Week 4

Day 1

Listening to God

We can know that God loves us because He has a specific plan for our lives. This plan is the best life we could possibly live. Does that make it easy? Now, that’s just laughable…

Have you ever asked God what His plan for your life is? Asked Him if you’re following His plan? Too often people think that if they just love Jesus and want to obey Him, they will automatically be in the center of His will. I believe there are times this is true. But I believe He wants us to ask, to be certain. And I believe He wants to give us the best direction to get there. Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with My eye on you, I will give counsel.”

Frequently, Jesus said, “Listen” (or he who has ears to hear, etc.) We cannot listen well if we are not being silent. It may feel awkward at first but with practice you can sit silently and wait for God to speak. Take the time to do it. Don’t just claim that you want to hear from God; that you want to listen to Him. Be still and listen! The late Charles Stanley said, “God’s guidance is of no value unless we are willing to listen. No one else can listen for you.”

So how does God speak to us? He speaks to us through the Bible… if we’re reading it. He speaks to us through prayer… if we’re not doing all the talking (I mean seriously, how rude!! Do that to another friend and see if they hang around for long!). He speaks to us through our circumstances… be careful that you are not “reading” the wrong message through your circumstances. He speaks to us through other people… be careful that you’re listening to truly godly, mature counsel.

Please know beyond a doubt that whatever God says to you will be in line with His Word. He will never call you to something that He has already spoken against. He speaks clearly. Praise Him, He is not a god of chaos.

At times, you may find that what God is calling you to will clash with what other people think you should do. Oh friend, please be so careful! If you know it is God calling you to something, it just really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks! But be certain.

At times, God may call us to do something we’re not comfortable with or something that doesn’t come naturally to us. (Believe me, I was shocked when God called me to write vObs!). If you know it is God calling you to something, it just really doesn’t matter what you think! But be certain.

Have you ever just felt really restless and you couldn’t quite put your finger on why you felt that way? Stop what you’re doing and, if possible, drop to your knees. Often God uses a restless feeling to let us know that He wants to speak to us. Ask Him to speak and then be still and listen. Be still and know that He is God!

I could not find the quote to give you word for word, but my all-time favorite Adrian Rogers quote goes something like this… “You ask me if I’ve ever heard God’s voice audibly. No, it was much louder than that!” Yes!! I just love those times when God speaks so clearly into my life/heart/mind that there is no way to doubt that it was Him. I heard Him so much more clearly than if He had spoken in a voice that I could hear with my ears. But sometimes He whispers and we have got to be in a close enough relationship with Him to hear Him. He is so worth the time and energy it takes to be in that close relationship!!!

Why do some people, who call themselves Christians, not listen to God? Maybe they don’t believe that He still speaks to us today. Let me assure you, from experience, He still speaks and I’m sooooo thankful! Maybe they’re too busy and don’t want to take the time to slow down and hear Him. I believe that screams of someone who doesn’t value God’s voice above their time. Maybe sometimes we’re afraid of what God will say. For example, maybe we’re afraid God will call us on to the mission field in Africa, or somewhere else we really don’t want to be. Or maybe we’re afraid that He will call us to end a relationship, or take a job we don’t think we would enjoy, or not take a job that would give us a large pay increase, etc. Here’s what it boils down to. Do you trust Him? With every fiber of my being, I am desperate for you to know that you can. He has never been, is never, and will never be, wrong or unjust or unloving or unkind! You cannot come up with a better plan for your life!

Our goal in reading the Bible should not be to have more knowledge, but rather to know God more. It is exciting to learn new things in the Bible, but so much more exciting to see God in the words we read. As you read, imagine God in the seat next to you, speaking the words to you. Focus on what He’s saying to you and think about it until His thoughts become your thoughts. God’s heart should be revealed and our hearts should be laid bare. Read with your heart. Take your time.

If something touches your heart, pause and give it all the time and thought it needs. Write the verse/passage out, if possible.

Day 2

Hearing the Holy Spirit

When you were born, who taught you how to hear? I mean, if you want to be literal, it was God, but no one on earth needed to teach you how to hear. To listen? That’s another story.

