John 14:26 NKJV
John 14:13-14 NKJV
Psalm 37:7 NKJV
Romans 8:37-39 NKJV
Listening Series
I notice God’s patience in scripture and in my life. What I’ve noticed mostly is how patient God is when teaching me something. In Chapter 14 John tells us the helper (the Spirit of God) IS patient and will teach us.
John 14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
One of the most remarkable characteristics about God is that we can ask God to teach us anything. So, the Spirit of God who knows all things, is all powerful, and all loving stands ready and available to lovingly and patiently teach us any good thing we want to learn.
That means God will do a lesson plan teaching you how to listen that is customized and tailor-made. So, how do you GET onboard? In John 14:13-14 we are given the answer, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
You ask.
You simply ask God for help.
To me that means that while I learned a lot from my dad about listening to God, what he knew was based on his experience. It really was good information to know because I gained an understanding of what was possible. But...that was just a starting point. In order for me to learn, really learn how to listen to God, I needed to ask God to teach me.
So I asked. God, will you teach me how to hear you, how to listen?
Also, when I was young I didn’t know exactly what my Spiritual Gifts were. God knew those because He had already given them to me. I had my first dream that came true when I was 12 years old, but because of the interpretation of the dream it took time for me to figure out it contained a message from God.
Eventually I learned the Spirit will not only teach me how to listen, the Spirit of God will teach me how to understand and use my Spiritual Gifts. It turned out that my Spiritual Gifts helped me to know what God was telling me. My dreams and visions have been a communication source from God since I was 12 years old. I don’t want to make it sound like it was easy, though. My greatest struggle has been learning to understand what specific dreams mean.
Also, God did a really cool thing that helped me with my gifts. He gave my daughter the gift of knowledge...I mean really strong gift of knowledge. THEN He gave my youngest son the gift of interpreting dreams. Whoa. My other two children also have Spiritual Gifts that are a piece of God’s puzzle for us. That reiterates the fact that God HAS a plan. So, who do you know who can help you with their Spiritual Gift?
For example, I recently had a dream where a man (someone I know) was crying. I knew the dream was from God. I’ve learned from experience how I can know a dream is from God. The Spirit highlights the dream and presses in on me telling me to pay attention to it.
All I know is that he was very upset and hurt. I do not know why.
I asked the Spirit to show me what He wants me to know or to do. I continue to listen and pray about the dream. My daughter confirmed information I wondered about and my youngest son helped me with dream interpretation.
For now, God is warning me so I can prepare, pray, and maybe offer guidance. I know the Spirit will show me what I need to know when I need to know it. See, God IS patient. He is patient with me. I want to know everything about the dream right NOW, but God does what’s best for me. God tells me what I need to know, not what I want to know.
God protects us and gives us as much as we can handle today. I know because He is patient He gives me time to understand and come to terms with what is about to happen. I know now that in the past God has protected me from things I didn’t really need to know at that time.
I’ve learned that God only gives me as much as I can handle.
God is patient with me, and is patient with you. The Spirit of God will teach you how to communicate...how to listen in your time and in a way you can understand. You only need to ask God to teach you how to listen.
Psalm 37:7 tells us to “be still before the Lord and wait patiently”. For me, that has meant I ask, sit in silence, and I wait for God to show me the next step. I put God in charge of teaching me and I trust God to do what’s best for me.
I know that God has definitely been patient with me as Ive learned and continued to learn what He is teaching me.
I know I am still learning.
I know God is patient and will continue to love and .teach me.
I know that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).
I know it’s not up to me. Trust me, THAT’S a good thing.
God holds onto me.
God speaks to me in myriad of ways.
Every.
Day.
Today’s Spiritual Practice: How God Speaks or You
Pray about how God speaks to you. Is it when you see a magnificent sunrise that reminds you of His love? Is it when a trusted friend reminds you that God is taking care of you? Does God urge you to go see someone who needs encouragement?
How does God speak to you? Make a list or a way to remember that God speaks to you.
In God, Deborah
acrazyjourney.com
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