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Today I had to pull a trailer hauling a golf cart for a customer of ours to a town close by. I am naturally cautious when pulling the trailer anyway, and especially when hauling other people’s property.
As I was coming up to an intersection in a little area where there are a few businesses, I thought to myself, ‘I should slow down for the entrance to Dollar General and the intersection coming up’. Just past the entrance, I began to really slow down because the guy behind me was riding my bumper and I didn’t want him to hit me at the stop sign. As I neared the intersection, a pickup turned the corner and as it did, the trailer it was pulling came loose and proceeded to travel right down my lane. As it was coming at me, I slowed to a stop. It got within a few feet of me, veered slightly to my right and off into the driveway of the convenience store before coming to a stop. Whew! I don’t believe the driver behind me was even aware of what was going on in front of me. Before I pulled out of the driveway, I had pleaded the blood of Jesus over me, and declared no weapon of accident, incident or breakdown formed against me would prosper. As I was telling Skip and my brother about how grateful I was that I had slowed down, Skip said ‘And you were listening to the voice of God and obeyed.’ Was it the Holy Spirit speaking to me to slow down, or was it just me? It occurred to me that I had listened to that still small voice that cautioned me as I was driving. God is still speaking to us every day and in many varied ways. His voice is as the thunder, a still small voice, a gentle nudge, an encouragement or warning from another believer, or His Written Word. If we will pay attention, we will hear Him and be saved. Because I was in tune to hear, I was kept from danger. If I had been distracted by the noise of the world around me, I would not have heard Him so clearly. It’s not easy to shut out the distractions and noise, but we can by paying attention to what our inner man hears. I once heard an adoption case in court. The judge asked the biological parent this question. “Do you realize that if I terminate your rights, in the eyes of the law, you are dead to this child?” This morning, as I was thinking about this, the Holy Spirit began to show me that as adopted sons of God, we have to realize that our “biological parent” is dead to us. Because of Adam’s sin of rebellion, we are born as children of sin and under the rule of Satan. However, when we are born again we are adopted as Sons (and daughters) of God. Galatians 3:26 declares that we are all sons of God through faith in Christ. Galatians 4:4-5 states that we receive the adoption as sons and that the Spirit of His son cries out “Abba Father”. This enables us to have the relationship of Father and son established in our hearts. In Galatians 2:20 Paul declares that he has been crucified with Christ and it is no longer he that lives, but Christ who lives in him. This applies to all believers. We are dead to the old man and therefore dead to Satan. We have to realize that the devil is no longer our father. God has adopted us and destroyed the yoke of bondage which held us captive to eternal death. An adopted child has to learn to call their parents mom and dad. So to, we have to learn to call God, Abba Father. That relationship has been legally established. Just as an adopted child can choose to look for and find their biological parents, we can choose to go back to the devil and his rule. However , God still waits for us to come back to Him. We must realize and walk out the truth of this statement: “In the eyes of the law, Satan is dead to us!” He legally has no right to us anymore. Once we realize that he has no right to us, we can truly walk in the position of a son and the authority of that position! I must admit my age as I write this statement. When I was growing up visiting with people meant sitting on the porch while sipping ice tea or a cold soda, standing in line at the grocery store and “catching up”, or hanging around after Sunday services. It was a time of slow-paced, personal interaction with people and relationships built upon face-to-face encounters.
In Genesis 1:14-18 ‘God said let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide day from night. God made two great lights, the greater to rule by day and the lesser to rule by night and God saw that it was good.’
Fine Tuned to Hear God
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AuthorLynn Jones, Co-Founder of HHMI enjoys reading, studying and sharing God's Word. She believes that every Word in the Bible is Holy Spirit inspired and profitable for daily living. Her prayer is that as you read the newsletters and blogs, that you will be enriched and equipped for every good work of the Lord's. Archives
November 2024
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