“I am a good person.”
Have you ever heard or made this statement?
Our culture tells us we are “good” if we do the right thing. In our daily routines we do the “good” thing. Serve our family. Serve our neighbor. Serve the community. Serve the church. And though our intentions appear good on the surface, a not “good” response can surface if our service is not received in a way that we expect it should.
This familiar Bible story recounts how “good” our intentions can appear to be. The firstborn does the proper thing that is expected of him. He presents an offering of his labor to God. What is not described is why Cain’s offering was not regarded as acceptable.
What is described is his response: “Cain was furious, and he looked despondent…” (Genesis 4:5).
A first response—anger. This anger described in the original Hebrew word is fiery anger, an outburst.
This anger was written all over his face: his face fell. We have seen this response in our toddler. Our teenager. Our self. A pouting lip. A downcast face.
This outward response reflects the inward nature of our heart beneath the veneer of “goodness.”
The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?
—Jeremiah 17:9
Who understands the true nature of our hearts? God does.
That is why He responded to Cain’s outburst and fallen face with calm words of guidance (Genesis 4:6–7). Here, in a gentle, truthful, matter-of-fact tone of voice, is the first presentation of the good news—the gospel.
We can picture God getting down on one knee as we would with our toddler, looking at him eye to eye, and saying, “I see the true nature of your heart. Don’t let the slippery nature of sin take hold of you. Sin desires to keep you captive. But my desire for you is greater. And I will make a way available for you to rule over the powerful nature of sin, not have it rule over you” (v.7).
The literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated “desire” here is “stretching out.” Sin longs to stretch out its arm and capture us. There are moments we feel the tension of sin within us, pulling us limb to limb. But God’s reach for us is greater.
He gave us the gift of Jesus, His arms stretched out limb to limb on a wooden cross.
And because of this act of love on the cross, the power of sin can no longer have a hold on us.
God looks beyond the fallen face. He understands our deceitful hearts. His desire for us is so great He gave us a gift we did not deserve (Romans 6:23). That is the good news that surpasses our hearts’ good intentions!
Can you please pray for my sister Gia dear sisters. Her gastric sleeve surgery was messed up super badly. The doctor made her stomach too small for her to eat and she is on anti nausea pills (which are the only thing that could help her eat). Those meds have weakened her heart a little, so she is not strong enough to go through surgery to fix it (now at least). Last month she fell in a hospital bathroom and may have permanent nerve damage in her feet and arms. She told me her pain is at a 10 max
This makes me really sad. No one deserves that kind of pain. No one.
On the bright side though, Gia relies on Jesus to get her through which makes me SUPER happy!! I’m so glad she didn’t give up on her faith.
“If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin lies at the door (so close), desiring to rule over/control you. BUT YOU (your job, my job, not GOD’s) must rule over it.” This jumped out at me today. And by His grace, we can do all things including ruling over sin, through the Lord who enables us. God rejected Cain’s offering because it was not right in His eyes. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:17) (contrite: feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentant). May Godly sorrow lead us to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). May we learn to repent, again and again, and offer such repentant lowly heart as a pleasing sacrifice to God. Lord, my heart is deceitful above all things, it deceives me all the time, but you are greater than my heart, when it condemns me, You know all things. Please purify my heart and cleanse all its intentions so that my secret desires are pleasing and acceptable to You. Praise and glory to You forever. Amen.
No worries, I had to delete and reload the app to log back in. I think there might be a bug issue.
So if I keep God and scripture with the exercise of yoga it wouldn’t be offensive because I would be seeking a Union with God/Jesus. Right?
It is both wonderful and scary to be known so deeply by God. On the one hand, I love that God can see the intentions of my heart and on the other hand that is so scary. I may be able to fool the people around me, but I can’t fool God.
I’m sorry @Jillian Garner-Wadsworth, I tried to reply to your question, but it posted twice elsewhere.(?)
“According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, yoga is an East Indian Sanskrit word which means “union with god” or “to yoke.”
The yoke of yoga is different from the one Jesus refers to when He says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).”
According to Webster’s, YOGA IS: “a mystic and ascetic Hindu discipline for achieving union with the supreme spirit through meditation, prescribed postures, controlled breathing, etc.”
Kerry- praying for your sister Leanne. May this time on hospice be God’s graciousness to get so she can surrender fully her life to Jesus. May you and the rest of her family enjoy this lady time together on this side of heaven.