The action step on the 31st day of my 31-day devotional, “Learn To Hear From God,” is to repeat the devotional, with a friend or with a small group. See http://www.squidoo.com/learn-to-hear-from-God-day-31.
I Timothy 2:2 has four generations in a simple commandment: “The things you have received from me, commit to faithful men who will train others also. The four generations? Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and the others they will train. This verse is one of the main reasons to take others through the 31-day devotional with you.
When it comes to hearing from God, there’s no such thing as an expert. God teaches us and we gain a few testimonies. But we can always learn more.
However God works with one of us, He is likely to work in other ways with other people. This is the main lesson of I Corinthians 12. It doesn’t just list a variety of gifts God has given the church. It also notes a variety of “administrations” and “operations” of the same Holy Spirit. God likes variety. He doesn’t just give an assortment of gifts; He also gives them in many different ways.
We had a gathering at my home one Sunday and we finished by eating a meal together. A friend told me she’d been viewing the 31-day-devotional I posted, “Learn To Hear From God.”
“But there’s one thing you mentioned, and the Lord spoke the opposite to me.” She said, and of course I was interested.
“It was the part where you spoke of taking two steps out of the comfort zone. But God has challenged me to do things differently.
“He showed me that if I would step way out into the unknown, it would make God laugh, and His joy would spill over into me. And because the joy of the Lord is our strength, His strength would pour into me, and it would enable me to do the impossible.”
I like her approach. It’s a lot more adventurous than being careful to go only two steps out of our comfort zones. It’s another operation of the Holy Spirit, another way for Him to administer the gifts of hearing His voice.
How adventurous are you? My friend, a missionary from New Zealand, is very adventurous. By contrast, many of my friends in the United States want a minimum of risk.
Since I’ve moved to California, I’ve made friends with a lot of people who knew John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard. He used to say, “Faith is spelled R-I-S-K.”
If you want a one-size-fits-all teaching, I recommend going two steps out of the comfort zone again and again. This will stretch your territory of the tried-and-true in the flow of the Holy Spirit. Within months, you will be much bolder than you were at first.
But my missionary friend wasn’t giving a teaching to a roomful of strangers. She was sharing a challenge God had given her personally.
Who is ready for the high-risk approach? First, those who have a strong foundation in Christ, knowing who they are in Him and who He is in them. Second, those who have a healthy relationship with the church and who stay accountable.
I won’t go into risk any further here. It would make this article too long. But I’m thankful for my friend’s insight. Just because I wrote 31 articles doesn’t mean I can’t learn from someone else. This is why it’s good to take others with you as you walk through the 31-day devotional. Their insights and testimonies will add to the material I supplied.
Stan Smith :: © 2011, GospelSmith :: http://www.GospelSmith.com
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