Liasion

Will you Listen?

The Holy Spirit works between us and God.  God uses the Holy Spirit to talk to us and work through us.  Just how does the Holy Spirit talk to us? 

Are we willing to listen? 

Are we willing to act?

Monday

Liaison

 
But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

 John 14:26

When I worked at Sprint, my job was to be the liaison between the non-technical customer and the PBX (phone) technicians.  I gathered all of the installation information from the customer, using words they could understand, speaking in layman’s terms.   As I created the spread sheets for their unique installation I was slowly producing the technical data for the technicians to wire and program the system to the customer specifications, all written in technical telephony terminology.  

My role was always called the “mom” of the phone installation because all of the direction came from my installation packet.  Most of the questions and concerns from the customer AND the techs had to pass through me.  It never would have worked if the customer worked directly with the technicians, the conversations between the two wouldn’t make sense to each other, they didn’t speak the same language.

This is how it is with the Holy Spirit, God and us.  The Holy Spirit is our liaison with God.  He prompts and prods us in the right direction.  One question is:  Can you hear his voice?  The bigger question is:  Will you act on it?

This week I’m going to tell you stories of how the Holy Spirit has worked in my life, when I listened and when I didn’t and the consequences. 

Dear Lord, please, help me to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and act up on the promptings given to me.

Stalemate

Tuesday

Stalemate

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.

 Romans 8:5

I am a communication junkie.  E-mail, phone, Facebook, I need it, I want it, I crave it, c-a-n-‘t  l-i-v-e  w-i-t-h-o-u-t  i-t!!!!

I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me in this area a few weeks ago.  I realized I was relying on these mediums more than I should.  When I’m doing everything right, I wake up and read my bible.  When I’m doing things wrong, I get up and go check my e-mail.  See what I mean?  There’s more to it than that, but basically, I was replacing  my time with God with some type of communication that wasn’t with God. 

I felt the Holy Spirit talking to me about this, in my thoughts and self talk.  But I ignored it.  And kept ignoring it. 

I woke up one morning and guess what?  My e-mail account with AOL was NOT WORKING~!  I think I quit breathing for a minute or two.  It’s had hiccups before, but not like this.  Then just a few shorts hours later ~~~~ our phone and internet went out!  It was completely un-related to the AOL issue.  I was darn near hyperventilating before it was all over!  Both of these system-down situations lasted about 48 eight hours, just long enough for me to acknowledge to God that He had my attention.  The stalemate was over, He won, I got the message.

This is a very minor example of what can happen with you don’t listen to the Holy Spirit promptings, but it illustrates what God can do and how He can get your attention.

Lord, when I know You are talking to me through the Holy Spirit, please give me the strength to listen and follow where you are leading me.  

Knock Me Over the Head

Wednesday

Knock Me Over the Head

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 

John 16:13

Last year, I became a telecom broker.  During the set up of the brokering company, I formed a relationship with an organization I was associated with many years ago.  As I started working with them, I began to get little gut feelings (Holy Spirit talking) that maybe the relationship with this company wasn’t everything it should be, little things just didn’t seem right.

When I wouldn’t listen to the Holy Spirit, He (God) had to enlist my husband.  My husband kept saying over and over, “He will hurt you financially, like he did last time.” The Holy Spirit was speaking through my husband, telling me the future.   Then when I wouldn’t listen to hubby, He (God) had to enlist my best friends.  And I STILL DIDN’T LISTEN!   All of them said the same thing, “Quit thinking with your heart, this is business and you need to make a good sound business decision!” 

Since I wouldn’t listen to any of these promptings, I got (symbolically) knocked in the head in the form of a verbal beating from the tyrannical leader in this organization.  Then I received a double punch of him keeping a large amount of money he owed me.  Guess what?  I listened this time.  Finally.  But why did it have to get to that? 

God can and will get your attention, but do you really want Him to have to rock your world to do so?   Instead, listen to the Holy Spirit.

Lord, I want to listen to the Holy Spirit, I want follow the signals.  Please, help me to hear and act when the Holy Spirit is trying to get my attention.

But it Seems Crazy

Thursday

But it Seems Crazy

Before every man there lies a wide and pleasant road that seems right but ends in death.

Proverbs 14:12

We all have our reasons for doing things a certain way, our past creates a mold from which we base most of our decisions.  We get  in to “auto mode” and cruise through life doing what feels the most logical and comfortable. 

Sometimes though, through a loved one, or a still small voice, or scripture, or movie or a book….the Holy Spirit says “STOP!”  It is trying to get our attention to do the opposite.  Even though it seems crazy to do the opposite, sometimes that is exactly what we are supposed to do.

Have you ever heard the saying, “You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect to get different results!”   This is what is crazy about doing the opposite:  Even though it feels wrong to go against our comfortable path, we can often achieve the desired results, that we’ve been searching for all along, by doing the opposite. 

So many times, SO MANY TIMES, I’ve done the exact opposite of what feels right, because of all of the signs I’ve been given by the Holy Spirit.  Guess what,  after listening and then acting, the “thing” I had been trying to achieve for YEARS is  instantly there!  I’ve finally solved the puzzle.

Just like in the case of Wednesday’s example, even thought I felt I should keep doing the same thing (sticking with the same company), I was getting all the signals that I should do the opposite of what felt right.  Had I done that, I am sure I wouldn’t have had to have the symbolic knock over the head from God.

Dear Lord, please, help me to recognize your voice and act upon it accordingly.  

Separate but the Same

Friday

Separate but the Same

But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you,

so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the

Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

1 John 2:27

My husband and I don’t always see eye to eye, but on many different occasions, the Holy Spirit has spoke to each of us separately, at the same time.  I can’t even count how many times that has happened, but it has, over and over and over.

So basically, what I’m saying is that I’ll have an idea, usually some radical idea that I’M SURE he’ll think is nuts, so I’ll wait to mention it to him.  Then upon mentioning it to him, he’ll say, “That’s exactly what I was thinking!”

This is one way the Holy Spirit works in my life, it may be different in yours.  The Holy Spirit will try any way possible to get through to you, but you must be willing to listen.  In order to listen, you must be in tune to God.  To be in tune to God, you must be talking to God, in fellowship with Christ.  Being in fellowship with Christ means praying, reading your bible and going to church to fellowship with other believers.

When you are in tune with the will of God, it’s a beautiful thing.  All things work together for the good.   When you working against the will of the Lord, everything is a struggle and your life seems like an endless uphill battle.  Are you tired of struggle?  Are you frustrated?  Trying fellowshipping with Christ, listening to the Holy Spirit and thanking your Lord.   Pay attention to the signs and follow the Holy Spirit promptings.  

Lord, I want to hear Your voice, I was to listen when the Holy Spirit talks, help me remember to fellowship with You.