Oh Student of Faith Let God Teach You!

I am amazed when I think of all the teachers I’ve had in my life. Of course my parents were my first teachers. Then there were special family members growing up. They all taught about family, love, forgiveness, acceptance and more. There were special teaching moments too. Uncle Tom taking me out to drive for the first time. I’ll never forget it. My first ride on a horse at John and May Green’s house in Magnolia which ended with a fall but still worth the ride.  My first motorcycle ride – and I might add the only person I’ve ever ridden a motorcycle with – still a wonderful memory. Lots of firsts, lots of learning.  Favorite teachers along the way who taught so much more than basic knowledge.

We never quit learning. Teachable moments abound in our lives. There are things we want to learn and they are exciting and wonderful. We ask to be taught and these things bring enjoyment in the experience. There’s a great sense of achievement. Some of the most profound teachable moments, things we get taught life lessons in, are harder to deal with. We don’t ask for those, but they come. They serve a purpose as well.

Jesus is our greatest teacher. And since He is our Redeemer as well He is able to make those teachable moments, even the hard ones, become our most cherished lessons.

We go through the hardship of loss and He teaches us that He is the All-Sufficient One. We need nothing else and no one else to make it. We find ourselves clinging to Him even more tightly, and resting even better in His Truth.

We go through rejection and He teaches us that He is El Roi, the God who sees. He knows our situation, He is with us in it and He will sustain us and comfort us and be with us.

We suffer with weakness and sorrow and again He teaches us to trust Him for He is El Elyon, the Most High God. He is able to cover our weakness as we learn to walk in His strength.  

God speaks to my heart: We don’t always understand the situations of life, especially those that come so suddenly at us, but we can understand who God is.  He says to you and me this morning : I AM and beside Me there is no other. While I AM the Great and Mighty Creator of the Universe I AM also your Comforter and Friend. I AM approachable, so that you can bring everything to Me. Together with Me you will make it through the trial, the test, the situation and learn more about Me. I AM all you will ever need, and I AM enough.  I AM your greatest ally, I AM the One Who gives you perfect love, perfect peace, perfect care. If you will trust Me with the hardest situations and let Me teach you more about Me I will take those things that have tried to destroy you and turn them into blessings for you.  Even if you feel as though you might die – whether that death is your life, your possessions or your ministry – I AM able to redeem every single situation.  As you lean on Me and learn from Me you will become more like Me, for I use every situation in your life as an opportunity to learn – to die to self and to live for Me.

Oh beloved, what are you going through? Are you suffocating in the circumstances or are you breathing in God’s Truth deeply and securely? Nothing will ever separate you from His love. Nothing will ever take away His loving care. He sees, He knows and He’s your champion teacher.  All the way to heaven He will guide you, direct you and keep you safe if you will let Him teach you in those most profound moments and let Him bless you in them as well. God loves you and He’s for you, beloved, and that’s all that really matters.

Romans 8:38-39 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Psalm 71:17 O God, You have taught me from my youth, And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.

Psalm 86:11 Teach me Your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to Your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor You.

Isaiah 48:17 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I AM the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.

Is that Your Father Calling You?

Observing three small grandchildren across the street I see that they often have a hearing problem. They don’t hear their mother when she calls them to supper, calls them to come in or calls them to get back in their own yard. It seems that the ability to hear is closely tied to the enjoyment they are having at the time they are called.  Playing in the creek or over at the neighbor’s house finds them totally deaf!

Then there’s the bone structure problems they have. No kidding! Call them home and they go limp and can barely walk. Tell them they can’t have ice cream till after supper and they almost crawl away from the refrigerator, arms hanging limply in front of them and their heads bent nearly to their chests.

Of course as people grow up they begin to respond much quicker to instruction and don’t display the skeletal problems children so often do.  I mean we’re grownups, so we are quick to obey and walk away from things without giving it a second thought. Right?

God speaks to my heart. It’s pretty easy to ignore God’s voice. We find ourselves in complete abandon to something we enjoy and He speaks softly into our hearts, “Come back to Me”, we flick a hand at our ear and go right back to our fun.  We lose our temper and stay mad and we hear “something” like “really is that the way you should behave?” and we want the anger more than the obedience.  We may feel our hearts being tugged to missionary work, changing jobs, checking on a neighbor, giving an extra dollar. The list goes on. We weigh the situation and often find that we’d just rather not listen to the still small voice trying to woo us to obedience.

We forget that obedience garners reward. Oh not always immediately, but reward does come for those who obey God’s still small voice. There’s punishment for the disobedient as well. Now children usually get grounded or get a spanking for their disobedience. But we believers are punished much worse I do believe. Because eventually we’re going to feel the Holy Spirit’s sting of conviction. We’re going to come to ourselves and realize we’ve messed up. And then we run home to the Father asking His forgiveness and praying that we haven’t lost complete touch with Him.

Just like a child must be trained to walk in obedience to their parents, we believers must train ourselves to walk in obedience to our Heavenly Father. We’re born again, we belong to the Family of God, but we have to learn to “act like it”. We have to train ourselves to listen for God’s voice and quickly follow, quickly answer, quickly respond.  I am still learning to hear Him, how about you?

Oh beloved, what a blessed child of God you are! Not only were you placed into an earthly family, with teaching, learning and growing, you were placed in God’s family! You have a Father who loves you unconditionally, the Son who obeyed all the way to the Cross for your disobedience and the Holy Spirit who keeps you able to listen to God the rest of your lives!  God knows the problems you encounter every day. There are so many things that would steal your joy, steal your heart and cause you to go deaf! But if you will trust the Lord and train yourself to listen to Him, you will find increased strength, increased stamina and multiplied joy and blessings! If you’ve found yourself in the wilderness of disobedience and you’ve quit hearing anything, today is your day to return Home to the Father! He is waiting outside your heart’s door to take you in immediately! He’s been searching for you as though you were a lost child out of earshot. He’s been calling you to repentance, which simply put is turning from your own desires to return to His fellowship!

Oh beloved, run to His Word this morning and hear Him speak: “I love you and I AM for you and that’s what you always need to remember to love Me, obey Me and live for Me alone”.

1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

James 1:25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Isaiah 30:21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Psalm 86:11 Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.