Please Give Me Listening Ears, Lord!

SCRIPTURE

Acts 7:1-8 (NRSV)

Descendants promised to Abraham

Then the high priest asked him, "Are these things so?" And Stephen replied:

"Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.' Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living. He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and mistreat them during four hundred years. 'But I will judge the nation that they serve,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.' Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

DEVOTION

I have often marveled at the radical obedience of Abraham and Sarah. It is hard to imagine leaving everything and everyone that I knew and loved, just because I thought I heard the voice of God saying, follow me.

It would take an incredibly faith-filled and Spirit led individual to sacrifice everything for a Word from the Lord.

Yet, throughout history, men and women have done just that, giving us a wonderful example of what it means to put all of our trust in God!

Of course, JESUS, is our greatest example, for he humbly and obediently went to the cross to redeem a fallen humanity and open the door to eternal life on the Word of His Father.

I wonder in what ways God is calling me--or you--to radical obedience today? How can we love God by keeping God's commandments? How can we advance the Kingdom of God, by stepping out on faith today?

I want to invite each of us to attune our ears to God's voice so that we will be ready to answer, "Here am I, send me."

Let us pray: God and gracious God, thank you so much for the opportunity to hear and heed your voice. Give me listening ears to hear and obey you. I know you have great and marvelous things in store for me. I look forward to it with great joy! Please help me to share the good news that you love us with others. I pray this in Jesus' Name, Amen.

INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta