Transform your thinking, Transform your life 7 (way of Cain)

Transform your thinking

Transform your life

Way of Cain

The BLESSING (Gen 1 : 28)

Matthew 15 : 3_9

He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and your mother; and, He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. 5 But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God6 then he need not honor his father or mother. Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:8 These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

God tells us to choose life or death, choose the way we are going to live. God will not force Himself or what He desires on us, we have a free choice.

Deut 30 : 19

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Is there a chance that someone could choose something other than life? Choose something other than to live in the blessing of God? Through ignorance of God’s word and ways we can make wrong choices and yet there are times when we choose to do what we want to despite having a knowledge of God's word.

Jer 17 : 5_8. Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear (see) when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

2 different men, two different choices, two different outcomes.

Sometimes we can come to church looking for a word from God, hear and not receive it, why? It’s the Way of Cain. Blessings, curses, life, death flow around us everyday, what do we choose?

Jude 11_12 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

Seeds take time to grow. Cain did not get up one morning and decide to think and act wrongly, it was a process.

John 10 : 10 shows us that progress.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

1/ Steals. 2/ Kills. 3/ Destroys.

He steals the Word thereby killing your faith, hope, confidence with God and destroying the BLESSING that is on you. So he comes to steal, kill. Kill = THUO; offer or sacrifice firstfruits to a God.

The devil wants to come and steal your firstfruits. Using John 10 : 10 satan comes to steal the Word of God and kill, the sacrifice of firstfruits therein destroying the blessing in your life.

AMP :- IN ORDER to steal, kill and destroy.

To get a true picture of this we need to look to Adam and see what his sin really was.

God puts them into the garden to tend and keep it.

He told them eat of all the trees except the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil.

They could touch every tree but there was one they could not eat from, it was to be an offering to God to put into motion what the whole Kingdom of God is built on, sowing and reaping.

Adam and Eve ate their seed. What was designed to bring the BLESSING was eaten and stolen. In order, steal and then their confidence and hope in God was killed, destroying the blessing. How important is the BLESSING? Gal 3 : 13 _ 14. 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree ),14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The sin of Adam was stealing.

Malachi 3 : 6 I DO NOT CHANGE. For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

V 7. Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, Says the Lord of hosts. But you said, In what way shall we return? Return to God and He will return to you. Return the firstfruit offerings to God and He will return the blessing to you. Return them, why? They are God’s.

V 8 – 11 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, In what way have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings.9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try (prove) Me now in this, Says the Lord of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour (empty) out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, Says the Lord of hosts; V 10 Pour (empty) out for you BLESSING. I’ll open the windows of heaven and empty out the BLESSING to you. Return it to you. Because your attitude is right, God will rebuke the devourer on your behalf and he will not steal any of your harvest.

Why do many struggle with this? Way of Cain. THAT WHICH CAUSES US TO REDEFINE WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO GOD IS THE WAY OF CAIN.

Mal 3 : 13 _ 15. Your words have been harsh against Me, Says the Lord, Yet you say, What have we spoken against You? 14 You have said, It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the Lord of hosts?15 So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free. They call the wicked blessed, they try to justify their behavior by saying things like, “God blesses me even though I don’t offer firstfruits.” They look at the ungodly and say they don’t offer firstfruits and they are doing OK.” They redefine what God says to do and then try to justify what they are doing, The Way of Cain. Trying to get their own blessing instead of God’s blessing. Self made man. I want to be a God made man.

The sin of Cain was the same as Adam’s sin. Gen 4 : 1_5. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord.2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.

Some translations read, “when it was time for the harvest.” Cain brought an offering. V4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

Abel brought the firstborn. Firstborn is a firstfruit. Cain just brought an offering, no mention of firstfruits. Could it be he has already eaten of his firstfruits and only brought God what’s left. Eaten his seed. the old Jewish Rabbi's firmly believed that Cain's offering was about the 3rd harvest. (the Chumash). It had nothing to do with blood sacrifice. Blood sacrifice was not introduced for man to be involved in until the Levitical priesthood. It’s not the blood it’s the firstfruit offering. God gave His best in Jesus and we are to give God our best. God had no respect for Cain’s offering, why? It was not his best, it was not firstfruit. It was simply what was left after He consumed it on himself. I believe Adam would have taught both sons about his failure before God and instructed them on how to bring the offering. God is no respecter of person’s. Cain chooses to offer something beside firstfruits thinking that will do, “God is a loving, compassionate caring God who understands?” Yes He is and that is why He puts into place His ways of living because they are the best and that’s what His blessing is on. The bible is God’s manual on living. A manual means one who puts down his thinking. Cain disrespects God by giving Him an unacceptable offering. Cain is deceived into thinking God will just accept any old offering. His heart attitude is to redefine what is acceptable to God and expect God to bless him. He steals from God, destroying his hope and relationship with God and stops the BLESSING flowing in his life. God said in Malachi He changes not, return the tithe and firstfruit to Him and He will empty out the BLESSING on you.

Believing we can steal from God and then redefine what is acceptable to God is the way of Cain. How far can this go in our lives? Some don’t want to go to a church and think it’s still alright. Heb 10 : 25. not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Who said you could redefine what God says?

Hold unforgiveness because, well you don’t know what they did to me. Mark 11 : 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

Some refuse to put others first and live a life of love, even though God’s Word clearly says to put others first and to love others as we love God.

Everything we do MUST be from a basis of what does the Word say about this. God wants to richly bless us in every area of your life that is why He has given us this manual, the blueprint to life. Having and enjoying life in abundance, to the full, till it overflows.

What do I do?

1. Acknowledge that you are doing the wrong thing.

2. Repent, change you thinking.

3. Break the spirit from the Way of Cain.

4. Make a quality decision to live God’s way.

This is not a message for the purpose of gaining tithes and offerings; it’s a message to bring you back to your rightful place of THE BLESSING. Empowered by God to prosper and succeed.

You must decide that from this point forwards instead of adjusting the Word to fit your lifestyle, you will adjust your lifestyle to fit the Word. If you think in a certain way, and you find the Word says something different, our own preferences and options don't matter. The Word is right. It is what we live by.