Posts from February 2022

John 8:43 (NLT) (Jesus speaking) Why can’t you understand what I am saying?  It’s because you can’t even hear me! “The inability to understand the voice of God may be due to an inability to hear with the inner hearing of the Spirit.”  The human heart can become so very calloused–fixated on the pride of life, the lusts of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes (I John 2:16) and soon we are not just drifting away from our…

I Samuel 28:6 (NIV)  He (Saul) inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.  Here’s the lesson:  “failure to hear from God may be due to having incurred the divine displeasure.”  Sadly, when Saul could not get an answer from the usual sources, he went to a witch—whose practices are an abomination to the Lord (Deut. 18:9-14).  Where do we go for answers?  Where do we turn to get truth?  Still…

I Kings 3:5, 9 (NIV) (Focus verse 9a) So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.  For who is able to govern this great people of yours? Solomon asked and God answered.  God is pleased to respond to our requests for  “an understanding heart,” (a  “hearing heart”).  Every phase of life brings opportunities for new lessons to be learned, higher perspective to be gained, compassionate hearts to be deepened.  Do…

Genesis 33:13 (NIV)  …if they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. There is such a thing as moving in the direction of God’s will at a proper pace.  Overdriving, without consideration of the  “tender children”  and the  “cows that are nursing their young”  rather than moving along slowly at the right pace, can be detrimental and, in fact, a nefarious plan of the enemy to destroy us along the way by keeping us in  “overdrive.” …

Acts 9:1-7 (NLT) (focus verses 3-4a) As he (Saul) neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice… The farther we are away from God, the louder He might have to speak.  Hearing the audible voice of God is not necessarily a compliment (see Numbers 12:5-10).  Our personal relationship to God can be a factor as to whether God speaks more indirectly or directly (Numbers 12:6-8).  We…

Acts 8:26-29 (NIV) Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip,  “Go south…”   All the necessary guidance from the Lord is not always given at once.  Philip started out in obedience to the angel’s word of direction and God divinely arranged the circumstances: the Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”  And the story unfolded.  Accomplishment of God’s purposes may depend upon instantaneous, unquestioning obedience.  Do we comprehend how our day will unfold and…

Isaiah 20:31 (NIV) Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Walking in obedience to the Lord every day will reduce the need for  “special guidance.”  The greater a person’s faith, the greater their ability to tolerate uncertainty.  The long stretches of time between special revelations (visions, dreams, signs, angels, etc.) aren’t an issue of concern for someone who is walking out…

I Samuel 10:7 (The Message)  When these confirming signs are accomplished, you’ll know that you’re ready.  Whatever job you’re given to do, do it.  God is with you!  Saul had not been campaigning to become king.  His search for his father’s lost donkeys led him to the prophet, who declared the call of God upon his life and anointed him.  Be sure to read all of chapters 9 and 10 to get the context of this story.  Have you ever…

Jonah 1:3 (NIV)  But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.  He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port…  Clearly, Jonah was not in God’s will as he fled away from Nineveh, in spite of the fact that a ship was readily available.  Favorable circumstances are not necessarily a sign of being in God’s will.  (And UNfavorable circumstances are not necessarily a sign of being out of God’s will – see…

Matthew 5:45b (NIV) …He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  God’s divine providence is sometimes exercised unconditionally—without requiring anything on our part as a condition.  At other times God’s divine providence is exercised conditionally—contingent on our meeting certain conditions (II Kings 18:4-7).  “As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success” – II Chron. 26:5).  Where have you seen this in your life?

Galatians 5:22, 25 (NLT) (Focus verse 25) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  There are conditions for having the peace of God.  He gives us peace as we live a righteous life.  (Isaiah 48:18 – If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.  Isaiah 48:22 – “There is no peace” says the Lord, “for the…

Colossians 3:15 (NIV) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace…  The Holy Spirit provides guidance through  “the peace of God witnessing within us for or against an intended course of action or state of being.”  There are specific characteristics of the nature of God’s peace.  “Negatively – It is not a mere absence of disturbance because of favorable circumstances.  Positively – It is a conscious rest, independent…

John 16:13 (NIV) But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.  The Holy Spirit guides us in a wide variety of ways.  He speaks distinct words within your heart (Acts 8:29), or through the words of someone else (your pastor or Christian counselor).  He can forbid you to take…

II Timothy 3:16 (NIV)  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.  The NLT translates it this way:  Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  The NLT goes on in verse 17:  God uses it to prepare and equip His…

Psalm 119:105 (NIV)  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.  There are various ways that God guides His people.  The word of God is the supreme criteria.  The Holy Spirit also guides us (Romans 8:14) in the diversity of His mysterious working (John 3:8) “whether in action (Luke 4:1) or in active inaction (Numbers 10:12).  God also guides His people through divine providence (I Samuel 9:1-17)—the ability of God to make all events…

John 6:38 (NIV) (Jesus said)  “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.  What are some characteristics of a surrendered will?  “It does not regard its own will as the purpose of life.  It does not seek its own will as the desire of life (John 5:30).  It resolutely sets aside its own will for God’s will (Luke 22:42).  And it embraces the Father’s will as…

Jeremiah 3:4-5 (NLT) (Focus verse 5b) You say to me, “Father, you have been my guide since my youth…”  So you talk, but you keep on doing all the evil you can.  What are some requisites for divine guidance?  We must recognize our need for it.  We must be meek in spirit (Psalm 25:9).  We must be willing to obey (John 7:17).  We must have compassion for others (Isaiah 58:10-11).  We must acknowledge God (Proverbs 3:6).  We must develop a…

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) (Focus verse 5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Self-sufficiency is one of the things that get in the way of divine guidance.  Other things are selfishness (Isaiah 58:10-11), stubbornness (Psalm 32:9), insincerity (Jeremiah 42:20), disobedience (Zechariah 7:1-7), and impatience (II Kings 6:33).  Quite a list!  May God help us to  “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with…

Isaiah 58:10-11(NIV) And if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The Lord will guide you always…  There is such a thing as  “conditional guidance in which the leading of God is contingent upon our compliance with certain conditions.”  How has God’s divine guidance in your life depended on some kind of condition?  Sometimes we need…

Isaiah 45:2-5 (NIV) (focus verse 5)  I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.  I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me.  There is such a thing as an  “unconditional guidance in which God acts in sovereignty without any requisite for such guidance, and regardless of man’s attitude.”  Cyrus was the King of Persia from 559-530 BC.  He was not a follower of the God of the Bible, but a…

Psalm 32:8 (NIV)  I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you and watch over you.  This verse shows two aspects of divine guidance:  1) God INSTRUCTS by imparting the knowledge of His will by precept, and 2) God TEACHES by imparting the knowledge of His will through experience.  Sometimes a lesson is learned from hearing a truth taught in a good sermon and then followed by an experience.  But sometimes a…

Psalm 106:13 (NIV) But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.   God’s complaint is that we fail to wait for His counsel.  When we persist without waiting for His guidance, we can suffer terrible consequences (see Joshua 9:3-16).  It is easy to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) when we have many arenas of proficiency.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (NIV).  Don’t leave…

Jeremiah 10:23 (NLT) I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.  We are not able to plan our own course. It is clear that man is not able to direct himself in the ways of God.  How wonderful is the promise of Psalm 32:8 – I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you and watch over you.  God is our provision, our guide.  He is willing to guide us,…

Romans 12:1-2 (NLT) (focus verse 2a) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think…  Changing the way we think involves refusing to let our thinking be patterned after the thinking of those who don’t know God.  It means allowing our minds to be enlightened to spiritual understanding through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:17-18).  It means surrendering our bodies to God in order to enable…