Curious About God's Will for Your Life?

"The more devoted you become to learning and living God's Word, the more you'll sense his divine voice in your life...You and I must be so saturated with the Word of God [here meaning the Bible] that when we're caught off-guard by life's circumstances, we reflexively hear his wisdom, his nudges, his whispers through his words that dwell within us." Bill Hybels, The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God. Having the Guts to Respond, 2010. (p.118 & pp.135-136)

God will never impart advice through a friend or give you a feeling that is inconsistent with His character and will as revealed on the pages of the Bible.

Trusting God

"Trusting God," or maybe more imperatively, "Trust God!," is the theme that emerges from several inspiring things I've read over the past week or so.

First, there's today's installment from Our Daily Bread, called The Penny Syndrome. Never underestimate what God can and will do through you when you trust Him!

My colleague and friend, Pastor Glen VanderKloot, in his daily devotional, shared thoughts from John Ortberg's fantastic book, The Me I Want to Be. You can find them here. God has an adventure planned for you; live it!

Also, inspired by the Bible, Bill Hybels' book The Power of a Whisper, the experiences of many faithful Christians, and his own walk with Christ, Glen has been sharing a sermon series on the power of God's communication with His people. I've linked to previous installments. Here is the link to the sermon of April 3. 


And here is Glen's sermon from yesterday, April 10. As you read it, put aside your skepticism and world-weary wariness. Glen is an intelligent, knowledgeable man who trusts in Jesus Christ with every fiber of his being. I'm excited by the vision for his congregation that Glen here shares! As many of us  were reminded by the first Bible lesson for worship yesterday, Ezekiel 37:1-14, by the power of His Word, God can give new life to dead, dry bones. Pray for Glen and for Faith Lutheran Church of Springfield, Illinois as God brings the vision of renewal into being! 

'The Power of a Whisper'

I picked up this book, which inspired my colleague Glen VanderKloot's current sermon series at Faith Lutheran Church in Springfield, Illinois, last Thursday.

I've found it so gripping, challenging, disturbing, joyful, and inspiring, that, careting my reading of it into a busy schedule, I'm about to plunge into the final chapter. (And I'm an extremely slow reader!)

The book is about paying attention to the "whispers" of guidance which followers of Jesus receive from God--whether from reading God's Word or knowing God through it, or the counsel of trusted Christian friends, or circumstances. I have long been convinced that God has never stopped communicating with His children. This is one of the Holy Spirit's prime activity among us, I think. But in our worlds crowded with noise and activity, even committed Christians have increasingly closed our minds to God.

If this book does nothing but incite you to carve time out of your daily schedule to read God's Word, pray in Jesus' Name, and listen for God's "still, small voice," it will have done a great thing in your life...and through you, in the lives of others.

I don't agree with everything in this book. But as usual, its author, Pastor Bill Hybels, has written a book worthy of consideration from every Christian wanting to live for Christ in the everyday places of life. The chapter on justice is especially challenging and worth the price of the book, whether you agree with everything he writes there or not.