But you say, my life doesn't seem like a heaven on earth!  And I wasn't the one who sinned, Adam and Eve did, not me!  Why should I pay for their mistakes!?

First of all, if Adam hadn't sinned, someone soon after him would have.  If no one had sinned before you, it's likely that you would have, because what he did was a common mistake that any human could have made under those circumstances.  Remember that although Adam and Eve SAW God and knew Him as a friend, they were "babes" in experiences.  There was nothing but trees, plants, natural things.  No libraries, books of past history etc.  No houses, cars or even neighbors!!!  There were no children born yet, and as far as we know, not even a human sexual act. 

That doesn't make what Adam and Eve did any less severe, because they knew God well, and they knew of His great power and mercy.  They SHOULD have obeyed, but we can't let ourselves feel superior to them, because we WOULD have sinned too, most likely.

Now, because of their sin, and the fact that we are their descendents, we share their blood line.  Until we find a scripture that says some of us are implanted aliens from Mars, we MUST understand that we're all in the same boat.  All men, women and children, from the moment of birth, are born dying.  This is the consequences of past sin. 

The Glory is, that those of us who choose to live, have the freedom to do so.  We can claim Jesus as OUR personal savior, and immediately be a part of eternal life.  This eternal life, "salvation", includes having all of our needs met, all of our sicknesses healed, all of our heartaches soothed, and a best friend/husband/Father/counselor/Lord/King who is Jesus.

Why haven't you experienced this kind of power and blessing in your life?

Examine your lives, beloved.  How much of your day is spent in thinking about Jesus, prayer, fasting, working for the kingdom?

When someone insults you, do you instantly forgive?  Or do you insult back?  When you see someone who is in need, whether it's from their own sins or mistakes, or if they are genuinely not at fault, what is your reaction?  Do you forgive them and seek to help all?

Only the Holy Spirit can bring your spirit to life and only constant feeding in the Word can bring you the anointing.  The Anointing is the power of God to accomplish what would be impossible in man without God.  You see, even Jesus had to have the anointing.  He took himself away to be alone, pray and study often.  He sought the anointing and protected it by keeping his ears and eyes off of things of the world.

Few of us can honestly say we have done nearly enough to have in place a life of blessings and peace.  Yet we are still saved from much worse, because we say we believe in Jesus. 

I urge you, beloved, go beyond what you have ever experienced before!  Begin with praises.  Try to remain in an attitude of worship and praise, day and night.  Sing songs to Him, those you know and then make up your own.  Tell Jesus how you feel.  Ask Him how you should react, and what He would have you to know.  Trust Him and the Word.  Obey it and you won't go wrong.

Speak scripture verse and phrases, it's all right to word the verses into modern language and to say them boldly as positive affirmations.  (See power tools of scripture).

This is the whole picture, then.  You are an emotional being, made up of 3 parts.  Just as you have to bathe and feed your physical body daily, you have to care for your spirit by "eating" (reading) the Word of God daily, and you have to nurture your soul (your emotions and mind).  You can go without a bath for several days, but very soon you begin to stink.  The same goes for your spirit body.  If you neglect God's word, your spiritual power will rot and die away. 

Perhaps a lack of soul nourishment is the leading cause of death today.  We feed our soul (emotions) violent TV shows and stories of betrayal.  We watch court room TV, Judge Judy and Jerry Springer.  We allow anger and prejudice, hatred and jealousy to fester in our hearts until we're no longer able to make sound judgments.  We have dulled our spirits with a misunderstanding of our emotional needs.

This may be the first time you have ever heard this, but I hope it won't be the last.  Mankind has emotional needs, and one of these is cleaning the slate through forgiveness. 

You've no doubt heard of the fight or flight syndrome that is the latest psychological and health problem rage.  This is the idea that when we get upset, our body's organs prepare to fight or run, either way it pumps large amounts of adrenaline through our hearts and we literally wear ourselves out over time by nothing more than stress and fear.

Something similar happens when unforgiveness and hate are allowed to build up in your heart.  It is like filling a fragile rubber balloon with several wooden baby's toy blocks.  The weight, the density of the wood, the sharp corners, the clutter and all that goes along with the mess we make for ourselves.  Who would willingly stuff their precious heart with hard wood blocks?

I had a very unpleasant situation not long ago, where a man cheated my children and me out of a large sum of money, what seemed like on purpose.  I went through the normal range of emotions, and the anger was about to eat me alive.  I'm not talking about a hundred dollars, I'm talking about thousands, and at a time when we were most helpless to protect ourselves. 

My mind was unsettled and I laid awake at night trying to think of what I could do to get the money back, or how could I get even with him, or make myself feel better.  Believe me, there is nothing you can do to make yourself look better when someone makes a fool out of you.  The only thing you can do is chalk it up to experience and move on.  The BEST thing you can do, and the only thing to preserve the integrity of your tender spirit, is to completely forgive.  I finally felt in my heart genuine pity for the man and his family.  I stopped wishing harm or recompense on him, and began to wish him well and pray for them.  I slowly began to come out of the darkest days of my life.

I can't say that I have forgotten what it felt like to feel helpless and betrayed.  I can't say that my heart doesn't cringe slightly when I think of the man, because I was so trusting and loved all my fellow men unconditionally. 

After a period of time I was able to send a message to him that he owed me nothing and I wished him a good life.  That was the best medicine for my soul that I'd had in a long time.  Jesus' ways are truly the best ones, and I honestly do not wish for Jesus to hold him accountable for that loss in the day of judgment.

I'm sure you have some unforgiven hurts in your life too.  It's time to clean them out of your heart.  If you are on this computer, you probably know about taking up hard drive space.  You can fill your computer with too much junk and need to delete things on a regular basis, so there will be room for more good things.  Your heart needs a good spring cleaning too.  The Word of God is your maid.

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