This is what God said to Cain when Cain became angry and downcast for his offering did not find favor in God's eyes. 

I can still remember the time when I read about this story on an illustrated Bible (separated into 10 books filled with a lot of pictures) and I saw a picture of how God accepted Abel's offering of a young flock while Cain put on a sullen face when his fruit offering was not accepted.

What first came to my mind was, "Why was Cain's offering not accepted?" I felt that it was unfair that his offering was not accepted while Abel's was and naturally, a person would feel the same way that he did if he saw that his father would find favor to his brother and not to him.

Then little did I know about the offerings themselves. As I was able to grasp more information about God and the Bible, I realized that all the offerings made in the Old Testament were made out of the first born of their flocks and is usually a spotless pure sheep (This signifies the coming of Jesus Christ who was the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins). 

No wonder Cain's offering was rejected. For it was not made of a pure and spotless animal which was the requirement for the offering. He could have asked his brother for one so that he can make another offering. But no. He let his negative emotions rule over him despite God's warning. And thus, the second sin came into fruition: murder. 

If one looks at this story, a lot of us can relate of how we can sometimes become angry and sad just like Cain when one of our siblings found favor in our parent's eyes. We can become embittered and results in us doing awful things. While it is human nature to be angry and sad, we can always make the right choices to never let the sun go down while we're angry and to call out to God when we are in despair. Unfortunately, a lot of us choose to hold a grudge and wallow in our negative emotions. And when we choose to linger in these negative emotions, sin becomes apparent in the mind. We then think of a lot of negative and awful things in our mind and you might say that it's okay as long as it's just in the mind, but the mind is the seat where every desire is being plotted out. It is still considered a sin and will have control over the things that you do. As the saying goes, everything begins in the mind.

God said if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It all begins with how you think and if you let one negative thought linger without confessing it to the Lord, it gives way to sin. And sin desires to have you. It is the evil in our human fleshly nature and we must learn to rule over it. Of course we cannot rule over it by ourselves. Not with our flawed psyche. Not with our weak flesh. Not with the fleshly desires of our heart. For this battle is not ours alone. It can only be completely ruled over with God's mighty power. It has already been ruled over by Jesus Christ when he died for us on the cross. And all we got to do is to believe in Him and obey. Then His Holy Spirit will dwell among us which is our guarantee against sin and evil.       

How beautiful it is to hear and know that the Lord will never forsake nor abandon His children. That He is always there to comfort, to guide, and to lead the way to everlasting life. That even if you walk amidst the darkest valley, in the presence of thy enemies, He is there protect you and to make you a light showing God's love and grace. 

It is wonderful to know that there is a God who supplies you with everything you need that you don't have to worry about the basic necessities of life for God will give them to you. You just have to seek Him first above all else and He will give you everything that you need. 

It is amazing to know that this same God gives rest and comfort to your heart and soul whenever you are troubled or distressed. That if you just call out to Him with a sincere heart, He will answer with a voice that is the most soothing that you will ever hear (metaphorically speaking). 

What more, He guides you as you walk through the shadow of death. When you are surrounded by evil things and are presented with not so good circumstances that can shake your belief and discourage you, He is always there to give you that hope to never give up and to continue fighting the good fight for His name. He gives that assurance that whenever you face trials and tribulations that could possibly shake your belief, He will always give a way out and He will always give hope. You just have to trust Him wholeheartedly. 

And lastly, His goodness and love will always follow to those who follow and love Him with all their hearts, all their souls, all their strengths, and all their minds. It is nice to know that even if your human condition makes you stumble and circumstances bring you down, He will always lift you up and never fails to bless you in ways that you can never comprehend. You just have to repent and call out to Him and seek Him in everything that you do.

Moses was one of the greatest people in the Bible who was chosen by God. He was chosen as the redeemer of the Israelites. He was the one who led God's people out from the suffering and pain that was in Egypt. But Moses was just like some of us. He was afraid and scared. He did not have the confidence of a leader. He was never eloquent and had faltering lips. He ran away from the troubles of his life. He tried to pass the task given to him to other people. He questioned his capabilities and skills. He questioned God.

But how could he lead such a great people out of Egypt? How could he have persuaded the stubborn pharaoh and lead a huge crowd if he had these qualities?

That's where the power and might of God comes in. It goes with the saying that with God, nothing is impossible. Through the guidance of God, Moses was able to speak to a huge crowd despite of him being slow in speech and in tongue. He was able to persuade the pharaoh to let God's people go even if pharaoh's heart was hardened. And with this, he became a person of God. He trusted himself to God knowing that God only wants the best for him and for the people.

If we trust ourselves to the Lord, we will be able to accomplish God's will and good things that we never thought we are capable of.