what eve didn't know

EVE.
She should not have answered the serpent.
Should have ignored, turned off the phone, not be alone, go help her husband take care of other trees.

She should not have exaggerated God’s severity and downplayed God’s warning.
"You shall not eat or touch it.” When God said, “You shall not eat.”
“Or you will die.” When God said, “You will surely die.”

She did not need  ONE MORE.
One more tree. One more choice.
She already had everything women for all ages to come would ask for.

She should not have taken the serpent’s advice.
Yes, true to his word, her eyes were “opened.”
But the first thing she saw was her “nakedness” and shame.
True to his word, she knew good and evil.
But mostly that God had been good, and the serpent was really evil.
She opened her package and found that it was nothing she saw on the screen.
Cheap imitation. Fake. And labelled:
“No exchange” policy.

Don't bother talking with the serpent.
He will smooth talk you into forfeiting everything you have and will have
By making you think about the one thing you can’t have.
Don’t fall for his free “trial.”  Nothing’s free.
Someone has to pay for it
Somehow, somewhere, sometime.
Don’t take his rides.
They make your heart pump.
But you are not really touching the sky.
Don’t let his photoshop and smart editing fool you.
You're not his match.
When he attacks, he makes you feel thankful.
He makes you think it's "fate."
Remember: it is never “just coffee.”
There is no “just this once.”

Play it safe.
Not sure “Has God said?” Ask. God.
Are you getting all you deserve?” Of. Course. Not.
Look at the Cross.
Look at His hands and side.

Walk with your Savior.
Don’t hide in the bushes.
Get busy and live your life.
Stop chit chatting with the Serpent.

FOUR QUESTIONS AFTER THE RESURRECTION

"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" (John 18:15) were the first questions Jesus asked after He rose from the dead.
Why are you weeping? Why am I weeping? 
What makes us feel that we're lost, we haven't found it, life is empty and futile?
It depends on whom we seek, isn't it?
If it's the Lord, He is right here.

The next question Jesus asked was to the disciples after their night of fishing.
"Children, you do not have any fish do you?" (John 21:5)
Have you been working all night - all your life - and not have any fish?
The disciples were smart.
They didn't say, "Well, we'd not been fishing for awhile, takes some getting used to." 
They didn't rationalize, "Well, failure is the mother of success."
They answered, "No."  Simply.  Honestly. No "because . . . ", "perhaps . . . " "maybe . . . ."
And the Lord blessed them with all the fish they could ever dream of.

Question number three was asked three times - bam, bam, bam.
It was that important.
"Do you love Me?" (John 21:16-17)
Peter might have rehearsed over and over again in his mind why he failed, why he should be selected again, why he needed a second chance.
But the only question he got at the most important job interview of his life was:
"Do you love Me?"
Not, "Are you sorry?" for sorry doesn't cut it.
Not, "What promises can you make to this company?" for promises aren't important.
Not "Do you love Japan?"  "Do you love the poor?" "Do you love to build houses?" "Do you love tending sheep?"
Just, "Do you love Me?"

Finally, the last question, "What is that to you?" (John 21:22)
Don't look at John. "If I want him to remain till I come, what is that to you?"
Don't look at this problem, that church, those people.  "If I delay a little longer to deal with them, of if I didn't deal with them, what is that to you?"

"You follow Me." (John 21:22)