March 11 / Proverbs 11 / John 2

water wine

John 2:5

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

We can do whatever Jesus tells us in complete trust because He is Ben-Elohim, the Son of God. He had (has) the most intimate possible relationship with YHWH, and is our mediator between us and Him. He cares infinitely for us and loves us beyond our comprehension. So when He tells us to do something, we can rest in peaceful solidarity that it is something for our good, for our blessing. Even if it sounds a little crazy. Just do it. Trust.

“We serve a God who is infinitely good and who knows what he is doing.” -Brother Lawrence

Of course, we must be listening in order to hear His loving instruction. And we must believe that He speaks to us. A thousand distractions want to take us away from the voice of God everyday. In our culture of noise, I deeply believe that we must set aside time to just listen to Him. The competing voices are too loud and too many. We can be listening all day long in the midst of the noise, for sure. But without that down time, that sort of training, it will be very difficult to hear Him.

I have found Hannah Whitall Smith’s guidance helpful concerning our hearing from God:

How do we receive guidance from God? How can we know His voice? There are four ways in which He reveals His will to us: (1) through the Scriptures, (2) through providential circumstances, (3) through our own higher judgement, and (4) through inward impressions from the Holy Spirit. I call these four ways the four “voices” of God.

Where these four harmonize, it is safe to say God speaks.

Proverbs 11:6

The godliness of good people rescues them, but the treacherous are trapped by their desire.

Pursuing God brings freedom. Living for yourself enslaves you to your own desires.

It is horrible to live in a prison of your own desires, for they are a cruel taskmaster, demanding nothing short of your entire life for sacrifice at its oppressive altar.

Only God brings true soul-level freedom.

What you really want is for desires to take their proper place so you don’t have to bow to them, worship them, and feed them. This is what running after God will bring for you.

Following Jesus does not mean you suppress all you want to be with Him, all the while telling yourself to not do or have the things you really want. What happens is, through genuinely following Him, your desires for all that is not Him or of His kingdom fade away over time. Things you thought were so great and important actually lose their appeal. You see them for what they really are.

Now that is freedom. And that is what He will do for anybody who believes and follows Him.

 

 

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