listen closely | Kristi's Morning Devotional

As we get older our hearing seems to decrease. We turn up the TV, ask others to repeat themselves and the worst part is misunderstanding what was really said.

My father worked around heavy equipment all his life and I really don’t think he ever wore ear protection. It was evident that he had a hearing problem long before he was fitted for hearing aids.

I know when we spent our summers in Iowa for several years working around airplanes I had earplugs hanging around my neck and used them every time I went outside. The roar of the airplane engines was deafening, seriously.

When it comes to hearing what the Lord is saying we often need to have a check-up. His voice doesn’t come booming through a microphone or blasted from an arena sound system. Most often, it comes as the still small voice that we hear speaking from within our hearts.

“Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go, stand in front of me on the mountain. I, the Lord, will pass by you.”^[a] Then a very strong wind blew. The wind caused the mountains to break apart. It broke large rocks in front of the Lord. But that wind was not the Lord. After that wind, there was an earthquake. But that earthquake was not the Lord. ¹²After the earthquake, there was a fire. But that fire was not the Lord. After the fire, there was a quiet, gentle voice.” I Kings 19:11-12 CEV

Elijah had received instruction from the Lord on many occasions. In fact, these verses start out telling us that the Lord was speaking to Him. How did he know that is was God? I think the answer is a simple one. He and the Lord were friends, Elijah knew what God sounded like and when God got quiet and spoke softly Elijah knew He has something important to say.

There are so many examples in the Bible of people who heard God speak to them. Some were obedient to what they were told, others were not.

Jesus said that He is our shepherd and as His sheep we hear His voice. The Pharisees were demanding that Jesus give proof of who He was and by what authority He was able to minister to the people.

“Jesus answered, “I told you already, but you did not believe. I do miracles in my Father’s name. These miracles show who I am. ²⁶But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep. ²⁷My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give my sheep eternal life. They will never die, and no one can take them out of my hand.” John 10:25-28 ERV

We can hear God’s voice through someone’s preaching. They will say something that resonates so strongly we feel it was spoken directly to us. At other times it seems God is speaking an important message to us by an inner instinct.

Have you ever said, “I knew I shouldn’t have done that, I knew it wasn’t going to work right”? Or maybe you have used the phrase “that just dawned on me”. While others may account these thoughts to be intuition or premonitions we can know that the Lord is leading us through these inner words.

“But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.

²⁷I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn’t like the peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid.” John 14:26-27 ERV

God has given us the Holy Spirit to lead us and to teach us what we need to know. But not every thought that comes into our minds is from God. No. There will be condemning thoughts, thoughts of fear and deception. These don’t come from God.

The Apostle Paul tells us how to know that God is speaking to us.

“Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected. ⁹And do what you learned and received from me—what I told you and what you saw me do. And the God who gives peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9 NLV

I think it’s so interesting that peace is an underlaying element in both these verses. When the Holy Spirit speaks he will speak words that bring us peace and when we keep our minds focused on things that good and pure we will also have peace.

Like the cartoon above we are to filter our hearing so that we only receive those things that the Lord is speaking to us. Will the Lord ever correct us or give us instruction that might be hard to swallow? Sure He will, He loves us. His words will never be condemning. His words will be filled with love and He expects ours to be too.

“Also, let Christ’s peace control you. God has called you into this peace by bringing you into one body. Be thankful. ¹⁶Let Christ’s word with all its wisdom and richness live in you. Use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to teach and instruct yourselves about God’s kindness. Sing to God in your hearts. ¹⁷Everything you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:15-17 GW

Spend time listening to the Lord today. Let His words bring you peace!

Do you think the Lord talks to people today? You know in the Bible He sometimes talked to people with a voice from heaven or in a dream. Sometimes he sent angels and then, of course, there was Jesus living on earth and speaking with people on a daily basis but what about today?

I told you the story about praying for my friend and her family. I was on the tractor and just really “felt” like they were in need and so I began to pray. I continued to pray for them until I was at peace. There are other times when I think “I should call them/I should write them a note”. What about the times when I feel I should just do something nice for someone?

