Voice of God

In the days just before Samuel the prophet appeared on the scene the Bible tells us that the word of the Lord was rare and there were not many visions (I Samuel 3:1). Obviously prior to tha time, the people of God were used to hearing God’s voice instruct them and visions were common. Samuel, a young boy unaccustomed to hearing God’s voice and Eli his Dad perhaps had given up on hearing God’s voice. After all, hearing from God was rare. Perhaps noone expected God to speak any more and they didnt even recognize His voice. So Samuel had not been instructed in hearing God’s voice. When God spoke to Samuel in the middle of the night, He did not recognize that God Himself was speaking. But after a few times of hearing, Eli, His Dad realized that the Lord was calling the boy and instructed Samuel to listen (v.9).  Samuel had to tune into God’s station– he was on AM and God was speaking on FM. He had to open his spiritual ears to hear what God had to say to him.

We too are often like Samuel. We listen with our physical ears to no avail; God wants us to hear with the “ears of the Spirit.” He has given us His Holy Spirit to instruct us but we have to tune in to His station. The Bible puts it this way: “incline your ears to understanding”. Once we tune in through prayer, reading of His Word, our spiritual ears are opened and He imparts His Word to us. But that is only the beginning. Samuel had to listen to God’s words and then he had to obey. His assignment was one I would not have signed up for. Samuel didnt sign up for it either but he listened to God’s instructions and then obeyed.

The Church Without Walls

I find myself in a challenging place today. I have decided to enter the blogging world and allow cyberspace to be my best friend. As most of you know I lead a ministry called Drawing Near to God and I have been searching for a way to communicate what the Lord is doing in the life of the minstry and in my personal life. So here is my first attempt at sharing with my new cyberspace friends about my very best friend, Jesus Christ.

This morning as I read through some passages in the book of Acts, I asked myself the question- or better yet, I was asking God…. “is the church described in the book of Acts the same church today?” Do we expect to see God show up in our daily lives both in simple ways, and in big ways? Do we start each day with a sense of expectancy that each day is not only a gift from God, but that we have been commissioned by God to be a part of what HE is doing?

After Jesus left this earth, He sent His Holy Spirit and then He commissioned believers (the church) to be His hands and feet on earth. Are you kidding me? Me represent Christ? Maybe I could send my priest, or better yet my husband who is the Godliest person I know. No…. God is asking me to be His representative on earth. And He is asking you to do so as well. Fortunately for both of us He has given us His Holy Spirit to lead and empower us but is it possible or just wishful thinking that together we can impact this world with the message of Christ? And that is where the “church without walls comes in”. The 1st century church was not divided into denomininations. The church was a group of people who banned together to pray, break bread, and care for one another. The church was essentially without walls powerfully breaking into a lost world that needed a Savior.

The same world exists today. People are broken, lost, and afraid. People are uncertain of their future and are feeling hopeless. As a body of believers we can be a kingdom united and it is time that we recognized how much we need one another. If we stay in our denominational corners we will lose the impact, power, and effect that together we can have on our broken world.

The church without walls is a church that is willing to acknowledge our differences and yet work together to be the body of Christ. Each part of the body is necessary. I yearn to see the day when the church exibits the fullness of the power that Christ promised. We can hasten the day by working together proclaiming freedom for the captives, sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed. (Luke 4:21). And together we will become the church without walls.