The Offering
Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.” And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell (Gen 4:1-5).
The first two sons born to the man and woman had a striking difference in their natures. Just as the Lord made men and women different, He created every individual to be unique. He obviously loves creativity, but this leads us to one of those ultimate questions. Why does the church, which represents God to the world, tend to be so boringly uniform? Why does the church, which is supposed to be one with the Creator, tend to be so void of creativity, prone to follow the trends of the world, and usually only limping along years behind it? Those who know the Creator should be the most creative people on the face of the earth. We must cast off the oppressive yokes of limited vision imposed by counterfeit spiritual authorities that pressure the church into conformity. The church is going to be free. Then she will astonish the world with her creativity, and instead of following the trends of the world, the world will start following her.
The struggle for freedom began between the first two brothers. Jealousy led to oppression. Jealousy is always rooted in insecurity, and it has continually been the source of most human conflicts. We see in Matt 27:18 and Mark 15:10 that it was because of jealousy that the Lord was delivered to be crucified. We also see repeatedly in the Book of Acts, and the apostolic epistles, that persecution was often motivated by jealousy.
- The greatest religious observance of the Islamic calendar, the fasting season of Ramadan 2015 will commence on June 18 until July 17 2015.
- Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Muslims fasting is during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. Muhammad told his followers that the gates of Heaven would be open all the month and the gates of Hell (Jahannam) would be closed.
- Pray for Jesus\’s visitation to individuals and people groups by dreams and visions as millions seek forgiveness of sins they committed in the past year.
- Pray for the salvation of many who are seeking Jehovah diligently through this practice.