STOP - LOOK - AND LISTEN

STOP - LOOK - and LISTEN
Jesus has given us a simple way to live constantly in the center of the Father's will. In one place he said, "I can only do what I see my Father doing." In another place he said, "I can only do what I hear my Father saying." As I read this recently the word, "only" leaped out at me and for the first time I saw how important that word was in the context of that statement! Of course Jesus did not have to wait on word from the Father to take the next step as he walked down the road, but he did wait on word from his Father before he entered into any ministry or special endeavor for which he needed divine guidance. As I thought on this, God gave me three words: STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN!

The "stop" speaks of taking time to be alone with God on a regular basis. We have to stop the rush of life and take time to listen and look to see what God is doing and what He wants us to do. That requires time spent in prayer away from the rush and the noise of daily life. Jesus often went to solitary places to pray. More than once we read that he went into the mountains to pray. Once he went alone into the wilderness to fast and pray for forty days. We read that he would arise a great while before daylight and go out alone to pray. He prayed alone in the garden of Gethsemany the night before his crucifixion. Jesus was a man of prayer! He made it a habit to have quiet fellowship with his Father away from the crowds of sick and needy people. That is the only way he could have been in a place to hear from God on a daily basis.

The "Look and listen" speaks of how Jesus was constantly listening and looking to see what his Father was doing and saying so he could enter into the work of God and flow with it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything Jesus did he was guided by the hand of God to do it. If we will stop, look, and listen, we can live as fruitfully and as victoriously as Jesus did. DO YOU BELIEVE IT?