WITH A GOD WHO LOVES YOU, AND SACRIFICED HIS SON TO HAVE YOU BE IN HIS KINGDOM BY SIMPLY RECOGNIZING AND ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR SIN, AND ACCEPTING THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS, AND THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF AND THE CLEANSING POWER OF HIS BLOOD FOR YOUR SALVATION. NOW IS THE TIME TO BECOME ENGAGED AND SHOUT IT OUT ! HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD ! HOW LOVING IS OUR GOD ! BE HIS, AND BE COMPLETE !

IN THEIR HEARTS HUMANS PLAN THEIR COURSE, BUT THE LORD ESTABLISHES THEIR STEPS. Proverbs 16:9

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING; IN ALL YOUR WAYS SUBMIT TO HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT Proverbs 3:5-6

JESUS SPOKE TO THEM AGAIN; “ I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. ANYONE WHO FOLLOWS ME WILL NEVER WALK IN THE DARKNESS BUT WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE”. John 8:12

THE STORY OF CAIN AND ABLE IS STILL VERY RELEVANT TODAY. MAY YOU BE ABLE AND ABLE IN ALL THAT YOU SEEK AND DO IN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD’S GUIDANCE AND LOVE :) PEACE AND BLESSINGS JA