How would you feel if your spouse, whom you see every day, did not speak with you? You would feel neglected and you would think that something is wrong. You would ask your spouse if he is fine, wouldn’t you? When we are in relationship with people, be it with our children, our friends, or our co-workers, we talk with them. One of the most significant ways that we communicate is by talking. When we talk with each other we are able to express how we feel. We can ask for what we need. We can open up our hurts. We can offer our help. We can communicate.

Does God still talk with His people today? Some Bible scholars limit God’s talking to canonical revelation, while others see God’s communication as continuing but never conflicting with canonical revelation. Scripture supercedes all and God will never tell you to do something that is in conflict with Scripture. He is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33) and He is not in conflict with Himself.

The written Word (logos) is what we read, what we treasure, what we follow. It is the Christian’s guidebook for living effectively on earth, and at the same time, it offers a glimpse into our eschatological future. It tells us what we need to know to please God and what we can look forward to when He returns. It is inspired. It is true. More than enough manuscripts have been found to validate its authenticity. It addresses issues we face today: people skills, making right choices, loving others, pursuing and maintaining peace, justice, freedom, and stewardship. Scripture is inspired (because God empowered the individual writers to craft each book the way He wanted it done). We can trust it and we stake our claim on it. We desire to live according to it (even when we fail), and we use it to validate our integrity.

We are able to love because the Bible tells us to love. We forgive because God forgives us. We pray because Jesus prayed. We look out for the poor because Scripture dictates that we do. We give because God is a model-giver. He gives only the very best, the ultimate gift being Jesus Christ. We enjoy giving because the love we experience when we come to God propels us to give. Giving becomes part of our living. We are changed and transformed as we come to know Christ and follow Him day by day. He supplies what we need and we trust Him to reveal Himself to us.

He reveals Himself through Scripture but also through our times of communication (prayer). God works through the Holy Spirit to impress things on our heart. He will place a burden (deep concern) about a particular matter/person on your heart because He wants to use you to positively affect the people involved. God sits enthroned above (Ps 103:19) but He uses us to do His will. He is sufficient in Himself and does not need anyone to exist (because He created us) but in His design, He had always planned for us to be a part of whatever He does. He did not create us to be puppets. We can make our own choices and we have to decide if we want to join in God’s program.

When we accept Christ, we in essence tell God know that we are available for His service. We join in His plan for our life and we abandon our own plans. We turn over the entitlement to ourselves to Him. He responds by showing us how He wants to transform us and use us so that we may be better than we were. No one who has ever come into relationship with Christ can ever attest that his latter state was worse than his former. Coming to know the Lord is like stepping into the shower after a long day of yard work. You get cleaned up. He is the master cleaner and He knows exactly what you need. It’s like going to the spa for a day. You go there to be rejuvenated and refined. You get scrubbed, exfoliated, detoxified, and hydrated. You leave relaxed and refreshed. There’s nothing like it! In the same way, when you come to know Christ He cleans you up from the inside out-but it takes years, not just a day, to get the process done.

Imagine that you would say yes to God but never hear Him speak to your heart. You would feel like something is missing in your relationship. You would feel forlorn and somewhat disillusioned, as you would not know how to proceed in some areas of your own life. While Scripture has all you need in areas of right and wrong, there are times when you have to make personal decisions and you want God to speak to your situation. You want a rhema (spoken) word-a now word for what you need. You want to choose the best out of the good choices that are available. It is at times like those that God speaks. When your heart pursues His and you want to do His will, He does speak. God will even speak to you when you are out of fellowship with Him-because He wants you back into relationship. The problems is that most out-of-fellowship people are not listening to God and may not want to hear what He has to say.

