Today started with the group talking about Jay and Karen’s house being broken into and their Godly response to the event. 

Jay shared how this was not the first time someone they have helped has turned around and stolen from them.  He said when he was first saved and read how Jesus said “When you have done it to the least of my brothers you have done it to me” (Matthew 25:40)  So, as a young man, Jay’s desire was to help Jesus!!!  Through helping people in different circumstances he had the opportunity to speak to many of them about the truth of God!
God allows things to happen.  Jay shared Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

WHY does God allow these things to happen?  2 Cor 1:8,9…. SO THAT we will learn to rely on Him who raises the dead!!!  He wants us to trust Him in the Spirit!  If we do, our rewards are more than we can imagine!!!  (Romans 8:18)  If we don’t? We lose even the rewards which we had ... stolen by nobody but ourselves. The Father promised an act of OBEDIENCE would bring the rewards. The enemy is out to deceive us into believing God can’t be trusted and we must take matters into our own hands ... the very same lie he fed Eve in the garden!!!

The enemy tries to cause discouragement and fear to keep us from accessing the Spirit and keep us downcast! Over ONE HUNDRED TIMES the bible tells us “do not be dismayed, afraid, disheartened….” Jerk your hands OUT of the hands of  discouragement and fear, don’t even let them touch you!!!  When you feel a twinge of fear or discouragement, raise your hands!!! Say “I don’t understand LORD, but I don’t have to!!! YOU know the beginning from the end so why do I worry about this, you have it covered! My hands are raised in sacrifice to you.  My heart is opened up to you. THAT is what this is all about.  I am gonna make a resolution in my heart – my hands, my heart, my life are yours.”

Jay went on to share about watching the movie on the life of Ray Charles, who went blind as a child and learned to function in the everyday world with no cane, no dog, no outward help. Ray learned to listen … carefully … to the world around him. He would hear things that virtually everybody else missed.  What an amazing example of how WE are to listen to the Spirit!

Ray takes his soon to be bride to a bustling restaurant after church one day. Amidst the chaos of all the conversation by the other patrons he asks her “Can you hear the hummingbird?”. She looks at him in utter astonishment.  What a scene! Just put yourself there!!! He then gently instructs her on how to hear … Watch the first 45 seconds of this video to see it for yourself.

 We need to be as sensitive to the voice of the Spirit in our lives during the hubbub and chaos of our daily lives.  1 John 2:20 and 27 both talk about the anointing that is ours in the Spirit when we are Christ’s.  This anointing is the Spirit speaking to YOU; that is the hummingbird outside the window that we must learn to listen for.

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How do we respond when hard times come our way? Where do we turn when suffering comes in to our life? Just like we know the hot weather we’ve been having is coming to an end, so does our suffering. Everybody experiences suffering in their life, but we must remember it is just temporary.

Romans 8:18
“I know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which will be revealed in us”.

Suffering is for an end result! In 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 we are taught to not look at that which is seen but that which is unseen. That which is seen is temporary but that which is unseen is eternal.

The more we listen to the Spirit, the more we see the Lord moving around us. Just last week a young couple came to know Jesus in our home, as did another couple the previous week. There are so many stories that could be shared of the ministry out of our home and the time we spend walking at the mall. All because we are prayerfully listening to the Holy Spirit!

Isaiah 30:19b-21
“How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

What promises from God! He WILL hear us! He WILL answer us.

He nourishes us with the bread of affliction and the water of adversity – this is how we are trained! Tough things are for a purpose.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9
“9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead”.

There are amazing results to being nourished with “the bread of adversity and the water of affliction.” God promises that “our teachers will be hidden no more; with our own eyes we will see them!”

Let me share a good story about that. I had a broken truck in my driveway that needed moving. As I watched from the doorway, 3 strong men trying to push it just couldn’t budge it. I felt the Spirit saying to go out and help, but having a bum leg I knew I wasn’t going to do much good. I walked out and as soon as I put my hand on the truck – it moved! I instantly “saw my teachers”. I saw that we are ALL members of the body of Christ. Even one who is seemingly insignificant is actually of great importance to the Body of Christ and may make all the difference in whether the tasks the LORD is calling us to will be completed or not!



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Spiritual DNA is just like natural DNA in this way: At your spiritual birth you were given a spiritual DNA that you didn’t have before you were born again, and just like your physical abilities need exercise to grow in strength, so do your spiritual gifts! Imagine for a moment a nine year old boy. If you were to ask this boy what he was good at, wouldn’t you expect him to be able to tell you? He would probably get quite animated telling you all about his favorite video game or how he is so good on his bmx bike. It’s quite likely he would keep talking about it until you found a way to excuse yourself!

Now, imagine asking that same boy what he was good at and he simply shrugs, looks up at you and says “I dunno. Not sure if I’m really good at anything.” Who’s at fault here, the boy or his parents? Clearly his parents! They have not helped this child find his strengths and encouraged him to spend time enjoying them, using them, getting good at them! It is much the same with spiritual gifts in the church today. Walk into most any church in this country – and I mean COUNTRY, not county or state – and ask the question “what are your spiritual gifts….what spiritual gifts are you good at?” 95% to 98% will answer ‘I don’t know”. Tell me that is not a travesty against the body of Christ!!!!!

The members of the Body of Christ should be answering with animation and excitement… “Let me TELL you what God has been teaching me to do!! He’s given me this gift and this gift, and this is the ministry He has shown me to use it in, and this is how He is showing me to use it each week!! Wow! PRAISE GOD!” They just wouldn’t want to stop sharing their excitement about what God is doing in their lives and how God is using them! THAT is the way it is SUPPOSED to be when we listen to the LORD!

All of this ties in to 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

 Karen shared how the Lord has been showing her things about strongholds and about holding thoughts captive in her mind. She shared some thoughts from the book, Praying Gods Word, and how if left un-captured thoughts can turn from fairly small issues to insurmountable mountains.

We are to hold thoughts captive for the purpose of being OBEDIENT to CHRIST! We can focus on the things of God, not on those things trying to build themselves up in our minds. It IS within our power, as we surrender our lives to the Holy Spirit! If we allow our thoughts to wander wherever they wish to go we cannot hear GOD’S voice. This can make prayer very difficult. Holding our thoughts captive can change our prayer life. We become so much more focused on our prayers and time with God.

Do not let the noise of the world distract us from being able to listen to the voice of the Lord. That is what this morning has been all about! Spend time meditating; ask the Lord to strengthen you in all these areas!



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