Knowing God’s will

Positioned for promises

June 4, 2018January 17, 2020 Kelley Hunt2 Comments

Times of waiting on God can be tricky.

In Genesis chapter 15 we see Abraham’s bright idea to help God by having a child with Hagar. And then, in one of the saddest chapter of the Bible, we watch as his human solution plays out. It’s not pretty.

When chapter 17 begins, 13 long years have passed. I am sure God’s promise seemed a distant dream as each day Abraham watched his foolishness wreak havoc.

But then the Faithful One, the very author of the promise, speaks.

‘I am Almighty God; walk before me and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between Me and you.’

And hope returns.

Almighty God, I am, Yahweh has spoken and He still has the full intention of doing everything He said He would. His promises are irrevocable because He is the One who keeps them.

But He wants something from Abraham. He wants Abraham to walk before Him. The Hebrew word for the phrase, before Him, is the same word used for the presence of God that Adam and Eve hid from after they had sinned.

God the Creator wants to be known.

Can you wrap your head around that today? This God we serve, who is working out His plans and purposes in the earth, isn’t some CEO of the universe who barks orders, directing His will from afar. He longs we would know Him, know His heart and His presence every day of our lives.

It reminds me of John 15.15 where Jesus says, ‘I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I call you friends for everything I learned from the Father I made known to you.’

Our God wants us to be part of what He is doing on earth. He has places for us to go and things for us to do. But first He wants a relationship.

And we need to know God in this way because just like Abraham, our human solutions often fall short at best. At worst they cause pain and loss. But the answer isn’t to live in fear of getting anything wrong or making silly decisions.

The answer is walking close to our Promise-giver God. It takes humility but also confidence and boldness, believing that God will do everything He has promised in His perfect timing.

Are you waiting for God today? Is there a promise you are believing for or a decision that needs to be made?

There is wisdom in being quiet enough and careful enough to hear God’s way of doing things. And, there is safety in God’s promises and in His presence.

Do what it takes to position yourself for both today.

Don’t forget to remember

May 2, 2018May 2, 2018 Kelley Hunt2 Comments

Let’s be honest, we forget a lot.

Much of what we fail to retain is unimportant which is why our brain doesn’t file it away. Last week’s grocery list, a recipe you only made once or a magazine article you causally glanced at in the doctor’s office are quickly discarded by our brains to make space for what you will need to remember today.

But some of what we forget is very important. We listen to sermons, read passages of the Bible and hear God’s voice speaking to our hearts. In order to really understand the things of God, we have to mull them over, chew on them and let the truths take root. And if we are going to do that, we have to remember what we have heard and read in the first place

If you have not yet discovered how indispensable a journal or spiritual notebook is, consider trying it.

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In most other areas of life we know that if we don’t help ourselves to remember, we will forget. That’s why we have diaries and to-do lists. We put invitations on the fridge where we can see them and alarms on our phones so we don’t forget appointments.

But what about all the times we feel God speaking to us, encouraging us, challenging us through sermons, Bible reading and prayer?

How much of this precious, life-giving manna from heaven do we just allow to fall through the cracks of our busy lives? Could it be that we are often spiritually hungry, dry and a bit lost because we haven’t treasured and digested God’s words to us? Do we struggle to know God’s leading because we have forgotten the things He has said or things He has told us to do?

The solution is so simple, write it down.

Record everything you receive from the Lord. When a preacher says something that you know is for you, write it down. When God impresses on you a way to pray about a situation or when a verse of scripture jumps out at you, jot it down somewhere where you will see it and be reminded.

This is called journaling.

There are many ways to journal and everyone is different but here are a few ideas to get you started.

Start a spiritual notebook. I learned this one from my parents who have filled notebooks over the years with God’s words to them. These books sustained them when life and ministry got hard because they reminded them of God’s promises and His leading in their lives.

Just have a place that you write down any time you sense God speaking to you. If you receive a prophetic word or someone gives you a verse, write it down. Write down truths you discover during your daily Bible reading and prayer time. Be honest about your struggles and your victories too. If you are confused about something, say so. If you have questions, put them down.

If you love writing then you will really enjoy this process and will probably fill pages quickly but if writing isn’t your thing, bullet journals are for you. When there is something important to record, just write the date and a sentence or two of explanation.

Have a prayer journal. This has changed my prayer life. I started using one because I didn’t want to forget things that I needed to pray about but it has become so much more than that now. I fill pages with really specific ways that I feel led to pray for situations and people. If I come across a verse that applies, I write it down next to the person’s name so I can pray the verse over them regularly. I also just recently began writing prayers down as a different way to pray. It is really powerful and gets me out of the rut of always talking to God in the same way.

Have a notebook with you at church. I keep one in my handbag but my husband has one tucked in his Bible. This way you can write down anything from the service that you want to remember. I often hear God speaking during worship as well as the sermon and if I don’t write it down it is forgotten by the time I’m driving home. If someone has an encouragement for me or if I have one for someone else I can quickly scribble it down before I forget. Also, I record if I have committed to pray for someone in the week. I never want to be someone who offers to pray and then doesn’t.

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If things are precious to us, we keep them. I have a box for each of my children up in the loft, full of schoolwork, art projects, first shoes and baby pictures. These are extremely valuable to me and so I look after them.

Let’s look after everything God gives us. Every rhema treasure from His Word, every encouragement and promise, every whisper of the Holy Spirit deserves to be kept, treasured, prayed about and acted upon.

Reflection

April 25, 2018January 17, 2020 Kelley HuntLeave a comment

Ephesians 5.17 says, ‘Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.’

If you are a Christian, you probably want to know God’s will. And if you are like me, that is not something you have always found easy.

Isn’t it surprising that in this verse, understanding God’s will is a command? So, there must be something we can do on our end to better discern God’s leading and direction.

The Greek word for ‘foolish’ is ‘aphron’ and the meaning is interesting. It means without reason, senseless, acting rashly, without reflection. Conversely, the Greek word for ‘understand’ is ‘syniemi’ which means to consider and join together in the mind.

Paul is teaching us that the careful life is a reflective life.

We cannot live carefully and rashly at the same time. Following God is a thoughtful process. It takes prayer, listening, more prayer and often waiting as well.

Have you ever sensed God speaking to you about something and everywhere you look you see that same message? You hear a sermon on Sunday and then something similar pops up in your daily Bible reading and then a friend mentions a verse, etc. Like a jigsaw, God’s leading can be discovered piece by piece.

But if we aren’t reflective, we can miss these precious fragments of God’s providence in our lives.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus explains the meaning of the seed that falls on rocky soil and is gobbled up by birds.

‘When anyone hears the message about the Kingdom and does not understand it the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.’ (Matthew 13.19)

Will it surprise you to know that ‘understand‘ is the same Greek word we see in the Ephesians passage?

No sermon or Bible study or personal prophetic word will bear fruit in my life unless I understand it. Unless I take time to consider it, wrestle with it, submit to it and apply it, it is absolutely useless.

If every week I forget the sermon before I eat my lunch it has no value in my life whatsoever. We have to chew on things to get the goodness from them.

Ken Gire says, ‘The reflective life is a life that is attentive, receptive and responsive to what God is doing in us and around us.‘

Being attentive, receptive and responsive to God’s truth will always position me to know His will and to live a beautifully fruitful life as I follow Him.