WHAT IS OUR GOD IS SPEAKING TO?

A young man went to a place of understanding the Bible (PA) held on every Wednesday. There, the Reverend brought the theme of listening to God and obey His commandments. The young man, as he listened then wonder in his heart "Does God still speak to us?".

After the PA class ended, he went with some friends to a coffee shop to discuss the words of the Reverend had while eating cake and a cup of coffee before returning to their homes. It is almost often they do after the PA is completed. They each testified that God had led their lives with a different way. After nearly 10 hours of the night, they came out of the store to return to their homes.

The young man was driving his car home. In the car he was praying "Lord, if you still like to talk to us, talk to me, I will hear, I'll do whatever I can to obey them."

During the ride home, he suddenly had a strange idea to buy a gallon of milk. He shook his head and said "Lord, Is that you?".

But he did not hear any answer and he still walked home. But the desire to buy a gallon of milk has continued to exist in his head. Then this young man thought about Samuel who do not recognize the voice of God and how Samuel went to Eli's running scared.

"Good Lord, if this is you, I will buy the milk", she thought, this is not a difficult thing for a test of obedience and milk can still be used for other things. He then stopped, buy a gallon of milk and drove back toward home.

At the time of passing through a crossroad that leads to Seventh Street, he felt that he must turn to the street. "No way" he thought and he kept driving through the intersection. However, again there was the thought in his head and he felt that he should turn around to go back to Seventh Street. Finally at the next intersection, he turned the car around and headed down Seventh Street.

Half jokingly he yelled "Good Lord, I obey. He walked a few moments before he felt he had to stop. He stopped and watched around. He was in a shopping area rather decent, not shabby but not too expensive areas. There was no activity at all and all the house there was dark which seemed everyone was in bed.

Back he felt something in his heart "Go and give this milk to the house which is across the street."

The young people look to the house. The house was dark and apparently the landlord was away or asleep. She sat back in his car and said "God, it went too far, people in the house was asleep and if I wake them, they would be angry and I will look like fools."

But again he felt that he must give them the milk. Finally she opened her car door "Good Lord, if this you, I will go to the house and give the milk to them. If you really want to see me like a fool, that's okay, I want to be a devout man. Surely it This will be beneficial, but if I knocked on the door and no answer, I'll go from here ".

He opened the car door and rang the bell at the front door. He heard no noise inside the house and there were shouts of men "Who's there? What do you want?".

Then the door opened before the young man can go away. The man was standing with my jeans and T-shirts, like he just got out of bed. He looked unhappy to see a stranger on his doorstep. The young child feeding is "Here I bring the milk."

These men as soon as he took the milk and bring the milk to the house he shouted in Spanish. Then a woman came over and carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The men followed him in her arms a baby. The baby was crying. Tears streamed down the face man. The man said, half crying, "We were just praying. We were a lot of bills and we have no money do not even have money to buy milk for our baby. We ask God to show you how we can get the milk for our baby."

His wife then yelled "We ask the Lord to send angels to bring ........, hey are you an angel?"

The young man then took his wallet and gave all his money into the hands of man. He turned and walked back to his car and the tears flowed down her cheeks. He was convinced now that God still answers prayer.

Live by Faith

Sebab di dalamnya nyata kebenaran Allah, yang bertolak dari iman dan memimpin kepada iman, seperti ada tertulis: "Orang benar akan hidup oleh iman." (Roma 1:17)

Bacaan : Roma 1 : 15 - 17

Hidup oleh iman”. Kita kerap mendengar slogan ini, bahkan mungkin terlalu se­ring. Apa sebenarnya artinya? Acap kali orang menjawab, “artinya ka­lau saya ber­iman, saya akan hidup.” Apa ar­tinya hi­dup? “Ya, saya masuk surga ka­lau saya ma­ti nanti. Pokoknya saya per­caya Yesus itu Tuhan, masuk surga, sele­sai sudah.”

Itu benar—kita di­selamat­kan karena kasih karunia oleh iman. Namun, tentu ti­dak selesai di situ. Apabila keselamatan se­ma­­ta urus­an masuk surga, kenapa kita ma­­sih hidup sekarang, tidak mati saja, su­paya langsung masuk surga? Atau mung­­­­­kin ada yang mengata­kan, ber­iman itu pokok­nya percaya Yesus itu Tuhan, titik. Ba­gaimana saya hidup, itu urusan lain. Ka­lau begitu, iman jenis ini cu­ma soal meng­­ha­­fal dalam pikiran seperti menghadapi ujian di sekolah.

Paulus dalam suratnya kepada jemaat di Roma meminta supa­ya kita hidup oleh iman. Kata asli yang digunakan untuk “hidup” (ayat 17) di sini sebetulnya berbicara tentang suatu kekuatan, daya yang terus berkelanjutan. Dengan kata lain, Paulus hendak menekan­kan bahwa iman ada dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari di mana pun dan kapan pun; saat kita makan, saat kita minum, saat kita bekerja, saat kita mengambil keputusan, saat kita hendak ber­be­lanja, saat kita hendak marah—iman memberikan “hidup” dalam hidup kita.

Contoh sederhana; soal tidur. Tanpa iman, banyak orang tidur dalam kekhawatiran, kegelisahan. Banyak orang tidur dengan hati tidak tenang, entah memikirkan pekerjaan, keuangan, dan lain-lain. Namun, iman yang membuat kita hidup adalah iman yang menja­di­kan kita dapat berkata seperti Daud, “Aku membaringkan diri, lalu tidur; aku bangun, sebab Tuhan menopang aku (Mazmur 3:6)

IMAN MEMBUAT HIDUP KITA JADI LEBIH HIDUP SEHINGGA KITA DAPAT MERASAKAN KASIH TUHAN ITU CUKUP

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Roma 1 : 15 – 17

1:15 Itulah sebabnya aku ingin untuk memberitakan Injil kepada kamu juga yang diam di Roma.

1:16 Sebab aku mempunyai keyakinan yang kokoh dalam Injil, karena Injil adalah kekuatan Allah yang menyelamatkan setiap orang yang percaya, pertama-tama orang Yahudi, tetapi juga orang Yunani.

1:17 Sebab di dalamnya nyata kebenaran Allah, yang bertolak dari iman dan memimpin kepada iman, seperti ada tertulis: "Orang benar akan hidup oleh iman."

the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage

His father takes him into the forest; blindfolds him; and then leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him . Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold.. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us; sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Moral of the story: Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there. "For we walk by faith, not by sight."