Sometimes God speaks matter of factly. Sometimes, you just know it's Him. You aren't guessing, you aren't wondering, you know. You heard.

And with that hearing there is a response demanded. So it is today as I write this. Stop the violence. God hates violent men. Stop it.

This is not just a sin, this is an iniquity. An iniquity is something that attaches itself to your soul. A sin can be a wrong action that you wish you had not done and it's something that you can easily change and repent from.

But an iniquity is from the will. It is a predetermined way of doing something that has a force attached to it. It can be taught and passed on by reason of its example. Stop it.

Stop the violence.

Now there is a difference between discipline and violence. There is a time for war. (Eccl. 3) And soldiers in an army are trained for war. But there is a purpose behind their actions - and that is usually to defend, to recapture or restore.

The word "meek" is not really a word for "timidity", it means "power under control." Moses was described as the meekest man on earth, the Bible says. It wasn't always that way. The violence of his early years cost him many years on the back side of the desert. He violently killed a man who was attacking a fellow Hebrew. He ran for refuge and God dealt with him.

He probably learned that violence from the culture he lived in that God was soon to destroy. But Moses became one of the greatest of leaders because he learned power under control, or the fruit of the Spirit of self-control. He yielded to it through repentance and obedience. This qualified him to be a leader in God's move.

Moses brought the Kingdom of God to earth, and it was not without its trials and adventures. The children of Israel led an amazing life. Not all hung in there. But God's Spirit was being imparted to man, and it is by that Spirit that we are qualified to be called the children of Kingdom who can mature to be the mighty warriors of the Kingdom. When God judges, He does it with precision.

In the last days, God is judging Gog and Magog. This is not just a location but a violent spirit. In the time of Noah, there was much violence in the earth and men were marrying and giving in marriage. That means that divorce and remarriage was commonplace; it was an abundance of broken covenants. God hates divorce.

God so hated the violence and divorcing that He determined to destroy them and then He did. God hated the perversion that also came and He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with "burning fires from the heavens." Many speculate as to how that really happened, but it happened. God created the earth to be inhabited. He commanded man to subdue it and bring the right spirit into the earth.

God wants us to be leaders. He wants us to know our own minds. He wants us to be strong because there will be those who oppose Him. It's hard for me and most others who believe to believe that there are those who reject Love. Darkness does not comprehend light so it rejects it. It flees from it. God must judge darkness so His Kingdom will stand, and it will! He is a Burning Light.

God gives people a choice, and sometimes I wish that choice was not even there. But without choice and one's choosing self-control or self-governing, there is no way to love. If we just "do what we feel" then we are responding to nature and its influences, not mastering it. We won't even know who we are! We are not fit for fellowship, only the trash fire.

Some disciplines can overpower others. When there is no choice, there is no relationship and God created us for fellowship. But He will not fellowship with those of a wrong spirit and He expects and desires quality fellowship. Sometimes we "play the part" because we know it's the right thing to do, but God discerns and judges the heart and knows its truth. If we believe something, we stick with it, even when no one is looking.

Some embrace the violence, but look what God says about it. The judgment is eternal.

Ezekiel 32:17-32

17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
18 "Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down to the depths of the earth, her and the daughters of the famous nations, with those who go down to the Pit:
19 'Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down, be placed with the uncircumcised.'
20 "They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword; she is delivered to the sword, drawing her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with those who help him: 'They have gone down, they lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
22 "Assyria is there, and all her company, with their graves all around her, all of them slain, fallen by the sword.
23 Her graves are set in the recesses of the Pit, and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.
24 "There is Elam and all her multitude, all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living; now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
25 They have set her bed in the midst of the slain, with all her multitude, with her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit; it was put in the midst of the slain.
26 "There are Meshech and Tubal and all their multitudes, with all their graves around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to hell with their weapons of war; they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities will be on their bones, because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yes, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and lie with those slain by the sword.
29 "There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who despite their might are laid beside those slain by the sword; they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the Pit.
30 There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain in shame at the terror which they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
31 "Pharaoh will see them and be comforted over all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword," says the Lord GOD.
32 "For I have caused My terror in the land of the living; and he shall be placed in the midst of the uncircumcised with those slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude," says the Lord GOD. (NKJ)

With righteousness, He doth judge and make war.(Rev. 19:11) But when He wants to make His points, He enlists the mighty warring angels of heaven for He is also the God of hosts. Many think these angels are a joke or something cutesy. But I was one among several thousand people in Houston in the early 80's who saw them manifest.

I was at a Charles and Frances Hunter Miracle Crusade. They told the people that the Lord said He wanted to show His glory and that those who wanted to see it to get in the aisles. Of course, I was one who did.

I was a young Spirit filled believer and God was moving! He really was. There were many healings and supernatural occurrences but this one was one that was really convinced me of the Old Testament Bible stories. Hundreds of people crammed into the aisles. Charles and Frances said that they were not going to touch anyone. They stood in front of each aisle and raised their hands and said, "Lord, show Your glory."

When they did, the whole aisle collapsed to the ground. They all fell at one time. It was not just the domino effect because I was in the second aisle and they did this aisle by aisle. They did the same thing for each aisle. They stood apart from the people, raised up their hands and said "Lord, show Your glory," and we all fell as a supernatural hand pushed us down. We were all laughing as we fell on top of each other (because we weren't hurt) but we were all wide-eyed too. No man did that.

God wants a people for Himself and He will have that people. Do we want to be His people? The call is going out throughout the whole earth. What is our response to Him? Yes, there are people who greatly disappoint us but they don't have the final say. Do you know Him? The simplest minds can understand God.

God will not have a violent people. He wants those who call on His Name. When people know who they are and who they aren't, He is pleased. It may bother some others who by evil or conviction are offended, but He is pleased.

But we don't prove our relationship with Him by violence. We prove it by engaging in life. We are not simple observers. We are called to produce fruit, atmosphere, and benefits. When the ways of violence try to enter the Church (His people), He will raise up a violent standard against it. When the earth is filled with violence, He will judge the earth.

Love does no violence to his neighbor. The watchman has seen the Sword approaching and sounded the trumpet, who will hear?

Are you wondering what to do? Hear the word and obey it. This is not just a passive word. Obey it. Be pro-active.