May the mumbling commence!
We can often talk about listening to the voice of God –
that still quiet voice. Yet, we do need
to exercise some caution. There are
other small voices that do not come from God.
We need to test the spirits.
How do we test the spirits? First John talks some about that. Does what that small voice is saying align
with recognition of Jesus as living Lord?
The true Spirit of God will not say anything in contradiction to the
Scriptures. And testing is best done in
intentional Christian community.
Otherwise, we can easily be led astray. Just look at what happened to King David, a
man after God’s heart. Read from First
Chronicles chapter twenty-one:
Satan rose up against Israel and caused
David to take a census of the Israelites. David gave these orders to Joab and
his commanders: "Take a census of all the people in the land – from
Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north – and bring me the totals so I may
know how many there are."
But Joab replied, "May the Lord increase the number of his people a
hundred times over! But why, my lord, do
you want to do this? Are they not all your servants? Why must you cause Israel
to sin?"
But the king insisted that Joab take the
census, so Joab traveled throughout
Israel to count the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem and reported the
number of people to David. There were 1,100,000 men of military age in Israel,
and 470,000 in Judah. But Joab did not
include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the census because he was so
distressed at what the king had made him do. (Verses 1-6)
David heard a still small voice. That voice told him to take a census. How many people did David lead? How much human power was at his fingertips?
The narrator tells us that Satan inspired this
census. Why was it wrong? Well, God had always defeated the enemy
regardless of the number of soldiers in the army. Trust in the strength of the Lord – not in
your own human strength. That is the
first clue that the spirit was not from the Lord.
The second clue was the hesitancy of Joab. Joab knew that the census was completely
unnecessary. He advised against it. But David did not listen. David cut himself off from his community and
made himself more vulnerable to the deception of Satan. Let’s learn from David’s mistake and not make
the same mistake he did.
So pay attention to the Word of Scripture. There is great power in hearing the Word of
Scripture read aloud. Yes, there is
great power in the spoken word. Do you
doubt it? Read from Romans chapter ten:
For if you confess with
your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For it is by
believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth
that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who
believes in him will not be disappointed.”
Jew and Gentile are the same in
this respect. They all have the same Lord, who generously gives his riches to
all who ask for them. For "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved."
But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they
believe in him if they have never heard about him?
And how can they hear about him unless someone
tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without
being sent? That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "How beautiful
are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Verses 9-15)
Hear it. Say
it. Receive salvation. That is Good News – the best. And that’s the power of the spoken Word of
God.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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