Can You Hear It?

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

(Anything in quotations that is not scripture is taken from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, August 13th and 14th. All emphases are mine.)

"The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze - so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it... If you get out of the light, you become a sentimental Christian, and live only on your memories, and your testimony will have a hard metallic ring to it... Whenever the Spirit gives you that sense of restraint, call a halt and make things right, or else you will go on quenching and grieving Him without even knowing it."

I've had My Utmost for His Highest since college, but back in the day was completely blind to how rich it is. Now it's wearing me out. The idea of "never hearing" the voice of the Spirit or "quenching Him without even knowing it" is kind of terrifying to me. James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." How many of us go about our daily lives absolutely kidding ourselves that we are in fellowship with the Lord because we went to church on Sunday? Can the truth of James 4:8 and 1 Thess 5:16-22 really be that difficult to live out? It's either really hard, or we just don't take it very seriously. I'm leaning towards the latter.

"If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else... Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God... Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me - sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost."

Ask yourself... "Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself?"