Learning To Listen

Learning To Listen To The Voice Of The Lord

We all must learn to listen to and for the voice of the Lord. He does speak to us. But we do not always hear Him or else we do not listen as we should when He does speak to us. It says in His Word that His sheep shall know His voice. Yes we know His voice but we do not always listen to Him when we should.

On Friday, the 27th of April, the children and I were leaving our house to go check the mail at the Post Office. As I locked the door , I heard a voice say," Go back in and get the camera." I heard it distinctly. But I did not heed the voice, which I knew it was the Lord prompting me, yet I did not heed . I went ahead and walked to my SUV and headed out to the Post Office.

On the way I usually take the road that goes by the Lake we live near. As I was driving by I noticed , out of the corner of my eye, a large bird perched on the limb of a dead tree that was sticking up out of the water. I pulled up and stopped the vehicle and my breath caught as the bird was a Bald Eagle. I knew right then and there that I should have heeded the Lord's voice. The children were all excited because it is not every day that one gets to see a Bald Eagle. So I said a pray. I said, " Lord if You keep the Eagle here I will drive back to the house and get my camera so I can get a picture of it. And from now on I will listen when I hear You prompting me to do something no matter what it is."

So I drove back to the house, ran in and got my camera. We drove back down the Lake road and the Bald Eagle was eating a fish it had caught and was perched on the same tree branch. I thanked the Lord for keeping it there. The children were ecstatic as was I. We watched it for a while before I decided to get out of the vehicle and try to get some pictures of it. Of course I only have a small digital Kodak camera that does not zoom in too well. I took a couple of pictures of the Bald Eagle perched on the tree branch before it noticed me. I walked towards it a little more and spooked it because it took to flight. It was so awesome to see this amazing bird take to wing. It rose in the air spread it's wings and turned in the opposite direction from me and flew. I saw the sun glistening off of it's white head and white tail feathers and I was in awe. I did not get any close up pictures but just being able to see the Eagle in all it's glory was enough. I was praising God that I got to see His creation, this magnificent Bald Eagle.

I turned and walked back to the SUV and the children were so excited. They had the SUV bouncing because they were in there bouncing up and down. I opened the door and they were praising the Lord also, for getting to see the Bald Eagle. We were so in awe and praiseful. I handed the camera to Elizabeth and then we drove on to the Post Office.

As I was driving I told them about me not listening to the Lord when I should have, when He spoke to me about going back into the house and getting my camera. I told them , God gave me a second chance to do His bidding but He does not always do this. Sometimes if we do not heed His voice , we will not get a second chance. I shared this with them so they would know that they need to heed God's voice when He speaks to them.

It is not always something great that God wants us to do when He speaks to us. He speaks to us to see whether we will heed His voice or not. We are tested in this way by the Lord , sometimes we pass the test but we also fail it sometimes. I failed that test but God gave me another chance. I and all of us need to learn to heed God's voice when He speaks to us because we may not get another chance.

I learned my lesson and also my children got to learn through me, by my sharing with them about me not heeding God's voice. God allowed me to use what I did , to turn it into an opportunity to teach my children. I make mistakes, I am not perfect and God knows this. Yet He still loves each of us and if we are repentant He accepts us and forgives us. I encourage each one of us, that the next time we hear God's voice urging us to do something, no matter how odd it may seem to us, to please heed His voice. Because we may never get another chance to make right what we did not listen to from the Lord.

Watching

I was looking out my window this morning watching a Mourning Dove that had perched upon my wooden swing, that is in the backyard. I have three bird feeders in my backyard and this Mourning Dove was watching the other birds at the feeder and the birds that were on the ground looking for any dropped seeds. It was as if the Mourning Dove was watching the others to see what they were doing. He just sat there as if he was pondering them. He made no attempt to fly to the feeders but was content, for a while, to just watch the other birds interacting and feeding. Eventually he decided to fly down and intermingle and eat with the other birds, chasing some away that got a little too boisterous or aggressive while eating in peace with others.

