Birth Pains

Genesis 33
You know the thing I am feeling is a sense of Thanksgiving an trust. God called Jacob to go back to his home...and all the silly notions Jacob could conjure up about Esau plotting to kill him and bringing 400 men to do it, were just that...silly notions. God doesnt call you out, tell you he is going to bless you to lead you into a trap....its not God's MO. I trust that this morning.

Matt 24
Jesus goes into some pretty gory detail about the end of times. He even prophecies about the temple being torn down. One of the things i read this morning that I just took for granted...was that not only was the temple torn down, but the entire nation of Israel was run over. The Romans totally slaughtered the people..and showed no mercy toward them, their women of their children. At the end of the siege the famine was so great that it was said that the Israel people...who were so....Kosher...for lack of a better term...were eating garbage, leather from belts and shields, and hay.

Father, I pray today that your 'good news' is heard from us. That as we are at work, school, stores and streets that we have your boldness, and your power to bring your light into a dark world. God as the 'birth pains' of your return quicken....I pray that we sense the urgency of sharing you with others, with our families, our friends, and our neighbors. God thank you for our lives.... and I pray that we continue to be faithful in our giving of ourselves, our time and our money to further your Kingdom.