June 14, 2011

Remembering God's Faithfulness

This one is more for me than for anyone else. I use this blog much as others use a journal, as a remembrance of things past, and lessons learned.w I write today first, to recount what God has accomplished, and second to have a marker of God's faithfulness once we reach the other side. Yet, I also hope that this still speaks to someone else out there. I pray that these words encourage someone to keep moving, and to keep trusting in our God, our Savior.

Today I find myself between a fulfillment of one promise, and at the same time on my knees asking for His continued faithfulness. Yesterday, I interviewed for a job, and shortly after was hired. I have prayed for a job for many months now, and have been waiting for God to provide one of His choosing. And Yesterday I saw that fulfillment of a promise from Him. Today though I woke up and checked my e-mail and saw my financial aid for this coming year. Immediately, my faith was again put to the test. I cannot see if this is either an attack from the enemy, or a solidification of God's lesson that I have already begun. No doubt it was Satan's intent to break me, and my trust in God, but how can I so easily rip my faith away from my Father when I just saw Him work out my issues? How can I have sat in this dorm room for the past month, jobless, knowing that my God would provide a job for me, yet not trust Him to take care of my school finances? As one of our school's old professors said,'The zeros at the end of the check (or bill in this matter) make no difference o God.'

He is faithful, and He is true, and He WILL provide for His children. And what is more, He always has.

I choose to put my faith in Him. Where else do I have to turn?

June 9, 2011

God's Love

Over the past month or so, God has been teaching me something that I have known for a long time, but never correctly understood.

The concept that God is good and faithful to us despite what we do. He has been showing me my imperfections, and wiping the lie away that His promises won’t be fulfilled if I am not completely perfect at ever moment.

Yes, we will be made perfect, but we are not perfect now. That’s something that Satan loves to twist. He loves to tell us that we need to be perfect always for God to love us, for God to bless us. Then Satan shows us all of our imperfections as an accusation.

He shows us our imperfections out of hatred, but our Father shows us our imperfections that they may not hinder us from coming to Him. He actually means them to be a means to propel us into His arms, into His mercy, into His grace, into His blessing.

I now know that when I screw up, God won't take away what He has promised to give. But most importantly, I now know that He loves His work in progress, just as I am, just as you are, where we are.

Just a thought I wanted to share.

June 3, 2011

Listening to hear His voice

I wrote this post because often I had asked people what God’s voice sounded like. I hoped that somehow if I knew the characteristics of His voice, that I might be able to start hearing him. All I got back was, “Well, it’s a still small voice.” What does that mean? How am I going to sort a voice like that from my thoughts?

So I started my own journey. I made it my goal to hear His voice, and by extension to know the characteristics of His voice. It has been a long journey, and I have learned much along the way, and still am.

What can I say about His voice? How can I put into words, the things I have learned? My base came from this scripture:

You may be asking yourselves, "How can we tell if a prophet's message really comes from the LORD?" You will know, because if the LORD says something will happen, it will happen. And if it doesn't, you will know that the prophet was falsely claiming to speak for the LORD. Don't be afraid of any prophet whose message doesn't come from the LORD.
(Deuteronomy 18:21-22)


This passage is talking about God using a prophet, and how to test whether he is from God or not. The part I am interested in though is right in the middle:

‘You will know, because if the Lord says something will happen, it will happen.’

Over the past years, trying to hear His voice, I have found this to be invaluable. Often I have heard other voices in my head, and I wondered whether or not the voice belongs to my creator. I don’t usually think it’s from me because it’s not something I would suggest to myself. Some things I have been told will happen, and others I have been told to do. I came to recognize His voice after each event came to pass. Like when I heard that He would take care of my GPA. Now that I see that my GPA was taken care of, I believe in that voice.

Sometimes I have waited for months to see the outcomes, and other times I have waited for only a matter of seconds. Each time though His voice becomes more and more solidified in my mind. As well, my faith in Him is strengthened every time.

Even this blog post was an exercise in hearing His voice for me. I can honestly say that this is the most difficult one I have written thus far. I have written, rewritten, scrapped it, and started fresh. Also, the past two days have been some of the more difficult ones spiritually because I knew God wanted me to write it, but have allowed myself to be distracted. Do I know His purposes for me writing this blog? Not yet. He could just be using it to build me, or to strengthen one of His children, or something totally different.

As a final thought, I would like to say that the act of listening, is really an act of obedience. Many think they can’t hear Him, but truly they aren't willing to do what He says. If you are truly willing to do what He says, He will speak to you, and you will hear Him.