Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Hearing the Spirit's Voice
Pastor Scott
Friday, February 13, 2004
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"...O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done."
(Matthew 26:42)
One of the things that causes people to think that charismatics are a bunch of idiots are the "woo woo" Christians running around saying, "The Lord said. The Lord said. The Lord told me." God will tell you periodically to do some strange things--like offer your child up on Mount Moriah. God will tell you to step out of the boat. God will tell you to roll away the stone. Jesus said you would see the glory of God if you would only believe. We see these spectacular occurrences in the Scriptures when God speaks unique and extraordinary things, but our lives are not full of those occurrences. The problem with most of us is that our lives are full of self. One of our biggest problems is hanging the name of the Holy Spirit on our own inner voice-- "God told me." No, you told you!
Until we learn how to distinguish between our will and God's will, our voice and the voice of the Holy Spirit, we'll be mopping up a lot of messes. The problem in most of our lives is thinking our will is the will of God and our thoughts are the thoughts of God. A life dictated by the Holy Spirit of God is one that works very fluently and effectively when emptied of self-will, self-reliance and any form of self-agenda. We can truly say, "Not my will; Thy will be done."
I'm not talking about asceticism or readily embracing adversity. I want life as easy as it can be, but nevertheless, not my will, but God's will be done. If it's possible, let these trials pass; let the cup pass; let the cross pass; let the death pass. But if I have to endure those things, I want His will in my life! I will constantly seek Him for deliverance. If you're hurting, confused or fearful, just keep seeking God! Keep praying, "Lord, get me out; Lord, heal me; Lord, deliver me," until you hear, "My grace is sufficient for you." There's nothing wrong with wanting God to deliver or heal you. Pray that way. Paul was not rebuked for praying for deliverance. He sought the Lord three times and then he heard, "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor. 12:9).
The voice of the Holy Spirit will always be in contrast with the voice of natural wisdom. Don't assume that your natural wisdom is rational, and that God's voice will be irrational. What appears to be natural and rational is actually irrational and insane when it opposes the wisdom and will of God. God sometimes does things that appear to be rational and that agree with common sense. But if in fact, the natural is in agreement with the supernatural. We always seek the Word, not self-help books or psychology. We understand that the Word is truth. Whatever God says is what we'll do. Now we become candidates for the voice of the Holy Spirit.