Signs of the Times - Mid-Month Moment - Connie Inglis

Mid-Month Moments with Connie Inglis

Signs are important.

My husband and I were driving in Calgary, and although we are familiar with the city, we had to rely heavily on signs, especially when connecting on and off the fast-moving thoroughfares. In the dark it's even more important, and then there are the ongoing construction issues. One evening we totally missed the correct ramp because of construction and because there were no signs at all. 

If you've ever travelled in a non-English speaking country, the signs mean nothing at all. You have to learn the language first before you can even begin to read the signs.

That got me thinking about signs for us in our walk with God, especially during this first week of advent with the focus on hope and the Old Testament prophets who penned verses as signs for the coming of the Messiah. I often find it strange that the religious leaders in the New Testament, who knew the Old Testament Scriptures, either misunderstood the signs OR they chose to ignore them. How could they have been so blind to not get what the Old Testament was saying- - the signs were all pointing to Jesus?

In John 2:18-20, Jesus has a dialogue with the Jewish leaders after he clears the temple. The Jews asked him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”

These Jewish leaders really had no interest in revealing Jesus as the Son of God, but rather, they confronted Jesus to disprove Jesus as the Son of God. They had already made up their minds, even before they asked their questions. They totally missed the signs.

What about you and me? Do we miss God's signs in our lives? Are we so busy going down our own highway, not listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and then end up somewhere way off HIS path for us? And then find ourselves lost, wondering how we got there? Sometimes it's easy to miss the signs if we're not watching for them.

Well, how do we know God's signs? One way is to KNOW God's Word - like knowing the language that's written on the signs. He gave us the Bible as a sign. Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." God's Word is full of instruction on how to live - how to BE! So, if we are being the children of God that He wants us to be, as instructed in His Word, THEN we will be more attentive to His voice and the guidance of the Holy Spirit on the individual level. 

Romans 8:2-6 says: 

“…because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."

God's Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It's a two-fold sign. We've got to be aware of and watch for them both.

My prayer for us this week is that we will proactively study and know God's Word. And may we go through our days sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance and direction. May we both know the signs and then watch for the signs.

Faithful together,

Connie

Dec 7, 2017