It struck me that God watches us in much the same way as this Mourning Dove was watching these other birds. God observes us to see how we are going to react when faced with a situation in which we have to struggle, or in which we are tested and tried. He watches to see if we give in to the harassment and demands of others and run from or give in to the trials or to see if we stand and seek Him for help. He watches us to see whether we withstand the test that we are being tested in. If we seek Him, then He will come to us and help us. Just as this Mourning Dove chased off the birds, that were being boisterous and aggressive towards it and the other birds, God will intervene and help us in the situations of trial, temptations, testing, the very battles that we face in our life.

God comes to us but we have to seek Him. We have to become humbled, to the point, to where He knows we are earnest in our seeking Him. God will help us, He will uplift us. He will hear our cry for help when the world and it's ways seek to encompass us. Trust in the Lord and He will deliver you.

Remember He is watching. He is in the Heavens watching us to see if on His name we do call when we are in the throes of temptations and battles or if we give in to those temptations and battles. He is just waiting for us to seek Him and ask His forgiveness and help. When we become humbled unto Him then He will come down to us and forgive us and uplift us from the midst of the battle and out of the temptations that seek to drown us.

God is watching.

I got an email from a dear friend today. I replied in email to my Little Brother and I thought I need to share this with others, the way the Lord led me to share with him, I also need to share with others what God gave me to share with my Little Brother. He is in some ways wiser in the Lord than I am. God blesses us with others in our life to help us in so many ways. That is awesome.


God is awesome. He is teaching me some things I need to know and some of them have not been easy to accept as I have had to eat humble pie, so to speak. I thought I was humble at the time but God let me know I needed to be humbler. And so He showed me this and I did as He asked of me and He is at work. I have had to reach the depths of the valley to get humbled to where He wanted me to be and put self out of the way. Once I did this He made known to me what He wanted to.

I had to take a deep look at myself and see myself as He saw me. And some of want I saw about myself made me realize that I am a harsh person in some aspects. I know when it comes to Him and His Word we have to be disciplined and strict but I had allowed this to carry over to other areas of my life. Too much so it seems. But now that I know this I am working to change me. I can't change others but I can change me to be more of who God wants me to be.

Sometimes the lessons taught by the Lord are hard to take but I know that He only wants what is best for us, His children. God has lifted me up so many times and once again He lifted me up . I still have a ways to climb and a lot to learn but one day after while I am going to be with Him. I look forward to that day.

Sometimes we have to do a little sacrificial living in order to be at the point to where God wants us to be in order to fully realize what God wants of us. Sometimes this is what it takes for us to listen to Him, for Him to get our attention. I am a selfish person. When I gave up to God the one thing that I wanted most and left it in His hands, He started taking action. I thought I could help Him but I truly realized that it was I who was hindering Him and what He wanted to do. So I gave up what I wanted and said to Him to do as He wanted things to be and He is working. I see Him working and I am repentant first for thinking I could change things when truthfully I never could on my own, and thankful that God is a forgiving God and that He after I gave up what I wanted has started to work on it all. I had to give it up for Him and to Him and then He let me see the awakening of what He wants to be done in all of this. I have to be submissive to God and follow His lead and His will for my life for without Him I have nothing. I am thankful that God saw fit to chasten me. I am thankful also that I realized that He was chastening me and letting me know to let go and let Him do as He knew was best for me.

How Are You Praying?

Have you ever asked God for something and you did not get the thing you asked for ? Was the thing you asked for something that would benefit you in a worldly way ? Would what you ask for bring you wealth that you might misuse to fulfill your own lust ? Did you ask for God to give you a specific person as a potential spouse and God did not give you that person because you only wanted to fulfill your lust for this person ? Was the thing you asked for something that would strictly benefit you and allow you to fulfill a lust or hunger that you had that was not of God ?

Well there was a reason that you did not receive that which you asked for. It tells us why we sometimes do not get what we ask for , if we ask for something that is wrong to ask for, within the pages of the Bible. The below verse tells us why we do not receive when we ask for things that will feed our own lust.


Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon
your lusts.
James 4:3

So the next time you pray and ask God for something weigh it in the balances, what it is that you seek to receive. Make certain that you are not asking something of God that you will use to satisfy your own lust. For God holds no part with the world nor those who seek to serve the world and themselves. Be careful of what you pray for and how you pray for it.