When God Speaks To YOU Through His Word & His People

Just had a great moment in my quiet time this morning. One of those moments where you're praying about something that is on your mind a lot, and then you turn to the place you left off in your Bible reading and the new topic being started addresses what is on your mind. For me it happened in the Psalms today as I started a new one.

It's also a bit like those times when the sermon on Sunday is focused on the same issue you've been especially wrestling with in recent days.

My extremely skeptical and cautious heart used to just think of those as coincidence, or the natural result of their being overlap and broad application for many parts of scripture. But over the years with regular time in scripture and at a church that presents scripture itself each Sunday, I just can't chalk it up to those things anymore.

God speaks to me through his word and his people, and they are some of the moments I feel most loved and cared for by him. I hope you guys are increasingly experiencing that too!

Wow, this just seems to keep happening to me sometimes! Just interviewed a widow for our church podcast yesterday, talking to her about joy in the midst of devastation. I had the chance to ask her some questions about things I've particularly been wrestling with as I've thought about mortality more often this year and lately.

She brought up James chapter 1 as well as Paul's description of his own suffering in 2nd Corinthians, both of which have been a part of the study I've been doing and sharing with you guys on the podcast and channel! I jokingly made the comment during the interview that I hope God isn't neglecting other people, because he seems to be orchestrating a lot of things just for me!

If you're curious, the podcast is called "Living Stones" and the name of our church is Red Mountain Community Church. It's on i-tunes and the ep will probably go up in a few days or less.

I know I've had situations like this, but I'm struggling to think of a specific example off the top of my head.
I think it's important to take note of, and remember things like this, that can boost our faith when we look back on them. That's why the Israelites often build monuments when important things happened. It reminded them of whatGod had done. Maybe I need to set aside a notebook or a computer file somewhere, and make a few monuments of my own.

By the way, I listened to your first Living Stones podcast when you mentioned it a while back, and really enjoyed it. I might listen more often. Is it listed on Stitcher? It didn't show up on my searches.

Paeter wrote:Just had a great moment in my quiet time this morning. One of those moments where you're praying about something that is on your mind a lot, and then you turn to the place you left off in your Bible reading and the new topic being started addresses what is on your mind. For me it happened in the Psalms today as I started a new one.

It's also a bit like those times when the sermon on Sunday is focused on the same issue you've been especially wrestling with in recent days.

My extremely skeptical and cautious heart used to just think of those as coincidence, or the natural result of their being overlap and broad application for many parts of scripture. But over the years with regular time in scripture and at a church that presents scripture itself each Sunday, I just can't chalk it up to those things anymore.

God speaks to me through his word and his people, and they are some of the moments I feel most loved and cared for by him. I hope you guys are increasingly experiencing that too!

Sadly, I am not. I can't remember the last time I really experienced something that I knew was God interacting with me. I really wish I would. But I, too, have an extremely skeptical and cautious heart, and I haven't had access to a church family that really feels like a church in a long time (as I've gone over previously).

AdamCollings wrote:

By the way, I listened to your first Living Stones podcast when you mentioned it a while back, and really enjoyed it. I might listen more often. Is it listed on Stitcher? It didn't show up on my searches.

No idea, sorry. I just come in and host this podcast, I don't have anything to do with the back end production stuff.

AGoodReed wrote:

Sadly, I am not. I can't remember the last time I really experienced something that I knew was God interacting with me. I really wish I would. But I, too, have an extremely skeptical and cautious heart, and I haven't had access to a church family that really feels like a church in a long time (as I've gone over previously).

So sorry to hear that, Reed. Please let us serve as the body for you in whatever limited way we can here.

I also really like what Adam said about keeping a notebook. I'm so bent toward negative thinking that I tend to remember my problems and forget the ways that God has met me in the midst of them. But making note of the moments that God orchestrates for me helps me remember and realize he is more active in my life than I naturally tend to think.

Still have a note on my computer to be praying for you!

Paeter wrote:

AGoodReed wrote:

Sadly, I am not. I can't remember the last time I really experienced something that I knew was God interacting with me. I really wish I would. But I, too, have an extremely skeptical and cautious heart, and I haven't had access to a church family that really feels like a church in a long time (as I've gone over previously).

So sorry to hear that, Reed. Please let us serve as the body for you in whatever limited way we can here.

I also really like what Adam said about keeping a notebook. I'm so bent toward negative thinking that I tend to remember my problems and forget the ways that God has met me in the midst of them. But making note of the moments that God orchestrates for me helps me remember and realize he is more active in my life than I naturally tend to think.

Still have a note on my computer to be praying for you!

Wow, thanks for that.

I have several notebooks for several different things. Maybe one of them should be a journal of things that happen on a daily basis so I can look back and see if anything connects.

I'm also reading Brant Hansen's book Blessed Are the Misfits again.