Let your ear be attentive

Genesis 24:10   Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah…

Genesis 24:26   The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

Genesis 24:42   “I came today to the spring and said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water.

Genesis 24:48   Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son.

Nehemiah 1:11     O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Nehemiah 2:4    Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Psalms 37:5   Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

Proverbs 3:6     In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Abraham’s servant prayed that God would make his way in this matter plain and clear before him. Nehemiah prayed for success and also on how to respond to the King.

Our times are in God’s hand; not only events themselves, but the timing of them. We must be mindful of being over-bold in urging what God should do and when He should do it, rather than seeking to ensure we are honoring God by willing to allow His will and time take place.

How many, of faith, have been weakened by being so bold to speak and leave no room for God’s plans and purposes?  How many have lived with God at arms length and seek to define what and when God should do something.

Keep close to God, learn of Him and His ways, and choose to humbly serve and honor Him.  You will hear the quiet whispers of God and see His hand at work around and through you.  He is able to give you wisdom, courage, strength, patience and confidence in whatever you are facing.

Mind set on the flesh

“I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.”

John 7:7  The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

1 John 4:5     They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.

Proverbs 8:36     but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Romans 8:7    For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

1 John 3:12-13     We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.  Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

Malachi 3:5    “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

Acts 7:51    “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.  Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,  you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”  Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.

Galatians 4:16    Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

There is a difference between those who choose to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God, and of those who openly choose not to.   It is very easy to see from the way they speak and act.  However I think there is a grey area that has a devastating affect on people.  This is where there is no clear distinction because the commitment of those claiming to be followers is complacent and those who do not claim to be followers have chosen a moral code (without God) to live by.  There is no difference between the lives of the two.  Neglect and complacency of God’s word will have an effect on the heart, mind, and soul.  To have a victorious life time has to be spent in His word with a heart and mind deep commitment to seek, know and follow God.  I wonder if we pick out the worst of humans and then look at ourselves in the mirror and say I am better than that – so I must be alright with God.  However we should be reading His word and seeking to understand what we are like in the mirror of what it is showing us.  If we don’t spend time in His word how will we reflect His joy, hope, strength, love, peace, kindness, generosity, power, faith……