Taking It to Work:
To do well in life, from a work perspective or an eternal perspective, there is nothing more important than understanding expectations. It is very hard to please a boss when you are not clear on his or her expectations. A good leader will carefully communicate what is expected from each team member, but even the best leaders, because of the variety of people on the team, will have to give clarification from time to time.
According to scripture, God does the same for all of us that are His followers. We have His written Word (logos) that contains the absolute foundation of truth in how we are to live and please Him, and explains much of the big picture of why we are here. He also promised to dwell within us, His Holy Spirit to be the active speaking voice (rhema) for any clarity, correction or specific guidance along the way.
The written Word can’t tell us whether we should accept that sales contract or not, or whether to hire that new applicant. It won’t tell us when we should change jobs, buy a new car, or spend more time with the kids. God’s guidance for our specific, personal lives, in most cases has to be discerned. We either do that through our own wisdom, or if are wise, we will call on the Lord for His rhema – His speaking voice into our lives.
We all already do this. That’s part of the reason many of us love certain preachers. They exegesis. They dig into the scriptures (logos) and they bring to us in a message what they feel God had given to them (rhema). If its so, the Word of God (logos) is put into a sermon that moves our heart for application in our personal lives.
Sometimes I write what I feel God is saying to me. If it aligns with scripture, I take it to heart. That is what the “Listening to the Holy Spirit” section is all about. It’s the rhema that God gives to me about my work-faith connection. Sometimes it’s personal application, sometimes professional.
Many have asked where that section comes from, and there you have it. I just pass on what I feel God’s rhema is to me. It’s always in line with scripture, and I look at it very similarly as to when the Holy Spirit speaks to me from a pulpit, only there is no preacher as a middleman. The truth goes deeper, and I understand His expectations that much better.
I would encourage each of you to have a quiet “listening” time with the Lord. There are so many decisions to be made at work and home that we really should not be guessing about. God promises to speak to us so we don’t have to guess. We can learn how He speaks to us. We can know His expectations and His heart, if we listen with ours. Read His logos, and learn to listen to His rhema, that all His Word will be at work in you, today.
Proverbs 6:23 (ESV) – For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
John 10:27 (ESV) – My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Psalm 119:105 (ESV) – Your word [rhema] is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Matt 4:4 (ESV) – But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word [rhema] that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Luke 3:2 (ESV) – during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word [rhema] of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Rom 10:17 (ESV) – So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word [rhema] of Christ.
1Thess 5:20-21 (ESV) – Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.
2 Tim 2:15 (ESV) -a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word [logos] of truth.
Listening to the Holy Spirit (Rhema):
As you listen, so I speak. My voice is not absent, but held distant by mind and heart, cluttered as a whisper in a great wind. You have heard me speak in My Word, but also in the quiet voice. I speak through creation, and those re-created. You hear me teach in the pulpits, in the innocence of your children, and in the wordless circumstances and understandings of the heart. Without limit is My tongue. All aligns, My written Word to the nations, and every soft word breathed in prayer and thought to the listening mind. Test all to the Scriptures, but do not cast out what conforms, for it is given to you for understanding, daily guidance for the walking, a light unto your feet. Knowledge and wisdom of man bombards; it is the still, quiet voice of My Spirit that reminds and applies the Word written. My sheep hear My voice, and they follow me. Closer and safer they draw for the hearing, as My living Word speaks along the way.
