Great Is Your Faithfulnessનમૂનો

Faithful to Speak

“He who has an ear to hear, let Him hear what the Spirit is saying.” (Revelation 2:7, ESV) Jesus wrote this statement in a letter that He personally dictated to His beloved John, one letter of seven that was addressed to the Church of Ephesus. John had been relegated to the island of Patmos as a last ditch effort of Roman Emperor Domitian to silence his voice as he relentlessly preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Like a good parent, Jesus praised the Ephesian believers for their intolerance of evil, their good works, and their high standard of accountability for the self-declared prophets of their day. But He challenged them as they had grown cold in their hearts, which led them to stray from their love and devotion to the One who had saved them. Jesus desired their hearts’ devotion so greatly that He crafted a one-of-a-kind, overnight delivery of a letter to grab their attention and spare them from drifting further away from their First Love.

How does God speak to you? Some have said that God speaks in a still, small voice, almost a nudge in their spirit. As you read God’s Word, and grow in your consistency to do so, you’ll quickly recognize: God speaks through His Word. He calls our hearts to repentance. He speaks words of comfort when we are broken. He sends people our way to deliver divine messages, even if they’re just reinforcing what we have heard directly from the Lord but desire confirmation. You can hear God speaking through the preached Word. Throughout all of time, we can see that God desires to speak, and be heard, by His people.

Many years ago my evangelist husband was preaching out in New Mexico. The revival meeting was scheduled for an entire week, beginning on Sunday morning, and continuing through the following Sunday evening. Every single service God had laid on his heart to preach a simple salvation message. And every single service, not one person had come forward to repent, follow Jesus, nothing. By Friday night, you can imagine that he was beginning to get discouraged and frustrated. He begged God to allow him to preach on something else. But yet God would not relent. "Keep preaching on salvation through Jesus Christ."

On Saturday early evening the pastor had scheduled a prayer meeting before the evening’s service. Despite his internal wrestle, my husband submitted to the Holy Spirit and obediently preached on salvation once more. He noticed a family he hadn’t seen before slip into the back of the sanctuary. As he gave the altar call, the entire family–mother, father, adult children, and a few small children–stood up and made their way to the altar. Not one of them could speak a word of English and, gratefully, a deacon who had invited them was nearby to translate. After they wept their way through repentance and surrender to Christ, my husband learned that, as he was preaching in English, a voice out of nowhere appeared and began to translate to Spanish every word he was saying! The Holy Spirit Himself showed up to interpret and speak to this family who had never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ!

God is faithful to speak.

Dig a Little Deeper

How do you hear God speak? Often we do not hear Him as clearly as we desire because our lives are so bombarded with distractions, or we don't make room for silence and meditation in His presence. Take a few moments today to simply be quiet in a space where you can listen. As you read Genesis 1 today, look for how many times the Scriptures say, "God spoke" or "God said". There's creative power when God speaks!