Quick side tangent: It absolutely drives me insane when I’m in public and I hear a child saying, “Momma. Momma. Momma.” And that blasted woman is totally ignoring her child. Am I being harsh? Maybe. But it’s more harsh to lead your child to believe that what they want to say to you isn’t worth your time. And this horrible belief that people have that they should just let their baby “cry it out” only causes their child to grow up believing that their parents are not there for them and they have no one to go to with their hurts. So do me a favor? Make up your mind now that if/when you are a parent, you will put your child’s needs before your own… Capish? Thank you for your time and understanding 🙂

Now back to what I was saying… People in your life have taught you how to listen, or not, based on how they have “listened” to you. (Does my above rant make more sense now?) So if you’re not a good listener, admit it and begin making a conscious effort to change that. In the long run, this will help you be a better listener to the Holy Spirit, because you will be practicing getting yourself out of the way and caring more about what is being said to you, than what you want to say.

That said, I can’t teach you what the Holy Spirit sounds like. No one can. He sounds different to everyone. It could be a still, small voice or it could be a burning bush or a dream. There are so many ways the Holy Spirit chooses to speak to us. But the fact is, He is already, always speaking. John 10:27 csb says, “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.” He’s telling you that your soul, if you have genuinely surrendered your life to Christ, is already hearing Him! We just have to learn to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Do you remember the story of the prophet Samuel, when he was just a boy living in the temple? Go back and read 1 Samuel 3:1-10. Samuel was lying in bed when God called his name. He ran to Eli to see what he wanted and Eli told him that he had not called Samuel and to go back to bed. This happened three times and then Eli realized that God was calling Samuel. Samuel had to learn to recognize God’s voice on his own, and praise God he did! The prophet Samuel helped King David with many things.

So how do we learn to silence all the voices and noise that are not the Holy Spirit so that we can focus only on Him?

Read your Bible! I cannot emphasize this enough. Your preacher can preach a different sermon from the Bible every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night and still not get to all that the Bible has to say to us. Read your Bible! One of the Holy Spirit’s jobs is to remind you of what God has said in His Word. He’s not likely to remind you of something you never learned in the first place.
Listen to correct teaching and preaching. Listen to the advice of other mature Christians. Be very careful with this one, though. Unlike the Bible, sometimes people are just plain wrong. Take whatever advice or guidance you are given straight to God. Ask Him for peace if this is what He wants you to listen to and ask Him to make you uneasy if you are not supposed to be listening to this person. They may be very well-meaning. Well-meaning does not always mean right.
Ready for a hard suggestion? “Stop fighting, and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10a csb. Find a place to sit in silence, at least as much as possible. Focus on what God wants to say to you. I discovered just last week how difficult this is for me. I am working through a book titled, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. Each week, I am supposed to go on an “Artist’s Date” – something that I am just doing for the enjoyment of it, not necessarily to accomplish something. I chose to decorate my house for fall. And I felt the Holy Spirit telling me that for once in my life, I needed to be alone with Him. I don’t mind to tell you that it kind of scared me. Not the part about being alone with God, but the part about being silent. I had never realized that one of the main reason I always have something playing is because I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts… having to process them… needing to hear what God has to say to me about them. It is hard to be silent. It is imperative! Psalm 37:7a csb – “Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him;” Even harder for me, is the be still part… That’s so hard! My mom passed away in 2008 but I can still so clearly hear her saying, “Why are you sitting down? There’s still work to be done!” This was an almost daily thing I would hear from her. So just being still… not being productive is very hard for me. But I believe more and more that often, we must be still to know what God is saying. My husband… and I adore him… is a mumbler. Quite often I have to stop what I’m doing and look at him to understand what he’s saying. For sure, God is not a mumbler. But if we’re not focused on Him, “looking at Him”, we may not understand clearly what He’s saying. It’s worth taking the time to just be still, let Him speak peace and calm to your life and then listening to what He has to say. IT’S SO WORTH IT!!! If you are having a hard time being still, whether it’s physically, in your soul or in your mind, worship Jesus. You know He’s there and you know He cares. Praise Him. Thank Him. Worship Him. It has amazing calming abilities.
Obey Him. This one gets easier as you spend more time with Jesus and realize His goodness. When we get out of the way and give up our selfish desires, we find that Jesus is always right. But sometimes it is just hard to know what the Holy Spirit wants for us. We want to know where He wants us to go to school, what job He wants us to take, who we should marry. And sometimes He doesn’t just show Himself to us and answer our questions. So go back to the basics. The Bible has spelled out, quite clearly, how God expects us to live. So when you’re looking for a specific answer that you aren’t quite understanding, just go back to focusing on what you know God is calling you to do. Think 10 commandments, greatest commandment, etc. Obey God and, in His time, He will either reveal what He wants you to do or He will just make it happen. I have learned to trust the peace method. If I have complete, HONEST peace about doing what I’m praying about, I go ahead. If there’s a question or uneasiness, I wait. God is really powerful in His ability to give peace.

