MORE One Less Rib (1) - a podcast by C3 Church Southwest WA

Genesis 2:18, 21-22 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.  And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

 In 6 days God created the heaven and the earth and it was GOOD!

•  good: tob (gk) – pleasurable, agreeable, enjoyable… for everyone involved

 

Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is NOT GOOD that the man should be alone; 

NOT GOOD: ALONE, the condition of Adam

• (gk) hi – he, she, it

• (gk) bad – separated (implies a design feature yet to be realized)

NOT GOOD was not the result of bad circumstances. NOT GOOD was because Adam had yet to become who God designed Him to be. NOT GOOD applies to You. You are not who God designed you to be either… YET 

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV) And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

God Made A Promise: Genesis 2:18 (ESV)

I will make him a helper fit for him

• make (asah – make, accomplish, the idea of completing)

• fit (neged – in front of, facing)

I will complete Him and he will FACE and SEE his helper.

Adam’s Transformational Moment: Genesis 2:21-22 (ESV) So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.  And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

God didn’t change Adam’s circumstances; He removed his rib! Too many people think a change of circumstances leads to a better life. 

October 2018 Benzinga article by Hannah Genig  – according to a study by Wolf Street, nearly one-third of U.S. lottery winners declare bankruptcy within a few years of their big win. 

•  In the late 1980’s, William Post III, won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania Lottery. By the early 1990’s, Post was $500,000 in debt and filed for bankruptcy.

• Alex and Rhoda Toth won $13 million. They took their winning in payments of $666,666 over a 20-year span in 1990, but filed for bankruptcy in 2006. The couple was later charged with tax evasion. Rhoda was sentenced to two years in prison and was fined $1.1 million.

• Denise Rossi won $1.3 million. Her first endeavor after her big win was to divorce her husband, who had no knowledge of the win. Later, her ex-husband sued and the judge declared that Rossi had violated state asset-disclosure laws. As a result, the ex-husband received all of the winnings.

Adam’s external circumstances improved as his internal transformation was underway.

Your best life unfolds when God can build the better you.

Key Transformational Moments

When You’re Forced To Choose Between Him And Something Else…

• you face a decision that requires you to say no, even walk away from something you value because you know that God has something better. The challenge is that you can see the thing you are walking away from but can’t see the thing you are walking toward… YET! 

• Genesis 12:1–4 (ESV) Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

• sometimes it’s a choice between good and bad.

• sometimes it’s a choice between good and God’s better

• recognize and embrace – this is a defining moment, a hardening of the cement of who you are and will be. It points the trajectory of your life and the destination you encounter are at stake. 

• take the first step!

When God Repeats Himself, Again…

• the value of reading, listening, and praying is that it tunes you into heaven’s frequency

• when God is trying to get our attention, he repeats himself audibly, and other times through circumstances

• Numbers 22 - Balaam was going in a wrong direction, donkey saw the Angel of the Lord about to punish her master and she turned off the road into the field (struck); on a narrow walled path, he put his foot into a wall (struck); lay down in road (struck with staff)

• sometimes we find ourselves listening to the same themes over a few years, even a few decades.\

• recognize & embrace the moment 

• press in – study, conversations, research

• pray - declarative prayer

• failure to respond creates a rut that is hard to escape, forming the you that is less than what God intended.

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