Daily Devotional for Wednesday March 29, 2000

Hearing From God

(Matthew 13:16)

Hearing from God. One of the greatest advantages to being in a close, intimate, daily relationship with the Lord is the opportunity we have to "hear from God". How much easier life is, how much more blessed, how much more peace and joy we experience when we can hear from God. How many times have you been in a place where you pray for God to just tell you what to do. How much easier are the decisions we have to make each day when we get direction from the Creator of the universe. What an advantage it is to live this life with a direct pipeline into the throne room of God Almighty!

I have discussed before that the ways God most usually will talk to us is through His Word and through our time of prayer as we listen for that "still small voice", through the circumstances in our life each day, and through other people. Again, that is why that daily time with the Lord is so vital. Spending time in prayer and the Word each day not only keeps us rooted and grounded and focused, but is an opportunity for the Lord to speak to us. Being in that close intimate contact each day gives us the ability to "hear" what God may be saying through the circumstances we face each day. Remember, there are no coincidences. Without that daily contact, God could be using others to get His word to us and we aren't tuned in to receive it.

Let me encourage you today. You can never begin to understand the advantage it is to living this life hearing from God. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of daily life. I must take this time to say, however, you need to have a DESIRE to hear from God. This is often where the conflict comes in. You have got to be willing to not only hear from God, but OBEY God. It has got to be HIS will, not yours. God is not a TV set. You can't change the channels if you don't like the program. So in addition to encouraging you to start doing the things necessary to hear from God, let me also encourage and pray for you to have a submissive spirit to LISTEN to what God tells you to do.

I love you and care for you. God has made it possible for us to live a peaceful, joyful, abundant life. Even in the midst of the storms we all face, it can still be wonderful because we know He is in control and is working out His perfect plan for our lives. One way to experience all this life has to offer is learning how to hear from God, and then submitting your will for His and obeying Him. I will be praying for you as you do that today.