This is another Guest Post from my friend Rodney Francis of Faith Gospel Messenger  He sent it out in his Barnabas Bulletin and I asked if I could pass it on my readers. It’s very timely. Contact him to get on his Barnabas Bulletin list. 

 

In our last BB-127 we looked at how the young Samuel connected with the voice of God (1 Samuel 3). This came about because, as a servant-hearted young man, he responded to the voice (which he thought was that of Eli). Three times he mistook the voice of God as being the voice of Eli. And each time he responded in a practical way. He got up out of his bed, walked through the temple to where Eli was, woke him up, and asked what he wanted of him. That took some courage, especially when he had been told to “go back to bed” previously. As a result of his responses, Samuel discovered the voice of God. He learned as a result of his responding to the voice. He did not lie in bed “praying” about it. He knew he heard a voice and he knew he needed to respond in a practical way.

WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!

The question has to be asked: “How will we ever know it is the voice of God speaking to us if we do not make a practical response to it?” I have learned over the years that each time that God speaks to me, I have to do something in response. I have to demonstrate to God that I believe it is Him talking to me. If I do nothing, the voice comes to nothing. But if I respond in a practical way, I soon discover that it is, indeed, the voice of God speaking, and my obedience to His voice “releases” Him to fulfil what He is saying to me. Sometimes that has resulted in my being able to touch thousands of lives in a short period of time, as the voice of God has given me strategies about what He wants me to do ~ strategies that I had not been thinking about before, and I doubt whether I would have thought of it the way He revealed it. The Barnabas Bulletin Ministry started that way. I had no concept of it until after God spoke and gave me the purpose and name! Through Barnabas Bulletin alone we touch thousands of people each month in over 100 nations!

I am not “down playing” the place of prayer in our lives, but far too often ~ when it comes to God speaking to us ~ we only “commit it to prayer” and nothing comes about as a result. Why? Because we only pray until the “conviction to do what He said” goes away. We must learn this important principle: It is our obedience (active response) to the voice of God that releases the purpose of the voice to happen in our lives. No response ~ no fulfilment of the word from the voice of God. You might ask, “What shall I do to respond?” That all depends on what the voice of God is saying to you. If it is a simple: “Make contact with Bill or Mary and encourage them,” then you step out, make the contact and encourage them. You will soon discover that you made the contact at a very timely moment that makes Bill or Mary know that God is caring for them, etc. When we are faithful to God in our obedience to the smaller things He can then trust us with bigger things.

ONE EVENT THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE!

A few years back God spoke to me these words: “In the Bible every great man and woman of God all started out as an unknown nobody; until one event happened in the life of them all. They all heard the voice of God and obeyed.” That really impacted me. As we grow in our Christian life and faith, we are all called to a life of obedience to God. It is our obedience that demonstrates to God our LOVE for Him. If we don’t love Him enough to do what He speaks to us, then our relationship and love for Him is not very strong. In these days it is vital that every Christian knows the voice of God in a real and personal way, so we can be found living in the very centre of His will. If we do not know His voice then we will “stumble” along through life simply hoping we’re doing what is right, etc. Know afresh that Jesus is alive today and, because He is alive, He speaks to His people. Make very sure you listen, hear and obey. God Bless YOU!

~ Rodney W. Francis.

Scripture Readings:

1 Samuel 3; Acts 9:10-19; Hebrews 1; Hebrews 2.

Please pray this prayer:

“Dear God, I come to You in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and I ask You to help me to be connected to Your voice in such a way that I will joyfully respond. Help me to be humble enough to listen to You, and to be servant-hearted enough to respond to You and obey what ever You say to me. I really do want to do Your will, and to be an effective and fruitful minister of Your Supernatural Gospel in my day and generation. I desire to fulfil Your vision for my life! Thank You, Lord. Please speak to me today. In Jesus’ name, I pray these things. Amen.”

How to Carry a Light Load
a message by Trevor Lund

If you’ve read the gospels you may have come across Jesus’ statement that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. People often ask “What does that mean and how can I have it?” This message has some clues for us. By Trevor Lund.

Immediately download the MP3 to listen to on any device.

Download audio file (LightLoad.mp3)

Buy Now

Immediately download the MP3 from Expectancy Press.

About the Speaker:

Trevor Lund is a Christian Speaker, Author and Lead Dreamer for Expectancy Ministries. He lives with his beautiful wife and kids in Edmonton Canada and blogs at RevTrev.com

I’ve had many comments in emails and on some of the social networks I belong to that sound like warnings not to rock the boat. Most suggest, people are preaching the gospel if they simply teach “Jesus came, lived, died, rose again, ascended, and is coming back to judge the living and the dead, so REPENT!”

I agree. This is the kerygma of Paul. This is his main message. But something that has me thinking is that Jesus preached about the Kingdom… and he wasn’t talking about those things.

Now before I get the emails, hear me out… Jesus did teach “these things must happen” but it’s clear His disciples didn’t understand and it’s also clear when He started to talk about His body being real food and His blood being real drink, He lost followers. (John 6:54-66)

Jesus went out teaching and showing the Kingdom.

And we’re happy just filling the committed with knowledge. Comfort kills us slowly.

The Kingdom drives out demons. The Kingdom heals the sick. The Kingdom starts small and grows big.

The Kingdom is, where ever the Father’s will is done. Where the King rules, that’s where the Kingdom exists.

