What Is the Lord Saying?
May 5, 2021·Deborah Clark
As we read the Bible, it’s great to stop and process: “What is the Lord saying through what I just read?” Journaling is great for this. And so is talking with someone else.
That’s what these “Pause devos” represent — sharing with you what we’re learning from reading God’s Word.
In 1 Corinthians 2:2, 4-5, Paul tells us, he “resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified… My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
As I read this, it made me think: How focused am I on Jesus throughout my day? How often do I try to approach a situation or a person with my own wisdom (which is lacking!) or my own words? Am I reliant on the Holy Spirit? Or do I trust in myself? Am I letting the Spirit work through me, demonstrating God’s power?
My prayer for myself — and for YOU — is that we would be Jesus-people first, with our eyes on Him! And we would be people full of the Spirit, daily beingfilled, asking the Lord to fill us, speak to us, direct our steps. As we grow in that, the power of the Spirit will become more and more evident in our lives. Are we giving room for the Spirit to move? Or do we quickly jump in with our own answers? Are we trying to “fix” things in our own power? Or are we stopping to pray and then wait to see what the Lord might say or do?
Later in the chapter, Paul quotes from Isaiah and says this: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love Him — these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit.”
This is a great reminder, that I can’t just know the things of God intellectually, but I want to be listening and growing by the Spirit.
I was reminded of what we read in Joshua over the last couple of weeks — times when God came through in unimaginable ways.
- Like crossing the Jordan on DRY land… God didn’t just hold back the waters. He made the land dry.
- Like the defeat of Jericho, not just with an army, but by obedience and walking — then the walls of the city came down.
These are just a couple of examples, but they are a great reminder that we can’t begin to imagine all that God has planned to do. And if we’re willing to lay aside our own ways and walk by the Spirit, we’ll start to see more and more demonstrations of the Spirit’s power, pointing us, and others, to Jesus.
This week, as you read through the Pause plan, take time to ask the Lord, “What are you saying to me through this passage?” Then, take time to write it down and reflect on what it means for how you live. Or, share what you’re learning with a friend.
May you encounter Jesus in your Bible reading.
Pastor Deborah Clark
