Recently a Preacher quipped, “I have stopped looking for signs (of Jesus’ Second Coming) and started listening for sounds!” Like the sound of a trumpet, I presume!

Today we notice a short excerpt from the life of King David. Also on the subject of listening for sounds …

“And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.” 2 Samuel 5:24

The text is set in a time of battle, overcoming an enemy. And the victory is already ensured of God. But WHEN does one attack? (See that David is going to be on the offensive, not defensive, side of this confrontation! In like manner God has equipped us with “the sword of the Spirit” to thrust at the devil!)

“Go forth” … when you HEAR the sound of the Breeze in the mulberry trees! And we all know the typology in play here … the wind being such a clear picture of the Holy Spirit of God!

(Jesus speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:8 … “The WIND bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the SPIRIT.”)

(And on the Day of Pentecost, when the HOLY SPIRIT descended on earth, on the Church … “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty WIND, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” Acts 2:1-2)

My Text, reprinted here, teaches me several things … “When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself …”

First, I need to learn to “listen” for the Holy Spirit’s Promptings. To be Biblically sensitive to His Leading. Has He blown my way before and I carelessly missed Him? No doubt …

Second, I need to cultivate a healthy relationship with God’s Spirit too. He can be grieved (actually meaning “hurt,” or “caused pain” – Ephesians 4:30) or quenched (“cooled down” – 1 Thessalonians 5:19) by our sinful/selfish actions. Live right, Preacher Bagwell! I must learn to function in the “communion” of the Holy Ghost, enjoying His Presence each hour! (Paul’s idea/word from 2 Corinthians 13:14.)

Third, I must program myself to then “obey” those directives from the Holy Spirit. To “bestir myself” when He “blows” my way!

Frankly, we had all better be grateful He is still “blowing His gentle Breezes” our direction! Or is He?

Have you “heard” Him recently?

Truth be told, it is quite “windy” here in my study this morning as I write each of you! And I pray this lesson will “stir” some of us into a keen craving to know Him (the Holy Spirit) better.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Pray for a “windy” day, you all!

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I base my remarks this morning on John 14:9. The words of Jesus (actually a question) to His Disciples, particularly to Philip … “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?”

Nearly three years, being with Jesus every day! (Mark 3:14 … “And He ordained twelve, that they SHOULD BE WITH HIM.”) Yet, Jesus seems startled, marveling within Himself … “Yet thou hast not known Me?”

And if Philip, after all those months of literally following Jesus, came up short … where do we appear?

I suggest we all lack intimacy with our Saviour, to some degree anyway. We too have not known Him, surely not as we we would hope! (If one has no desire whatsoever to know Him better … I’d be worried, frankly.)

But then a “shift” occurred, in this “knowing Jesus” context! It happened on the Day of Pentecost!

Prior to that Day … the Disciples knew Jesus as the “Power Source” for their ministries. “The demons are subservient to us,” they rejoiced! (Luke 10:17 … “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.”)

After that great Day (Pentecost) … they knew Him as living down within their hearts, through His Holy Spirit of course. “Abiding” within them!

What a progression!

Of course … He is still the Power energizing all we do … but now as our innermost “Friend” and “Companion” and “Lord!”

“Yet,” as in our Text, John 14:9 … Jesus used that precise conjunction to show Philip that the possibility existed “to know Him more intimately!”

Which Philip eventually did!

I say that because Philip (history says ) died for Jesus, died as a martyr for the Cause of Christ!

Obviously there are different levels of knowledge open to a Believer in Christ (both “yada” in Hebrew and “ginosko” in Greek imply such) … therefore some of this “knowing Him” situation is up to you and me!

I’d like to turn that “yet” into a “then” in my experience with the Lord Jesus!

In a good sense here, I’d like to be “ever learning!”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Jesus praying in John 17:3 … “And this is life eternal, that they might KNOW thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Amen!

By the way, how well do YOU know HIM? (On a scale of 1 to 10 … with 1 being “cold” and 10 being “hot?”) Your answer to this question could be very revealing! I sure hope we don’t come up with a lot of “lukewarm” answers here!

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“And he (Abraham) removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.” Genesis 12:8

Again and again we read of Abraham doing just that, building an altar and communing with God!

While today I am not necessarily talking about a physical altar … I am wondering if it might be wise for us all to strengthen the habit of “calling on the Name of the Lord” more often. And in more places … throughout the day!

Can the breakfast table be tuned into an altar?

How about the drivers seat in your car?

I (at least a few times) have made my lawnmower a place of worship and prayer … as I cut swaths through the front year!

And Abraham in our Text today is “on the road,” yet still “calling on the Lord” as he goes!

So … can a motel room become an altar?

Just some ideas this Monday morning … to help us live our days and nights closer to our great God.

I do have a few friends who have built “rock altars” (literally now) somewhere on their property. A place where they often retire and invest time (wisely) in “calling on the Lord!”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Mark wrote this of Jesus, probably basing his data of Simon Peter’s eyewitness testimony of our Lord … “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35

Enough said!

A day later, still pondering this verse … I’ve learned that the very word Bethel means “House of God” and the city of Ai is a type or symbol of the “world,” of carnal “disobedience!”

And Abraham built an altar between the two! What a wise plan! Worshipping God before you get to His House, on the way … and also worshipping God so you don’t move toward the world!

Now, enough said, I think.

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Lord, based on Proverbs 3:5-6 … I ask Thee today to increase our faith, let us “trust” more and more and more in Thee with each passing day. Help us to come to the place we believe more, lots more, in Thee than even in our own earth-bound understanding!

Then as we grow in such a fashion, we ask Thee also to direct our paths, guide us with Thy Wisdom.

In Jesus’ Name … Amen.

Today’s Verse … “The LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me ….” Genesis 17:1

Just those three words, “Walk before Me!”

In other words, “Live your life in conscious realization that the Lord God is watching you, constantly!”

“Walk before Me!”

The verb “walk” is a command, written in the imperative mood. Not a choice, Abraham! This “walk” implies one’s lifestyle. Everything he or she does.

And the Pronoun “Me” is also interesting. It is “paniym,” meaning “Face!” God’s very Eyes looking my way!

And even the preposition “before” is heavy with spiritual weight. It’s simply spelled “le,” and not only means “before,” but at times the Holy Spirit has used it as “to” and occasionally “for.”

Walk “TO” Me!

Walk “FOR” Me!

I like them all!

This too (according to the lexicons) is grammatically acceptable, completely accurate … “Walk “ON ACCOUNT OF” Me!

Wow!

“Constantly aware,” the old song says.

Proverbs 15:3, along this same line of thought, teaches us: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”

Remember that! Live with that great Truth in mind! In that sense we are always BEOFRE Him!

But God not only watches as we walk before Him. He can also “direct” our paths …

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee WITH MINE EYE.” Psalm 32:8, which cannot happen if I am not walking before Him! Looking at Him, on Him, centering on His radiant Face, His Omniscient Eyes!

Just a thought for this Friday morning.

But a worthy though, for sure!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Actually He is watching each of us right now! A thought that should being us great peace and joy!

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