Joshua 24:15 (NIV), “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
For example, if my mother had taken my father's name, but not changed her lifestyle, she would have taken my father's name "in-vain". She would have had a ceremony, but not a new life, and my father would definitely have been very upset.
When we put on a uniform, we take the name of those whose uniform it is. Whether it is a sports team uniform, a work uniform for that employer or a military uniform. When we choose a career, we take the name of the best of everyone in that career field. When we take on a title, we take the name of the best o everyone with that title.
In the Book of Genesis, Chapter 12, Verse 1-3, we see what God says about His response to how people treat Israel:
“And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
In the Book of Numbers, where the Bible is telling us about the Nation of Israel that God delivers out of bondage in Egypt, it tells us:
“He crouched. He lay down as a lion, and as a great lion. Who shall stir him up? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.”
I asked him a simple question: "Aaron, is there any voice inside you telling you what you should do?"
He paused and then responded, "Yes."
"What's the voice telling you?"
"That I should stay and work it out."
I asked him, "Can you identify that voice?"
He immediately said, "Yes, It's God."
It was the moment I had waited for. I didn't expect it to come under those circumstances. Nevertheless, it was there. I turned to Aaron and said, "Aaron, do you realize what just happened? You just heard the voice if the living God. He spoke to you from within your soul. Forget everything else that just happened. God has spoken to you, and you were able to recognize Him."
I'll never forget his response: "Well, I'm still not doing what He said."
I explained to him that was his choice, but this is what would happen. If he rejected the voice of God and chose to disobey His guidance, his heart would become hardened, and his ears would become dull. And if he continued on this path, there would be a day when he would never again hear the voice of God. There would come a day when he would deny that God even speaks or has ever spoken to him. But if he treasured God's voice and responded to Him with obedience, then his heart would be softened, and his ears would always be able to hear the whisper of God into his soul. (Erwin Raphael McManus, The Barbarian Way, pp. 87-88, Thomas Nelson, 2005)
by Michael Lane, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries
The thought of a fire on an airplane is really pretty unsettling. That's exactly what happened on an Air Canada flight a few years ago. The fire started in the lavatory and smoke quickly spread throughout the plane. The pilot couldn’t see and he didn't know how he was going to land. But suddenly this calm, measured voice came into the cockpit, "Just do what I say. I'll bring you in." It was the flight controller. And that calm voice literally talked the pilot in for a miraculously safe landing!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Follow That Voice!"
If your life is like mine, there are lots of choices you have to make - it's a turbulent flight. There are lots of voices pulling at you; even smoke that makes it difficult to know how to proceed sometimes. What will bring you in safely is what brought that pilot in safely - that one calm voice from the Tower.
Our word for today from the Word of God takes us to one of those moments in Jesus' life when the pressure was really on. The day before He has been in Capernaum healing sick people who were brought to Him, even casting demons out of people. Then in Luke 4:42-44 it says, "At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him and when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.' And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea."
Here is Jesus, surrounded by voices that are vying for His time and for His attention, and everyone had a legitimate need. Does that sound familiar? But Jesus has a clear "I must" and it helps Him stay on course as He makes His daily choices. Now, your life is the sum of hundreds of little choices you make each day. Tomorrow you'll reap today's choices. And if you're like me, you have a lot of needs and a lot of possibilities tugging at you every day. Most of them are good, but God has you on earth for some special missions and you must be true to those, no matter how noble the detours that are pulling on you.
Often we end up running around all stressed out, trying to satisfy everybody, and often satisfying nobody. We lead these fragmented, frustrated lives because we forget our "musts." And those non-negotiables have to come from God. And if you ask Him, God will lay on your heart your personal mission or missions. And some will be needs that only you can meet - like being there for your family or like reaching your lost friends and family for Christ. You need the kind of clear "I must" priorities that Jesus had.
But how do you keep your course when the flight seems to be out of control? Look at how your Lord did it. "At daybreak He went out to a solitary place." You know what He was doing. It's what He always did: going to hear from His Father. Jesus stayed on course by staying in touch with the Tower - with His Flight Controller in heaven. That's how you're going to stay on course. And, like Jesus, you have to get in touch with the Tower daily, and early, and by yourself.
