God clearly communicates with us - Genesis 10-12 and Matthew 4
God is a person, and He has no trouble communicating with us on a personal level. We see this in these two passages and throughout the entire Bible. God desires to communicate with us, and He does it in a variety of ways. We should desire to communicate with the Creator of the universe, because it is a great privilege to be able to relate to Him. Take some time to consider God's communication with you as you read these chapters.
Genesis 11 shows us the importance of being able to communicate. It brings unity and fellowship. Once God divided the proud people on the basis of language, they were not able to work together and finish their grand tower. They did not need that tower. They needed God, and He was showing them that by frustrating their efforts. I am sure most of us know the frustration of not being able to communicate with another person, because he or she speaks another language. God does not want it to be that way between us and Him. He wants us to hear Him and to speak to Him regularly. The confusion of language at the tower of Babel was a punishment for pride and a deterrent to people forgetting their need for God.
Then, in Genesis 12 we have God's communication to Abram. These words were a covenant with God. They are repeated several times in the Bible. God wanted Abram and his descendants to understand His will and to follow it, so He spoke directly to them as they were conscious or in a dream. Each time it was very clear, and they had to decide to obey God. The interesting thing is that the same chapter tells us of Abram's worship of God and his lie to the Egyptians about Sarai. This shows that Abram was not a perfect person. God did not speak to him because he was in a special category. He was a human like you and me, but he did listen to God's communication and obey God when He called him to leave his country and his family. How has God spoken to you? What has God asked you to do? What happened after He spoke to you? Did you obey or not? Communication with God is essential to live a life of faith. Faith is responding to God.
Matthew 4 makes this very clear. When Jesus was tempted, what did He do? He quoted God's Word to Satan. He took God's communication to us, and He spoke it to Satan. God communicates with us through the Bible in a very clear way. Yes, there are things in the Bible that are hard to understand, but most of it is very easy. Jesus let us know how important it is for us to receive God's communication through His Word. He said that we are to live by it, and not just by bread or physical food. (v.4) It is our spiritual food. It is the substance of our lives. Again, if we don't communicate with God, we can't relate to Him, and that is the essence of life. How much of God's Word do you know? Could it be that the fulfillment of your life is tied to how much you know God's Word and do it? I believe that was true for Abram, for Jesus, and for us. It is obvious from God's Word that if a person does not communicate with God that person is out of touch with ultimate reality.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 13-15 and Matthew 5:1-26.
Genesis 11 shows us the importance of being able to communicate. It brings unity and fellowship. Once God divided the proud people on the basis of language, they were not able to work together and finish their grand tower. They did not need that tower. They needed God, and He was showing them that by frustrating their efforts. I am sure most of us know the frustration of not being able to communicate with another person, because he or she speaks another language. God does not want it to be that way between us and Him. He wants us to hear Him and to speak to Him regularly. The confusion of language at the tower of Babel was a punishment for pride and a deterrent to people forgetting their need for God.
Then, in Genesis 12 we have God's communication to Abram. These words were a covenant with God. They are repeated several times in the Bible. God wanted Abram and his descendants to understand His will and to follow it, so He spoke directly to them as they were conscious or in a dream. Each time it was very clear, and they had to decide to obey God. The interesting thing is that the same chapter tells us of Abram's worship of God and his lie to the Egyptians about Sarai. This shows that Abram was not a perfect person. God did not speak to him because he was in a special category. He was a human like you and me, but he did listen to God's communication and obey God when He called him to leave his country and his family. How has God spoken to you? What has God asked you to do? What happened after He spoke to you? Did you obey or not? Communication with God is essential to live a life of faith. Faith is responding to God.
Matthew 4 makes this very clear. When Jesus was tempted, what did He do? He quoted God's Word to Satan. He took God's communication to us, and He spoke it to Satan. God communicates with us through the Bible in a very clear way. Yes, there are things in the Bible that are hard to understand, but most of it is very easy. Jesus let us know how important it is for us to receive God's communication through His Word. He said that we are to live by it, and not just by bread or physical food. (v.4) It is our spiritual food. It is the substance of our lives. Again, if we don't communicate with God, we can't relate to Him, and that is the essence of life. How much of God's Word do you know? Could it be that the fulfillment of your life is tied to how much you know God's Word and do it? I believe that was true for Abram, for Jesus, and for us. It is obvious from God's Word that if a person does not communicate with God that person is out of touch with ultimate reality.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 13-15 and Matthew 5:1-26.