When God Speaks...

I was reading quite a bit today about adoption and I thought I'd share some of it with you (see below). Call me crazy, but when I am reading and I see a verse (or in this case -many verses), I know God is speaking to me. I can remember when I began 'seeking'. I read so many books on adversity (thanks mom) and I would stumble upon a verse pertaining to my circumstance. The next day, someone on the radio would quote that verse, or I would read it somewhere else. It freaked me out at first, but all these years later, I know where it comes from.

Ten years ago when someone would say "...God told me...", or "...God whispered in my ear...", etc., it would aggravate the heck out of me! I remember thinking that person was a 'fruit loop', or that they just wanted attention. For some, this may be the case, but I needed to know more. I needed to find out just how true it could be that the Creator would 'whisper' or 'speak' to the least of me. Needless to say, I began paying attention...I waited and waited to hear God's voice. Don't laugh! I really DID think it was a literal VOICE of God that I would hear! I really thought He'd say (in a big, BOOMING voice)..."SHANNON! I WANT YOU TO...."...

Ok, so now I know better (and all you mature Christians can stop laughing now). I have come to realize that if a direction, maybe an idea, or a verse pops in my mind-followed by confirmation of some kind-and is in step with God's word, it is indeed from Him. If you don't believe me, try it yourself. It's exciting to know that God, El-Shaddai, will 'speak' to you!

Here's what spoke to my heart today:

Matthew 25:40 - And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' [NKJV]

Jesus says this in the midst of a teaching that begins in verse 31 and continues through verse 46.

Simply put, it means that the way one treats other people is seen by Christ as the way they treat Him.

An extremely significant aspect of the overall teaching is that one's treatment of others weighs heavily on the criteria by which they'll be judged. All the "religion" in the world won't amount to a hill of beans unless its practice results in service to others.

Mark 10:45 - "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

James 1:27 - Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

James 2:26 - For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Could He be speaking to you?