In the Dark, by Lon Alderman

Matthew 10:27
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.

"Don't keep me in the dark!" That's a plea to be included; kept in the loop. Sometimes in our relationship with Jesus it feels like He's keeping us in the dark. During these times our attempts to communicate with God seem fruitless.

I find Oswald Chamber's ideas regarding this passage very interesting:

"Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into "the shadow of His hand" until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2)...darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light." [View the entire article: Chambers]

Habit Forming, by Lon Alderman

Psalm 85:7-9

Show us your unfailing love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.

I will listen to what God the LORD will say;
he promises peace to his people, his saints—
but let them not return to folly.

Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

I'm currently taking a 40-Day virtual journey with 9 other men from around the country. We are investing time, energy, and prayer (for 40 days) in the development of healthy habits in the area of our spiritual and physical life. A theme is emerging related to our efforts to hear God speak.

One of the men presented the following passage. I am taking the liberty of passing it on as today's Build UP. This comes from a book entitled, "The Practice of the Presence of God"

Enjoy!

Brother Lawrence insisted that, to be constantly aware of God’s presence, it is necessary to form the habit of continually talking with Him throughout each day. To think that we must abandon conversation with Him in order to deal with the world is erroneous. Instead, as we nourish our souls by seeing God in His exaltation, we will derive a great joy at being His.

Listen, by Lon Alderman

1Kings 19:12-13 (NKJV)
and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Have you ever watched children when one child doesn't want to hear what another child is saying. The non-listener sticks his fingers in his ears and shouts, "I can't hear you!"

Take away the sing-song chorus and the fingers in the ears and you'll be left with a very common adult phenomenon. Us grown up adults spend a great deal of our lives pretending not to be able to hear God. We spend too much time talking and plugging our ears. Then, we wonder why we haven't heard from Jesus lately.

God is always with us! If we're not hearing Him, it may be because we've got our fingers in our ears and we're talking too much!

Listen for "the still small voice".
Lon

Irrevocable Step, by Lon Alderman

Matthew 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Twice in the last week I have felt God call me to action and twice I responded with a step I could not retract. They were not huge earth-shattering, walk-on-the-moon steps. In fact, these "steps" were very simple and consisted of two short emails. One asked for help and the other offered encouragement from scripture. The main thing these simple steps have in common is that I believe God called me to make them.

In each case, the step I took has developed some inertia. For example, I heard God lead me to ask a friend to help me get a project moving that I have been dreaming about for six years. I wrote a simple email and took the irrevocable step of sending it. I believe God has blessed that effort, because my friend has chosen to help me.

The lesson I'm learning is to listen to God's leading and then act upon it. Jesus put it this way, "Follow Me."

Listen ~ Act
Lon