THAT YOU GOD?

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Does GOD really speak?

I can say for myself I have never audibly heard from GOD, at least not that I recognized, but I can say with great certainty that GOD does speak to us.

Now I know, I could give you the “in His Word” answer to that “Does GOD speak?” question and while that is most certainly true, I also believe GOD intersects and “speaks” to us more often than we would imagine.

Here is a little case in point.

Yesterday a good friend stops into the Jeremiah Tree to serve our homeless folks some lunch. He pops into my office after the morning and lunch rush subsided to chat. His heart is heavy and he shared a little confession about his Tuesday.

The story is not as important as what was revealed from it. To sum it up, he had experienced a very difficult Tuesday. A return to sin seemed like the best solution to deal with the trouble and the stress. Yet GOD intersected the sinful path not once but twice.

While waiting for “the sin” to show up, GOD gave him a little time to get on line and have a look-see at some “helpful” postings. He didn’t particularly want to read them because they conflicted with what he “wanted to do”. He read anyway and GOD SPOKE.

He listened. Reluctantly, but he did listen.

Still determined, he called for the “sin” again and found it to be unexpectedly delayed. That gave GOD a chance to “speak” again, through the Holy Spirit and GOD gave my friend the time to “evaluate” his plan.

As the Holy Spirit “spoke”, “the sin” was cast in its proper light. My friend again didn’t WANT to listen, he wanted to sin, but in this case the SPIRIT “shouted down” the sin, he listened and GOD won the battle.

While not happy about it at the time, he was grateful for GOD’s clear intervention yesterday. So much so he shared the story!

You see, I believe because GOD is with us continuously throughout the day, He is constantly prompting us to “stay on course”.

Hebrews 13:6 ESV

…we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper…”

Therefore, I do believe GOD is in constant contact with us. All He asks of us is to be listening and responding to His nudges, His intersections and His promptings so that He may teach and equip us; protect and direct us.

Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV

…if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

GOD makes it clear that He offers insight and wisdom to us constantly; a steady stream of inspiration and revelation all day long. We just need to be prepared to receive it. And when the time is right, like for my friend, GOD will be faithful and deliver us from the temptation and the sin! HIS WORD promises!

1 Corinthians 10:13

God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted more than you can take. But when you are tempted, He will make a way for you to keep from falling into sin...

...Just as He did for my friend.

So keep your ears perked and ready. GOD is likely to speak to you today too.

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney