Day 226 - Are You Listening?

"As I'm here reflecting I realize that the Holy Spirit is speaking to me through the day."

God is speaking. All the time. The question is not whether or not God wants to say anything to us. The question is are we listening? 

It is interesting to note that the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, is introduced to us in the book of John as The Word. If you ever wonder what God has to say just look at Jesus and you will hear His voice. 

The whole Bible is a love letter from God and a manual for life. God has an opinion and instruction for your life. If we can quiet our soul and listen God will speak to us. Presently the Holy Spirit lives in believers hearts and speaks to us. On a daily basis, moment by moment, we can hear His voice. 

Have you been listening? What is God saying? 

Day 144 - The Living Word

"As much as I was wondering how the message would turn out so did it speak to God's people. Some said it was exactly what they needed to hear who have been going through years of trial. One woman said that she had the truth which she knew drop in her heart as a reality in a fresh impacting way. Only God can do that!"

There is a difference between simply hearing a message from the Bible and hearing the Word speak. We all have had times when the Word came alive on the inside of us and it changed our lives. That doesn't happen by the will of man or by eloquent speech. It happens because there is a listening ear of faith in partership with the Holy Spirit teaching and making the Word come alive. 

Many have read the Bible, heard preaching and wondered what was the big deal. Some have gone as far as studying and critiquing. Some even hold it in high regard the way they would other great works throughout the ages. But when you realize that nothing in this world has the power to change anything, all hope is lost without it your faith becomes real. When you believe beyond reason the Word comes alive and becomes your reason. 

Put yourself in position today to hear His voice. Dive into the Word. Get to church. Listen to preaching. Talk about it with your family. Get quiet. Listen. God will make the Word come alive to you!

What has your experience been with the living Word? What factors hinder you from hearing God's voice? 

Day 43 - Practicing what you preach

"It always amazes me that when we preach on a subject the it pops up in our life. We have often joked about getting sick when we are preaching about healing. I remember I preached a message on spiritual warfare and my son was admitted to the hospital with croup while I was preaching. Tonight was one of those times that this was evident. Pastor's message was about the protection of God and while he was telling a story before the message a guy comes walking right up to the front of the chairs and is stopped by our security before he can continue. He had missed his aisle and then when he was told that he couldn't go around the front he got angry and left. Then, right as we were ready to sit down one of our ushers had a heart attack. May we be loyal in our hearts and rest under his wings!"

Jesus beautifully illustrated this concept in the parable of the sower. He pointed out four types of soil and four ways that the Word is received. Three out of the four don't make it. I believe that even though Jesus spoke in terms of four types of soil all four can apply to our own hearts. 

When we say we believe something the devil immediately comes to test the Word we believe. "Did God say...?" will be his deceptive lie to get us off the Word as he deceived Eve in the Garden. Only by professing the truth can we fend off his advances. 

Then comes the persecution for the sake of the Word. It comes daily like the rising of the sun. If we are deeply rooted in God's Word then the same sun that scorches will be the sun that nourishes. 

Finally the weeds will try to grow and choke the Word. We have to focus our hearts on the Word. Otherwise the cares of this life, deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things will distract us to a place of unfruitfulness. 

If we have passed through all these tests then we can know for sure that we will be fruitful. That night that I referred to ended up being a night where 25 people came forward for the altar call. Also, our usher who had the heart attack was just fine. He still serves faithfully to this day. 

Have you experienced these types of trials when you got a hold of the Word? What scriptures helped you through?