Skip to main content

“Pay attention to whose voice you are listening to.”

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.55). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

The key thing to see is that there are so many voices striving to get your attention.  And many of them have the potential to get you off track.  They can discourage you and cause you to lose hope.  Have you found that true?

Ray says, “I once heard a story about an experienced spelunker who invited his friend Danny to explore a cave with him. ‘It’s a little tough to get there,’ he said, ‘but would you like to come?’ Danny, always open for a little adventure, agreed.

“They entered the cavern and the passageway got smaller and smaller until both men had to walk hunched over. Pretty soon they had to get down and crawl. Then, to Danny’s horror, it got even too cramped for that. To get through a small fissure in the rock, they had to lie on their backs, push with their legs, and keep their hands to their sides. The passageway grew even narrower. They could not breathe and move at the same time. When they took a breath, their lungs expanded and filled the tiny space in the cave, causing them to get stuck. So, they had to breathe out, in order to move forward. Breathe in, get stuck, breathe out, push with the legs, move a tiny bit forward. How’s that for claustrophobia? It freaks me out just to tell the story.

“Danny started to lose it. I am going to die in this cave! he thought. I can’t go forward. I can’t go back. I’m stuck!

“At that moment, Danny’s friend called out to him, ‘Danny, this is really important. If you keep listening to those voices in your head— if you let your mind run wild— you will flip out. And if you flip out, you will get stuck in this cave. I want you to listen only to my voice right now. Danny, I have been through this, and I am here right now. I won’t leave you. You can trust me. Danny, you can make it. You just have to keep listening, every moment, to my voice.’

“Danny died in that cave.

“Just kidding!  Actually, he made it all the way through, and the next cavern dazzled him beyond anything he’d ever expected to see.”

Ray then says, “What voice has your attention? Jesus says, ‘Keep listening to My voice. Don’t listen to the voices of doubt and fear that say it’s too late for you, that you should give up hope. You can trust Me. I will not leave you. I am with you always.’”


Is that the voice you needed to hear today?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life.   It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed.   Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life.   Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you.   You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good.   Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because God is good He will use e
Post a Comment
Read more

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who have messed
Post a Comment
Read more

“What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Rick posed this question at the end of his chapter, You Are Not an Accident.   In this chapter he deals with the fact that God created you the way you are with a purpose.   In other words you are not an accident.   I am also reading the Apostle John’s view of Jesus and what He said and did while He was here on earth.   In the beginning of Chapter 9 there is a story about a blind man.   And the disciples who were with Him asked Him a good question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? ”   Have you ever asked the same thing about something in you that you don’t like?   Like that characteristic is a curse or something.   Society has set a standard that is not a standard of God.   Remember, He created you and you are not an accident. Jesus did answer the question about the blind
Post a Comment
Read more