They said to Moses, "You
speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we
die." —Exodus 20:19
{CHAMBERS} “We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we
simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no
attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not
truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John
14:15). […] We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to
His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but
we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to
speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what
He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants
speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by
saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what
you said is probably God’s truth.””
{ELGIN} I am certain that you know already how it is that God speaks
to us. By His Spirit, through prayer,
the Word, circumstances, and other believers (the Church). Of the four ways, the common point is the
Spirit. Our relationship with the Father
is a spiritual one not a physical one. I
know, I know, tell you something that you don’t already know. The problem is not in the knowing .. it’s in
the remembering and after the remembering in the obeying. To receive what the Spirit says to you, you
must be in tune with the Spirit. In
other words, your heart must be right.
You must be ready and willing to hear.
Some years ago, a friend of mine and I were preaching at a revival at a
small church in Mississippi. He was also responsible for leading the
singing. He had brought his guitar and
his two sons with him. Unbeknownst to
him, while he was speaking, his sons detuned his guitar .. not maliciously, but
out of curiosity and innocence. All was
well until he played the first chord. A
strange noise came from the guitar that did not sound at all like a “C” chord. There
were 6 strings on the guitar. His
fingers were in the right place on the fret board. But the guitar was mis-tuned. Being fast on his feet, he announced that we would
sing acapella that night.
In the same way, you can be
on the right place … in church, Bible study, quiet time, prayer closet .. where
ever, but if your heart is not tuned … unconfessed sin … self-focused, when the
Spirit speaks … you won’t hear a “C” chord.
Your heart will resonate something else.
(Galatians 5:24-25) “Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Before a performance musicians check the
tuning of their instruments. It sounds
like a jumble of sounds if there is more than one instrument. But then, the leader gets there attention and
everyone plays together in harmony. What
was noise becomes a thing of beauty. When
we obey the Spirit .. when we are in tune with God, our lives become a thing a
beauty and shine like the morning sun in a dark and desperate world. So tune up my friend … this world needs to hear your song.
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