Challenging relationships is nothing new.

There is a reason why the Bible tells us to forebear one another;
“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Colossians 3: 13) KJV
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“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3: 13) NLT

In the natural if you had a baby that did not grow naturally you would be concerned.
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As Christians, the Lord does expect us to grow up!.

The Bible tells us to desire the sincere milk of the word that we may grow thereby (1 Peter 2: 2). In other words, the main factor of growth is to desire the sincere milk of the word. Note the word “word” not man’s doctrine or opinions of others but the word.

​The Bible in so many words tell us who we really are.
It is so important for us to see ourselves the way we are after the spirit.
Now let us insert ourselves into these scriptures:

A spiritual mind is a mind that focus on the things of God. On spiritual realities in Christ. A spiritual mind is a mind that puts on “the mind of Christ”.
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Our actions normally stem from our minds, decisions and perspectives about life and others. These all originate from our mindsets. This is why the Bible says “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he” ( Proverbs 23: 7). 

I have always believed in water baptism, however l have recently  had more light shed on its significance.

In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were told to circumcise their males ( Genesis 17: 13). In the New Testament we are also circumcised, however our own circumcision is without hands which is putting off the sins of the flesh and putting on Christ.
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“11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2: 11):

Our heart is so important. It is the seat to our Christian walk.

As a matter of fact, your heart is so important that it takes “all diligence” to take care of it.

“ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4: 23).
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (NLT)
“Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life”. AMP
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​We live in a world made for people. We have no option but to relate to others. Good relationships skills are not always automatic.
 
Thank God that the Bible has given so much light when relating to others. One golden rule is that our security must be in God.
 
“He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him” (Proverbs 27: 14). 

The Bible is very specific when it uses words.  Did you know that this world is not all there is?

Let us have a look at scripture:
“Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14: 30).
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Note the phrase “the prince of this world”; which implies that there is another world. And knowing who the prince of this world is explains why this world is in all the chaos. We know who the ruler of this world is according to scripture.

​Have you ever got yourself into a mess, only to look back and find out what the root problem was?
Most times we look back and say “if only l had a better sense of judgment at that time, l would not have done what l did”. 

Thank God that the Lord is never caught by surprise. He is well able to redeem our mistakes and get us back on the right path.
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Now let us look at a classic example of lack of discernment from scripture:

In the book of Genesis, we find the serpent talking to the woman.
Before we go into the  topic for this article, let us first ask “why did the serpent speak to the woman and not the man”? 

God commanded the man not to eat the tree of the knowledge of good or evil in the garden:
“ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2: 16- 17).
It was after this that the woman was formed (Genesis 2: 18- 15).

Therefore it is safe to say that Adam must have given the woman the instruction that God gave him not to eat that tree.
I believe that the serpent went to the woman because he felt that she was more vulnerable.  The enemy still tries to use those sometimes close to us to get to us sometimes if permitted. He did the same through Peter that was close to the Lord. The Lord discerned the attack and rebuked the enemy .

“But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew  16: 23).
The New living translation reads:
“Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”” (Matthew 16: 23).

We have evidence here that the enemy can use people close to us so spiritual discernment is very important.

Now back to the topic for this article.

When the serpent came to the woman, the first thing he did was lie.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Genesis 3: 1-3).

We can see from above that the first statement to the woman was a lie “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?    Which was not true. The woman responded in verse 2 with more information.

So it was already obvious that the serpent was a liar. Why did she believe the other lie? I think this is safe to say it was due to lack of discernment.

Someone lied to you and you still believed what they said down the line. (Yes we do forgive people when they have lied to us, however wisdom says give it time and let them regain your trust ). This is what happened to the woman, lack of discernment.

The woman reasoned and yielded to the lie (Genesis 3: 6) which caused her to sin.

We cannot afford to listen to every voice. We must have discernment and not yield to lies.

God’s word is true.
What the Holy spirit told you about that matter is what is right.
Refuse to yield to a lie.

Let us keep Gods Word in front of us when making decisions.
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Remember that wisdom is available for whosoever asks for it (James 1: 5).
Bisi Oladipupo © 12th January 2022