Our Spiritual Ears
- Devotional
I’m in an incredible season right now and my mind is practically vibrating right now with excitement because of the events that are going on in my life and the church we serve. I’ve just finished two years of wilderness in Texas that were very trying in many ways and amazing in others (I did find my wife there after all) and it makes the sweetness of this season all the more tasty.
The leadership at our church is walking through a very exciting transition right now. We’re in the process of trying to really listen to God’s heart for what our church is supposed to look like. We have walked a road over the last year that has brought us to a place of looking much like any other church in our region and we feel called to something different, so we’re throwing it all at the feet of our Daddy and praying for Him to show us what to do next. It’s amazing stuff!
I came across this verse today:
John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
So the things that really stood out to me in this passage is that Jesus, even though he was 100% yielded to the Spirit within him, didn’t feel it necessary to exercise his will when making decisions. Now I don’t want to take this to extremes, I’m guessing he didn’t have to ask the father wether he should eat fish and crackers or figs and berries for lunch, but then again maybe he did… He felt it worthwhile, necessary to determine the prompting of the Spirit to determine what things he should be doing with his time.
Now it would be so easy to take this in a legalistic direction and just say we should pray before every decision, but I don’t think that is at all what this verse is saying. I believe it’s telling us that we have a Spirit living inside of us that, if we’ll stop long enough to listen, will tell us what the Father is up to so we can join in with Him and work!
God created all of us with a purpose and identity embedded within us. This thing we call life is all about reaching that purpose and connecting with people along the way. Everything else is either just a necessity or clutter. Would you start asking Him about what you are to be doing and then, and this is important, listen for a response?
…
Daddy I pray over everyone who reads this. I pray that you would show them how much you love them right, I pray that even as they read this sentence that you would whisper words of love into their hearts. Lord we know that you want to be ever-present in our lives and we invite you in today!
- Spirit