Scripture
Acts 21:11-12
“Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the gentiles’.”
“When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.”
Observation
God spoke…and it sounded like bad news. If Paul continued on to Jerusalem, he was going to be arrested. The people reacted with understandable concern, and begged Paul not to go. …but God had not told Paul not to go, He merely warned Paul what would happen when he got there. Paul received the word that God had given, and then had to use Spirit-led discernment to decide what he was supposed to do with that information.
Application
God speaks in many different ways, and His voice is always there for me to hear when I stop and listen. Merely “hearing” God’s voice is not enough however–I must also seek discernment to understand what to “do” with the things that God says. Do I “go”? Do I “stop”? Do I “wait”? Or do I simply “pray”?
He will let me know, if I seek understanding.
Instead of treating God’s word like an Ikea assembly manual (read the first page and ignore the rest), I need to continually seek understanding to live and move in the way He desires.
Prayer
God, thank you for your word and for leading and guiding me. Help me to live with wisdom and understanding, so that I would respond in the right way when you speak.
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