Lesson 1: Listen To The Direction of the Holy Spirit.
By Greg Sanders

Acts 8:26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Have you ever wished God would just appear and tell you exactly what choice to make and what direction to go? I used to pray that way all the time. I thought, “God, if You would just literally reveal yourself to me, all my doubts would flee.” However, nowadays I find myself praying, “Lord, don’t send an angel. Just nudge me in my Spirit and that will be good enough.” Seeing an angel would scare most of us to death. Most of the times when angels appear, the first words out of their mouth are, “Do not be afraid.” The reason they say that is because such appearances are scary. Philip did not have to listen hard on this occasion to discover the direction of God. An angel spoke to Him. But angel or no angel, we must be people who tune our ears toward the voice of the Holy Spirit.

God has a strategic direction for your life that will lead you into greater things with Him if you will listen. Jesus said (John 10:27)…His sheep know my voice and follow me. He also said, “Another shepherd they will not follow.” Do you know how you learn the voice of your shepherd? You listen to Him. You spend so much time with Him that you instinctively know His voice when He speaks. Recognizing God’s voice is directly tied to spending enough time with Him to learn His voice.

Don’t assume you hear God’s voice clearly when you don’t spend time with Him. Many people think that their good idea must be from God because they have not spent enough time with Him to distinguish the difference between His voice and the voice of their own desires. If God has never disagreed with you then you probably have not learned His voice. You are hearing what you want to hear.

How do I combat this battle of my voice versus God’s voice? When you spend time in prayer and reading your bible, you are not just getting downloads of His wisdom and His Spirit in your life. You’re also training your ear to hear His voice. The road to greater things begins by listening to the direction of the Holy Spirit. He is speaking today. Only God has the path for greater things in your life. There are others who promise greater things but only He delivers.

Today’s Challenge: Spend time today learning the voice of God. You learn His voice by getting into His presence, getting into His word, and listening to His Spirit. The more time you invest in Him the easier it is to recognize His voice. God has greater things for you and wants to lead you toward them step-by-step. The first step requires listening.

Today’s devotion is an excerpt from a recent message at CFA. To listen to this message in its entirety long onto www.pastorgregsanders.com or camdenfirstassembly.org and click on the message “ Stepping in Sync with the Holy Spirit”