The Lord kindly allowed me to have some time at home this week, sending me a bad head cold, and coinciding that with minor eye surgery and another day of recovery. These were blessings to me, because I so needed time with Jesus, to be free from distractions, and to just love Him. I have done too little of that lately. I have been too busy and distracted, taking on extra work without discerning His will, relying on my own reasoning power, and hardening my heart against Him because of my difficult circumstances.
Satan will try every possible way to tear us from that which is vital to our life - communion with Jesus - by bringing into our lives 'good things' to be sure, but as I have heard said, 'good' can be the enemy of the 'best'. Jesus said to Martha, that her sister Mary had chosen that which was best. She sat at His feet, hanging on to His every word.
Lu 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word....
Lu 10:42 "But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her".
Joh 5:25 Verily, verily I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the Son of God and they that hear shall live!
I was blessed when the Lord led me to some material recently, which reignited my desire to be passionate about Jesus, to 'fan into flame' the gifts which I had laid aside, and reminded me that, if I am one of His sheep, I am to hear His voice - not just in time of need or decision, but daily, moment by moment. That very day, I received in the post some handwritten notes from a dear friend in England, on......hearing God's voice, of course. And, a DVD with the testimony of Ian McCormack (see his site http://aglimpseofeternity.org/ ) who began by worshipping Jesus and stressing the need to be hearing His voice!
With all this, I believe the Lord was urging me - and longing for me - to listen to Him, to seek after that which I had lost - that passionate love for Him, and in fact, that place of rest and safety, which can only be found at His feet, in His presence. How insidiously the enemy steals those things away from us, so gradually that we don't fully notice, and when we do, we are so imprisoned by our busy-ness that we feel powerless to regain that which we have lost.....but He reminded me today that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And He is calling His sheep:
Joh 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
And, other sheep will recognise the Shepherd's voice in us -
Lu 10:16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
Joh 8:47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
I don't mean for one minute that we are not to know the Scriptures, and know the Lord through reading His Word - God forbid! We are surely and certainly to test everything alongside the Scriptures, and to read and study the Bible diligently. But I also believe that we are meant to operate by hearing the Lord, that quiet inner voice, and I believe that in these treacherous times we need to be hearing as much as ever in order to discern His specific will for our lives, and to keep us strengthened for what is to come. As well as reading the Scriptures, hearing comes, too, by sitting at His feet, and just loving Him above all else.
I will finish with an excerpt from yesterday's morning reading by Charles Spurgeon:
I love thee, Lord, but with no love of mine,
For I have none to give;
I love thee, Lord; but all the love is thine,
For by thy love I live.
I am as nothing, and rejoice to be
Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in thee.
"This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him"
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing your heart with us Miss Bonnie and for a good word...
Time in His Presence! There is nothing like it in the universe. I appreciate your thoughts on this subject and thank you for the reminder of Mary and her love for Yeshua. She truly was doing to good work. I have been guilty of working and missing what is most important of all.
mtzion@hughes.net
Hi Bonnie - good to hear from you! I stopped checking the past couple months, but had not forgotten you. Yes, this is so true. Only one thing is needed. I am struggling to not listen to all the other voices of reason, too. I love that poem by Spurgeon. Thanks. :)
Thanks everyone for the comments. Hi Amy! Yes, it is a daily battle to make the time to sit in His presence and listen - it shouldn't be because I love Him so and there is nowhere I would rather be, and yet the calls of work, of family, of all those everyday mundane things scream at me louder than His dear, loving Voice.
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