At the leading of the Lord, I have not even glanced at what calls itself "news" in this world, for about a week now. That includes all the doom and gloom "alternative media" as well. As a result, I am beginning to understand why the Lord has me on this "news" diet.
The Lord speaks to us in a still, quiet voice. The restriction the Lord has placed on my mental inputs has significantly quieted my mind. Can you see the benefit in that? I have faith, I trust that the Lord will bring to my mind anything and everything of importance that I need to know. Notice the attitude of faith that is required to hold this perspective. Not that I am anything, I am less than nothing. The point is, the Lord rewards faith.
With this quieted spirit, what is this writer hearing the Lord say today? Am I hearing about the end of the world? No. The rapture/escape from all? No. So what then is the Lord saying? We've already discussed one thing. The Lord told me to get rid of wordly inputs. Garbage in, garbage out right? No worldly news. That includes 99.999% of all blogs and "alternative media" as well. The vast vast majority of all of it is utter rubbish.
The second thing the Lord has been speaking to me about is our attitude when we approach Him. As we read our bibles, we see an overwhelming theme of thanks and rejoicing in the first words of any greeting to the churches, and any prayers to the Lord. Everything in the kingdom is to be opened and approached with thanks and rejoicing.
If you are wondering why you are not hearing from the Lord, check your inner dialogue for answers to your problems. Do you find yourself grumbling and complaining alot? That could be a major problem. Read this as a case in point:
Psalm 106
1Praise the Lord.a Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?
Notice with me, the first words. Praise the Lord right? Praise...What's next? Give thanks. Praise the Lord? Then give thanks? Yep, you are reading it right. What's next? A question. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise? In order to proclaim his mighty acts or declare his praise, we must remember what he has done.
6We have sinned, even as our fathers did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7When our fathers were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
They did not remember......^^^
13But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his counsel.
14In the desert they gave in to their craving;
in the wasteland they put God to the test.
15So he gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease upon them.
They soon forgot what he had done, saying the same thing in a different way, they did not remember..
24Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe his promise.
25They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
26So he swore to them with uplifted hand
that he would make them fall in the desert,
27make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands.
Same theme here, we read "they grumbled in their tents." When you are grumbling, you certainly are not praising the Lord and giving him thanks. You certainly are not remembering all of the wonderful things he has done for us.
If you are wondering what the Spirit is saying to the churches today, this is it. This is the same thing that has been written about here for more than a year now. We are being called back to the fundamentals of the faith. There was a time when the Lord had this writer warning the church, and the world. The warnings came during better days for this world. Now that the warnings have begun to come to fruition, the world is up to its eyeballs in problems and writers are coming out of the woodwork to "pile on" to the subject. As if a prophet were needed today to understand that this world is in trouble and headed for more. At this point even the pagans understand that.
The Lord has moved on, and as usual the world and the vast majority of the "religious people" in this world are years behind him. The world and its people are talking about the problems today, the Lord has moved on, at least with this writer, from talking about the coming problems to talking about the solutions.
Any solution for the believer starts with communion with the Lord. We are talking about basics here guys, fundamentals. In order to commune with the Lord, you must know how to approach him. If you are a grumbling complainer, then you need a change of attitude ASAP. If you are expecting anything of the Lord, you need to put your thanks and praise hat on.
Has the Lord ever done anything for you that you are thankful for? Good, then you have something to thank him for. Did you eat today? Great, another thing to give thanks for. Do you have a roof over your head today? Another thing to praise him for. The list can get long quick, we just need to check our attitudes and make sure our attitude is full of gratitude.
If you want answers, start by approaching the Lord with thanks and praise. I cited ONE Psalm here, go through all of them on your own and see for yourself if the words written here are true. Notice the pattern that the Spirit gives us throughout the bible. Thanks and praise and remembering what the Lord has done for us, our families, all the brothers and the entire world are a fundamental starting point.
We were created for his glory. Our lips should be overflowing with his praises morning noon and night.
This is what I hear the Spirit speaking to the churches today.
grace and peace.
Be Anxious For Nothing
6 years ago