If you’re disobeying God, you have broken your relationship with Him, and you will not be able to hear His voice very clearly. Praise Him, at your repentance He will immediately restore the relationship and you can go back to learning to hear and recognize His voice.

Day 3

Loving Well/Not Showing Partiality

James 2:1 csb – “My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold onto the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.”

Every salvation testimony is equally important. Is it more important for the poor homeless beggar to be forgiven of his sin and begin a relationship with Christ? Or is it more important for the rich, successful socialite to be forgiven of her sin and begin a relationship with Christ? Is it more important for the “good” person to be forgiven of her sin and begin a relationship with Christ? Or is it more important for the murderer and thief to be forgiven of his sin and begin a relationship with Christ? I believe we all know, in the core of our being, that neither is more important than the other. So then why do we act like it is?

Deuteronomy 10:17 csb says, “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe.”

We serve this great and mighty God. If He wanted to treat one with more respect and love than another, it would totally be within His right. But He doesn’t, He never has and He never will. He loves me and looks out for me the same as He looks out for the beautiful, rich woman who “has it all together.” What grace!! So how can I treat others as if they are “less than” I am?

We live in communities that are grossly over-obsessed with appearance. We can’t leave the house without checking our physical appearance. We need others to think our family is near perfect and has no real problems. We shy away from being seen with “that person” because we don’t want anyone to think we’re like “that person”. Many act very differently in church than they do at home or out in the community. We focus more on how we look, or how we hope we look to others, than how we act. In the book of Galatians, chapter 2, Peter went to the Gentiles to tell them that God had accepted them, too, and His salvation was for all. He ate with them and spent time with them. Other Jews saw this and criticized him. So when they were around, Peter treated the Gentiles differently. He talked down to them and tried to tell them that if they wanted to be saved, they would have to obey all the Jewish laws, too. Peter knew better than this!! He knew that salvation is by grace, through faith, ONLY! But because he gave in to appearances, he could have kept you and me from every knowing Jesus, because he was making it too hard. Praise God, He sent Paul to intervene and put Peter in his place! The Bible calls it “Peter’s hypocrisy”.

We’re all guilty of it at some point in our lives. And I’d bet we’ve all experienced it being used against us at some point in our lives. I had a friend who would call on me to pray for her, go to lunch, go on trips together, etc. But when a group of other ladies was around, she hardly knew me. Or she would act like she was so nice to be seen talking to me. I don’t need a “friend” like that! And I don’t ever want to treat anyone else like that!

Be real people. Be genuine. People aren’t interested in feeling like you think you’re nice because you’re talking to them. Personally, I would rather you ignore me all the time than for you to just ignore me when certain people are around. (For what it’s worth, I actually greatly pity people who do this. I feel like there has to be a huge insecurity problem behind it.)

We’re told in Leviticus 19:18 csb, “Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” Our neighbor is whoever God sees fit to place in our lives each day – the cashier, the boss, the teacher/professor, the classmate, etc. Love them as yourself. Difficult? Sure! But a command, just the same. And as such, we are blessed when we obey. (And just a reminder – if we fail in one part of the law, we fail in it all!)

One last thought on the subject. To change my behavior, I must allow God to change my thoughts and my heart!

Day 4

Live in the Season You’re In

The truth is that there are many seasons of life. Childhood, youth, young adult, old adult, etc. Single, engaged, married, etc. Sad, happy, stressed, relaxed, bitter, forgiving, etc. But we’re going to have to focus on four seasons, because there are four seasons during a year… and I have OCD tendencies…

#1 – Latent Season

Let me first define latent. It took me far too long to decide on a name for this season and when I saw the word latent, I had to look up the definition. So just in case you’re like me, here’s the definition from the Oxford Languages Dictionary… existing but not yet developed or manifested. That seemed a perfect name for what I want to say about this season.

In this season, it may not be readily obvious what God is doing in your life. He’s still there working, of course, but we don’t know what He’s doing. He is growing us and changing us so that we’ll be ready for the next thing He has called us to.

