Just when I was ready to leap, bound, and jump into my day, the Lord told me to hit my knees. Then He spoke. A few simple directions for the day. I rose from the ground, wrote them down, prayed He would help me to follow these directions, and then realized these directions are far too good to hog to myself. So here they are.
Before I proceed, and I know I have you in suspense, let me say this. If you ever believe you hear something from God, it needs to line up with His Word. God will never say anything that does not line up with the Bible. If you hear something that doesn’t fit with His Word, plain and simple, it’s not God. So a really good test is to find the scriptures that back up what you have heard. It didn’t take me long to know that I definitely had heard from God. His Word backs up exactly what I heard.
The Lord told me to do this today:
1. SUBMIT TO HIM
2. LOVE HIM
3. FOCUS ON HIM
4. LET HIM LEAD ME
Did I really hear from God? Absolutely. How do I know? I found the scriptures to back up what I heard. If you ever think you’ve heard from God, check out the Bible to make sure. And, if you don’t know the Bible that well, check with someone who is strongly grounded in the Bible to help you see. There are also great tools on the Internet to look up Bible verses. Feel free to e-mail me at love@walkbyfaithministry.com if you would like to know what I use if I don’t already know the scriptures.
The directions the Lord gave me today are backed up with the following scriptures.
1. SUBMIT TO HIM
Jas 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
2. LOVE HIM
Deu_6:5 “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
3. FOCUS ON HIM
Heb_12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Col_3:2 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
4. LET HIM LEAD ME
Rom_8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
As much as I would like to say hearing these directions from the Lord was enough to get started on a really good day walking with Him, this is not true. Why? As I have painfully learned in years past, hearing the Word of God is NOT enough. The Lord calls us to HEAR and TO DO. Sadly, for many years, I was a really good hearer of the Word. I loved to hear the Word. I studied under strong teachers of the Word. I studied most importantly with the Holy Spirit. But, I did not sufficiently apply to my life what I heard.
Jas 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
Today, as I look forward to a long drive to Charleston, SC, with paralyzed dog Miss Molly to the same doggie dermatologist I took paralyzed Mr. Simeon to last week, I have the opportunity throughout a day of much driving to put into practice what I have heard.
How about you?
Father God, thank you for speaking to me! Thank you for speaking not just through my study of your Word, but speaking right into my heart. I love to hear from you, Father. It makes me feel loved by you, and the Bible tells me this is true! I pray in the name of Jesus, Lord, that you would move in the hearts of those reading this devotional and draw them into an intimate, ever deeper relationship with you. And I pray that you would move past the hurdles and walls and obstacles they may have around their hearts and in their lives such that you truly become number one in their lives. I pray, too, that you produce in them a hunger and a thirst to study the Bible and to learn to walk in your ways. Please give them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and for those who already have the Holy Spirit, please fill them once again with your Spirit. In the name of Jesus, AMEN!