Listening to the Word of God

I am reading a wonderful book by Fil Anderson called Running on Empty. It's very inspirational to me because it focuses on slowing down for God. If you are like me, you are an overachiever, and although I love the Lord, I have a tendency to get legalistic sometimes in the way I search for the Lord. The encouraging thing is that the more you search for the Lord, the more He reveals Himself to you. So no matter what my original intentions, God changes my focus, and helps me to see the real picture.

One of the things I read this morning was about listening to the Word of God. So often we, myself included, read the Word because we are supposed to, or we feel obligated, or we feel guilty. But if we really sit down and make time with God a priority, we will learn how to listen to HIm. We will learn how to hear God's voice in the scriptures. It doesn't matter if you read a little or a lot, it just needs to penetrate your soul. The whole point of spending time with God is to slow down. As I mentioned in my last post, we need to make time for God. It is the most important relationship we will ever foster. When spending time with God, we need to allow Him to use His Word to transform us. If you want real change, read the Word. As Fil Anderson states in his book, "God's Word cuts through everything, it exposes doubts, defenses, thoughts and intentions." This is the best way to be transformed. Letting the Word of God cut through the lies, the masks, the desires, and helps us to see where we need to change, and where we are doing good.

I received another revelation on my relationship with Jesus Christ when a good friend of mine told me one day, "the hows and the why's are none of our business." That hit me like a ton of bricks. My entire life, of 30 years, I had been pursuing the answer to everything! I wanted to know why this person acted this way, or why this situation was so terrible, or how I could fix this, or how I could fix that. When she told me that day that it didn't matter...wow - I was in shock and elated!! It released all of my doubts, my fears, and my curiosity!! God was showing me, through her, that He knows, and that's all that matters. God knows the how's and the why's, my job is to TRUST!! How simple is that? Yet I struggle with this every day of my life!!

God knows what is best. God loves us unconditionally. Let Him work out the how's and the why's, all we need to do is release our Faith by believing God will take care of what He said He would take care of.

One of my favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Ponder that one all day, friend! God loves you! He know the plan...that should be enough!

I love you, have a blessed day!

Cortnee :)