Samuel answered, "Speak,
for Your servant hears." —1 Samuel 3:10
“Just because I have listened
carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen
to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the
insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I
will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My
friends…” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? […]
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ
that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41).
If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion
of hearing. […] What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things.
It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right
areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own
convictions. […] I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things—
things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God.
Have you heard God’s voice today?” CHAMBERS
Have you ever asked your
child “Are you listening to me?” Of
course they can hear you. That is not
really what you were asking. What you
were really asking was “Are you going to accept my words and obey them?” That can be very frustrating on the part of the
parent. I know. Jesus asked (Luke 6:46) “Why do you call me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” In
other words, don’t play games … don’t pretend …. Loving God is more than words. There is no eternal or present
value in pretending, feigning spirituality.
You may have cancer but pretend you don’t. Pretending doesn’t change the facts and doesn’t
remove the pain. (John
14:23-26) “Jesus replied, “Anyone
who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come
to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey
my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who
sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things
and will remind you of everything I have said to you.””
The Holy Spirit is an
advocate for God in our lives. It’s His
voice that we hear .. not audibly .. but in the inner man. And if we are not listening to the Spirit, it’s
a love and devotion problem. Samuel was
eager to hear from God and then obeyed what he heard. We are not always so anxious to obey. Why? Because
we lack devotion to God. Devotion is not
a desire to do the right thing .. it is doing the right thing. Every day we face opportunities .. opportunities
to hear God’s voice and opportunities to walk in the light. Because of our
nature, we need to be encouraged to do that.
Be encouraged! (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22) “Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But
examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from
every form of evil.” ELGIN
“More Than Words”
“Sayin' I love you Is not the
words I want to hear from you It's not that I want you Not to say it, but if
you only knew
How easy it would be to show
me how you feel More than words is all you have to do to make it real Then you
wouldn't have to say that you love me Cause I'd already know”
Charley Elgin
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