God Sends His Love– Happy Valentine’s Day!

“For God so loved the world (you) that He sent His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3

Listening for the voice of God and finding His will for our lives.

 

Gaither Vocal Band sing “Beyond the open door:

Chorus:

Beyond the open door is a new and fresh anointing,
Hear the Spirit calling you to go.
Walk on through the door
for the Lord will go before you
Into a greater power you’ve never known before.

Beyond the Open Door by the Gaither Vocal Band

https://youtu.be/9e6-uZUJN_I

 

Revelation 3:7-8 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

God gives us open doors to walk through. How do we recognize them when opportunities are presented to us? There are several ways I check to make sure it is the Lord.

1. I feel drawn to it. The idea seems to be everywhere I turn. The Holy Spirit will not leave me alone about it. My heart and spirit is excited by the possibilities. Usually that is followed by “ Oh my Lord, who do you think I am that I could do anything for you.”
2. I have prayed about it and found peace enters my mind and heart.
3. I think it is very important to seek wise counsel before launching off alone. You seek someone who is grounded in scripture and in ministry. The heart is deceitful and we can be easily deceived. We need accountability.
4. God gives us divine appointments. He will place in our paths people, signs, music and other odd things that get our attention.
5. Many times it involves leaps of faith! It can be things bigger than we can handle. It can require resources only He can provide. It will take you places you have never thought of going. FAITH!

Some things to keep in mind:

1. We must test our motives. We have to be sure we are walking in the door of opportunity for the right reason. We do what we do for the glory of God; not our own.
2. When you finally get peace and know you have heard God speak. Obey Him! Delayed obedience is disobedience. ( Mostly this is where I fail) But God is good; He knows we are dust! He will bring it around again. But we cannot continue to turn away. There is blessings in obedience. Disobedience will make you totally and completely miserable.

Esther 4:14 English Standard Version (ESV)

14 “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”

My personal story of such a time involves my sweet husband. He had been ask to preach at a local church. He decided, even though he knew God wanted him to do this, that he did not want to. So he nicely refuses, makes an excuse and disobeys what God was leading him to do.

God will sometimes put you on a shelf. It was several years before he was ever given that opportunity again. God had someone else to do it. Valuable lessons are learned in the dark corners of God’s closet.

3. There will at times be opposition. I Corinthians 16:9 Paul asks for prayer “because a great door for effective work has been opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”

4. God will stand in the way if it isn’t the right door. You may have the desire to walk in but the timing isn’t right. Wait! He will make sure your paths are clear.

Acts 16:6-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Macedonian Call
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (ESV)

I hope that you are listening for God’s voice. We each have a calling from the Lord.

We would covet your prayers as we listen for God’s voice each time we write these blog posts.

Paul asks for prayer in Colossians 4:3 “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

Listening for open doors.

Beyond the open door is a new and fresh anointing,
Hear the Spirit calling you to go.
Walk on through the door for the Lord will go before you
Into a greater power you’ve never known before.

Freda Reynolds