When I was called to be the youth director at a small church in my town, I could look back and see how God had prepared me in the previous years. I had frequently said, “I want to be the youth director at Rock Hill Church.” The truth is, I don’t even know why I had said that. I didn’t know anything about the church and I, at the time, had never felt the call to be a youth director. So looking back, it is so strange to me that those words came out of my mouth on more than one occasion. Then God began telling us that we would be leaving our church, where we had been members for 17 years, but He didn’t tell us where we would be going. One day, my husband came home for lunch and said, “Rock Hill is looking for a youth director”. I remember scooting my chair back in excitement as I said, “I want to do it!” Chris told me that he had known about it for awhile but he had spent a few days in prayer before he told me, because he knew that would be my reaction. I called our associational missionary and asked him a few questions about it. When he got off the phone with me, he called the Pastor at Rock Hill and the Pastor almost immediately called me. Long story short, Chris and I were the youth directors at Rock Hill for only 15 months. We did not leave because of any problems, but we had fulfilled the reason God had wanted us there.

But in those months of knowing God was calling us to something different, and just not knowing what that something was, we can look back and see His hand as He was preparing us for the calling He had for us. The fact is, He knows what He’s doing and He does not owe us an explanation. He will make Himself clear when it is time for us to know. He’s so good!! And it’s so exciting when we begin to understand where He is leading!

#2 – Waiting Season

Waiting stinks! Waiting in line, waiting in a doctor’s office, waiting on test results… it all stinks! We genuinely want to know what God wants from us, so why isn’t He always making it clear?

God hasn’t forgotten you and His timing is perfect. He’s getting you ready for something. It may be during this time, that you will lose some things. Things that were not helping you along in obeying God. Maybe you’re in a romantic relationship that isn’t pleasing or glorifying God and He is working to take that from you (for your good!!). Maybe you have a bad habit and God is trying to show that He is much bigger and better. Maybe you have bitterness, anger or self-centeredness and God is trying to renew your mind and give you freedom, but you have to be willing to let go of it. Maybe your “friends” are pulling you away from God and His ways and God is working to get you away from them and to people who would be real friends. This is a difficult season and you may feel hurt at first, as you lose things/people that you had found your identity in. But what is your real identity? It’s who God says you are!

When you find it sad or lonely, open your hands and let go of it. Let God do His perfect work! One day, if you’re willing to sacrifice your own wants and desires, you will become who God wants you to be, and the wait will be over. He will make clear what His desire and plan for your life is. Just don’t get ahead of God! Trying to push His timing will not end well for you!

You may feel like you can’t “find” God, but He knows where you are and you are safe in His hands.

#3 – Dry Season

If waiting season stinks, dry season STINKS! When you feel like you can’t find or hear God, it is overwhelming to say the least. But you can know for sure that God is still there and He is listening.

It is so important during the dry season, to not listen to your emotions. While emotions, and the ability to feel them, are so important, they can often be so misleading. God hasn’t left you. Joshua 1:9 csb tells us, “Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Keep reading your Bible. Keep talking to God, even when you can’t hear Him talk back. Keep going to church and being with other Christians who love you and love God. Don’t give up!

While you’re in the dry season, it would behoove you to search your heart for any “hidden” sin and ask God to show anything to you that you need to confess. Sin certainly can put a block in our ability to communicate with God. If He reveals something to you, be willing to confess and change that behavior, mindset, relationship, etc. You don’t want to stay in this dry season forever!

While you are in this dry season, think on these verses.

Psalm 5:3 csb – “In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice; I plead my case to You and watch expectantly.”

And also some of my favorite verses from Job (chapter 23, verses 3 & 4 and 8-10 csb):

“If only I knew how to find Him, so that I could go to His throne. I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot perceive Him. When He is at work to the north, I cannot see Him; when He turns south, I cannot find Him. YET HE KNOWS THE WAY I HAVE TAKEN; when He has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold”.

You may not feel like you can find God, but He knows where you are and you are safe in His hands.

#4 – Reaping Season

This is perhaps the most comfortable season for us. We begin to reap what God has sown as we’ve gone through other seasons. We will begin to see the changes God made in our lives and begin to understand some of them. It should lead to a glorious worship service as our heart are so thrilled to know and experience the depth of God’s love for us.

Make no mistake – God is still working on us, even in this season. But it is such a relieving breath of fresh air to begin to get some clarity on what He’s doing. Take the time to write down what God has done in your life – how He has changed you and grown you. This will help you remember God’s goodness and grace when you cycle back through the other, more difficult seasons.

Day 5

Sharing the Gospel With/By Your Life

First, let’s clarify what the gospel actually is. Gospel means “the good news” and the word comes from the Greek word Evangelion, which means to evangelize. Here is the gospel, in a nutshell.

Romans 3:23 csb – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; Everyone has sinned, or displeased God. All sins are equal in God’s sight and are very serious.

Romans 5:8 csb – But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!

