{"id":1247,"date":"2017-07-27T11:08:06","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T16:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2017-07-27T11:44:22","modified_gmt":"2017-07-27T16:44:22","slug":"am-i-my-brothers-keeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/27\/am-i-my-brothers-keeper\/","title":{"rendered":"Am I My Brother\u2019s Keeper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adam loved God with all his heart and wanted to please God. He had no fear or pride or jealousy. He had a pure undefiled heart and mind. He lived in the garden that God had created. He spent his days naming plants and animals it was what he did and he did it with excellence. Then God gave Adam a wife, life was wonderful. But one day everything changed\u2026and you know the rest of that story\u2026let me tell you what happened after they sinned and had to leave the garden.<\/h6>\n
Eve conceived and had a son, she named him Cain. Cain was the very first of their children then Able came along.<\/h6>\n
Cain worked in the fields; his job title might be that of a farmer. He knew hard work and took pride in what he did but he was self-centered and arrogant. These were traits of the sin life that came from the sins of his parent\u2019s disobedience to God. Good and evil. Cain chose evil. Keeping the best of what he had for himself, he gave God the left overs. He gave God the \u201cstuff\u201d that was not too badly worn there was still a lot of good left in it. Thinking to himself, God won\u2019t mind, he knows I deserve the best for this and after all I\u2019m the one who worked from sunup to sundown to accumulate all this wealth. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m throwing the \u201cstuff\u201d away. It\u2019s good enough. I\u2019m sure God will understand.<\/em><\/h6>\n
(The tempter still at work whispering in man\u2019s ear.)<\/em><\/h6>\n
God did understand. He understood that Cain was his own God. His heart was far from pure, his heart was full of evil and it would not abide well with him.<\/h6>\n
Able, the youngest son of Adam and Eve, tended animals he was more of a shepherd than a farmer. Able loved God and wanted to please God with all that God had given him. His was a labor of love, joy and thankfulness. He rose early in the mornings to make sure his flock was watered and fed. He anointed them with oil to keep pests off of them. He walked with them in green pastures and slept with them in fields. He would protect the flock from predators, putting the flock above his own needs. To show his gratitude to God he would select the most excellent of his flock, the first-born lamb, and he would give them as a sacrifice to God. He gave only the very best to God, second best would not do. This pleased God because Able gave it to him in faith. A blood sacrifice, Able followed God\u2019s example that only blood can cleanse the stains of sin and wash away guilt and shame so that fellowship and relationship can be restored between God and man. \"\"<\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\n
\u201cWhy doesn\u2019t God accept my sacrifice?\u201d Cain whined and wiped his brow. \u201cLook at Able always happy, always getting everything he wants. I need to teach him a lesson. Life isn\u2019t easy all the time. I sweat and toil in these fields and I barely get by. I love God. After all I give him everything I have that\u2019s left over from my fields. Still he does not honor me or give me favor. Everything I touch is desolate and sun-scorched.\u201d Crying in his soup bowl he tosses it aside and runs into the field where Able is tending sheep.<\/h6>\n
Cain sees Able and calls out to him. \u201cAble come here, I want to talk to you little brother.\u201d<\/h6>\n
Able smiles and runs to greet his big brother. \u201cWhat\u2019s up Cain?\u201d<\/h6>\n
\u201cWipe that smile off your face you know what\u2019s up. It\u2019s you and God.\u201d Cain sneers as evil rises up within him and spews from his mouth. \u201cYou think you\u2019re so good. You think I don\u2019t notice how you and God are always hanging out. You\u2019re his favorite golden boy. You\u2019re the apple of his eye. If he\u2019d give me just a second of his time my fields would flourish and I\u2019d be as well off as you are. But no, He smiles on you, takes walks with you and makes sure you prosper.\u201d<\/h6>\n
Able stepped back his smile quickly vanishes. \u201cWhat are you talking about Cain? Why do you have to be so jealous and envious? Your fields are thriving. What is your problem bro?\u201d<\/h6>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s my, problem? I\u2019ll tell you what my problem is\u2026YOU!! You\u2019re my problem.\u201d Cain in a rage picks up a rock and hits Able in the head. Able stumbles and falls down his blood spilling out onto the ground. Cain is a murderer. He killed his brother, Able.<\/h6>\n
Cain stares in horror\u2026 \u201cWhat have I done?\u201d He runs away to hide.<\/h6>\n
God calls to Cain\u2026 \u201cCain where is your brother Able?\u201d<\/h6>\n
\u201cI do not know? Am I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u201d<\/h6>\n
God said, \u201cWhat have you done? Your brother\u2019s blood is crying out to me from the ground. Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother\u2019s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer give its strength to you. You will always travel from place to place on the earth.\u201d<\/em> Genesis 4:1-12.<\/strong><\/h6>\n
The tree of knowledge of Good and Evil is ever present as proven in the story of Cain and Able. Jealousy, pride, anger, envy all stem from the nature of man because of disobedience to God. The sin of Adam and Eve continue throughout time. The only way to restore obedience to God was with a perfect blood sacrifice. God\u2019s plan was hidden although he gave hints and revealed his secrets to his prophets and seers along the way. He would redeem mankind through His only begotten son\u2026but it would take years to come into play. (God\u2019s plan would be foretold but not manifested until it was time.)<\/h6>\n
People didn\u2019t believe Noah when he was building an ark on dry land. Rain had never fallen from the sky until that day came and it began to rain. The world cried out but it was too late.<\/h6>\n
People didn\u2019t believe the Son of God, Messiah was born in a stable in Bethlehem until the day of His resurrection when over 500 people witnessed him alive and men of Galilee saw him ascend into heaven. (Jesus said I will come again.)<\/h6>\n
Some people still don\u2019t believe\u2026but just because you don\u2019t believe doesn\u2019t mean it didn\u2019t happen.<\/h6>\n
A lot of people today don\u2019t believe that Jesus is going to return to the earth\u2026but I\u2019m telling you as sure as I live and breathe that He Is Coming\u2026it is going to happen just like the flood came\u2026just like the Son of God was born and died and rose again\u2026Jesus is coming again!!<\/h6>\n
No not even the angels in heaven know exactly when he will return but he gave us signs\u2026watch and pray\u2026be ready\u2026and tell others\u2026<\/h6>\n
We are our brother\u2019s keeper.<\/h6>\n
~~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 27, 2017<\/h6>\n
The Coming of the Son of Man<\/em><\/strong><\/h6>\n
\u201cImmediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. <\/em>Matthew 24:29-31 (NKJV)<\/strong><\/h6>\n
The Risen Christ, Faith\u2019s Reality<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you\u2014unless you believed in vain.<\/em><\/h6>\n
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. <\/strong>After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once<\/strong>, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. <\/em>After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. <\/em>1 Corinthians <\/em>15:1-16 <\/strong>New King James Version (NKJV)<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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Adam loved God with all his heart and wanted to please God. He had no fear or pride or jealousy. He had a pure undefiled heart and mind. He lived in the garden that God had created. He spent his days naming plants and animals it was what he did and he did it with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8aPxH-k7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1251,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/1251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}