We are in relationship with God and He has something to say to us. He wants to use you to bless someone, help someone, or encourage someone. He wants to use you to effect change in another. There are countless times when the Holy Spirit impresses things on my heart and when I obey I find that God was really at work. He may tell me to give some money to someone and then she will tell me how desperately she needed it. This has happened on countless occasions and I feel so blessed when I know that I am hearing from God, obeying Him, and following His will for my life. God will often confirm what He is telling you to do. Each time God speaks to you about something and you obey Him, you are building your faith muscles, and there will come a time when you will not need Him confirm what He told you. You will know His voice. There are times when God speaks to me to pray for someone and I just do it. I do not get a confirmation from that person because she is unaware that I have prayed. I do not need to have her validate that she needed prayer. I know that it is the voice of God that is telling me to pray. I have been walking with Him for a while so I know when He tells me to pray, it is serious business. While I do not always obey in His timing (sometimes I delay), I am learning that I need to move in God’s timing and not be afraid to step out by faith in Him. When God tells us to do something we must listen and obey. God wants us in our entirety (nothing held back) and He wants to talk with us all the time. Let us listen for His voice and follow where He leads. He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18) and we are His sheep, so we will follow Him and we know that He only leads us into triumph.

Recommended reading:
Experiencing God by Henry & Richard Blackaby

Prayer for the week:
Dear Lord, thank you for being so kind to us. We are completely lost without you. Our sight is limited and our insight small unless you lead us. We want to hear your voice, heed your requests and follow you. May we never feel as though you have abandoned us because your Word says you will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5). We believe you Lord and we trust you. Help us to trust you more deeply and deepen our love for You. We want You more than we want air. You are everything we need and all we really need is you, so help us to trust and love You as You open our eyes to your love for us. Thank you Lord. We pray this in the mighty, powerful name of Jesus the risen Christ.

Ponder This…
When you look at a vase that holds freshly cut roses, it is absolutely beautiful. The roses look as though they could withstand the days ahead without being wilted. They allure the onlooker with their vibrance. Their color, their smell, and the delicacy of their petals are breathtaking. They force you to stop and stare. They capture, as it were, a moment in time, and time seems endless for them; but after a week, if you were to look at the same roses you would notice a change. Their petals are not as bright. They droop instead of standing at attention, and they no longer smell fresh. They had a certain amount of time in which to shine. So do you. You do not have forever. Use your time wisely. Impact as many people as possible in a positive way, and do what God tells you to do. You are a rose. You only have a limited time in which to make a difference, but while you have the time, encourage those around you so that they cannot help but fix their attention on God—the Rose of Sharon.

Dear Lord,
This is a very special time in our history and we need you. A new President is being sworn into office…the unrest in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas continues…Russia boldly flexes her muscles and one can only wonder what may be simmering under the surface…there is economic uncertainty here at home and people are nervous…. This is a time when your people must show courage, wisdom, and strength of faith. May we place our trust in You and You alone. May we trust You by following your Word, listening to your voice, and resisting the tendency to become anxious. “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” says the Lord (Heb 13:5).

Amen

When you see the word “nestle,” two images may come to your mind. The first is that of creamy condensed milk, which is popular in some countries. The other is that of rest. Nestle, when used as a verb, bears the idea of snuggling, finding a niche and resting there. The image is of a mother hen scratching around a limited circumference on the ground until the area is just right. She then nestles her body into that area with her chicks snug underneath her. A hen nestles upon her eggs to keep them warm so that they can hatch. Having grown up on a farm in Jamaica, I remember the imagery quite well. As a little girl, I would sit on a bench or stone and watch the hens as they went clucking away while making their nests at the same time. By the time the nest was made, the hen would nestle comfortably in it with a look of contentment.

Christians are called to be content, but in order to do so, we must be willing to accept all that comes from our Savior’s hand. We learn to be content when things are going very well. When our bank account is well rounded and health is at its peak. We also learn to be content when we are ailing and the money has drained from our savings. We learn to be content when we lose the ones we love, and when we lose the things we treasure. Paul tells us that godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim 6:6). Here, Paul talks about ministers who were exploiting others Christians for their own benefits. These ministers were probably itinerant preachers who expected to be paid for their preaching. It is not that Paul did not want them to be cared for. As a matter of fact, he encourages Christians to give to those who teach them (1 Tim 5:18). Rather, Paul speaks against those who taught error for profit. They were men who preached the Word, and who had an air of godliness. They were fake. They were in it for the money. Those were men who were exploiting those early Christians and they are men we should avoid today.

