Greetings from Moldova (Eastern Europe). I have just arrived from the amazing campaign in Togo. I am preaching here today and then heading to Houston. Before I share what is on my heart today, I want to mention that if you live in the Houston area, I hope see you on Saturday for two powerful meetings! (to find out more information about the morning “IMPARTATION BREAKFAST, Click Here
AND…for the evening HEALING AND MIRACLE ENCOUNTER, Click Here
One night, in family devotions, I was reading to my kids from a Bible storybook about Cain and Abel. In this author’s rendition of the story, Cain’s offering was rejected because it was not his best, while Abel’s offering was the best he had to give and therefore acceptable to God. It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks…this writer missed the entre point of the Biblical story! In fact, I believe the reality is quite the opposite.
Cain was a “tiller of the ground”. His days consisted of backbreaking manual labor and he earned every morsel with the “sweat of his brow”. When asked to bring a sacrifice to God, he must have surely thought that his offering would be the best in God’s sight. Cain’s offering was the hard earned fruit of his labor, the work of his own blistered hands.
But, in spite of all Cain’s striving, God rejected his offering. The Bible says, “Cain was exceedingly angry and his countenance fell” (Gen 4:5). Cain was so frustrated and angry because he had indeed brought his best to God…and yet his best was not good enough. God said, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” “Do well?” Cain must have thought. “I’ve done the best I can do.” Perhaps Cain knew in his heart that he had worked longer and harder than Able ever did. Through sweat, tears and hard manual labor Cain had worked the thorny soil to bring this offering to the Lord. Yet God was pleased with Abel’s gift and not his own. Cain could not understand and soon his frustration boiled over into murderous rage.
Why was Abel’s offering acceptable to God? Was it a better offering? Had Abel worked more or harder or better? On the contrary…Abel brought the blood of an innocent other. The real sacrifice was not his at all…it was really the sheep who had paid the dearest price. Abel was NOT relying on the work of his hands and the fruit of his labor. Somehow he understood that it was the blood that satisfied God. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb 9:22).
Cain is a type of all those who come to God with the work of their own hands. Even if we do our best and strive with all our might to please God, we will always come up short, no matter how well-intentioned we may be. Whenever you swipe the credit card of your own righteousness into God’s ATM it will ALWAYS be declined. All our righteousness is like filthy rags.
Abel is a type of all those who come to God with the blood of that innocent other; the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is the blood of Jesus that has cleansed us from all sin (I John 1:7). It is the blood of Jesus that has purged our conscience from dead works (Heb 9:14). It is the blood of Jesus that has reconciled us unto God (Eph 2:13). It is the blood of Jesus that has redeemed us (1 Pet 1:18).
Abel came not on the basis of his works, but in faith, and like Abraham, “It was counted to him as righteousness.” By faith we carry God’s own credit card, without a capital limit, backed by the collateral of heaven’s endless supply, and billed to Calvary’s address. Hallelujah!
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Thank you Daniel for your wonderful message! I always wanted to understand why Cain’s gift wasn’t accepted,
I still don’t understand how abel knew what was acceptable to God at that time
was not Him in a better position having access to this sheep ?
Dear Lucia, may I offer a reply,
As Daniel has stated, innocent blood was a requirement for the offering.
I would suspect that Adam their father would have explained that to them, seeing as he was the one who had known God intimately b4 sin got in.
Cain could have traded his grain with his brother to purchase a spotless lamb, but he needed a humble heart so see this.
Blessings Sister.
I always wondered about this, now it makes perfect sense, thanks Daniel. God bless you!
Very,VERY good word! May you be blessed & anointed far beyond what you could imagine & may God continue to use u in a mighty way!~~ur friends in Arkansas~Jose & Jamie
Thank you Daniel for your wonderful grasp of the amazing Grace of God. I pray all believers may come to this understanding and take their eyes off themselves and fix their eyes on Jesus and the work of reconciliation. The only ministry we are called too. The reconciliation of man to God. God bless you.
