Are you Drawn? (VOG-Week 2.5)

Today we are concluding week two of our study, Discerning the Voice of God, written by Priscilla Shirer. I am thankful for what we have learned so far and for some of the insight Priscilla has written. I was having a hard time summarizing this lesson capsule because Priscilla discusses the will of God.  This is a subject that we could probably read books about for the rest of our lives, because you hear people all the time saying, “I want to do God’s will” or you might hear them say something like, “I’m not sure that this is God’s will for my life” when they are trying to make a decision.  I once had a friend who always said, “God’s will is His Word”.  That seemed too simple to me at that time and every time I heard him say it I always thought to myself, “There must be more to it than that.”

You’ve probably heard the saying that the Bible is “ basic instructions before leaving earth”  –how God calls us to live.  As we are living out His Word we are in His will.  A lot of people get into whether we are to consult Him on every little tiny  detail  in our life or just the “big” things and when that happens I think we get all confused.

I loved the quote she referenced from Hannah Whitall- Smith’s . “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life” This book was written in 1873.  It is well worth the read.  Her insight to the Christian walk is excellent as many of the Christian writers of this time. They did not have all the distractions we have and their insight on the things of God is amazing to me.  The reference Priscilla has on page 42 from the book says this: “He writes His laws on our hearts and on our minds, and we love them, and are drawn, by our affections and judgment, not driven, to our obedience.“ Before we had our salvation we had a veil over our eyes and no matter how we may have tried to read the Bible we could not understand it but because we now have the Holy Spirit within us He enables us to see it through our spiritual eyes rather than our physical eyes and even better it begins to be written on the tablets of our hearts. Priscilla’s consensus is that we do not have to frantically search for God’s will but we need to frantically seek God  or I would say seek to know God in a more intimate way than you ever have.

Pray that you will be so drawn to Him that you are continually resting in His arms and relying on His word. Priscilla gave us scriptures to study that show us the difference of Old Covenant and New Covenant. They are listed under our scripture verses for today and I encourage you to meditate on them but I also would like to point out the scripture below . I think it speaks so directly to us.

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” Matthew 6:30-33  The Message

Today’s Prayer

Abba Father, we are grateful for what the Holy Spirit is showing us about your will for our life.  As we search and thirst for you the way a deer pants for water we will increase our intimacy with you and the more we will become a sweet aroma to you. Draw us nearer Lord.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen

Quotes by Priscilla Shirer

• When you delight yourself in Him, you can relax in knowing that He will speak clearly to you, order your steps, and cause you to desire what brings Him pleasure.
• A feeling of peace and serenity washed over me as the Lord removed my burden. I knew the Holy Spirit has caused me to see something with my spiritual eyes that day instead of my physical eyes.
• He will enable you to read not only what is written, but hear how it applies to your life and specific situations.

Today’s Scripture Verses (NASB)

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Hebrews 8:10 (NIV)

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;  Philippians 3:15

Whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor 3:14-17

Let’s Talk About It!

As we listen to today’s worship is there anything that you know the Holy Spirit is asking you to do in order to draw closer to hear Him with more clarity?

Discerning His voice,

Charmaine