I won't be quiet!

It's like fire in my bones!

FROM GOD'S WORD

"But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, His word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!"

Jeremiah 20:9

FROM MY HEART

I will just start out today saying, I don't believe in coincidences. I believe that God has seen my entire life and knows what will happen, when and how. He has seen it because He exists outside of linear time. That may be too deep for some but that is my starting point. God doesn't see my life unfolding one situation at a time. That is a linear approach. He knows all because He exists outside of that construct.

OK...I think I made my own head hurt. :)

But here's why I started there. I have had situations in my life where I was just crying out to God to give me understanding, or to help me deal with grief, or just to provide direction. And in those moments I have heard a song, or read a Scripture, or read a daily devotional that ministered to me and met me right where I was.

If that has ever happened to you then you know that feeling that God just personally spoke to you in answer to your prayer. How can it be that an area of my life that I am struggling or challenged in that on a certain day I am given the insight, the counsel, the comfort that I need? The answer is God speaks.

Earlier this week I wrote a blog about choosing my current devotion without really knowing what it was about, but how each day it has just challenged me more and more. But it's not a comfortable encounter, it's one of those "OK God, what do you want me to do with this?"

Yesterday's lesson was on spiritual discernment and today's lesson was titled "Punked." Remember that Ashton Kutcher show where you pull a prank on someone and everyone is in on it. Then you discover that you've been deceived. But in the case of my devotional, I wasn't laughing. There was just Scripture after Scripture about "Don't be deceived." 2 Timothy 3:12-13, Galatians 6:7, James 1:16, Luke 21:8. So I'm reading these verses and I'm saying to God, "OK God, what do you want me to do with this?"

Remember, I don't believe in coincidences. So why these verses at this season of life? I know what God is speaking to me about current teaching and current situations. I know the foundational, biblical truth that has been taught to me. And I know how closely counterfeit can look like the real thing. So my assignment is to study the real thing.

If I want to know what God's  Word says, I pray about it and read God's Word. Looking for God to speak to you while chasing after man's wisdom will never be the answer.

For me, God is raising the flag, saying "Daughter, do not be deceived." It's hard to go against the status quo. It's hard to be the one that stands up and says "I don't believe this. This doesn't line up with God's Word." But when I am tempted to shrink back and just keep my mouth shut, it is like Jeremiah 20:9, "His words burn in my heart like fire." I cannot keep quiet.

If you even look at my archive, you will see that my blogging is sporadic at best. But God has been speaking to me so much lately that even when I tell myself I am not going to blog, I can't help it, I have to stop what I am doing and write.

God is sounding the alarm. This isn't new. He has warned us that there will be imposters. Those who would deceive the very elect of God. Do not fall asleep. Don't get lazy. Don't be afraid. Ask questions. Challenge what you see and hear and feel. Go back to the source. Does it line up with God's Word? The whole counsel of God. Don't just pull one Scripture verse to validate a point. Read your Bible for yourself. 

Are we always sitting waiting for someone to feed us God's Word, to tell us what it means, and how to apply it? Or are we digging in God's Word for ourselves, growing up in our faith. I'm absolutely not saying that we don't go to Bible Study, or listen to preachers, etc. But I am challenging you to think for yourself. Seek God for yourself. Don't live on someone else's experience.  

Seek God. He is speaking. We must listen!