SHARE Magazine April 2017 | Page 5

position must have known that it could be a temptation to Adam and Eve. So who planted the tree? God did, so there must be a very important lesson to learn as God does everything deliberately. God did not want man to sin but man himself needed to develop a distaste for sin. Moving the temptation away from us would remove the opportunity to overcome the desire for that thing. Even Jesus learnt obedience through the things He suffered, we must face the realities of temptations in this life and learn to overcome the fear of them. When a child is shielded from Q A & the realities of life, never taking the public bus or attending a public school etc... we say they grew up sheltered. God is not like that, He wants us to face the realities and difficulties of a fallen world and develop the character to overcome. Jesus when praying for us said this, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:15 He will protect us but He will not remove us. Why? It is because God is building an army of battle hardened people who have overcome the fears and intimidations of the enemy. Place yourself in God’s hands today. He will raise you up from your self pity and self doubt and enable you to fight fear through the power of the His Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ strength you can have the courage to have, no fear but to free fall to a safe landing in life! Lets hail the day when you can boldly say, “Hello fear!” I remain in Jesus’ Service. Love as always Angela Slack Editor and Co-founder You have questions we’ve got answers This issue’s question taken from GotQuestions.org: Accessed August 27, 2016. http://www.gotquestions.org/meaning-of-the-rainbow.html Question: What is the real meaning of the rainbow? Answer: Biblically speaking, the rainbow is the sign of a covenant that God made with the whole earth: He will never destroy the earth again with a flood. The rainbow is literally correlated to rainfall. God made this covenant, with the rainbow as the token, after the waters of the flood receded and Noah and his family exited the ark. God said, “I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth... This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth”. (Genesis 9:11–15) God made this promise, signified by the rainbow, not only to mankind but to “every living creature . . . the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark . . . every living creature on earth” (Genesis 9:9–10). The covenant is perpetual, enduring to all generations. Never again will there be a worldwide flood. The colors of the rainbow are sometimes used as a symbol of “gay pride.” This began in the 1978 when an artist named Gilbert Baker designed and made a flag for the homosexual community in San Francisco. Baker’s original design had eight colors, and he assigned a meaning to each one: hot pink (sexuality), red (life), orange (healing), yellow (the sun), green (nature), turquoise (art), indigo (harmony), and violet (spirit). Subsequent designs sported seven and then six colors. Rainbow flags and banners, as used by the LGBTI community, represent hope, and social action. diversity, There are other rainbow flags and banners that have nothing to do with the homosexual culture. For example, the Hawaii Ko Aloha Flag has nine colored stripes representing the islands that were inhabited before Western civilization arrived. Another example is the flag of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, a Masonic organization whose banner represents seven different virtues. The rainbow is God’s creation. We naturally delight in it. There is something awe-inspiring in the appearance of a rainbow after a storm. It is good and right that we rejoice in the rainbow as a God-ordained symbol of God’s faithfulness and mercy. The attempt of some to co-opt the colors for their own purposes does not diminish the beauty and wonder of what God has made. p Recommended Resource: The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications, 50th Anniversary Edition by Morris & Whitcomb April - June 2017 SHARE | MAGAZINE | 5