So many times our response is “that just dawned on me” or “I don’t know what made me think of that” or “it just came to my mind” or what about this one “it was just intuition”. I have learned through the years that these are all ways of the Lord speaking to me and I need to be still, listen and then obey.

At one of Jesus’ teachings he referred to himself as the good Shepherd who cares for his sheep (that would be us) and He said this

“ My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 CEV

We need to be more attentive to the Lord’s voice and then we need to be obedient. I’d like to tell you a story that happened to me personally.

Several years ago we were back in Iowa working for some friends. I had gone home from the airport early and planned to get some of my own chores done. I set up the ironing board, got out some shirts and got started. My friend, Melody, stopped by to drop off some papers. I got light headed but thought it was just the heat so didn’t mention anything to her and she left.

I got back at it and I hadn’t been working very long when I was hit with a terrible pain in my abdomen. It was so severe that I almost passed out. I began to pray and kept myself conscious. Then another pain came, it drove me to my knees and another and another. I crawled to the bathroom thinking I was going to throw up. All the time I was praying “Lord, I need help!”

Unknown to me, in my neighbors kitchen, Jan was washing dishes and there on her counter she saw a empty jam jar. I had made jam a week or so earlier and had given them a jar. They had finished it and now the empty jar sat on her counter top. She told her husband “I’m going to take that jar back to Kristi”. He asked, “Now?” and she said “yes, I need to go now”.

There should have been no urgency in returning an empty jam jar. She could bring it over anytime but she just sensed “I need to go now”. She didn’t know it but she was on a mission from God! Jan was the answer to my prayer for help! How silly was that – God used a jam jar to save me.

When she got there and saw what terrible pain I was experiencing, Jan helped me get my phone and I was able to call Dave and he came with Melody and they took me to the ER. From there it was a trip by ambulance to the nearest large city and a 6 day stay in the hospital while I recovered from acute pancreatitis. I don’t even think about what would have happened if Jan had put off returning that jam jar.

How many times have we had “a thought” and pushed it aside as being silly or unimportant? Maybe it was a prompting to do a kindness for a stranger and then we held back because we wondered what will people think. It could be that phone call we’ve been meaning to make, a word of encouragement that needs to be said or a prayer that needs to be whispered. Or maybe it was something we’ve done that didn’t turn out well and we’ve said “I just KNEW I shouldn’t have done that”.

“But He, your Teacher, will not hide Himself any more. Your eyes will see your Teacher. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:20-21 NLV

It doesn’t take much to send a short text that says “I was just thinking about you and wanted you to know I prayed for you. I love you.” Or a quick call to say “Is there anything you need?” Jan could have thought, I don’t want to bother Kristi. She just got home. I’ll go later. She didn’t know she was the answer to my prayer but she was obedient to what her heart said and that’s exactly what I needed.

There was a young boy by the name of Samuel whose family had taken him to live with the priest in Israel. His parents had dedicated him to the serve the Lord. One night he was asleep and he heard someone call him. He thought it was the old priest, Eli, so he got up and ran to Eli. Eli was sleeping and said he hadn’t called Samuel so Samuel went back to bed. After he fell asleep, he heard the voice again. Same result – go to Eli, no he didn’t call and back to bed. A third time it happened and this is what Eli told him.

“ When the Lord called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”

Eli finally realized that it was the Lord who was speaking to Samuel. 9 So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I’m listening, Lord. What do you want me to do?’”

Once again Samuel went back and lay down. 10 The Lord then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

“I’m listening,” Samuel answered. “What do you want me to do?” I Samuel 3:8-10 CEV

Now there’s the right response. We’ve all had times that we have missed God speaking to us, no point in getting condemned or upset about it. No point in looking back. The right response is “I’m listening Lord, what do you want me to do?”

I know I need to listen better and so I encourage you to listen and obey.

Maybe someone you know needs a jar of jam!

Tag: listen closely

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