Mundane Monday: Unruly Rulers - Denise Pass
by | Jan 4, 2016 | Believers, Body of Christ, Christian, Christian Encouragement, Christianity, Church, counselor, Count Your Blessings, Discipline, Ethics, Family, Family Life, Fault, Finances, Flesh, Gifts, God, Gratitude, Healing, Holy Spirit, Humility, inspiration, Israelites, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jewish, Joy, Joyful living, Justice, Kindness, knowing God, Leadership, Life, Lord, Love, materialism, Matters, Mental Health, Ministry, Money, Moral, Peace, Perspective, Philosophy, Planning, Positive Thinking, Principles, Promises, Provision, Recovery, Relationship, Religion, Resolutions, revelation, Role, Rule, Rules, Salvation, Sovereignty, Spiritual, Teaching, Temptation, Thankfulness, Theology, Uncategorized |
Inspirational Thought of the day:
God has given us everything from provisions to positions, yet still owns and rules it all.
Scriptures:
Genesis 1:26-27
“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.’ 27 God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.”
Genesis 2:18
“The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.’”
No one likes to be told they have to follow someone else’s rules. Ugh. Our flesh in this culture cries out, “no one can be the boss of me”. That’s our nature. God made us to rule, after all. But in what manner?
Man and woman were both made to rule over God’s creation according to His boundaries, but the tendency of mankind is to add or subtract rules to define our own boundaries to suit our desires.
We were to be stewards of all He had given, and within that work was a blessing – our enjoyment. But we can easily forget that it all belongs to Him. The One Who gives us the right to rule is still the owner of it all.
Something innate within us wants to own things, but in God’s economy, He shares it all with us freely. While He was demonstrating love and generosity to Adam and Eve, they were pursuing their own glory and wants instead of His. Their rulership became all about them and was no longer blessed.
He knew all that they needed, provided food and even provided for their need for fellowship – woman was made as a companion for man. With such blessings, why would they ever want for more?
Both of them were present when they chose to violate God’s law. Both confused the purpose of the role of dominion and what they ruled over was therefore cursed. Even their fellowship would never be the same. A sad ending, if that were the end of the story.
In Christ, we can see the impact of the curse in our own lives and resist evil, but it is a battle we will have to fight our entire lives. Our flesh gets wearied by this continual internal and external conflict, but it is a battle worth fighting. Even though the curse is evident all around us, God uses even curses for good in our lives.
When things are not perfect, the curses in our lives can be a catalyst for seeking God and seeing our need of Him. The initial punishment meted out by a Holy, righteous, perfect Judge ends up as a blessing to those who die to self and seek God’s glory and not their own. What an amazing God.
It is ironic that the pursuit of wisdom would lead to their demise. A pursuit of wisdom for our own glory bears cursed fruit, but loving wisdom in order to glorify God bears eternal fruit. If we can see our rule over what God has given us as a position of servitude instead of a position of power, we begin to see the wisdom in God’s plan and reverse the curse.
Lord, thank You for Your kind provision. You have blessed us beyond measure and we still always want for more. Help us to be faithful stewards and to care for everything You have placed in our hands. May we be content and grateful, never forgetting that everything we have is Yours and for Your glory.