So if I’m offending the ones who don’t believe in miracles anyway – why are you reading this blog? If I’m offending those working hard for the Lord; follow the one who’s yoke is easy and burden is light.

Did you really think His mission for you would be something you can accomplish on your own? What did Paul rant about to the Galatians?

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (Galatians 3:3 NIV)

Sure, Paul in context is talking about circumcision, but is their a difference to striving in your own effort? Paul’s definition of fully proclaiming the gospel of Christ is…

…by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. Romans 15:19 (New International Version)

And ours can’t be anything less.

This is really good news when you think about it… It’s not up to you. You can’t preform signs and wonders. God can through you – and He longs to do it. So give Him opportunity.

Pray for the sick expectantly. Speak out words of encouragement and seek the Father for greater insight. Be faithful in what you’ve been given, and more will be given to you.

Remember the Kingdom starts small and grows.

Love to hear what you think. We really enjoy imparting power to people who are hungry for more of God.

Truth:

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Philemon 1:6 (New International Version)

Thought:

The shoes described in Ephesians 6 were strong, heavy sandals that were durable and provided mobility and availability to the commander.  In our case, our commander is Jesus.

We need to be prepared to have an intelligent account of the Gospel. So many Christians don’t even understand the basics of the Gospel. The kerygma (message) of Paul is straightforward -

Jesus Christ has come in the flesh He died for our sins, was crucified, buried and raised from the dead, He ascended to heaven and will one day return to judge the living and the dead so repent!

It is a Gospel of Peace. We can only transfer peace to others if we have it ourselves. If we don’t have peace then it’s no use trying to give it to someone else. If you need peace, meditate on, and put into practice Isaiah 26:3, Romans 15:13 and Philippians 4:6-9.

Erwin McManus has an incredible story about a radio talk show host asking him: “So are everyone but Christians going to hell?”

He responded with something similar to, “Let me be up-front, I am a follower of Christ and know that He said He is the way to the Father. But He also didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, so that’s not something I can do either.”

I enjoy Erwin’s thinking because it’s similar to my own. I was speaking to a Comparative Religions Class at a local university about the early church councils. It led beautifully into the question, “Is Jesus God?” I asked, “Have you ever been offended by someone telling you Jesus is the only way?” All but three were quick to agree.

I responded, “I’m a follower of Jesus and I ask you for forgiveness for others who name His name and use His words to condemn you. I’m sorry.”

That got their attention, so I continued, “It would be perfectly legitimate to feel offended at Jesus, if He was just a man and He said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’ But what if He was more than a man? What if He was the one who put 400 million stars in our galaxy and 400 million galaxies in our universe, and who knows how many more universes there are left to imagine? It would mean He wasn’t being exclusive when He said He was the way, it would mean He was being inclusive, making a way where we couldn’t make one on our own.”

If the teacher wasn’t a Muslim, I would have tried an altar call. People respond to a gospel of peace.

Having your shoes on means often doing for God right there what He tells you to do. You obey without hesitation. You don’t stall in communicating the Gospel of Peace in a way that meets people’s needs right there and then.

Are you ready to put into practice the will of God expressed in Scripture?

Prayer:

Lord, I know You want me to be active in sharing my faith. I know You’re not willing that any should perish. I know You will tell me what to say. I know You want my conversation full of grace seasoned with salt so I’ll know how to answer everyone. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for empowering me to be Christ’s witness. Empower me to make the most of every opportunity today to plant, water, or harvest Your word. I’ll do it all for the glory of God.

Challenge:

Find someone to share the Gospel of Peace with today. Pray knowing its God’s will for you to share your faith. Pray believing the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say. Then share your stories with us

Declaration:

I choose to put on the full armor of God. I put on truth. I put on righteousness. I put on peace. I put on faith. I put on salvation. And I choose to learn to use the word of God with great power and in love.

I live in a Canada, far enough North that Christmas is almost always white. I can remember once when we got our first snow Christmas Eve, but that’s a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. We normally have snow that sticks around by the end of October. But God bless El Nino – this year we haven’t seen much of the white stuff.

So it’s been a little hard to get into the Christmas mood. Tonight as I write this, we’re setting up the Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music, and it’s starting to feel a bit more like Christmas… which reminds me I have a lot of Christmas shopping to do… maybe it’s a bad time to switch servers for my websites.

Oh well, it’s time to think about the Christmas story.

The Christmas Story comes down to us from antiquity from two main sources. I’m not counting the Armenian Infancy Gospels or the more modern Saint Nicholas folklore.

The Story of Jesus coming to earth as a baby are delivered to us by primarily two of the gospel writers – Matthew and Luke. They give the details. They highlight the fulfilled prophecy. They place the event in world and Jewish history. But the other two Gospels tell us a lot more His arrival and purpose than we might otherwise pick up on in either of the main historical accounts.

The beauty of historical accounts show us the authors main focus and main purpose and taking a few posts to look at how each Gospel writer handles the coming of Jesus as a baby reveals their message to their first readers and to us today.

So I’ll be posting my thoughts on the Christmas story according to each gospel writer over the next few days. I’ll be telling you my favorite. I hope you can tell me yours – comment on my site liberally.

Oh, final thing – I’ll be changing our gift for signing up for our weekly emails shortly. So if you want to be able to download the 2 books – Life Above the Negativity – from 10 minutes a day and Remembering Paradise – a $40 value – sign up for the weekly email today.