Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Messages to the Heart

Often in life, we might hear a "still, small voice" speaking to our heart.  It is the voice of the Holy Spirit gently guiding us along the straight and narrow pathway God has placed before us to follow.  On other days, like yesterday, it seems God uses other means to get His message across.  Perhaps this happens because we aren't first listening to the "still, small voice" He has already attempted!

It all started with my Bible reading for the day.  Not always do I get this done in the morning, but yesterday I did.  I follow a Bible reading plan which takes me through the Bible in a year, with daily assignments received from a guide called "Prayer Point" I receive quarterly from Samaritan's Purse.  The reading for the day was in 2 Chronicles, chapters 29-32.  It is part of the segment of God's Word where He lists the various kings ruling in Judah and Israel "back in the day".  

The king getting the attention during these chapters was King Hezekiah, who was 25 when he became king, and ended up ruling a total of 29 years.  The Bible tells us he chose to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, which is always a good plan.

The first thing on his agenda was opening up the temple of the Lord, repairing damages it had faced, and going through a process of purification.  A couple of verses standing out to my mind were verses 11 and 15 of Chapter 29.  Hezekiah was speaking to the Levites, a tribe of people whose job was to care for the temple.  It had been neglected far too long, and God's people were suffering because of it.  His words to them were first, ". . .do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him and serve Him". This was followed by instructions to "purify the temple of the Lord. . .following the Word of the Lord".

As I pondered these words, spoken many years ago, I realized they were still applicable in each of our lives.  As Christians, we have a responsibility to stand before God, serve Him, and purify what is not appropriate in our lives.  We discover what this looks like as we read God's Word.   It is interesting how the same words ("following the Word of the Lord") are used again in Chapter 30, verse 12.  Here the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind as they followed His Word.  It seems to me many of the problems we are experiencing as a church today come because we have allowed the dust of the world to accumulate on our Bibles instead of reading them, and following their instructions.

The second means God used to speak to me yesterday was through a YouTube video.  I had been viewing something else, and below it was a link to a teaching by Priscilla Shirer.  Since I had done a Bible Study by her earlier this year, my curiosity peeked and I found myself listening in on an episode featured as "You're Right Where You Need to Be" and "God is Preparing You for More".

The teaching was on the feeding of the 5,000 and the essence was this:  you already have what you need to give to God, in order to bring about that which will in turn give glory back to Him.  Perhaps that is a cumbersome sentence to absorb, so if you have an extra 38 minutes, I would encourage you to watch the video for yourself and get the complete teaching.  For now, it will suffice to say I found the time yesterday, AND again today.  There is so much packed into it!  Here is the link:

Priscilla Shirer - You're Right Where You Need To Be     

And so I had two lessons to consider for the day.  Lesson one told me there is work to do, and I needed to follow God's Word in accomplishing it.  Lesson two told me I was already equipped to do something for the Lord.  And now on to lesson three, which was a clip sent to me by a friend.  It's message was basically, "There's a lot out there to do, and it's not going to get done unless you do your part."  Wow!  Talk about a "1-2-3 Punch" from the Lord!

All of this challenged me.  I have been faithfully reading His Word, so I should have some insight into following it.  What has God given me to use?  Two of my gifts are writing and music.  Although I have used both to bring God glory at various times in my life, I found myself asking, "What more could I do?"

How about you?  What has God entrusted to you?  How do you think He wants to use what He has already given you, to turn around and bring glory back to Himself?  It seems to me the world would be a better place once we all accept this simple "1-2-3 Punch" from the Lord!  


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