God will answer

FROM GOD'S WORD

"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

FROM MY HEART

God will answer!

Have you ever had a time when God just knocked your socks off?! Like you see clearly the answer to a deep yearning prayer of your heart, and you know, that you know, that you know that God is speaking to you.

And when it happens to me, I must confess that I am still awed by God, by His willingness to be intimate and personal with me. I am overwhelmed by His love and the knowledge that not only does He hear me, but He will answer.

Typically, when I choose a Bible Study, I kind of stand in the store trying to figure out which one to choose. Sometimes I read the back cover, etc. With my current study, I went into the bookstore maybe 10 minutes before they closed, thinking I would just grab something, probably the new Beth Moore study, but nothing grabbed me. Then I saw Faithful, Abundant, True. I couldn't figure out for the life of me what this study was about. I'm looking on the inside cover, on the outside, trying to find a synopsis. NOTHING. As the clerk continues to give the, we are closing in 10 minutes, we are closing in 5 minutes. I was still frantically looking through the other studies, but kept coming back to this one. With the final, please bring purchases to the cash register, I decided what the heck. Now that all seems random, but here is how God worked.

The first week was about living on God's whole Word. I had been praying about some Scripture teaching and interpretation. And BAM....God reminded me through this study to take the whole counsel of God. I was also wrestling with some fear and anxiety about standing on God's Word even when it contradicted what others were saying. How do you speak truth and also not offend? God answered with a lesson on suffering for His sake, walking by faith and pressing on to maturity. And that was just the first week. I didn't know what I was going to need, but God did and met the need before I even knew I had a need that needed to be met. WOW God! Love you.

A couple of weeks later, I was dealing with different issues of faith. Again, asking God to help me as I wrestled with what did I believe about Him and how was I living out that truth. BAM! A lesson on foundational truths, God reminded me that I was needlessly struggling, He had already given me a foundation of truth...long ago, the issues I was currently wrestling with, God had already settled and taught me. He was gently reminding me, stand on the firm foundation which is Jesus Christ, Him crucified and resurrected, spread the message of the Gospel.

Those weeks ended with a lesson on don't put God in a box. Yes, He reminded me to stand on the foundation of truth I had been taught, but don't think that He exists only within the limits/confines of what I have experienced or believed. That was another WOW moment.

For at least the last couple of months, I have been praying for God to give me discernment. If I were to list my spiritual gifts discernment would probably not be in my top 5. In fact, I would say that I think of myself as very trusting and at times verging on gullible. So I have just asking the Lord audibly and within my spirit to show me and then help me to recognize His discernment.

A Scripture that I have been clinging to is John 14:26, "But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you."

So what stopped me in my tracks this morning was the Scripture reading for the day, John 14. It was that WOW moment, when God says to your heart...not your head, I have heard the cries of your heart. I hear you. I am the Answer. When Moses asked God who should he say had sent him, the answer was "I AM."

I had no idea what this study was about, but God did. I didn't know all the questions I would be asking, or what Scripture and teaching and direction I would need, but God knew. And each step along the way, He has reminded me of His faithfulness. I am so grateful to have a Heavenly Father that is intimately connected to my life and walks with me daily.

It is not a mystery, but we have to seek Him. He is not purposely hiding His will or His message, but as our hearts cry out to Him, He will reveal what is needed for the day. He does not give me more than I can handle, but He gives me what I need. I am reminded of the Lord's Prayer, "and gives us this day, our daily bread." "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4. Yes, God meets my daily needs, but my greatest need is not am I going to be able to pay that bill, or what are my kids going to wear, or anything else that deals with the temporary. God is interested in the eternal. Yes, He will take care of those things, but my greatest need is to know Him and His will for me. And He will provide that daily, if I seek Him.

WOW! What a day already, and I haven't even finished my study. I just had to stop and write. Can't wait to see what else God has in store for me today!!

Be blessed.