Hearing from God

In my attempts to walk in the Spirit, God is using some unusual object lessons to teach me some valuable lessons. For instance, during a shopping trip, God impressed upon my spirit to check out the sales in the shoe department for pool shoes.

I already possessed a wondrous pair of Speedo pool shoes, so I spent the rest of my time in the store praising God for His abundant provision for me.

The next day, the very next day, my shoes were stolen at the pool. My Father God attempted to provide for me before I even realized my need. However, I chose to praise instead of to obey (1 Samuel 15:22).

The fine tuning of my spiritual ears made a giant leap that day (Matthew 11:15). I ended up ordering a cheap pair of pool shoes online; however, for the following week, I had to wear my shower shoes to the pool.

The flip flop construction of the shower shoes rubbed a bruise on the bones between the toes of both of my feet. Even after the new pool shoes came in the mail, those bruises were a painful reminder to not only listen, but also to obey the leading of God’s Spirit.

Another morning I woke up and the Spirit told me to go out and fertilize my garden plants. I anticipated doing this the next time it rained, but I did not want to go outside before I was even fully awake.

I listened to Mother Nature murmurings outside as I rolled out from under my covers, and realized that it was already pouring rain outside. I wanted to snuggle back under my covers and snooze a while longer.

Remembering my bruised toes, I immediately slipped on my house dress and pool shoes, grabbed the bag of flower fertilizer and went outside.

The rain instantly gentled to a slow drizzle while I spread the nutrients around my three flower gardens. As I washed my hands in the kitchen sink after the chore, I enjoyed the beauty of one of the gardens outside of my window.

I also noticed that the drizzle changed back to a pouring rain - God’s perfect timing. I am so glad that this time I obeyed His Spirit immediately, or I would have resembled a drowned rat if I waited until I fully woke up to obey.

God graciously gave me that perfect window of time to nurture my plants. I see a pattern developing. God rewards all of my efforts to obey, as I learn to walk in His Spirit each moment of my day.

Prayer:

Father God, You are not really interested in pool shoes and flower gardens, but You certainly do care about my obedience to Your Spirit. You have a perfect work for me to do with my life (Ephesians 2:10). As I walk in Your Spirit, I will see the fruit of Your labors through my body, soul and spirit (Galatians 2:20, 5:15-25).

Thank You for caring so much for each individual part of Your Body (1 Corinthians 12:12). We would never have enough time to give You the praise You deserve, if it was not for the fact that we will live for eternity and worship with the angels around Your throne.

Thought for the Day:

To obey the Lord is much more important than making sacrifices for His glory. - 1 Samuel 15:22

Living in God's Presence

 

I used to think that God wanted me to work for Him. I was under the impression that He desired for me to spend all of my time serving in the soup kitchen for the homeless, going to Bible studies, taking abandoned children into our home, helping to lead worship in my church, teaching adults how to read, witnessing to everyone I met and a myriad of other activities.

However, these very activities stole time away from my ability to actually live in the presence of God (1 Chronicles 28:9). Remember when Jesus went to the pool? He only healed one man (John 5:1-18).

Another time, when He walked through the crowd, only the woman who touched his garment was healed (Luke 8:43-48). Jesus did miracles and taught the crowds as He saw the Father working.

However, He spent more time in solitary places communing with our Father God (Matthew 6:9-13, 11:25-26, 14:23; Luke 6:12, 22:32, 22:41-44, 23:34; John 11:41-42, 12:27-28, 14:31, 17:1-26). He lived in the very center of God’s will.

We can learn a lesson from Jesus’ life. He listened to God, heard His direction and did only what the Father said and did (John 5:19, 5:30, 8:28, 12:49). God calls us to do this same thing.

We no longer rely on our human reasoning to direct our day. We seek the Lord and He directs our path (Proverbs 3:5-6). We walk through our day communing with our Father and following His Spirit’s direction even if it makes no human sense.

Sometimes, I actually argue with the Spirit’s leading, or discount it as a human thought, which just floated through my mind.

Maybe I am tired and I do not want to follow the Spirit’s leading. I have my own agenda for my day; so I decide to take a nap or go to the pool or play a game of Scrabble instead of obeying my Father’s will.

When I do, I quickly learn that I grieved the Holy Spirit and missed an opportunity to further the Kingdom of God.

At times, God will lead us to nap, because of what lies ahead in our evening, or He has a person at the pool or the park whom He wants us to talk to about Jesus.

The point is to walk in the Spirit, so that we do not reap the consequences of living in the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25), thwart God’s will for our life or quench God’s Holy Spirit. We will have more time to rest in His presence.

Prayer:

Father God, keep our thoughts centered on You as we learn to walk in Your ways. Help us to understand that You do not want us to work for You, but to do the works, which You created us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Remind us that it is not by our works of righteousness, or our might and power, but by Your Spirit that we live, move and have our being in You (Titus 3:5-7; Zechariah 4:6; Acts 17: 28).

Thought for the Day:

If Jesus did not speak for Himself, do anything through His own effort or strength, or teach anything of His own devising, how can we do otherwise?         – John 12:49-50, 7:18, 5:19, 30, 14:31  

We Love God by Obeying Him

Lately, God has been fine tuning my obedience in walking in His Spirit, and weaning me from relying on my own humanistic thinking. The other day, we were doing our quarterly shopping at Walmart, and I felt led to go to the shoe section to look for a pair of pool shoes on sale. 

I immediately thought about my very comfortable pool shoes at home, made by Speedo of the highest quality of materials. Instead of shopping for pool shoes, I spent the rest of the shopping time praising God for my wonderful, comfortable, sturdy pool shoes. 

I felt such gratitude in my heart for God’s provision of those shoes for me. This flowed into praise for His generous provision in every area of my life.

The next day...the very next day...my Speedo pool shoes were stolen at the pool while I exercised!!! This resulted in a week without pool shoes. Reduced to wearing my shower shoes instead, I rubbed bruises in the bones of my toes as I walked in these flip-flops. 

God's Spirit knew about the coming theft, and He wanted to provide for me, but I disobeyed His leading.My disobedience cost me more than a lack of pool shoes; it also cost me intimacy with our Daddy God, and an opportunity to see His abundant provision in action before I ever knew I needed it. 

Obedience proves our love for God (John 14:15); and in this instance, I grieved the Holy Spirit, because of my disobedience (Ephesians 4:30). I am sure God appreciated my praise, but He was attempting to supply my unforeseen need according to His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19). 

I was able to purchase a cheap pair of new pool shoes online and they work great...but I have bruised toe bones to remind me of the consequences of leaning on my own understanding, rather than obeying the direction of God's Holy Spirit (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Prayer:

Father God, many people would believe that this illustration of obedience is straining at a gnat, and that You have more important things for us to focus on than pool shoes. However, the issue in this case was my obedience in walking in Your Spirit, and the shoes were simply a tool You used to teach me this lesson. 

Thank You for providing such a simple object lesson, to prepare me in the future to act more vigilantly in my obedience in every area of my life. As I am in-tune with Your peace and Your Word in every moment of my day, You will lead me by Your Spirit and You will prepare me for every future contingency that I will ever face as I walk in Your will for me.

Thought for the Day:

Obedience is better than sacrifice; or in this case, obedience is better than praising. – Acts 17:11