Why is it gainful to be content? It keeps us from falling into worldly error. It keeps us from being ungrateful. It keeps us from using others. It keeps us humble, satisfied, and spiritually healthy. When we learn to be content, we learn to nestle in God’s care. We learn to trust him, believe that he knows what is best for us, and wait on him. When the hen is sitting on her eggs she is in no hurry. She gets up to eat and relieve herself, but hen she goes right back on top of those eggs. Most of us learn contentment over time, as we learn to yield to the Holy Spirit, and walk with God. There is a certain beauty that is almost indescribable in men and women who have weathered many storms in their lives, and who have aged gracefully with the Lord as their Savior.

Our Savior saves us and teaches us through his Word the benefits of trust in him. We learn what it means to relax when the problems of life jolts us at every turn. I could not help but think of my life with God and how I respond to him during times of discomfort, while my husband and I were bathing our birds. We have two birds, Beanie and Strip. We decided to give them a bath, so we took their large, white, attractive cage into the garage where we intended to transfer them into the small yellow cage. It had been several months since they had gotten a bath and so I think they had forgotten the procedure. I could tell that they were in a state of wonder. They were not sure what was about to happen and they seemed jittery. Do you become jittery when God allows the unfamiliar to come into your life, and when you are not sure what is about to happen? We are told not to become anxious about anything, but that in everything, we should offer prayer coupled with gratitude, and tell God about our concerns (Phil 4:6-7).

Beanie and Strip were concerned. They resisted my husband, Charles, as he tried to get to them. I closed the garage door for fear they would fly away. As Charles placed them into the yellow cage and as I turned on the faucet and warm water sprayed their feathers, they began to enjoy the process. They fluttered and chirped happily. They began to enjoy the bath. Do you only become comfortable when you think you know how things are going to work out for you? Do you flutter around with worry and anxiety and fritter your time away complaining to friends when you are unsure about your future? The Psalmist tells us to trust in the Lord, to wait patiently for him (Psalm 27:14).

Beanie and Strip were content in the bathing cage, until we decided that it was time to return them to their white cage, which now had fresh bedding on the bottom. While they were enjoying their baths, their cage and eating trays were being cleaned and filled, so that by the time were restored to their familiar setting, their bird life would be comfortable. Well, they were not aware of all that, so they began to pick at Charles and tried to resist his grasp. He gently grasped Beanie, and I took a towel and began to dry her and stroke her head. Eventually her body stopped its quivering and she just peered up at us as if in appreciation. We did the same thing with Strip, only she was twice as resistant as Beanie and never seemed to appreciate the attempt to dry her feathers and stroke her head.

Eventually, both were returned and they were clean. We meant them no harm. Instead, we wanted to do something good for them. What do you do when you feel God’s grasp? When he places you in a position to get your attention, do you quiver and squirm in an attempt to release yourself from his grasp? When he strokes your heart with the Word, do you twist and turn and fix your gaze elsewhere, or do you focus your attention on what he is trying to do? Are you so preoccupied that you do not even recognize that God has you in his grasp? Beanie and Strip never got the idea of what we were doing until it was all over. They would have enjoyed the process more had they not resisted us so much. Understand, trials are not intended to be enjoyed. They benefit, but are not enjoyed. I have never heard anyone say they enjoyed a trial. The point is that trials, when approached objectively and spiritually, can become a tool for growth and a period of joyful perseverance. Both James and Paul associate joy with trials. James 1:2-4 tells us to consider our trials as all joy because of the product of perseverance and maturity. In Romans 5:3-5, Paul teaches us to rejoice in the midst of our trials because it produces perseverance, proven character and hope in Jesus Christ. There is a sense that when we focus on Christ in our trials, we grow closer to him and become more intimately acquainted with him. This intimacy brings about joy, peace, and hope. Hope is the intrinsic quality that keeps us stabilized and focused while sailing the turbulent seas. It is no wonder that Paul, in his epistle of joy, associates knowing Christ with knowing the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil 3:10).

When Beanie and Strip were in their bathing cage and were enjoying the bath, they did not learn to trust Charles and me. As soon as we attempted to take them out, they began to resist us again. Are you resisting God when he attempts to grow you. Please don’t. When God allows trials into your life, he wants to teach you something, not harm you. Learn from each situation, because if you don’t, you will continue to resist and stunt your growth in the process. The only way to grow up in God is to weather the storms with him, learn from him, and walk with him.