Articles
Listening to God
Christians, we are under attack. This is nothing new, but it seems more vicious, more frequent, and those doing so seem highly motivated and being spurred on by their audience(s).
I've said many times in this post, that if we are being attacked, we must be doing something right, because Jesus said we would be hated for following Him. He was 'despised and rejected' (Isaiah 53:3-4) and we should expect nothing less ourselves. In the most recent episode of media provocation, talk show hosts are accusing Christians practicing their faith as being "mentally ill." They belittled the thought that God talks to us.
These show hosts went on to say that the key is "moderation" and anything that is "too much" is concerning. When God said to love Him with ALL of our hearts, ALL of our minds, ALL of our souls and ALL of our strengths, I think He was pretty clear about just how serious He wants us to be about Him. He didn't ask us to do that in moderation.
These unfortunate celebrities (2 Tim 3:2) may think you can get too much of God, or go overboard in serving Him, but it's my prayer that I might be accused of just that. I see myself as not giving enough to God, and not serving Him sufficiently, and probably that describes many of us (Rom 3:23).
God speaks to me all the time. No, not like He spoke to Moses in the burning bush, He doesn't do that anymore. I don't hear voices, and I don't get texts, but I get direction, I get answers to problems and answers to prayers. I read His Word and let it speak to me (2 Tim 3:16) (Isaiah 55:11). I meditate and think of Him, and those thoughts motivate me through my knowledge of Him. In God's providence, we are steered by Him if we walk with Him (1 John 1:7-9). We ask for Him to guide us, and He does.
'Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track' (Prov 3:6 MSG). His Spirit lives in us, and speaks to us through beauty, through nature, through righteousness and through truth. God speaks to us in so many ways. We hear because we listen. May the persecution level in our world reflect that people today still take God seriously, and the more of us who refuse to back down to avoid ridicule, the better this old world will be.
