Communication With God Part One
By Johnny Angel
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue
in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and
the truth will make you free. (John 8:31-32, NRSV)
A farmer walked into an attorney's office wanting to file for a divorce.
The attorney asked, "May I help you?" The farmer said, "Yea, I want
to get one of those dayvorce's."
The attorney said, "well do you have any grounds?" The farmer said,
"Yea, I got about 140 acres."
The attorney said, " No, you don't understand, do you have a case?"
The farmer said, "No, I don't have a Case, but I have a John Deere."
The attorney said, "No you don't understand, I mean do you have a
grudge?"
The farmer said, "Yea I got a grudge, that's where I park my John
Deere."
The attorney said, "No sir, I mean do you have a suit?" The farmer
said, "Yes sir, I got a suit. I wear it to church on Sundays."
The exasperated attorney said, "Well sir, does your wife beat you up or
anything?" The farmer said, "No sir, we both get up about 4:30."
Finally, the attorney says, "Okay, let me put it this way. "WHY DO YOU
WANT A DIVORCE?" And the farmer says, "Well, I can never have a
meaningful conversation with her."
A few days ago, I shared the story of the pope and the Jew who
debated as to why the Jews should be allowed to stay in Rome. Then
I received this story about the farmer. On Saturday morning, I was
serving as a proctor for a math competition on campus. I was reading
in the Bible while the students were taking the test and God really
started speaking to me. He showed me that we can hear Him speak
when we have an intimate, love relationship with Him. I would like to
look at some scripture during the next few days that show how
important it is to get all the garbage out of our lives and stay focused on
the Lord.
In the two verses above, we find that staying in God's word helps to set
us free because we come to know the Savior. It also helps us to know
the truth. In the original Greek, the word for continue means to stay in
a given place, state, relation, or expectancy. It is to abide, continue,
dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, and tarry for. It is to hold fast
to the Lord's teachings and live in accordance with them. I think we
can gather from this that it is a constant state of mind to be focused on
the Lord. That is why the Bible tells us to set our minds and affections
on the Lord and to pray without ceasing.
I heard a devotion on a Christian radio station about being in a holy
mindset. The speaker asked if one could be in a holy mindset when he
was doing strenuous work. He used the example of the people who
load cargo on planes during military operations. Though one who does
this job is constantly working in strenuous situations and covered with
sweat, he can still be holy. Being holy simply means that we are set
aside for God. That's why the Bible is referred to as a "Holy" Bible.
Bible came from a Greek word that meant "The Book". So when we
add the meaning of holy we find that it is "the Book set aside for God".
God may set us aside in situations where we wouldn't expect Him to
be. He may place us in dark places around people who are not
Christians and who give us a hard time. The situation may seem
without hope. But we can be holy--set aside for God--and allow God to
minister through us.
I shared once that I labored to lift up each prayer request on my list to
God daily. But as God kept leading me to do more and more things
and as my list kept growing, I found it impossible to go over the entire
list. When I realized my inability and allowed God to do His job and
rescue me in my helpless state, I began to see many of the prayers
answered. And since that time, my prayer time has been growing into a
state of me listening more and more for the Lord and looking for Him
more and more. I read more devotions and scripture now. I look over
what has happened in my prayer journal. I listen more closely to the
Christian songs, especially the ones that had a good beat but that I had
never really paid attention to.
God wants so much for us to spend time with Him. We will never be
able to stay entirely focused because of our human nature. But we
can do like the apostle Paul and forget what is behind us and press
onward towards the end of the race.
So LISTENING to God is a key to our communication with Him!
N Prayer,
Johnny <*}}}><