Normal

In the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, it was normal for Adam and Eve to talk to God and to hear from God. And, in the beginning, in the perfect state of things, work was normal. Adam and Eve were given an assignment to work – to “dress” the garden and to “keep it”. So, they were set up to have a successful home life and to successfully accomplish their assignments by talking to God and hearing from God, working together with God. Sin messed it up. Instead of open and free communication with God, fear and a guilty sense of nakedness before God, turned their attention to using fig leaves, the things of the garden, to cover their “self”. Then, they started blaming each other or someone else for their personal choices and screw up. In mercy, God provided “coats of skins” for them. This was a durable covering, instead of something that would just be drying up and falling off in the end, again exposing their nakedness before God (Genesis 2 and 3).

All through the Bible, we see how there were people talking to God and hearing from God as they go about their daily lives. This is normal. Sin and self interrupts this good and normal life-giving flow of communication between God and man and between man and woman. God gave us Jesus as our “covering”, as the durable garment that removes our sin, and again opens the line of communication between us and God and between us and others, particularly between husband and wife. Because of Jesus, we can now come “boldly” to God, freely talking to God and hearing from God to “obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). In this way, we can work together as a team with God and with our companion, to get our daily work done, and, to accomplish the life goals that we have set before us. By believing on Jesus, by committing our life to him, our sin is removed and we have a durable line of communication that won’t ever dry up and fall off. The blood of Jesus is our constant source of cleansing from sin. Through Jesus we can talk to God and expect to hear from God. Through the Spirit, God is here now to help us in our life and to help us accomplish our work. Talking to and hearing from God – this is normal.

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