5 Minute Read

Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

1 Kings 12-13
John 6:22-59

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

1 Kings 13:8-9 (CSB): “But the man of God replied, ‘If you were to give me half your house, I still wouldn’t go with you, and I wouldn’t eat food or drink water in this place, 9 for this is what I was commanded by the word of the LORD: “You must not eat food or drink water or go back the way you came.” ‘ “

Reflecting on God’s Word

In previous articles, I have referenced a book when talking about making good decisions using biblical principles. That book is “Decision Making By the Book” by Haddon Robinson. It’s a great book that organizes God’s Word on the matter in a way that is easily understandable and practical.

Yet, if we aren’t careful, we will take such principles and go too far and essentially become a practicing deist. A deist is someone who believes that there is a God, but He isn’t involved in our world. He set the world in motion and then left us to make sense of it using our own abilities and resources.

Nothing could be further from the truth!!!

God has spoken to us by His Living Word (Jesus) and His written Word (our Bibles).

But does that mean that God no longer speaks to us in any other way? And does the Bible speak (past tense) or is it still speaking (present tense)? And if God doesn’t speak to us in any other way, how can we explain a young man’s experience when he says God has called him to preach? He isn’t pointing to a verse in the Bible. Instead, He is saying that God has been working in his mind and heart and has made it clear that he has been set aside to train others for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).

Yet, the written Word is the standard of truth (John 17:17). If we believe that God is speaking to us in some other way, it MUST be measured against what we KNOW God has already said in His Word. If what we believe God is saying to us violates what He has already said in His Word, then we are not hearing from the Lord or are misunderstanding what He is saying to us.

A book that has really helped me in this area is “Hearing God’s Voice,” by Henry and Richard Blackaby. I believe it is thoroughly biblical, highlights the supremacy of the Word, and yet calls us to listen and look for what God is doing around us and join Him.

But what do we do when we believe we have “heard” from the Lord? What if we believe He is calling us into the ministry? What if we believe He is leading us to share the Gospel with our neighbor? What if we believe He is prodding us to meet the need of a person in our church or community?

Simply put, we must look into our Bibles to see if what we believe God is saying lines up with what He has already said. We can also seek wise counsel and apply other biblical principles. But when it becomes clear that God has spoken to us, we must move toward action and obey Him.

The account in 1 Kings 13 powerfully illustrates that when we have genuinely heard from the Lord, we had better not let anything distract us from obeying Him. First Kings 13 is about “a man of God” who was given a message to proclaim over the altar of Israel in front of King Jeroboam. The man of God also made it clear that God told him not to “eat food or drink water or go back the way you came” (1 Kings 13:9).

But, when we get to verse 11, we read of “a certain old prophet” who deceived the man of God by saying that God had given him a message, too. God had supposedly told him, through an angel, that he was to bring the man of God to his house to eat and drink. Without so much as a thought that the two messages were in direct conflict, the man of God complied. As he was eating, the old prophet proclaimed that the man of God had disobeyed the Lord and would die before he got home. A lion had supper before the day was done.

One of the big ideas of this chapter is that when we are certain that God has spoken, we must obey. We dare not get distracted. We shouldn’t be so proud that we refuse to listen to other Christians who may have legitimate concerns that we have not heard from the Lord or that we have misunderstood what He has revealed to us. But when we have confirmation(s) that we have heard from the Lord, we must obey.

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you study His Word so that the Holy Spirit can drive it’s truths home to your mind and heart.
  • Ask God to help you determine how He may be leading you, and compare everything to Scripture.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into 1 Kings 13, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What can we learn from the man of God and the lying prophet?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)