On the Run AND Hearing Clearly from God - Matthew 2 Blog
Today I read in Matthew 2 and I just couldn’t help but to be amazed with how clearly God was speaking to several different individuals in their dreams. Today’s blog is titled, “On the Run AND Hearing Clearly from God”, because that is exactly what is happening in this chapter. Joseph and Mary are “on the run” to protect their Baby Jesus (King of the Jews) from being killed by King Herod. What is keeping their Baby alive is God’s clear instruction to them and to others in their individual dreams. Let’s dive a bit deeper into this story, AND delve into the question, “Does God still speak to us today?”
So, just a brief recap of what I read in Matthew 2, just in case you haven’t had a chance to read it yet. A beautiful thing happens as Jesus is born from the Virgin Mary. The three wise men are excited and being guided by a star to the place where Jesus was born. King Herod hears that these wise men are going to see Baby Jesus “KING of the Jews” to bring their gifts to Him and Herod becomes threatened and jealous. He tells the wise men to let him know when they find Jesus so that he can go and worship Him too, but in reality he actually wants to kill this anointed Baby. Now comes the moments when God begins to speak to individuals in their dreams in order to save Baby Jesus from getting killed. In a dream, God reveals to the three wise men that they should NOT tell King Herod where Jesus is located. On three different occasions an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph and tells him to grab Mary & their Baby and flee to different locations (Egypt, Israel, & Nazareth), hence the reason that part of my blog title is “On the Run”.
It is beautiful to see the amazing lengths that God went to in order to save Jesus from being killed as an infant. God went to these lengths to save Jesus because He had HUGE plans for Jesus. The biggest and most ultimate plan that God had for Jesus was for Him to die on the cross for our sins and to then be raised to life from the grave three days later proving that He can defeat death. After saying all of that, now you can look back on Matthew 2 and realize that God saved Baby Jesus so that YOU & I could be saved in the long run through the death of Jesus on the cross. Wow!!! Let’s marinate on this for a while. God saved this amazing Baby Jesus, so that YOU & I could be saved too. Furthermore, He saved Jesus knowing that He would later allow Him to be sacrificed for YOU & I. God first saves His One and Only Baby Son Jesus, to ultimately SACRIFICE Him so that YOU & I could have a personal relationship with Him now, and Eternal Life in Heaven with Him some day too. THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!!
Wow! God loves us sooooo much!!! He did all of that just so that we could have a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. What do I mean by that? I mean that God sent His Son Jesus, who had no sin (lived a sin free life), to be the pure/unblemished and ultimate blood sacrifice for our sin. That sacrifice bridged the gap (that was created by our sin) that kept us from having a relationship with God. That alone should answer the question that I asked above, “Does God Still Speak to Us Today?” He would not have done all that He did for us in order to sit and ignore us. God’s Word says in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” In other words, God found ways to speak to people in the Old Testament & the New Testament, and He continues to speak to us in various ways today.
If we can sit still and be quiet long enough, He will speak to us through His whisper. Ask Him questions in prayer and give Him time to speak to you in your quiet place. Journal what you are hearing. Sometimes you may not hear that whisper, but you might instead get impressions on your heart or visions. Journal out those impressions and/or draw a picture of that vision. God also speaks to us through His timely Word (The Bible), which is why it is important to read your Bible daily (that’s why It’s called The Daily Bread). God can speak to us through other believers and sometimes through another’s gift of prophesy. If you observe closely enough, you’ll see that God can speak to you through circumstantial situations. Finally, God can speak to us through our dreams. If you feel God is silent, then ask yourself, “What is the last thing God asked me to do?” Maybe God is waiting for you to finish that task before He gives you further instructions, blessings, etc. Most importantly, to hear from God, you need to believe that He still speaks to us in these ways TODAY (and He does), then ask Him to speak to you while giving Him the time and space to do so.
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