The trap of sadness

Sadness and despair of our past traps us. When we fail G-d the worst thing we can do is to tear ourselves down. The Yetzer Hara or Evil Inclination comes to us in the time of our fall and begins to work on us to keep us enslaved in our fall but G-d has given us the key to be set free.

Bereishis/Genesis 4:6

And HASHEM said to Cain, “Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen?”

When Cain failed to do what was right and G-d did not recognize Cain’s offering, Cain became annoyed and saddened. G-d approached Cain on this issue and questioned him about his attitude.

G-d does not want us to become beat down and saddened over our failures, sins, or transgressions. He wants us to ‘Man Up’ and deal with them head on with the right attitude and with our chins up and not down.

We should be sorry that we failed our Creator but we must be ready to make the correction ASAP.

Bereishis 4:7a

“Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven.”

G-d is telling us here to pick ourselves up, fix what is wrong and continue on. He then will forgive the wrong doing and the past is forgotten.

By remaining annoyed, saddened and down cast over your sin this will cause you to not let go of the past and to continue on into the future with further failures. The sadness will breed more failures and therefore you will remain trapped in a cycle of sin never to be free.

Bereishis 4:7b

“But if you do not improve yourself, sin rest at the door, its desire is toward you,”

G-d has given you everything you need to succeed; He has confidence in you if you will follow His instructions to improve upon yourself.

Bereshis 4:7c

“yet you can conquer it.”

Staying Free

G-d continues on with His instructions on how to remain free from your past and ensuring you a grand today and tomorrow.

Ezekiel 18:21-22

As for the wicked man, if he repents from all his sins that he committed, and observes all my decrees and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against him; he shall live because of the righteousness that he did.  

This is where we have to ‘Man Up’; our living depends on our own actions. The forgetting of our transgressions before G-d depends on what we DO.

We are to toil on the earth and that includes with our walk with our Creator. It is by our own actions we fail our G-d and it is by our own actions that we repair what was done – we broke it, we fix it; Plain and simple.

This is why G-d tells Cain to improve himself – He is telling all of us to improve ourselves and if we do we will be forgiven but if we do not sin will rule and take over.

You do not have to be a sinner

Tehillim/Psalms 119:3

They have also done no iniquity, for they have walked in His ways.

How can one claim they have done no sins or wrongs?

By making daily repentance; each day review your daily wrongs, discuss them with G-d. Make a new commitment each day to do better and strive to correct or improve yourself, in doing this the wrongs of the day before are not remembered as promised. Thus you start out each day with a clean slate – this is how you live without being a sinner.

Starting new each day like a new born baby

Lamentations 3:22-23

HASHEM’S kindness surely has not ended, nor are His mercies exhausted. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

The kindness of G-d has not ended nor is His mercy depleted that He had to show His mercy in any new way.

With all of this we can rely on G-d’s fresh made mercy every day. We are made clean by changing our ways and relying on His mercy to not remember our past.

If G-d has forgotten our past so should we – through His forgetting our past then the sins of yesterday erased through repentance does not exist and thus we. Have done n iniquity for we have walked in His ways.

Rabbi Shalom Arush puts it like this, “A better today assures a brighter tomorrow and cancels out the darkness of the past.”

We can only declare a better today by declaring a new beginning as we are shown above, that His mercy is new every morning.

When we start fresh each day with a clean slate we are truly free from ourselves and the Evil Inclination who seeks to bring us down by bringing up our past. With G-d’s mercy and kindness we have no past sins to condemn us.

There is no need for another source of mercy

G-d’s mercy is new everyday, He did not add to it, He did not add a new way to get His mercy – He tells us that He never changes but so many do not believe that one point about G-d and want to add their version of His ways that is opposite of the Torah He gave at Sinai.

There are false religions that want you to follow their path to G-d that does not line up with His Torah.

Point blank – If you need Jesus to have access to G-d’s mercy and kindness then something changed from the above passages – that means His mercy ran out and a new way had to be brought in.

G-d tells us in Isaiah 45 and in other places that He is alone and there are no others with Him – It is His mercy and kindness we rely on not another god from another religion.

To rely on another source for mercy and forgiveness is Idolatry which is wickedness and we must repent of our idolatries and return to the One G-d of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.

Tehillim 145:18

HASHEM is close to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.

There is no need to call on any other name but the name of G-d and that is A-donai – there is NO mediator between G-d and His creation. Man sets up mediators. Call on Him today and leave everyone else out. G-d promises to be close to you when you call.

Set yourself free and walk fresh with your Creator as a new born babe, Everyday.

Terry W. Hayes

10/2012