Listening to God Together

This present age is full of violence—violence to the earth, violence to the animal kingdom, and even violence to the bodies, souls and spirits of those whom God created in His own image. Violence becomes even more intense as momentous events approach: as the storm breaks, as the kingdom of God comes close. 12   And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it. 13   For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time.  (Matthew 11:12-13) Why is that? Jesus said:  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword .“ (Matthew 10:34) The scripture tells us that the Word of God is a 2-edged sword, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  (Heb. 4:12; Rev. 1:16) The convicting blade of the sword can feel extremely violent.  It strikes to the depths o...

God is faithful..but what does it mean for us to live in faithfulness to God and to each other? I have a little rat terrier who is just over a year old named Kallie.  She is a goofball and has the attention span of a gnat.   I’ve been trying to teach her to stay while I go through the gate.   I start with sit, then put my hand in front of her and say, “Staaaaaayyyy, Kallie.  Staaaaaaay.”   If I’m lucky, I can get through the gate before she bolts through.  But she is learning. God trains us in faithfulness through our relationships, through parenting, through our professions.  It's a training in righteousness. He’s trying to train us to staaaayyyyy… How many days of your life have you been too tired to cook a meal, change a diaper, carry through on discipline with a teen, get up and go to work…but you did it anyway.  That’s faithfulness. All my life I wanted to be a rancher.   I grew up with Lassie , Rin Tin Tin , Fury , Bonanza and The Big...

  In the beginning God made the Earth, the Sky, and the Seas, and all the inhabitants thereof and He declared it Good. Why?  Because it shown with His Glory, was bursting with Life, and filled with His Light. Because it expressed His Nature.  Yes, even Mankind was part of that declaration of Good.  God designed us and all Creation to be filled with His Goodness . And He created us to be vessels of blessing to each other and to all of Creation.  It doesn’t say so explicitly, but I imagine Adam was kind to Eve and to the creatures in the Garden. He was, no doubt, loving and joyful and peaceful as well—just like his Father. After all, God made it all for him/us—the endless glory of Eden was his eternal inheritance.  All Adam had to do was “tend” it.  It came as a finished product, complete and Good. Sadly, we know what happened next.  But that gets us to our topic today.    Without the Fall, we wouldn’t have needed the Bible, I suppo...