Ready to Move When God Says Go

“For he [Abraham] waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” HEBREWS 11:10

 

PONDER THIS

Abraham had a pilgrim character. Now, that doesn’t mean he was a dropout. Abraham was in business. He had a family. He taught. He even had to go to war several times. But Abraham was not molded by this world.

What are your personal goals? Is your goal to make enough money to retire and have a nice house, to live in ease and have certain things? Or are you more concerned about your spiritual walk? Do you want your children to be successful and famous? Or are you more concerned about the character of your children growing in Christ and the kingdom of Heaven? Would you leave your present job and take a lesser job for less pay if it were better for the character of your children? Is your goal to impress other people? Would you rather be with the rich and the famous, or the godly and the pure? Most of us are so squeezed in by this world, and yet we wonder why we don’t have faith. Abraham was a man to whom this world meant very little because “he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” He had a pilgrim character.

Be honest with yourself. What are your goals for your life?

Do your goals align closer with the kingdom of God or the kingdom of this world?

PRACTICE THIS

Write out the goals you have for your life. Be honest and do not hold back. Pray over this list. Ask God to help you shift your focus and priorities to pursue His Kingdom over the kingdom of the world.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What Are You Pursuing?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us!’ and the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon!’”

Judges 9:14-15

 

PONDER THIS

You need to listen to God’s Word if you want God to listen to your word. Jotham spoke to the people, who had turned away their ears from the hearing of the law. He told them that even their prayer had become an abomination to God. Jotham told this parable of the trees looking for a king. They went to an olive tree, a fig tree, and a vine, asking each to rule over them and each said no. Each of the trees had their excuses for their necessities, their niceties, and their luxuries.

Finally, they went to the bramble, a briary bush. They asked it to rule. He said, “I’ll be glad to. You can rest in my shade; I’ll be a shadow for you.” Can you imagine a bramble, a briary bush, acting as a shade tree? The bramble has no fruit. The bramble has no shade. It has no lumber, but it rips, it shreds, it chokes, it clings, it grows, and it’s very hard to root out. But these people fled their responsibilities and let the bramble rule. We must be careful that we are not so set on the thing we seek that we miss God in the process and act foolishly as a result.

How can you consider God’s Word when you come to Him in prayer?

When you look back on your life, what is one decision you know was clearly wrong that seemed right at the time? How does God use even these moments?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time in God’s Word and pray according to the things you read.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are You Listening for God’s Voice?

PRAY OVER THIS

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.” Proverbs 8:17-19

 

PONDER THIS

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (KJV). We need to see, no matter if God appears to us in an angel as He did to Gideon long ago or whether God speaks to us in another form. And if you wish God would speak to you as he spoke to Gideon through the angel of the Lord, remember that you have something better than Gideon ever had: You have the Word of God. You have the Holy Spirit of God living in you to guide and direct you.

Don’t go whining and complaining about God not speaking. God wants to speak. Do you want to hear? Are you ready to listen to what God is saying? You will never have victory in your life, at home, in school, in business, in your neighborhood, in the Church, or in society until you get a vision of Almighty God. You need to see God big and strong and mighty. You need to desire His ways more than your own.

What comes to mind when you think of God speaking?

Are you expecting God to speak to you regularly through His Word?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask a trusted fellow believer to share how he or she listens to God through His Word.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How Do You Pursue Knowing God?

PRAY OVER THIS

“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:13-14

 

PONDER THIS

A natural man is one who's only had one birth. He is born into the natural world, and he is bound by the material world. He can never know the things of the Spirit of God until he has a second birth. Look at verse 14, “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God.”

If you were to come into a room where music is playing and I say to you, “Smell that music” you’d say, “That’s impossible.” Now that wouldn’t mean that there was anything wrong with your nose; it just would mean that the nose is the wrong organ for perceiving music. You don’t smell music; you hear music. There may be nothing wrong with your mind, but that is the wrong organ for knowing God.

The soul is what is missing. You know God primarily with your soul. It is the soul that is the organ of spiritual knowledge. Human wisdom is superficial. Human wisdom is transitory. Human wisdom is limited. Human wisdom is dangerous. You can’t know God through human wisdom. You know God in your soul, according to His Spirit who speaks to your soul.

What is the difference between knowing God with your mind and with your soul?

When have you felt God’s presence through the Holy Spirit? What did you learn about God in that time?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask God to help you know Him in your soul through the presence of His Spirit.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are You Pursuing God?

PRAY OVER THIS

“And He [the Angel of the Lord] said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he [Jacob] said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’” Genesis 32:26

 

PONDER THIS

Have you ever watched wrestlers? My eldest son was a wrestler. I have two grandsons who are wrestlers. Do you know what muscle is most important to a wrestler? His thighs. His legs. That’s where his strength is. If you take away his leg, he can’t begin to wrestle. The Angel of the Lord took away Jacob’s strength (v. 25). How was he going to wrestle anymore? And the Angel (the preincarnate Christ) said: “Let Me go.” But Jacob replied: “I will not let you go, not until you bless me.” Now if this was the Lord, why did He say: “Let Me go?” It was because the Lord didn’t want him to let go. You may be thinking, “That doesn’t make sense.” Oh, yes, it does.

When studying the Bible, you find out that many times God will act as if He wants to get away from us when He wants us to pursue Him with all our hearts. Do you remember on the Road to Emmaus when two disciples were going there after the resurrection, and Jesus appeared in His resurrected body? He walked with them, and their hearts were burning within them. Luke said Jesus made as if He would go further, and they said, “Oh no, don’t. Spend the night with us here,” and He did. (Read Luke 24:28-29.) In our moments of greatest uncertainty or difficulty, God calls us to pursue Him with all our hearts.

When was a time you felt like you were pursuing God?

How do times of struggle or difficulty lead you to pursue Him further?

PRACTICE THIS

Consider one thing you need to do to pursue God. Take action today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers