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February 16, 2018

Acts 13:2-4

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

New International Version (NIV)

Does God talk to people? There seems to be a debate. Someone said, “We talk to God in prayer, but if we say he talks to us, then others think we are crazy.” When Morgan Freeman played God in the “Almighty” movies, Hollywood laughed at the fiction. But what if God really came to us and spoke to us?

God certainly spoke to the believers in the church at Antioch. What can we learn from this story? To a church with diverse leadership from different backgrounds and continents, God spoke. What were they doing when he spoke? They were worshiping the Lord and fasting when the Holy Spirit spoke to them. What did God say? “Set apart for me . . .for the work to which I have called them.” We may be sure that God’s word to us most certainly has more to do with what he is doing in the world than about what we should wear for the day or whether we will win the lottery. Perhaps we have never known God to speak to us because our hearts were not in a place to receive his word.

The greater question remains: if God spoke, would we obey? These leaders did exactly what God told them to do at great cost to the church, sending out their best leaders. At that very instant, their actions completely converged with God’s (13:3-4). With the Holy Spirit they sent Saul and Barnabas on a mission trip which changed the world forever. In a play about Joan of Arc, one character said to her, “You say God speaks to you. He never spoke to me.” Joan turned to him and said, “But don’t you want him to?” Do we? He will. Not audibly, but much louder of course. Then what will we do? I wonder.

Pray with me:

Father, speak to our hearts today. We need a word from you. If we don’t hear from you what will we do? Today we quiet our own hearts and voices and we wait for you. Our answer to you is and always will be, “Yes.” What would you like for us to do today? In Jesus’ name we ask and listen. Amen.

This year we focus our Every Day with Jesus readings on Jesus’ story. With references to Tallowood's Read Through the Bible in 2018 daily reading plan, let's focus our undivided attention on Jesus and follow where he lead. He will not fail. Neither will we!
Joyfully,
Duane

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