Good Morning Girls Week 4 Genesis 3

I am a day behind, so this was Tuesdays reading.

Genesis 3
New International Version (NIV)

The Fall

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.  So the Lord God said to the serpent,“Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

S: Genesis 3:6 "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."

O: If you're like me, you're sitting there thinking that everything that woman has to suffer through is because of Eve! And I know a fair amount of men who think that women have been deceiving men since Eve deceived Adam and gave him the fruit of the tree they were not supposed to be eating from. Technically, all this is true.

God punished them harshly for their indiscretions. But honestly, I don't think either Adam or Eve did this on purpose. They didn't know enough. BUT, they did know what God's rule was: "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die." Ok. So what part of that did they not understand? It's like your children. You tell them not to do something and they do it anyway. They want to see what they can and can not get away with. The same can be said for Adam and Eve. Eve didn't see the harm in eating just one little piece of fruit.

This also goes back to my theory of "It seemed like a good idea at the time". The fruit on the tree looked yummy. The serpent made Eve believe that God wasn't really going to punish them for eating from the tree. So what the heck! I'm sure at some point Eve probably said to Adam "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!" 

Deceit never ends well. What seemed like a good idea at the time may very well be something that could result in disastrous consequences. The grass isn't always greener. That apple isn't going to taste any better. And God WILL find a way to call you out on what you did. So why tempt fate? Keep God's rules. I know it won't be easy, but it will be worth it! 

A: I can apply this to my own life. I've been down this road too many times before. I have allowed myself to be deceived too many times and it never ended well. I would rather keep to God's rules and please Him then suffer the consequences.

P: Father, I pray that you help me to stay on the straight and narrow no matter how much better things may seem on the other side. Help me to remember that right now my life may not be a bed of roses, but it's a work in progress. One that You will help build and help to sustain. I will take my strength from You and all You have planned for me. Amen. 

Good Morning Girls Week 4: Genesis 2:18-25

Week 4: Monday
Read: Genesis 2:18-­‐25
SOAP: Genesis 2:18, 24

S-­‐Write out the scripture passages for the day:

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

O:  If you remember the story of Noah and the ark, you know that God created 2 of everything--a male and a female. He did this so that the species would be able to reproduce and also so they could help each other. The female raises the young while the male goes out hunting. (Well, MOST of the species work that way. There are some where the role is reversed.) 

The same could be said for Adam and Eve. Man can not survive on his own, but neither can woman. They need each other. When a man and woman get married, they begin a journey together. Their parents' aren't with them. This is their time to form a bond and decide in what direction their relationship they want this relationship to go. If there were influences from outside (i.e. family) things might turn out different than what the husband and wife had in mind. 

P: Father, we come to You as one body, husband and wife. We ask You to guide us and enrich us as we begin this week on marriage. I pray that other couples who are just starting out come to You to guide them through their marriage. I pray that all marriages can become Christ-Centered. You made woman to be a helper to man. As part of the wedding vow, we say what God has brought together, let no man put assunder. We know that You can renew what may have failed or broken. I pray that more couples will renew their love and faith in marriage and in You through this study. Amen.

Good Morning Girls Week 4: Your Marriage

This weeks' memory verse.

This weeks' reading plan:
  

Week 4: This week I'm going to be intentionally focused on:

I am going to try and be more tolerant and get less frustrated with my husband. I am going to try and be more positive and supportive of him. I am going to focus on what Jesus has in mind for me as both a woman and a wife.