Hi Pastor,
My heart was touched by this message; every day i ask god to better understand why Cain wasn’t accepted, Now I know the answer. What I request you to do is to pray for me because I love Jesus and I want to serve him closely but many gossip discourage me…
Thanks for your prayer, tell me!
Thank u for making me c d othr side of dis story…n making me understand d depth of the wrd of GOD…Its realy an eye opener msg……GOD BLESS U….
wow..just startled at this deep revelation… been awaken to life again in Christ, man bless you abundantly and your ministry
Agreed with your words:All our righteousness is like filthy rags.
Holy spirit says that the biggest babylon in the end times is that “self centered” in human mind.
Looking at the Jesus should always be where our eyes kept.
Not what we can do for god,but what Jesus command us to do.If we love Jesus than it is easy to know what our lover wants.
Liwen,Nien
Thank you for your comments Liwen
Danil, thank you 4 the article, so bless
Bonjour Pasteur,
j’ai appris beaucoup ce soir avec cette révélation sur l’offrande selon Gen 4, par ailleurs j’aimerai savoir lorsqu’on a échouer a causse nos convoitisse et nous avons l’appel de Dieu dans nos vie qu’est ce qu’il faut faire ??
Excellent insightful and true thx
Please Mr Kolenda, Can you kindly attempt to explain how a practising witch can vow solemnly in the public and call upon the Almighty to strike them dead -if they
re lying- denying that they have ever been Diabolic? ..And Nothing Happens?
Can an active servant of Satan use the name of God, the Almighy blameless God, as an alibi?
Excellent revelation! I think you are right on! One thing I learned recently is that in Gen. 4:4 Abel took from the first born of his flock showing that the first things belong to the Lord (tithe). It doesn’t say if Cain’s sacrifice had come from the first fruits of his labor. So I think this had something to do with it as well. But I do think that the blood sacrifice was essential. What do you think?
My humble hint:
“Cain is a type of all those who come to God with the work of their own hands”
To me, that’s not nearly enough respect and honor before THE CREATOR.
[ There’s this wonderful little story of the five-year old daughter who wanted to give her father a birthday-present.
So she worked and worked on that present, all alone in her room … and she nearly broke his heart.
When she finally came to give it to him, he said:
“My loved one, I’d rather had been with you”. ]
– – Well, God always want to have us close to Him !
I Love Him because He first loved me !
Excellent revelation! I think you are right on! One thing I learned recently is that in Gen. 4:4 Abel took from the first born of his flock showing that the first things belong to the Lord (tithe). It doesn’t say if Cain’s sacrifice had come from the first fruits of his labor. So I think this had something to do with it as well. But I do think that the blood sacrifice was essential. What do you think?
God bless you richly Mr Kolenda this is actually my first time of going through yur bible study teachings and i can say that this is revelational and powerful,but you know it is really a thin line between works and grace and most times-as i can speak for my self -we slip into depending on our works without knowing please Sir,can you help me differentiate b/w these two.4rm Obieze in Nigeria
Thank you for the question Obieze. When it comes to salvation, the only thing that God accepts or requires is our faith the blood of Jesus. We cannot add to or take away from the finished work of the cross through our “works”
HOWEVER, I think it is important to remember that good “works” ARE required from God’s children (I Cor 4:2) and we will all give an account for the things done in the body, we will also be rewarded according to what we have done (II Cor 5:10). Good works are very important…BUT they cannot save us.
Think of it this way; before we are saved, God will not accept our “good works”, but once we are saved, He requires “good works”.
Powerful
It was a blessing to see you and Reinhard in Houston this past Saturday. You truly are a man of God. God has so richly blessed you in many ways. Thank you for praying with me for my mom as my Faith and Belief in Jesus has set her free from bondage of sickness(cancer). She is healed in Jesus’name, Amen! My mom and I have become a One Soul sponsor for CFAN and pray for your protection in Africa winning One Soul at a Time.
Thank You! Michelle
God bless you Michelle. We stand with you in faith. Thank you for partnering with us for the harvest. May the Lord bless you richly!
