Today I read from Acts 16 & Galatians 2:20-21.
The main highlights that I received, personally, was what Wendy Pope said about learning to know when God says "yes" and when He says "no". Learning to know Him well enough that we recognize His voice when He speaks to us. Learning to "go" or to "stay" when He says to.
In Acts. 16:6-8, Paul & Silas trust the voice of God well enough to do both. They started heading toward Asia, but the Holy Spirit stopped them and told them "no". They started heading to the next place & again Jesus said "no". They listened & obeyed. Then when God sent Paul a vision telling where they should go, they got up the next morning and went. Souls need to be saved. What if they ignored God's warnings? What if they went to those two places to preach any way? What if they had ignored His calling to go to the next place? They could have been killed. Souls would not have been saved.
Are there times in our lives when we ignore the voice of God & His calling in our life? "Well how do we know it's God speaking to us, and not just our own mixed-up thoughts in our head?" Here is how we can know the voice of God:
- Spend time with Him ~ learning to recognize His voice.
- Read His Book ~ learning His ways
- Obey Him ~ learning to trust Him
The question is, "Will we take the time to stop what we are doing to listen to His voice? Will we stop & listen for even the faintest whisper? Or will we be too busy & do whatever we feel we need to do?"
Just some things to think about. Blessings!
Thank you for the encouragement. In addition to the lesson being a blessing, just knowing that you are into the Word is such an encouragement to me.
ReplyDeleteI have been asked MANY times, over the years, how I KNOW when God is speaking to me. That's easy! When you spend time with someone, you become acquainted with their voice. For instance, I'm sure YOU can pick YOUR hubby's voice out, even in a crowd...even without seeing him. The same is true with God. The more time we spend in His Word and in prayer, the more intimately familiar we become with His voice.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/