June 15, 2013 … God Speaks and I'm listening!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 166

Passage of the Day #1: Judges 6: 13 [God speaks to Gideon.] [NLT] …  
12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him [Gideon] and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”
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 Contextual Study for today’s passage: Judges, Chapter 6 [NLT] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passage #1: Isaiah 55: 11 [God’s word is speaking. Time to listen! ] [NLT] …  
11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Reference Passage #2: 2nd Timothy 3: 16-17 [Need it be said again … God’s word is speaking. Time to listen! ] [NLT] …  
16 All 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 straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. 17 It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.

My Journal for Today: That had to have been a shock to Gideon when an angel showed up in the wine barrel where the frightful Israelite was hiding one day; and what God had to say to Gideon was probably even more shocking, … God telling Gideon that he was to be a “mighty warrior.” And as we know from the story in Judges, Chapter 6, it took God, speaking through a whole series of events, to convince Gideon that he was to become the leader of God’s people in battle against the Midianites.

Has God ever spoken to you? … If so, how? … He speaks to me in various ways. Os Hillman, in his devotional for today quotes Henry Blackaby and Claude King in their book, Experiencing God, who wrote, “God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.” [Henry Blackaby and Claude King, Experiencing God (Nashville, Tennessee: LifeWay Press, 1990), 225]

Perhaps you’ve been sitting in a sermon; and what the Pastor said in his message hit you in your soul as if the preacher was speaking only to you. Maybe you’ve been through a set of circumstances in your life which resonated so deeply with you that you just knew God’s Spirit was speaking to you through the events in your life. Or have you ever had a friend who said to you EXACTLY what you needed to hear, perhaps even though it was not what you wanted to hear? And have you ever been reading or meditating on Scripture and the words almost raised off the page (or from your smart phone) like it was God speaking directly to you, convicting you or directing you in some way? Or finally, have you ever prayed and within a short period of time you had a very specific answer to your very specific prayer? I’ve had all of those happen to me and often enough to be totally convinced that God speaks to me, … maybe not as He did to Gideon; but He speaks nonetheless.

All of those circumstances could be – or maybe they have been for you – ways in which God speaks to us. The question becomes, ”Are we listening?” Because, though I don’t want to be pompous here; God may be speaking to you from what I’m writing here today. It’s possible, because of the truth found in Isaiah 55: 11 and 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17 above; and all I’m doing is trying to do is relay to anyone who needs to hear what God has spoken to me through His word this morning.  So, is God speaking to you through His word and through me today? I’ll leave it to you to decide that, … responding to God’s Spirit, not to Bill Berry.

But all of this has reminded me why I come to some quiet place EVERY DAY to be alone and to listen – through God’s word and through prayer – what God will bring to me in the way of His thoughts, His convictions, or His directions. And without fail, EVERY MORNING, He brings me something which I can use for my life or to relay to others for their lives.

He speaks; and I listen.

So, unlike Gideon, I’m going to keep coming, VOLUNTARILY and gladly, to this quiet place each day to seek out God’s word just for me. Oh, I’ll listen for him in my prayers, from other Christians, from my Pastor, and from the circumstances of life as well. But I know He speaks to me everyday from His word; and so, this is the place you can find me tomorrow morning, doing all I can to hear God speak to ME; and like I am today, … I’M LISTENING!

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You have spoken to my heart, even today; and I pray I have heard all You have to say. … Amen