Happy Sunday!
One of my prayers for you and myself, is that we are always in the right place at the right time with the right information and the right understanding. Not only is being in the right place important for us, but it could be a matter of life and death for another person. God created each of us to be a blessing. Even the smallest kind gesture may be enough to change someone's life. I'm reminded of the period of time my uncle, Staff Sergeant Wallace Williams Jr. served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. When he returned home we asked about the events. He informed us that every big news worthy event happened before or after his team left those locations. I believe the angels of God made sure he was always in the right place at the right time. It doesn't have to be war, simply leaving your home each morning requires inside information.
Where can we get this inside information? I'm so glad you asked! Jesus said, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."(John 16:13, KJV). Another translation of this scripture says, "The Spirit of truth will come and guide you in all truth. He will not speak His own words to you; He will speak what He hears, revealing to you the things to come and bringing glory to Me. The Spirit has unlimited access to Me, to all that I possess and know, just as everything the Father has is Mine. That is the reason I am confident He will care for My own and reveal the path to you."(vs 13-15, Voice). Don't miss this! The Holy Spirit is available to show us the right path. One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 16:11..."Thou wilt shew me the PATH of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."(KJV).
How does the Holy Spirit show us the right path? Great question! In 1 Kings 19:10-12, the Prophet Elijah complained that he was the only person left truly serving God. God told him to go to a certain place and wait there. A great wind passed by, and earthquake rumbled, and a fire blaze up, but God was not in those events. Then he realized that God was in the "still small voice". It makes me think of our ancestors saying, "I should have listened to my first mind!" What they were saying was the first thought that was drowned out by the noise of other thoughts, was the right thought. Have you ever noticed how loud the world is? Why do we want to vacation in peaceful places with the beauty of nature? Everyone has an opinion. In the past, we may never have known about their opinions. Now with media and Social Media, we are bombarded everyday with opinions. Do you realize that your opinion really doesn't matter? Take a moment to think it through, and put that stone down. LOL! Jesus said, "Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say are NOT my own but are from my Father who lives in me. And he does HIS work through me."(John 14:10, Living Bible). What we believe, and what we say should line up with the Word of God. What we live should not contradict what we see in the Word of God. God will not ask us about our political affiliations. But he will ask us about what we did with the life he gave us and how we treated others. Jesus said, “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?" Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me."(Matthew 25:37-40, Message).
Our recent lessons in Children's Church are geared toward teaching the children to recognize the Voice of the Lord. In one lesson example the teachers used a traffic signal to demonstrate how to hear God's voice. The Green light is that soft peaceful feeling that it's Ok to go ahead. My Aunt, Pastor Theaha McClendon always says, "The Peace of God, is the Yes of God". The Yellow light represents that iffy feeling we sometimes have. The thing we want to do may not be bad, but the timing may be bad. I recently saw a quote that said, "Some people are good people, but they are not good for you". The Red light means stop! Stop and pray about it! Stop and get wisdom about it! Stop and wait. If we are truthful with ourselves, we can retrace our steps and see when and where we missed a Yellow or Red signal. Thank God for forgiveness, and mercy.
The Bible is our handbook, our guidebook, and our Love Letter from our loving father. Have you ever had a letter or card you read over and over again? After a while you learn the writing style of the sender. If you ever get a letter and the style changes, you are likely to say, "He or she couldn't have written this! They would never say this!" That's how familiar we need to be with the Word of God. When we know Him, we will know his voice and that voice will lead us to success,
Love and prayers, Cynthia
No comments:
Post a Comment