Thursday, October 28, 2010

Key to leadership: Listen to the voice of God

John 7:1 – 20

If we believe that God really loves us and has a plan and purpose for us, then we must look for His involvement in our everyday lives. If we are going to be a success in life then learning to listen to God’s guidance and direction are critical.

Jesus’ brothers wanted Him to go into Judea to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles in hopes that He would perform a few miracles and prove to them and the people that He was at east a miracle worker. Even though Jesus is God, in His grace He has given people free will with which they could have limited the effect of His ministry had the timing not been right. Jesus only listen to the voice of His Father to know where to go and when.

It is easy for us to jump on the bandwagon of doing this or that “for the Lord” and not really listening to what the Lord wants us to do. We are most effective when we take the time to listen to the Lord.

Ok sounds very spiritual, “listen to the Lord” but what does that mean in our practical everyday lives. First, it is not that spooky! God really does love us and in a love relationship communication is key. I believe God always wants to “talk” with us; we need to learn to listen. So how do we listen? First, God has written to us the most marvelous book, the Bible. Everyone owns one but very few people actually read it. People think they know what is in there, but once you begin to read it you begin to understand God’s heart and He begins to “speak” to you.

Second, prayer and meditation, King David wrote that he would meditate on the Lord day and night. Prayer and meditation go hand in hand. Prayer is talking to God and meditation is waiting on Him to respond. When we pray and meditate we are choosing to set aside time that are only for Him. (Most guys need to learn this in relationship to their wives) We are expecting to hear from Him, as we practice waiting we begin to hear Him speaking mostly in the stillness of our minds, something we have trouble doing with all of the noise around us.

Third, God places people who love Him, in our lives to give us the guidance we need. If you are having trouble “listening” to God, talk with people you know hear from the Lord, allow them to show you how to “hear” from God. It is always good to have someone walk you through separating what you think versus what God is saying.

Keep in mind, God very much loves you and wants to communicate with you! No love relationship can really function without communication. Good communication will save you heart-ache, keep you focused and enable you to be more effective in all that you do. You will be more fulfilled and touch more people if you learn to hear from the Lord.

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