Listening and Obeying

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22 (NIV)

God’s will involves listening. God speaks to us through the Bible. As you read the Bible, you read God’s revelation. God’s will is that you obey His Word. God also speaks through prayer. As you connect with God through prayer, He reveals His will to you. In order to hear God’s voice, you must listen with expectation and anticipation of God’s revelation. You learn to recognize God’s voice as you walk with God.

• “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” John 10:4 (NIV)
• “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 (NIV)

Listening to God’s Word is not enough. You must do what it says. Put God’s Word into practice by obeying what God reveals to you. Sometimes God will wait for you to obey what He has already revealed to you before unveiling His next layer of revelation. Are you obeying what God has already revealed to you?

Obey what you know. As you obey, God will show you more and more of His way. God will entrust you with His revelation. As a child of God you have been filled with the Holy Spirit. God empowers you to hear His Word so that you can obey His Word. Read God’s Word and feed on God’s Word consistently so that you will know Him personally and obey Him instantly.

Be a doer of God’s Word. It is not enough to just hear. Put God’s Word into practice. Activate God’s Word through a diligent lifestyle of instance obedience!

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell