Things we touch and things that touch us

 

Wattog here, blogging about things we touch and things that touch us.  One thing was touched a long time ago that caused quite a problem for all of us.  It was a tree. . yes, that’s right, a tree!  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and because the first man and the first woman touched that tree, they were banned from touching another tree. . . the tree of life.  Why did they have to go and touch what was. . . forbidden!  They didn’t just touch the tree, they ate of the tree. . .they partook of the tree. . . God had given Adam a warning about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  God told him.

. . . Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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

There are many things we mortals have learned from that tree and many of those things have led to deadly things. . .death is our enemy.    I know it sounds morbid, but we have to think about these kinds of things, our lives depend upon it!

There is good news for us though. . .that good news is Jesus Christ.  Christ frees us from the evil of that forbidden tree and we will touch on that later on with the blog list, but before Christ came to deliver us from evil, God had to teach people how to distinguish between good and evil so He could deliver them from what was bad for them; what would make them sick; what would kill them; in body mind and spirit. .  of course, they would have to listen to God and obey God.  Yes, God taught them what was good; what would prolong their days; and about how to have good relationships.  He did this by giving them good laws to live by. Most of us know about the 10 commandments, but there were many, many specifics to those main 10 given in the Bible.

Eve was the first to touch the forbidden tree and then share its fruit with her husband, Adam.  The fruit from the forbidden tree caused forbidden desire to burn within them and since we are all related to the first two, we’ve all inherited that forbidden desire as well.  The first thing they noticed was that they were naked and do you know what?  God covered them.  When God touches us, He helps us. 

 

Later in the New Testament, we read about a woman, who had an issue with her blood for 12 years.  One day she reached out and touched the hem of Christ’s garment and was made whole.  You can read about it in Luke 8:43-48 

When she touched Him, Christ said.

Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

Good came out of Christ when the woman reached out and touched Him by faith. . .power to heal came out of Christ when the woman reached out and touched Him by faith.  We don’t want to reach out with such faith to the world.  The world does give promises alright, but not always good promises and the world does not always keep its promises.

There’s a story about another garment in the Old Testament but this story deals with idolatry.  It is the story of the babylonish garment and the babylonish garment was an accursed thing, it was something forbidden that a man named Achan touched and brought back into the camp of Israel secretly.  Israel could not stand before their enemies because Achan had sinned against the covenant of the Lord.  (Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 ) They could not stand until the forbidden thing was revealed.

You see, Achan took among the spoils, a babylonish garment, no doubt very valuable, also some silver and gold and he hid them away in his tent.  Anytime we have to hide something, it is not a good sign.  The penalty for betraying the covenant between God and man was that Achan and all that he had would be burnt with fire. What was the big deal? In Joshua chapter 6 we learn that the people were instructed to keep themselves from the accursed thing, and if they were to take of the accursed thing and bring it into the camp of Israel it would be a curse to them and lead to trouble.  They were allowed, however, to take the silver, and gold, brass and iron, but for the treasury of the LORD.  Whenever we are deceptive where money is concerned, it is not a good sign either. 
Jesus said. . . Ye cannot serve God and money. Luke 16:13
You can read about Achan and the babylonish garment in Joshua 7:13-24

Walking in the flesh and not the spirit is a dangerous walk.  Jude instructed some Christians to hate even the garment spotted by the flesh.

The letter of Jude was written to warn Christians about men creeping in unaware to try and turn the grace of God into a license to sin and deny Christ, and also how the Lord will come back one day with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on such godlessness, but of some, Jude instructed. . .have compassion, making a difference: And of others he said. . .save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Receive Christ’s toUch . .pass the toRch

We do not want to cling to the things of this world, but we do want to be moved by compassion and touch them with the passion of God’s love.  When something touches us, it is kind of like, lighting a fire.  A candle has no light without a flame.   Christians are God’s candles and He gives us the light of love to share.   This is a spiritual touch/torch that we carry and pass along.  In Hebrews we read that Jesus was. . . touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15  

Christ experienced what we experience. . .
When we touch Christ and Christ touches us, we find the way back to life and the way back to God.  Jesus said;

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6  

Christ touches us with His great love and we are changed and our lives get better, not bitter.  When we’re touched by the world, we can sometimes find ourselves bitter.  The love of God helps us fight off things that touch us that are worldly, like hate, envy, greed, unforgiveness and the like. 
 
Here is this blog’s list.  In Christ we are delivered from the evil of the tree that Adam and Eve touched.  Christ is our tree of life. Please read the Scriptures and the entirety of the text surrounding the Scriptures to get the full meaning.  I have shortened them for you because this is a blog and not a book.  Here are some of the things, not all of the things that make our lives better when we touch Christ and Christ touches us . . .

We will surely live John 6:47

We are surely loved Ephesians 2:4

We are no longer ashamed Romans 10:11

We become sons and daughters of God 2 Corinthians 6:18

We have peace  John 16:33

We have joy John 15:11

We have the bread of life  Matthew 9:36  

We have the light of life John 8:12

We know the truth John 14:6

We drink living water John 7:38

We have wisdom Ephesians 1:17

We have health Matthew 14:14

We have good relationships Matthew 18:27

We see Matthew 20:34

We are heirs Romans 8:17

We are made clean  Mark 1:41

We are saved from the fire  Mark 9:22

We are cared for  Luke 10:33

We are forgiven  Colossians 1:14

We are made free  John 8:36

We can help others James 1:27

We are blessed with spiritual blessings Ephesians 1:3

We are holy and without blame before Him in love Ephesians 1:4

We are accepted in the beloved Ephesians 1:6

We have revelation knowledge Ephesians 1:17

We have access by one Spirit unto the Father Ephesians 2:18

We are rooted and grounded in love Ephesians 3:17

We are filled with the fruits of righteousness Philippians 1:11

We no longer have the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

We have Scripture which is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable to teach and correct us in the ways of righteousness 2 Timothy 3:16-17

We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light:2:25

We are returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls 1 Peter 2:9

We that believe are justified from all things Acts 13:39

God wants us to reach out and touch the hem of His Son’s garment so we will surely live!  Christ is our tree of life!

Fascinating Fact:  2 Kings 13:21   And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

Excerpt from Heir series book, An Heir Wears. . .

The spirit of error teaches evil and the Spirit of Truth teaches good.
John wrote.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.  1 John 4:6

The spirit of error works against God’s good will for man;

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All Scripture from KJV of the Holy Bible unless otherwise noted