You know the word required is very strong. We are saved through the precious blood of Christ and are continually presented as righteous in His sight too.
Works come from a love affair with our Father God. They are a by product of this love affair. As soon as we say it is a requirement we automatically open a new credit card account.
What did Jesus mean when he said my yoke is easy and my burden is light? Surely it meant that the weight of works and legal obligation is removed and all is left is that sweet desire to love our Saviour once we realise what He has infact done for us. Afterall we love because he 1st loved us.
Him whom is forgiven much loves much. The more we understand His amazing act of grace and what he has freed us from and freed us into the more we are compelled by this lavish unspeakablely great love and not obligation or a wrong understanding that we must do stuff to please God. Jesus is the ultimate atonement for sin and why we are always God’s pleasure. Boy He loves us so very much…. now let us toil together so others may know this love.
I am outside Europe and I request that you pray for me and my children for sound health and Spiritual upliftment. Also for business breakthrough.
Mary…I pray that the Lord would give you the desire of your heart and meet every need as you seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness! Many blessings to you in Jesus name.
This is indeed a powerful message that is, a need for the moment. May God keep you for this generation.
Thank you Samuel. Blessings!
I had never thought of it this way. Its so true that he was mad because his best was rejected.You are such a blessing!!!
Yes…and our best is always rejected too. Thank God for Jesus!! Bless you Niddy
Daniel,
How many times do we as the “household of faith” slip back from abiding in grace into striving with works? Great message! I especially love the line, “By faith we carry God’s own credit card, without a capital limit, backed by the collateral of heaven’s endless supply, and billed to Calvary’s address. Hallelujah!”
Yes…it seems that we are always tempted to fall back into dead works. That’s why Hebrews 4:11 says that we must “labour” to enter into that rest. It seems like an oxymoron, but we actually have to work at learning to rest in the finished work of the cross without trying to add anything to it. It’s always great to hear from you Becky!
Hi Daniel, I am looking forward to this teaching.
You concluded with 26 words of PURE GOLD . . . >>By faith we carry God’s own credit card, without a capital limit, backed by the collateral of heaven’s endless supply, and billed to Calvary’s address. Hallelujah!>> Thank you, Daniel . . . may we NEVER forget this lesson and the depth of those last 26 words.
Thank you Pau…I always feel encouraged when I hear from you:-)
That is a great word. I think of the old song, “Oh the blood of Jesus, it washes white as snow.” The church needs to be sure we are preaching the blood of Jesus and it alone as the answer for salvation. God made the way plain and simple, bring the “sacrifice I have required”, for on that basis and that alone do we have standing WITH God and BEFORE God. Thanks for that word! Keep preaching it. As Reinhard says it is the simple Gospel, but it is still the most powerful force on the planet!
That is so true pastor Mike. The preaching of the Gospel seems to be a lost art. Let’s keep preaching the blood and the cross!
Thank you for this powerful insight, God Bless, and keeping you in prayer for continued health, strength and the energising power of the Holy SPirit!
Hi Susan! We missed you in Houston this weekend, but I look forward to seeing you in Canada in a few weeks.
May God bless you Evangelist Daniel Kolenda he always appeal each day for the success of his ministry “Christ for all nations. ” This exhortation was still bright eyes of my heart.
I thank our Lord Jesus Christ we have opened our eyes again to better understand what he asks us to do through this message. he gives us grace not to have the attitude of Cain, approaching God with the work of our own hands. but rather to take refuge in the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin
Amen…thank you patince
I thank God for the ministry he has given you. Sorry I made a mistake on my name. Patience is not Patince. Your visit to my country, Togo with the evangelist Bonnke was that my life has changed in my adoration for God. Especially the preaching of the 4th day and turned me and this message “When Your Best Is not Good Enough” got even more open my eyes and renewed my mind. Be blessed and do not forget us in your prayers. Now I really want to remain in Christ until the day of his coming.
May God Bless CFAN Ministry