Thursday, October 13, 2011

How to recognize when God is talking to you


Acts 16:6-7 (NLT) “Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.”

It is crucial for Christ-followers to learn to hear the voice of the Lord and to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Reading, understanding and obeying the written word is not enough, because we are to be “led by the Spirit.” (see Gal. 5:25)  Since the Spirit is always moving in one way or another, and since God the Father is always working, we must never again be duped by the false thinking that the written word alone guides our lives.  We must learn to recognize the Spirit’s daily conversation with us.  Then we will be able to take the next step and apply it to our situation.  We need situational awareness in the Spirit.

To begin, let us learn to recognize those things around us that stand out.  We are all wired differently and we have different experiences which predispose us to notice things differently.  However, when something stands out to us, a phrase a person has spoken, words that we are reading, the interaction of people, cars, objects, animals, or whatever, let’s take the opportunity to ask the Lord if He’s trying to get our attention.  Oftentimes the Lord is in these things and we don’t know it.  The first step is to begin to recognize God’s work. 

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