Why Is Life So Hard?

by Rick Warren

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.” (Isaiah 53:6 NLT)

Everything seems to be a battle. Nothing is easy. The fact is, life is difficult.

So, why is life so hard in this world?

The Bible says rebellion against God broke everything.

It all started back with the first couple, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. When God created the world, everything was perfect. It was paradise. And Adam and Eve had no problems, suffering, sadness, temptations, or troubles.

But one day Adam and Eve decided that they wanted to do what they wanted to do. God told them, “You can do anything you want to in this paradise except one thing.” And what did Adam and Eve do? The one thing God told them not to do.

SATAN’S TACTIC OF PRIDE

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5
We each have to come to terms with Satan's deadliest tactic, which the Bible calls pride. Ever since the Garden of Eden, Satan has promulgated The Great Lie: “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5b). We all must learn to overcome pride, which was Satan’s own initial sin and which is his pervasive and repetitive tactic against us.

In Proverbs 6:17, “haughty eyes” are first on the list of the seven things that are an “abomination” to God. Proverbs 27:2 adds, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth.” Christ spoke of pride in Luke 18:14 when He instructs, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Over and over again, we are reminded in the Bible of God’s utter disdain for a prideful spirit.

Owned or Loaned?

by Marilyn Ehle

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15

Our car went into the garage for work so we were given a ‘loaner’ for use today. We have no title to this car, it’s not ours, it has only temporary usefulness for us. We are responsible to drive it safely and return it in good condition at the end of the day.

If only we looked at all the things in our lives as ‘loaners’. In many of our churches we regularly affirm belief in “God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.” 

What About Sex?

Written by Spencer Patrick

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. (1 Cor. 6:18 NKJV)
Everywhere you turn, someone is talking about sex. Sex is short for sexual intercourse which is part of the intimate relationship between the husband and wife. It is not a physical exercise, it is not something that people want to do as a part of the so-called "dating process."

Sex is sacred.

Why is it that we are permeated with sexual things in our media? Why is it that you cannot turn the channel on secular TV station in the United States and watch a sit-com (situational comedy) that doesn’t have a sexual innuendo? Why is it that when you take the train in Tokyo, you have to see images of women with oversized busts or weekly magazine adverts that try to sell copies of their magazines with "Sex" written on it?

Enoch, Who Walked with God

Ami Farkas

At synagogue this past Sabbath, our Torah reading covered the first portion of the book of Genesis. We revisited the Garden of Eden, tasted the bitterness and shame of Adam and Eve’s sin, and traversed through ten generations between Adam and Noah. In the midst of all this, my attention was transfixed on the short but meaningful story of Enoch.
I assume that when most people study Genesis, they don’t give much notice to Enoch, whose sole appearance in the Torah is limited to a few verses: Genesis 5:18-25. And considering the lives of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the contributions they made to mankind, Enoch plays a minute role in the grand scheme of things. The story of Enoch might be short, but it has deep lessons we should not ignore.

I'd Be Happy If...

Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth
"Don't be deceived, my dear brothers (and sisters). Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:16, 17 NIV)

Friend to Friend
Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world. All their needs were cared for. They had perfect communion with God and each other. They were "naked and unashamed." The only restriction placed on them was that they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil located in the middle of the Garden. God warned them, "If you eat of it, you will surely die."

As they basked in the light of God's love, darkness slithered into the Garden with his plan to kill, steal and destroy the image bearers. And how did he do it? He did it with the most powerful weapon of all...lies.

The Tale of Two Gardens

Let's go for a walk in the garden. The serenity of a garden is a good place to get in touch with your thoughts - where you've been and where you are going. And if you are listening, the garden itself may have something to tell you. For if the truth is known, all of life can be told in a tale of two gardens...http://www.awordfromtheword.org/productpix/taleoftwogardens.gif

The Garden of Eden
A well-kept garden is full of spectacular wonders as the shades of green foliage encompass the splashes of color. Yet in the garden of God, there was an exalted splendor above anything we have ever known. The Bible called it Eden and described it as a paradise of sensory pleasure where divine perfection reached out and touched human awe.
"No evil thoughts can enter here," you would say. A perfect environment is the ultimate answer for our human woes. Yet, that is where our pain and trouble began. In glorious Eden, man chose himself over God and plunged the perfect creation into a chaotic pattern of sin and death. The Bible says that every evil and all sadness can be traced to the rebellion of the human heart against God in that garden.
As you think about where you have been, you would do well to listen to the tale of Eden. You, like the rest of us, are the product of that rebellion and subsequent eternal alienation from God. You are a son or daughter of Adam, part of a depraved race that lost its innocence in the first garden. The record of Eden is the story of paradise lost. Your paradise lost.

The Garden of Gethsemane
It was dark as twelve men crossed the brook in the early hours of the morning. Shimmers of light from the not too distant city cast ominous shadows through the garden of gnarled olive leaves. Gethsemane was what they called the olive press so prominently exposed in the heart of the grove. Eleven men lay down to rest. One lone figure knelt to pray. It was a night for evil and the drama of our hope was beginning to unfold in the colorless recesses of the garden - the Garden of Gethsemane.
There was nothing spectacular about this garden. Only the symbolism of olives crushed and oils flowing captures our attention. Yet it was there that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, resisted temptation to rebel against the will of God and submitted himself to be sacrificed for our sins. What Adam had refused to do in the first garden, Jesus agreed to do in this garden - He obeyed. Only hours later, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world.

There is a Choice
The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the "last Adam." What the first Adam lost in the Garden of Eden, the last Adam regained in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now there is a choice. For all who are lost in Adam, there is the hope of being saved in Christ. It is simply a matter of repenting of your sin and placing your faith in Jesus Christ as the One who paid the penalty for your guilt.
After thinking about where you have been, perhaps you would like to think where you are going. Listen to the Garden of Gethsemane. You can go to God's heaven with your sins forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Paradise lost can be paradise regained - for you. That is the tale of two gardens. ■

Dr. Dan Hayden
awordfromtheword.org