Because we have sinned, we had to have a perfect spotless Lamb – Jesus – to die for our sins. God loved us so much that while we were still caught up in our sinful lifestyles, Jesus died for us!

Matthew 28:5&6a csb – The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus Who was crucified. He is not here. For He has risen, just as He said.

Jesus rose from the dead! He came back to life and we can have a relationship with Him!!

Romans 4:4&5 csb – Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.

Praise God there is nothing you can do to earn your salvation! It’s all on Jesus! And as Tony Evans says, “That’s a perfect credit score!”.

If there has never been a time that you have admitted to God that you are a sinner, that you know Jesus died and rose to forgive you of that sin and that there’s nothing you can do in your own power to have a relationship with Jesus and go to Heaven when you die, NOW IS THE TIME!! Please do not delay any longer. If you’re not sure how to proceed, you can pray this prayer. Then please find a solid, Christian friend you can trust to be open and honest with you and tell them about the decision you’ve made for Christ. Ask them if they would be willing to disciple you. And get involved in a Bible believing, God revering church. Pray about where God would have you attend church. If you have given your life to Him, you can be sure He wants to start guiding your life.

My Heavenly Father, Thank You for calling and drawing me to Yourself. God, I know I have sinned against You and displeased You. I have sinned against You in these ways… _____________. I am so sorry for my sins and that Jesus had to die on a cross for my sins. I believe with all of my heart that He died for my sins and He rose again, because He loves me. Thank you for paying the price so I don’t have to try to figure out how to be good enough. Thank You that You are good AND enough! Please guide me to live all of my life for You now. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

And now let’s get into how to share Jesus by your lifestyle. Barna research tells us that 47% of millennials believe it’s wrong to share their faith with someone who believes differently from them. Goodness, I hope that’s not what you think! I’ve been struggling to understand how anyone could feel that way. Is it just an excuse to hide behind to make them feel okay that they’re not sharing Jesus like they should? Is there any possible way that they think it’s worse for them to hurt that person’s feelings than it is for that person to go to hell? I seriously don’t know and cannot wrap my mind around it.

That said, I do believe there are some not-so-good ways to go about it. I know a man who has a great heart. He is very bold and wants everyone to know he is a Christian. Those are both good qualities. One night we had a meeting at a local restaurant. He hadn’t exactly been ugly to the waitress, he just hadn’t respected her at all – never looking in her direction even when placing his order, never said thank you when she brought his food and drink, and when he wanted more to drink he just shook his glass in her direction. At the end of the meal, she took her place behind the cash register. He slapped his bill and credit card down on the counter, leaned over it and very gruffly said, “Do you go to church?”. I wonder what affect this had on her. I think for myself, if the answer was “yes”, I would have also thought, “And I’m glad I don’t go with you!” And if my answer was “no”, I would have had several more thoughts. Such as, “Are you judging me?”. “Do I SEEM like a bad person to you?” “I’m a nicer person than you are!” “Is that really any of your business?” I feel like obnoxious, in-your-face “sharing” will rarely be well received.

Inviting someone to go to church with you is a great thing to do. But simply saying, “Hey, I’m going to church tomorrow morning. Will you go with me?” is not witnessing. Understand that the gospel must be shared for us to be fulfilling the Great Commission. (The Great Commission is where Jesus commands each of us, as Christians, to be telling an unbelieving world about Him.)

Do you have a hard time finding time to get things done? Well then, I have good news for you! Sharing Jesus usually works best when it’s just a natural part of your life; just naturally sharing what a relationship with Jesus has meant to you. When you are talking about your life, it should be so natural for that to mean you’re talking about Jesus.

List three things you love to talk about. Maybe it’s football, or shopping, or music. Whatever they are, get a piece of paper and list them.

Now think of ways you can naturally tell about what Jesus has meant to you while talking about that subject. This will help you “get your foot in the door”. Then, as they get used to you talking about Jesus, and realize that you truly, fully live for Him, they might be more likely to listen to what you have to say about the gospel.

I’ve known too many people who have wanted to fall back on “sharing the gospel by their lifestyle” because they don’t want to have to open their mouths and share. Beloved, at some point you are going to have to TALK. Have enough compassion for the lost to not leave them wondering what you have that they don’t have. Don’t leave them wondering how they’re supposed to have a relationship with Jesus. Don’t leave them trying to figure out how they can be good enough. TALK to them about your best Friend!!

And while you’re at it, be sure you’re genuinely living a life that is pleasing and surrendered to Christ. While you’re sharing Jesus, let them see that your joy and peace come from obedience to Christ.