Mikki's Blog - Living in the Grace and Love of God » Holy Spirit

Tuning into the Voice of God

Mikki — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:19:49 +0000

God, the author of communication, speaks in a million different ways. We, as His people, have to learn to listen to His voice. One of the sweet ways that I have learned to hear God is by tuning in to what I hear “in my Spirit” as I awaken in the mornings.

For example, on Saturday, just as I was opening my eyes I heard, “The steps of a good man (or woman) are ordered by the Lord.” Knowing that oftentimes my mind is quiet in my awakening moments and I am able at that moment to hear freely from God’s Spirit, I sensed God was speaking to me. Therefore I pondered that verse from Psalm 37 all that day. As I went about my day, I asked God to order my steps and I was alert to the idea that God had some particular things in mind for me that day. I got a pedicure. I wondered if my steps were destined to cross the technician’s path. I listened for more direction from God as I had conversation with a young girl from Vietnam. As I waited in the line at Wal-Mart and felt frustrated at the clerk for being slow, I remembered that God was ordering my steps and I suddenly was alert to what God might want for that moment.

On Sunday, I awakened to thoughts of a song, “Word of God speak, would you pour down like rain, washing my eyes to see, Your majesty, Word of God speak.” And I understood that God wanted to meet with me and speak to me through His Word. During the day, I looked for ways that the Word of God was either speaking to me, or ways that the Word could speak to any given situation that I was in.

While this is not rocket-science, I find that we often beg for God to speak to us in thundering clearness – and while He does do that – many times He is speaking through what we might term a “still small voice.”

Since I began to tune in to the idea that my spirit is never asleep and God primarily communicates with me from His Spirit speaking to my spirit (and not only through my mind), I have many times awakened during the night or first thing in the morning to immediately “hear” God speak.

Now of course we are all susceptible to hearing a wrong voice, but as we spend more time with God, more time we spend reading His Word, we learn to more clearly identify the voices which speak to us as to whether they be our flesh, the enemy, or God. One reason God was able to bring that scripture in Psalm 37 to my mind was because many years ago I had memorized that verse.

Today I just wanted to share one little way that I have learned to tune in to what God is saying to me. There are many more.

I’d love to hear from some of you. Leave a comment about a time when you heard God speak through a still small voice and whether or not you listened to His voice. Let’s learn together!

What Can God Do About Our Pain and Disappointment?

Mikki — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:30:59 +0000

Most of us are more than qualified to write a good country song or two. You know, something like,

“My heart is in more pieces than your picture on my floor…” or “This bottle is as empty as my heart.”

Seriously, (and I will sell the rights to those song titles if any of you want to cash in on my genius), pain and disappointment are a part of all our lives.

How can we stay grounded when life is hard, disappointments are many, and we find ourselves helplessly watching our dreams die? Can God do anything about our pain and disappointment?

As I pondered this last week, I thought of how the early disciples must have felt after Jesus was crucified. They had opened their hearts and dared to dream the dream of all dreams! They had given up their preconceived notions, traditional beliefs, and so much more to follow Christ. Their days had been full of miracles and mysteries, excitement and fulfillment.

Then, seemingly suddenly, everything was turned upside down, and they end up with a crucified Christ and a lot of confusion. But that’s not the end of their emotional roller coaster. With Christ’s resurrection came a flood of hope, mixed with a whole wagon load of questions, and much to be settled in each one of their hearts and relationally between them all.

I am quite sure there was a lot of restoration that needed to happen between believers. Much had been said and done in those last days and I imagine that there were quite a few offenses that needed to be dealt with.

Can you just imagine the swirl of gossip, accusation, and slander that surrounded the events of Christ’s last days and crucifixion? And then there was the question of the resurrection. Who believed and who doubted?

We can look at the teaching and prayers of Jesus in John 14-17 and see what Jesus knew they would have to deal with:

Worry, doubt, unbelief, feelings of abandonment, the need to change –again – in order to accept the ministry of the Holy Spirit, fear, the predicted “pruning”, the challenge to love, how to deal with the hatred of the world, religious persecution – from the established religious leaders, sorrow, being separated from Jesus, tribulation, the need for unity and sanctification, and the need to forgive, just to name a few!

