Teneisha Johnson
It's all about Eve, Her Lover and Her Lord
As a good Producer/Director, you’ve got to keep track of all the mistakes made during dress rehearsal.
Sometimes they pile up faster than leaves falling from a tree in autumn, but you got to keep track of them, study them, reflect on your shortcomings, identify what went wrong and why.
In the same way, we must study our mistakes in life and reflect on our motives from the past and identify what is in our power to change and let go of those things that are not.
Turn your burdens over to the Lord so your vision can become clearer.
Focus on what you have control over, the areas that you can improve with some hard work, disciplined attention, and consistent practice.
Attend to the simple details within your grasp as best as you can and leave the rest to your ultimate Director.
He delights in transforming even the worst tragedy into the happy ending of a romance!
In the history of storytelling and leading ladies, Eve’s story sets the standard for one of the most tragic scenes.
She is the first woman to have it all, then lose it all.
Can you relate to such a steep path through the hills and valleys of your faith?
Take a walk with me- Imagine the glorious splendor of a gentle silver rain trickling down on a fertile earth, natures very own spa, watering the myriad of colorful blossoms.
Pink and red, yellow and blue, orange and white. Every color of the rainbow! Fields and rosebushes dance in yellow-green dresses.
A vivid sapphire sky kisses the horizon, as a brilliant sun bathes the faces of the first man and the first woman with an amber-yellow glow.
Their union is supernaturally blessed and they know it!
Predestined and orchestrated to embody the very Image of God.
It is very obvious that womanhood was not an afterthought with God, and it was through the creation of both male and female that God has offered us His fullest self-revelation.
If for some reason your imagination can not fathom the qualities of a perfect man or woman, if you reflect on who God is, we all carry His glory in ourselves individually.
Unfortunately, in today’s society the image of God often bears virtually no resemblance to our own self-image, because many of us walk around suffering from a low self-image.
But how can our self-image be low when we contemplate the image of God in which we were created to reflect?
Please bear in mind your self-esteem shouldn’t be solely based on ego-boosting gratification that comes from awards, promotions, bonuses, money, status, cars, homes, land, who’s your partner or even new clothes.
I’d like to think those things are the temporary “uppers” of the “It’s all about you” generation.
They are not what builds a healthy self-image.
I feel best about myself not when I am wearing a new outfit, but when I have self/lessly reached out to an organization or an individual in need with no thought for reward -or of self.
It is only when my self is submerged or decreased that God’s image can increase and begins to shine forth.
Only then do I truly feel I have a healthy self-image that truly reflects God’s image.
So, let’s continue our walk together in this classic biblical story.
As the lovely couple basked in the loving presence of their Parent (The Lord God), like children discovering new toys on their birthday under the caring and watchful eyes of their mother.
We can just imagine a timeless moment, ethereal, limitless in its innocence and depth of beauty.
According to Genesis 1:28, God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 2:8-9, Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed.
And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.
And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:16-17. 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 of it you will surely die.”
Now we must remember that Satan is very crafty and clever.
His strategy is always to confuse reality and to make evil seem good.
He knows Eve is living in all the splendor of Eden, with all her needs met. So, the question is, how do you get at someone who is happy with being good?
How do you get at someone who is trying to live right and do right?
The serpent had a plan.
He approaches Eve with a theological discussion about God.
He correctly assumes that it is a safe subject, since he already knew she liked talking about God.
How many times have you found yourself standing in front of the tree that grows the forbidden fruit with your name on it?
You had good intentions but found yourself driving past an old flames apartment, walking past a liquor store, browsing the internet for the latest porn videos etc.
You had good intentions but you found yourself caught up in a swirling whirlwind of intense hypnotic memories from your past.
You ached for the penetrating feeling again, the illusion of intimacy and the need to communicate and connect.
The fruit looks so good dangling there right in front of you and would taste so sweet. Sweeter than the world’s best ice-cream and all its flavors!
You’re tired, your hungry, your longing for something that you haven’t found elsewhere.
And along comes a snake.
He may be dressed in an Armani suit or she may be slithering along in a pair of six-inch heels.
Snakes show up next to fruit that’s both forbidden and sometimes very good-looking.
They provide the voice urging you, convincing you, very subtly to give in to your temptations.
Inside many of us is the internal pressure that we are not good enough until we have attained the right clothes, man, house, job, or any other trappings that represent to the world that we are successful.
Speaking of internal pressures, our chosen lifestyle can increase or decrease our health.
According to many studies genetic components explain why some people have more difficulty with drug addiction or alcohol abuse.
Certainly, our genes, hormones, and other factors influence behavior.
But apparently such influences, genetic or otherwise, can only create predispositions or tendencies.
“The devil made me do it” becomes “My genetics made me do it.” Our genes may be God-given, but remember so is free will.
According to Dan Millman, the ego/self/personality is comprised of numerous tendencies.
He said, we tend to be lazy or to overwork; we tend to let our emotions drive our behavior; we tend to indulge or to deny ourselves; we tend to get attached to things, to lose perspective, to be overly serious.
We tend to be passive or aggressive, lackadaisical, or obsessive; to act without thinking or to think without acting; to be self-centered, defensive, and sometimes resentful.
We can’t erase our tendencies, but we can modify our behavior.
Self-mastery entails transcending our tendencies and eccentricities, whatever they maybe.
So, whether we tend to behave like a puritan or hedonist, a social butterfly or lone wolf – or to crave alcohol, or nicotine or to act aggressively- we can still live and act on purpose.
Remember who you are is God’s gift to you; what you become is your gift to God.
