But did I.... OBEY?

I know... you thought I was going to say "Die"--- 😁

You may have heard by now a popular internet meme taken from a super silly (or should I say foolish) movie, “But did you die?”, currently used by many to downplay the severity of a situation or story. It's often used in a humorous way to poke fun at someone who is overreacting or being overly dramatic.

So, what’s with my title, ‘But did I… obey?’

Over the last few days, I’ve been asking God to reveal to me what topic He would like me to write about… there are so many topics I could address that at times it leaves me feeling dizzy. Ever feel that way with too many choices?
When there are many options that all seem appropriate or fitting.

Similar to being super hungry and looking over the ‘Cheesecake Factory’ menu options.. WAY TOO MANY and instead of ordering quickly, it takes a while to decide and by then you are just confused.. 🤦‍♀️

Of course, I want to write about what God wants me to write about.. otherwise it won’t be authentic to Him using me to get information out and that is the point of these messages.

So where am I going with this… let’s read some scripture first.. because that’s what keeps me grounded and focused.

Genesis 2: 15-17

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely (emphasis added by me) eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat^[d] of it you shall surely die. (Emphasis added by me)”

Well, we all know that Adam did NOT DIE as we think of it, because you and me and billions of others have come from the original seed of Adam- he was the 1st HUMAN to exist and procreate. So, we know that he did not die… or did he?
But leave it to the original liar, the Dragon of old, to take the command of God and dilute it .. and confuse and deceive Adam that he would NOT surely die. Follow this link to review the scene. (Genesis 3:3-6)
Note, he is still doing this today… why we must read and KNOW what God says. Can you imagine if Adam and Eve had taken a couple extra moments to say, “Hang on, let us ask God what He said again, and we will ‘circle back’ with you!”. But they didn’t…

Over the years God has taught me about the difference with the body, soul, and spirit - the triune parts that humans have been blessed with. (I can’t wait to take a deeper dive into these areas with you over time) … but let’s look back at Adam and my point and journey of this Minutes message.

In a very abbreviated thought here to stay on topic, you may know this already… our physical BODY can be ALIVE or DEAD… and our SOUL LIVES FOREVER … but did you realize that our SPIRIT can also be ALIVE or DEAD.

The word SPIRIT is dynamic and comes from the beautiful Hebrew language of old..
I’ve shared a great read below if you would like to follow this link and take a little dive into this ancient word more closely- SPIRIT

A tidbit from the article, “Ruach (pronounced roo-akh) is the Hebrew word for spirit, breath, or wind. When spoken, the word engages one’s breath and lungs. The first mention of Ruach in the Bible is in the very first chapter of Genesis – Genesis 1:2

So, let’s consider the words: Breath and Wind

You and I both have heard the sayings, “The wind died today.” or “they took their last breath.” So, if all 3 of these words (spirit, breath, wind) translate similarly then it’s only plausible that the SPIRIT can be alive or dead as well. Are you following me?

So, would it then make sense to believe that what God meant when he told Adam he “would surely die” could actually be two-fold? Meaning that He could have meant Adam’s BODY would die if he did not OBEY His Word/command? Hmmm… but Adam didn’t die, right?

We learn from reading the Word and from experiencing life that God is actually a very loving and FORGIVING God. I believe that God may have given that direction about the tree to keep Adam safe much like a parent tells a child not to touch the hot stove (or a multitude of other things that children need to learn in order to not hurt themselves, because parents KNOW- just like God KNEW what would happen if Adam didn’t listen)- but keep in mind, he made Adam with a WILL (and we all have this ‘will’ included in us) so that Adam could choose to follow God willing or not. Again, another discussion! Yay!

Well, we all know that Adam did not follow God’s loving (for Adam’s protection) directions and that decision was humanity’s 1st sin, creating distance between man and God.
Keep in mind God’s perfect creation (the Garden) was made exclusively for Adam (and Eve but again, this is for another post as I am focusing on Adam).

Adam ended up being taken out of the garden due to his disobedience and consequently forced into hard labor to feed himself (and future family) and told that he would return to the dust he was made from (in other words, die).
Think about this, until this moment Adam never experienced death of any kind- potentially he did not understand what death was.
To read this account click here: Genesis 3: 17-19

However, he knew what God commanded of him but did not obey… thus, I believe once Adam ate of the forbidden tree, the (Holy) Spirit left him — (This is a quick thought for another discussion about the Holy Spirit because we NOW have access to the Holy Spirit dwelling in us again….)
So many future threads of this Minutes… focus MONICA! ha

So back to our topic of the spirit being alive or dead- much like the wind or breath, we can recognize that our spirit is either alive or dead. Thankfully, much like or body, we have been given directions on how to keep it alive!
God has laid out numerous ways to keep it alive and WELL!!
This is tremendous news, and we must take a moment to rejoice and thank HIM for this knowledge! Thank you, God!!!
We will dive into this more as usual there is much to say about this topic.

But let’s take a moment and reflect what Adam did NOT do in the first place… he did not OBEY God. We must take note of Adam’s lack of obedience which led him to death -both spiritually (one can only imagine that losing the Holy Spirit AFTER having Him, would feel miserable and bring a great sense of loss) and eventually physically.
Thanks a lot, Adam… (and Eve) in my observation it’s been almost 6,000 years since creation of Adam and his willful sin leading to all of humanity to experience suffering from this SAME situation.
Thus, we can determine that willful disobedience to God’s directions leads us to sometimes quick deaths of both spirit and body… and other times a slow, painful path that eventually leads to both.

Friends, let me remind you, there is no way around this path of destruction without our perfect heavenly Father, His only son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit working in our lives- daily.

So, I have a confession— to be continued …. 🙄

Live Radiantly… today!
Monica