That’s what we might call “a tall order!”

And it was in fact, an impossible order, without the ministry of the Holy Spirit who came and filled the believers. Yes, the 120 waited and prayed, and allowed God to deal with their hearts, but I promise you, they were still an imperfect people, but they served a perfect God who had, in reality, already trumped all that they enemy had accomplished.

Certainly, their problems didn’t magically disappear, but the Holy Spirit did bring the empowerment they needed to love one another.

The followers of Jesus had faced the challenges of a very dark season. They had failed many of the tests of the season. But yet God still chose to breathe new life into their hearts and fill them with His Holy Spirit and use them to birth His church.

And we find this truth, even in what appears to be total darkness to us, God is still on His holy throne. He still has a plan. He still has all the power we need. He still longs to fill us with His Spirit. He still wants to use us even when we blow it.

What can God do about pain and disappointment? With honest, repentant hearts, He can do more than we can ask or think. And that realization leads us all to the foot of the cross in love and thankfulness, just as the writer of Hebrews says “to find mercy and grace to help in our time of need.”

The Power to Rise

Mikki — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:10:16 +0000

Today as I my husband Eddie and I were putting away some groceries, he discovered that the can of flaky rolls with chocolate icing had exploded, popping the end off the can. Well, what could we do other than go ahead and bake them? Let’s just say that we temporarily forgot the diet we had just begun this morning.

Apparently I had left the groceries in the car a bit too long and the rolls got warm and began to rise in the can. As they expanded, the container just couldn’t hold its contents any longer.

And since it is Easter weekend, it made me think of the resurrection of Christ! After the third day, His grave couldn’t hold him any longer and he arose.

You know, I find it is that way with other things in our life. As Christians, we have an innate power that produces resurrection. Yes, it produces resurrection of our physical bodies someday, but in the here and now, this innate power, which is the Holy Spirit within us, is able to resurrect things in our lives that have been dead, numb, and powerless.

The Holy Spirit is a somewhat like the yeast in my rolls. He is alive and active and is working to birth the power of resurrection in our lives. When things get just right, the power is ignited and resurrection happens.

Marriages can resurrect. Friendships can resurrect. Our faith can resurrect. Our hearts can experience resurrection. Our churches can experience resurrection power. In fact, everything that has once lived is subject to the power of resurrection. Sometimes that is good and sometimes it is bad, but for today I want to focus on the power to rise which is good and godly.

I think of the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day. They were in ruins. When Nehemiah heard about it, he grieved. He wept. He fasted and prayed and he took action. Eventually the walls were rebuilt. Resurrected.

I think of how God renewed hope in the heart of Abraham and Sarah and gave them a child when their bodies were “as good as dead”. That’s resurrection.

I think of David who rose again after his son died to recommit himself to God and His purposes. That’s resurrection.

I think of Peter whose hope was resurrected after Jesus appeared to him.

And I could go on and on. I think of my own life as I have experienced the power of resurrection. Less than two years ago, my faith had seemed to experience death as I searched for answers in the midst of heartache. Now the wind of God has blown on the embers of my faith and resurrected it.

My ministry which appeared dead has resurrected.

My marriage has been resurrected.

My heart lives again for it has experienced the power to rise.

Yes, it is a weekend to celebrate. Newness of life all around us as flowers bloom and trees sprout and the green grass pushes it way out of the Alabama soil.

The promise of life eternal, yes, but the promise of fullness of life now, too.

The power to rise is available for you as well, for whatever circumstance you find yourself in can provide the soil for resurrection. Like Nehemiah, David, Peter, myself, and others, you may have to cry some tears first, but those tears can be water for the seeds of resurrection and when the conditions get just right, explosive, powerful encounters can happen, bringing new life to you.

The new life will testify of the power that brought it forth, and life births more life.

As we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, I pray you also will experience newness of life in ways you have not ever experienced before. May all the wounded places in your heart be healed. May all the dead places live. May all the numb places be awakened, and may you experience the power to rise!

It is even sweeter than the chocolate icing on my yeast rolls!