Listen to your Father's calm voice before you let any other voices get to you. Let Him affirm the musts in your day. You will always land where you're supposed to if you begin with the voice from the Control Tower. Let God set your course. Forget the confusion, forget the smoke, forget the danger, and focus on your Father's instructions. Then follow that voice!
Watchman Nee in his book, Let Us Pray, wrote, "Prayer is the union of the believer's thought with the will of God. The prayer which a believer utters on earth is but the voicing of the Lord's will in heaven. Prayer is not the expressing of our wish for God to yield to our petition and fill up our selfish desire. It is not a forcing of the Lord to change His will and perform what He is unwilling to do. No, prayer is simply speaking out the will of God through the mouth of the believer. Before God, the believer asks in prayer for the Lord's will to be done.
"Most assuredly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these will he do; because I am going to my Father. Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it." John 14:12-14.
"If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. "In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples." John 15:7,8
"You didn't choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. "I command these things to you, that you may love one another." John 15:16,17.
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." James 1:2-8
When everything in the world seems to be against you and everything you can do, is still not enough – when the facts are against you and your circumstances are overwhelming – you have one very powerful weapon that will help you endure and assures complete victory…you still have your faith. 1 John 5:4 says, “For Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”
The problem with faith is that it is absolutely senseless and totally unreasonable. You would have to be an unreasonable person to even attempt to operate in faith and the act itself is senseless. Let me explain my position.
Faith and reasoning border each other but never overlap. When you leave one you enter the other. Where reasoning ends, faith must begin, and where faith ends, reasoning will begin. Reasoning relies on inferences and logic using information gathered from our senses and processed in our brains. Reasoning is overrated. I have seen far too many men and women miss out on salvation and many of the wonderful blessings of God because of reasoning. They are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 3:7).
When Peter walked on water as Jesus bid him, he did so in faith. It was unreasonable for Peter to attempt defying the laws of physics. As a fisherman, he knew walking on water was an impossible feat. Peter didn’t care about physics at this moment; he abandoned his reasoning and walked in faith because Jesus said he could. Faith will cause you to act in ways that are senseless and unreasonable. However, when Peter’s senses began to notice that the winds were picking up and the waves were growing fierce, he began to again reason within himself…he was in danger. Once he began to reason, his faith came to an end and he began to sink and drown. When Jesus caught him, He said, “O thou of little faith, why did you begin to doubt?” The reason is simple: Peter abandoned faith and began to rely on reasoning and his own understanding. He understood that walking on water was “impossible.” You cannot operate in the things of the spirit through your senses, feelings and reasoning. You must crossover on the bridge of faith. Peter did not have access to the impossible through reasoning. Your only access to the impossible is by faith. If your situation is impossible, hold onto faith.
According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. A reasonable person cannot compute hope because their evidence must come through their senses. They can’t hope, they must see.
When I speak of faith, I speak of faith in God. You can put your faith in a lot of things, but Jesus Christ is the only one who can save you. Be careful in who or what you put your faith. I support our president, but my faith is in the lord. I like myself, but I put no confidence in my own flesh. Money is good, but it in God will I trust. Education and degrees are awesome, but it is God who orders my steps. When I feel overwhelmed or out maneuvered I will look unto the hills from where my help comes, my help comes from God. We must have faith in God.
If you want faith, ask God for it and seek the kingdom of God!
Faith is a persuasion of the mind that comes through knowledge of the word of God.
However, faith is not merely knowledge. You can quote every scripture in the Bible and still not have faith.
Faith requires you to act on it in order to bring it to life.Faith without works is dead.
We must act on our faith and live what we believe. However, often the act required to release your, faith does not pass the “prudent man” test. In other words, when you attempt to operate in faith, you run the risk of looking foolish, senseless and unreasonable. Imagine how foolish Noah looked building an ark when there had been no rain for years; or how unreasonable a 99-year-old Abraham was to trust God for a son. Just lifting our hands in prayer, singing praises to God or even going to church on Sundays can make us look foolish in a world with no appetite for the things of God.
If you already know Christ as your lord and savior I challenge you to be bolder in your faith. Let your light shine. If you don’t know Christ and find yourself at a crossroads where you need some hope and love, let me introduce you to a man named Jesus.
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