Listening to God

Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.
– Mark 4:9

Charles Stanley, author of the book, “How to Listen to God,” once wrote, “I believe one of the most valuable lessons we can ever learn is how to listen to God. In the midst of our complex and hectic lives, nothing is more urgent, nothing more necessary, nothing more rewarding than hearing what God has to say. His voice waits to be heard and, having heard it, we are launched into the greatest, most exciting adventure we could ever imagine.”

This is absolutely true, when we wait to hear God’s voice. And, when we hear it, boy! What an adventure. It is in that moment in time, when we now have the God appointment path, or mission if you might call it, that we have a new sense of urgency of action. And, we are filled with the Holy Spirit as we take on, God’s Will.

In Mark 4, we find Jesus teaching the crowds of the farmer scattering seed. Jesus tells the us in Mark 4:3-8, “..A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

That is where we find Jesus telling us the importance in listening, when Mark writes in Mark 4:9, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” We must hear our Lord’s call on our lives by listening with our hearts, our souls, our minds, our everything and, we must also understand His message He has for us to do.

I believe, today, God wants us to hear His word, hear His voice by listening in silence, and without distraction. It is that moment when we become silent to this world’s distractions is when the Holy Spirit speaks to us through prayer, thought, feeling, signs, or however else He does, but become silent today, open your hearts to hear our Lord’s voice and listen with your hearts to understand His call.

God Bless you all as we listen to our Lord’s will.

Brother Jonathan

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Do need prayer today? Do you have something on your heart and you would like to share it? Then write to me, I am here for you as we walk in God’s will together.
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2008-2012 © Brother Jonathan, All rights Reserved!
It is unlawful to copy, redistribute or edit this publication without the express written permission from Brother Jonathan

Wrestling with God

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
– Deuteronomy 30:19-20

How many of us today are struggling with the Will of God? Come on now. And …  to be honest. I know what I wanted share with you my dear brothers and sisters, but the Lord has a different plan.

My wife, Christina, has honestly grown leaps and bounds in the Lord and several days ago, she told me the Lord laid something on her heart for me to do; and that was to open my Bible to pages 22, and 322 and spend sometime with God. I, as you probably have guessed, use the New Living Translation Bible. Well, in my Bible, page 22 talks about Genesis 32:111-35:27. On page 322, my Bible talks about 38:39-42:17. To be honest, I didn’t immediately open my Bible up and start to read the pages the Lord had laid on her heart until just the other day. It was the Lords perfect timing too. And when I obeyed and not only read the words on the pages, I opened my heart to hear God’s voice, through His word. Afterward, I became silent… The message had sunk in and, it hit me hard too.

On page 22, the picture in the Book of Genesis is upon Jacob (Israel), after he had stolen his brother Esau’s blessing from his father Abraham and had run away to his uncle Laban in Paddan-aram for safety and now was returning face his brother Esau with his entire family and Jacob, not only had an encounter with God, Jacob literally wrestles God until daybreak because Jacob was demanding God to bless him. And, on page 322, the picture is on Job and him literally arguing back and forth with God before he finally submits to His will and God blesses Job with a double portion.

These two stories reminds me a lot of, well… me. I wrestle with God constantly between what I want to do, and what He wants me to do. I know what I want, but is it truly what God wants? Sometimes in life, we wrestle with God’s will because of several reasons. These reasons should be questioned and answered individually. It is not until we submit to God’s will is when we are blessed beyond measure. After Job submitted, he received a double portion of what he had before. After Jacob conceded to God after wrestling with Him, God blessed him as Jacob wished and found favor with Esau.

Sometimes in life, we need to conceded to God’s will and put God before our own, first. Moving without God is dangerous, but imagine yourself moving with God. I believe God wants us, today, to spend however long it takes for us to be silent and listen to what He wants for us and what He has for us. So, spend it with God and let your hearts be opened to hear our Lord’s voice and hear our Lords will.

God Bless you all as we part our ways today as we do our Lords will.

Brother Jonathan

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
Do need prayer today? Do you have something on your heart and you would like to share it? Then write to me, I am here for you as we walk in God’s will together.
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Your Gift Offering

 

2008-2012 © Brother Jonathan, All rights Reserved!
It is unlawful to copy, redistribute or edit this publication without the express written permission from Brother Jonathan