Deceived!

And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:1.
To man, the crowning work of creation, God has given power to understand His requirements, to comprehend the justice and beneficence of His law, and its sacred claims upon him; and of man unswerving obedience is required.
Like the angels, the dwellers in Eden had been placed upon probation; their happy estate could be retained only on condition of fidelity to the Creator’s law. They could obey and live, or disobey and perish….
The angels had cautioned Eve to beware of separating herself from her husband while occupied in their daily labor in the garden; with him she would be in less danger from temptation than if she were alone. But absorbed in her pleasing task, she unconsciously wandered from his side…. She soon found herself gazing with mingled curiosity and admiration upon the forbidden tree. The fruit was very beautiful, and she questioned with herself why God had withheld it from them. Now was the tempter’s opportunity. As if he were able to discern the workings of her mind, he addressed her: “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” …
The tempter intimated that the divine warning was not to be actually fulfilled; it was designed merely to intimidate them….
Such has been Satan’s work from the days of Adam to the present, and he has pursued it with great success. He tempts men to distrust God’s love and to doubt His wisdom. He is constantly seeking to excite a spirit of irreverent curiosity, a restless, inquisitive desire to penetrate the secrets of divine wisdom and power. In their efforts to search out what God has been pleased to withhold, multitudes overlook the truths which He has revealed, and which are essential to salvation….
Eve really believed the words of Satan, but her belief did not save her from the penalty of sin. She disbelieved the words of God, and this was what led to her fall. In the judgment men will not be condemned because they conscientiously believed a lie, but because they did not believe the truth, because they neglected the opportunity of learning what is truth.12
Conflict and Courage p. 15
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Prayer Requests
—– praise the Lord….. kidney function is up from less than 15% to over 25% john
—– Please pray for Bro. James’s son battling with Blood cancer in the hospital. If the son gets better, we can treat naturally…. Platelets are too low and has fungal pneumonia infection….. John
—–update—Lorna has her doctor’s appointment today. Please pray that God gives the doctor wisdom. Rose
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Dear Friends,
When we lived in Washington state, Ron became interested in astronomy. He called the astronomy club there, and they told us to come visit one of their “star parties.” One evening, we drove out to Star Butte and when we got to the top, there were about forty people who were also looking upward. The club members’ telescopes were of various sizes. The one we were most interested in was a large telescope, 18 inches in diameter. It was built by a young man named Kevin. Oh, what beauties we could see through it! As we took our turn climbing up on the stepladder that he had there, we got to see nebulae and galaxies that without the aide of that telescope, only looked like pinpoints of light.
When we moved to this area, we occasionally would go to the local observatory before it closed down. We would spend some time looking through the telescopes of the amateur astronomers who set up their telescopes there on the weekends. As we looked at all the wonders of God’s creation, our hearts were drawn to the Great Creator. We feel like declaring as did David, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.” “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. . . .When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” Ps 19:1, 2, 8:1, 3, 4
Each day, I enjoy looking at the astronomy picture of the day and often think of the beauties that await our discovery in God’s Great Universe where “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Cor 2:9 What joys we will experience as we wing our flight to worlds afar to share our testimony with the unfallen inhabitants of the universe of God’s great love sacrifice. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:16, 17 What rejoicing there will be as all created beings will sing out their praise to the One Who loves us and has redeemed us that we might dwell with Him forevermore! “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” Amen! Rev 5:13
May we trust, serve, and praise our Great Creator Who upholds “all things by the word of his power” yet is interested in every aspect of our life is my prayer. Heb 1:3
Rose