Reflections
"Oh
that today you would hear his voice."Knowing God's will is hard enough;
discernment
is a gift from God.
But
even if we are gifted enough to
be
able to discern God 's will, can
we
have the courage and conviction
have the courage and conviction
to
actually do
His will?
Today
more than ever we need to hear
His voice. As God the Father said, “This
is my beloved Son with whom I am well
pleased; listen to Him.”
His voice. As God the Father said, “This
is my beloved Son with whom I am well
pleased; listen to Him.”
In
the Gospel, Jesus instructs the disciples
how
to do all they have been commanded.
(Luke 17:10)
(Luke 17:10)
As followers
of Jesus, we too are to do all that
we
are obliged to do.
Doing
the will of God must have
been difficult
even for the disciples, hand picked by our Lord
himself. How much more so is the will of God
a challenge for ordinary persons like us?
even for the disciples, hand picked by our Lord
himself. How much more so is the will of God
a challenge for ordinary persons like us?
Even
the disciples must have been in
awe of
what Jesus was commanding them to do.
what Jesus was commanding them to do.
“Harden
not your hearts.”
Our
spiritual history is full of occasions where
the faithful were known to have hardened their
hearts and refused to listen to God's voice,
though they had seen His works, as our psalmist
mentions.
the faithful were known to have hardened their
hearts and refused to listen to God's voice,
though they had seen His works, as our psalmist
mentions.
But
after all, He is our God, as the psalm says,
and
we are the people He shepherds.
Our job is to kneel before the Lord who made us
and to carry out His will the best we can. And
if we are careful to listen to His voice, He will
empower us to do His will, just as Jesus
empowered the disciples to rise up to the
challenge of the great commission and to
become ordinary men performing extraordinary
deeds.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist encourages us not to harden our hearts if we hear God's voice. Do you find it difficult sometimes to carry out God's will in your life even if you believe He is speaking to you? Give an example.
1. Our psalmist encourages us not to harden our hearts if we hear God's voice. Do you find it difficult sometimes to carry out God's will in your life even if you believe He is speaking to you? Give an example.
2.
The psalm reminds us that we are like sheep and the Lord is our
shepherd. Are you willing to be just an ordinary sheep
among His flock? If so, what does it mean to you to be
shepherded by the Lord?
We prayed before we started on this 3 step move, and continue daily. And, we have definitely been blessed. The sale of our house was a challenge, and happened on the 3rd month of our 3 month listing! After the sale, we found a new place in Temecula on the very first try! We will move in on October 21st, and our youngest son, Brian, is flying out to help us. Thank you God! Our prayers have been answered.
ReplyDeleteYes, sometimes I find it is difficult for me to carry out God's will, even though I know I am one of his people who is shepherded by Him and one of his flock under his care. If I resist his calling me to do his will, without realizing, my heart begins to be hardened. I find myself astray and away from Him.
ReplyDeleteIf I refuse to surrender to God's will, owing to my comprising with my current situation and my weak determination, this causes me to disregard Him and to not listen to Him.
As a consequence of this, my heart gets to be hardened and numb toward my sins. I realize that my hardened heart is the result of a series of deeds to disregard God's will. If I keep doing so, I gradually lose will power. The Devil takes a stronghold on me.
"If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." This verse is a warning to us. Right away you have to discern about what causes you to make your heart to be hardened in your life. The psalmist says that people who go astray, they do not know God's ways.
Let us bow down in worship. He is our great God.