Would you recognize the voice of Jesus if you heard it? If He called your name would you know it was Him who was speaking to you? Sometimes there is no doubt, but many times we do not recognize Him. What if He came to you without your knowing, and in an instant He revealed all the moments in which He had previously come to you in your life, then you would most certainly recognize His voice, and know who was speaking to you.
We all need to have a personal relationship with God, not to just be casually aquatinted with Him, but to know Him intimately. Is your faith the product of listening to others speak of God, or do you have a deep personal experience with Him?
Have we ever stopped to consider that not every misfortune that we face in life is a Job moment, and put upon us by Satan? Some are just natural occurrences of living out our lives in this world while we exercise the lessons of faith that we have learned while walking through it with the Lord... And then, there are those which are the correction of our Father as he chastises us.
Does God speak to you every day? If your answer is “no, not every day”, are you certain of that? It is my experience that God seldom shouts out loud at us; His voice is gentle and requires a certain stillness of spirit if we are to converse with Him. Make it a point to silence yourself and listen for what scripture calls his small still voice… if you quiet yourself in this way, and do not quench the spirit, then you will find that in the silence that surrounds you His whisper will become like a shout.
Two individuals enter into a wedding ceremony, but God’s intention is that our vows begin the process of our becoming one flesh as our life together begins. This is a beautiful mystery, and it is fraught with hardship and challenge. Many think it occurs suddenly during the physical consummation of our union, but are we ready for the deeper spiritual joining that takes a lifetime to produce in us? Are we ready for the consuming fire of God that purifies and completes a marriage? Are we prepared to endure the fire and become one ash in the palm of God?
Are we ready to step forward in faith and assume new roles of serving God? Our inclination is to go only so far as new Christians, and then, if we are to proceed further, to fall dutifully under the tutelage of someone who becomes our spiritual mentor or role model. Eventually, God will reward our preparedness, and have us step beyond this comfortable season of being spiritually mentored, and cross into an even greater life with Him.
Are you suffering in or through something that God has called you to do? If so, how are you approaching your hardship? Does it cause you to question His presence in what you are doing, or are you experiencing pride in your suffering? Neither of these is a proper way to deal with your spiritual hardships because it makes His calling about yourself. Only a humble trust in God is the proper reaction.
What do we do when our memories fail us? Are there repercussions to forgetting? What are the certain things that Jesus asked us to remember, and are there particular things that God asks to be remember as well? Does God ever forget? Should we?
When do we rejoice and when do we mourn? Is there really a spiritual separation or difference? Are we meant to give God the glory for the good times and ignore or blame Him for the bad or painful ones?
Living our lives with Jesus is more than attaching a series of disjointed moments that have been separated by periods of time in which He is absent into something we then call our faith. God is never here and then gone, but is with us always and in all things. Our Lord Jesus doesn't abandon us to our own devices only to return once we have sufficiently screwed things up... He is with us always, and our relationship with Him is meant to be our unwavering focus.
When should we pray? Do we even know what to pray for? These sound like easy questions to answer and indeed one of them is... do you know which one? If I asked you to kneel with me right now, how would you begin?
08/05/2023 - The Simple Five Letter Answer to - "Why Lord?"
Is what God is doing, or not doing, in your life a frustrating mystery? Do you pray for a certain thing over and over again, but it doesn't seem to be heard? How about the troubles in your life; does God's plan for you regarding them confuse or stump you? Well don't feel alone, and let's explore this mystery today.
Do we believe that our relationship with God is all we have of value in our lives? Have we given ourselves up completely to Him, or do we feel that we are glorious, and a bargain for God at any price? When we have the least thought that we might be of some intrinsic value or service to Him we have fallen from His hand. Only when we realize that we are nothing without Him are we of any true value to our Lord and Father.
Has God called you to Himself, or is He calling you right now? By virtue of the fact that you have decided to read this devotional lesson I would say He has. Maybe you thought you were choosing Him, but the fact is, He has chosen you. Does this thought surprise you, or even frighten you? Are you uneasy with the thought that God has pursued and chosen you to do His will? Do you feel ready, or worthy?
Are you experiencing hardship in your life right now? Is there a problem at work, a health issue, the loss of a loved one? There are so many troubles that plague us in life, and being a Christian doesn't exempt us from them... but it does help us through them. Our God is not bound to this world, and Jesus, our savior, tells us that He too has overcome it. Answered prayer, like the way we worship, comes in spirit and truth. Are you looking far enough into your faith to find it?