Walking in the Spirit

Does God actually talk to us? Is it an audible voice, an inner voice, an impression or feeling or thought in our mind? How can we hear God's voice?

We start by developing a physical "closet" in which to meet with God: Under the tree in the garden, a path where we are walking or jogging all alone, a chair in our home where we are uninterrupted, the spare bedroom, the attic or basement, or an actual closet space in our home. 

We go there with our journal and nothing else. No Bible, music, TV or radio. Just a chair and some breathing room without any distractions. We spend time here for thirty minutes to an hour any time during every day and we journal whatever comes to our mind.

At first, it may be lists of things we need to do. Go ahead and jot these ideas in the journal. When we write them down, we clear them from our mind and quiet those "voices" in our head.

Then we may think of Bible verses, a movie clip, a conversation or some event we had in the past; jot it down in the journal. Again it clears our mind of this inner clutter.

Write down concerns or problems as a prayer to the Lord. Then we spend some time praising God for who He is and what He already did in our life. We think of His goodness and grace, and we overflow with gratitude toward Him.

Next is the hard part, which gets easier with practice… LISTENING. With a cleared mind, we listen with our inner, spiritual ear in our spirit to any words the Holy Spirit may whisper to us (1 King 19:12).

We heed and obey His directives and enjoy His comfort and encouragement every moment of every day of our life (Galatians 5:25). We live with His praises on our lips and His peace in our heart, and we eventually learn to pray without ceasing throughout the day (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to walk by Your Spirit step-by-step. We may falter as we mature from crawling to walking and then running, but we are soon sprinting through life by the direction of Your Spirit, in obedience to Your Word and under the guidance of Your peace.

Help us to yield our life to You, to walk away from the deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25) and to allow Your peace, which transcends human reasoning, to guide our hearts through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). Fill us with Your fruit and wisdom; and teach us to do only Your will in every circumstance (Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 2:10).

Thought for the Day:

We encourage others by offering to pray for them, showing them love even when they are unloving toward us and sharing a testimony of God's love - sometimes without even using words.

The Lily in My Deep Valleys

Read: Psalm 18:2-6

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7

Wise Solomon, who had more wives than I can count, said in Proverbs 21:9 “It is better to live in the corner of an attic than with a crabby woman in a lovely home.” (TLB) He should know...he lived in a palace! 

From his vast experience, Solomon often compared different types of wives. “A wise woman builds her house; a foolish woman tears hers down with her own hands.” (Proverbs 14:1) “A worthy wife is her husband’s joy and crown; a shameful wife saps his strength.” (Proverbs 12:4) 

My former husband acused me of tearing down my house with my own hands. In the unstable financial, emotional and sometimes physical environment he provided for me and my three children, fear and insecurity often overwhelmed me. I over-reacted when something disturbed the well-planned order, which I used to insulate myself from a world that sometimes really, really scared me. 

Over the years, God taught me how to trust HIM, instead of people or circumstances, especially when I am afraid. Proverbs 31:26 advises us to open our mouth with wisdom, and on our tongue to have the law of kindness. I am learning to get all the facts and to think before reacting. This way I can give a lucid response with a loving attitude. Do I still slip now and then? Oh yeah! But, I'm mellowing with age. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, sometimes I still shiver with fear when circumstances spin out of control. You are my Rock, my Sword and my Shield. You are the lily in my deep valleys. You are my bright and morning star.

Thought for the Day:

When life flies at me with blinding speed, I am learning to duck…
behind the Rock.