The Lord Spoke

​Kathleen and I are trying to find the right company to help us refinance our home.  Each of the four brokers we spoke with gave us compelling reasons to refinance with his or her particular company.  We were uncertain as to who was really giving us the best option.  Finally, we sat down with a broker in his office and listened as he explained why his option was the best for us.  Before he went into his pitch he told us about his family and about a solar energy project he was working to help people bring their energy costs down.  At some point in the meeting, I distinctly in my heart “heard” the Lord tell me that this was the man who would help us refinance.  It was sort of a surreal moment.  Yet, I instantly had peace about our choice and course of action.

Meditation
Numbers 1:1—The LORD spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came of Egypt.
Acts 18:9—One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.”
 
In the Old Testament and the New Testament, God spoke to His people.  He let them know what they needed to know.  Do you think it is any different today?  We all need to hear from the Lord.  We need His direction.  We need His encouragement.  And here is the good news—the Lord wants to speak to you.  

Some of you have wandered away from His voice and you are not even sure He is willing to speak to you anymore.  Some of you have heard His voice and resisted.  You don’t want to hear Him speak because you are afraid of what He is going to say.  Some of you are so discouraged you have concluded that God isn’t interested in speaking to you.  Some of you have listened for a long time and heard nothing and therefore concluded God is not concerned with you or willing to speak.  And some of you hear Him speak regularly and have an intimacy that is refreshing.

Jesus told His followers in John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.  For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears.  He will also declare to you what is to come.”   Recently I met with a friend who is very discouraged about his relationship with God.  In the course of the conversation, he admitted consistently running from God so as to exercise his own will.  Now, burdened by alcohol and broken relationships with women he is a broken man. He wants to do the right thing but he is not sure he can even hear God speaking.  I encouraged him to take one day off a week to rest, to spend time studying Scripture and to give God the opportunity to speak to his life. Busyness is one of the biggest reasons why we don’t hear God—we’ve crowded Him out.  Often I wonder if people run from God by keeping themselves busy. 
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Let’s set aside time to let the Holy Spirit communicate with us.  Let’s trust that even when we are engaged in our daily activities we can still hear Him speak.  Life lived obediently to God is the precursor to joy.  A life deaf to His leading is a formula for tragedy.  Choose wisely and listen!
 
Inspiration
When we are born again we have to obey the Spirit of God, and as we draw on the life of Jesus and learn to assimilate and carry out what He speaks to us, we shall grow in ignorance of certain things and be alive and alert only to what is God’s will for us.—Oswald Chambers in The Servant As His Lord
 
©2010 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)