There is no better way to start a blog than with a joke.
Here it goes:
Snake 1: Hey, I hope we are not poisonous!
Snake 2: Why do you say that?
Snake 1: Because I just bit my lip…
HA HA Ha Ha ha ha
IN case you’re wondering, according to a Google search 56% of adults are afraid of snakes.
•600 different species of snakes are poisonous.
•Snake bites cause a 100,000 deaths a year.
•An est. 500,000 are left severely disfigured.
•The saw-scaled viper kills more people than any other snake.
SO, what does the bible say about snakes?
Luke 10:17-19 “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’ And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.'”
Jesus did not say that you will never get bitten. He said that you won’t get hurt.
Interesting.
I recently did research on venom:
•1st – There is a difference between poison and venom. The different is how it is administered. Poison is absorbed through the skin or ingested. Venom is injected, like through a snake bite or a scorpion sting.
•2nd – There are different types of venom. Each one affecting its victim differently. One affects the cardiovascular system (the heart.) Another dismantles molecular surroundings in the body. And another attacks the nervous system and the brain. The last one is known as a neurotoxin.
Neurotoxin works by injecting its victim with venom. It travels through your veins to your brain. While in the brain, it will attack then neurons causing them to fire rapidly. It will deplete the neuron causing paralysis and eventual death.
This sounds like a tactic our enemy, Satan, uses against us. In John 16:33 Jesus doesn’t promise a life that has no trouble. Actually, Jesus promises the trouble will find us. Satan uses the trouble of life in order to tag us with a bite. He uses past mistakes. He uses words that slander your character. He uses sickness and death. He uses the actions of other people. He uses these things and then waits to see how we respond. All he wants is to get the venom to your brain. He wants you to think and obsess about the wrongs you experienced in your life. The tactic has stayed the same for generations. In Genesis 3:1 the Serpent (Satan) was able to get Eve to question God. Satan did this by bringing venom to Eve’s mind through the form of a question, “Did God really SAY that you couldn’t eat from the tree of knowledge?” He was causing even to question God. Is God really good? Is God withholding from me? He brought doubt and uncertainty.
When the bite happens, I believe one of the hardest things to do is forgive. Unforgiveness will eventually lead to bitterness. Just like neurotoxin, eventually bitterness will lead to atrophy, paralysis, and eventual death in an area in your life.
So what do I want you to do with this information.
Forgive.
It might be the hardest thing you have to do because of what happened to you. But when you forgive, that snakebite won’t have the power it had over you and Jesus can bring healing.
I was thinking if there was one person who didn’t have to forgive it would have been Jesus.
•Judas (one of Jesus’s best friends) betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver.
•The other 11 fell asleep in a time he needed them.
•The religious elite had Jesus blindfolded, beat up, and then mocked.
•Pilate had him scourged 39 times till his back was so open you could see his skeletal system.
•The Roman guards pierced his wrists and feet with nails – severing nerves!
…and, yet, through all of this, Jesus’s response was not one for justice or retaliation. Jesus, on the cross, simply said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
If you are not sure where to start
Start with simply saying…
“I forgive ______________ (name).”
Then say,
“God, the debt that ________________ is owed to me, I give to you. I give the situation and _________________ to you.”
*Repeat this as many times as you need.