Well, it’s another Sunday morning. And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.” Mark 4:21-24(ESV)
So, all week long I have waited patently for the Lord to put His message on my heart. I have prayed for the message and listened, while I continued to go about my day to day chores. Although I thought I was listening, I never heard anything. To help you understand what I am talking about, when I write, I always feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. When a word, and normally it is just one word, is placed on my heart. I know then that this is the word I should write about that week. So, as this week went on and I assumed I hadn’t gotten a word, I thought to myself, is this mission over? Have I done my task? Is this all that God wanted me to write about and now it’s on to the next task to serve my LORD?
While sitting watching some old re-run TV show, I felt the Lord on my heart. I felt like He was asking me, “Did you get the message?” Well, of course I hadn’t hear anything. I was too wrapped up in me at the time to listen for the word. So, as soon as I felt this presence I prayed “ My Lord, I did not hear you, I’m sorry Lord. I must have been listening to my own thoughts and not for your words Lord. Lord please forgive me.” Then God put this verse on my heart, Psalm 46:10 (ESV) “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
See, sometimes in this crazy life we need to just be still. We need to listen, trust, believe, and serve our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ without any questions or reservations. God has this all in control. There is nothing that we can do that hasn’t been walked out ahead of us.
I was too involved in my own self to hear my God when he spoke to me. See, sometimes God speaks to our hearts so softly and quietly that if we have our priorities misaligned we will not hear that still small voice, we will not hear God speaking in a whisper to us.
If we are letting the noise of this rock we live in distract us from God’s precious word well, we will miss the most important voice for us to hear. We miss the quiet still moments that He speaks to us tenderly. I believe that Paul, Silas and Timothy, got it right in their letter to the church of the Thessalonians when they wrote in; 1 Thessalonians 4:11 (ESV) these words, “And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you.” We are to live quietly and always listen for our LORD’s instructions, we are his servants.
I have talked to some people that say they are no servant to anyone, I say that we all serve someone. By not realizing that they are serving something or someone they are living in a very dark and unloving environment. I choose to serve in the light. I choose to serve a loving and caring LORD.
In Mark 10: 42-45 (ESV) Jesus said this, And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Quietly and with stillness we do our God’s will, we serve him and do the work he has instructed us to do. We do this willingly with a glad heart always because it is right and good to do that. Serving Him in His Churches pleases the Lord. Working to grow His kingdom pleases the Lord. Doing good deeds for others Pleases our LORD. Just receiving his instructions and doing them in a loving manor is pleasing to God.
When you receive your instructions from God there probably wont be trumpets blowing and a great fanfare, but a quiet voice nudging you in a certain direction. Don’t ignore this voice, if God wants you to do good, even though you are unsure, you should do it. If you are too involved in yourself you can miss this small voice.
If you have not put Christ first in your heart you will miss something very important in your life. I want to give you a verse to live for this week, it comes from 1 Peter 4: 8-10 (ESV). “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
Let’s all try to live up to this throughout these coming weeks and see what a difference this will make in our lives. Let me start today by reminding you this, God truly loves each and every one of you so very much and so do I.
