LISTENING TO THE RIGHT VOICE

Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.’

Occasionally we talk to someone and we just know they’re not listening, either that, or we’re the ones only half listening!😊 But we’re all listening to voices throughout our day, whether it’s the voice of the media on screens, or on the radio, or the voices of friends and family members but are we listening to the right voices?

The priests and elders had forbidden Peter and John to speak at all, or teach, in the name of Jesus. They even threatened them. Now the disciples had a decision to make, would they bow to pressure and keep themselves and their families safe, or carry on anyway?

In v.20 they said, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” They made their choice, they carried on doing it, and as a result you and I can hear the gospel and be saved, thank God!

Which brings us back to who we are listening to. Are we listening to God speak through His word and believing it, believing the promises, or are we listening to the voice of reason, the voice of experience, the voice of the culture around us which is liberally minded? 

God is very clear and specific about many things in His Word and gives us no room for grey areas whether it’s to do with sex before marriage, gender orientation, our finances, loving our neighbours and much more. His Word is our manual for doing life.😊

So really it affects all of us and we all have to decide, whether it’s right in the sight of God to listen to the culture more than to God. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world but to rescue it, so the Holy Spirit is reminding us to encourage one another to decide to stand up for the truth of the Gospel, to only listen to God, and to obey His word.😊 Amen.

Photo: Mohammad Metri on Unsplash

LEFTOVERS

Matthew 6:34 GNT So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

When we’ve made a Christmas Day big dinner we always enjoy the leftovers next day for Boxing Day hash because they save us having to do another big cook up.😊 But there is a different kind of leftover that no one wants or enjoys.

I’m talking about the leftovers of yesterday’s worries, those words someone spoke, or things we’ve heard about that concern our friends or family and we worry about what has happened and how it will affect tomorrow. They’ve lingered in our minds causing us to bring them along with us into the new day to add to all the new worries! We forgot to hand them over to God to take care of them before we went to bed! 

I think we sometimes think God isn’t doing anything about them, or He’s off somewhere else and hasn’t the time for our cares! But really we know that’s absolutely not true and He doesn’t want us dragging into today any worries or unresolved issues from yesterday. 

Jesus said today’s worries are more than enough to handle and God gives us the grace and mercy for each new day which is why He tells us to come to the throne of grace to receive all the help we need.😊

We may have a habit of carrying yesterday’s worries not only into today, but looking ahead as to how to deal with them in the future, which is why Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow either! The trouble is, I suspect we’re ignoring what He says!

Psalm 68:19 NIV Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

There are many things we can do nothing about, which are out of our control, so if we have any unwanted leftovers let’s ask the Lord to help us leave them in His hands and look forward to a new day with our burdens being taken care of by the one who lifted all our burdens at Calvary. Amen.

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash