The Need For Practical Godliness

 “ Everlasting life! O if we can comprehend this in the lessons that Christ gave. The questions that the disciples brought to the Saviour after the crowds had dispersed, and the teachings that he then explained more fully to them, are essential for the multitudes today to understand and to practice. Practical godliness must be learned. Those who study and practice the teachings of Christ will gain an essential education in belief and practice of Bible truth. By Bible truth, by the Word of God, every teacher will one day be measured by the greatest Teacher this world ever knew. Let those who attend our schools make the lessons of Christ their chief study; for he came from heaven to teach the human family the principles of the kingdom of heaven. Belief of the grand truths he presented will work a reformation in all who truly receive them.”  {NPU Gleaner, May 26, 1909 par. 8}

One Great Lesson in Practical Godliness is

 Learning to Hear the voice of God

We are told that “the gospel is a wonderful simplifier of life’s problems” {MH 363.1}  . And one of the greatest things that we must learn through the gospel and learn simply, is how to hear the voice of God. This is one of the great lessons concerning practical godliness that God would have us learn and teach!

This article is not meant to be exhaustive but to help with the “A” of the ABC’s of learning to hear the voice of God.

First, the student that wants to learn to hear the voice of the great teacher (Jesus) must be willing to spend some time(a quiet hour) all alone with God (by him or herself). This is why Satan seeks to get us so busy with life that we have no time to be alone with God and to listen.

But all alone with God, Down on your knees, plead with God to teach you to recognize His voice (ask and ye shall receive- Matt. 7:7). Notice the following inspired statement as relates to hearing voice of God:

“In the days of Christ the town or city that did not provide for the religious instruction of the young was regarded as under the curse of God. Yet the teaching had become formal. Tradition had in a great degree supplanted the Scriptures. True education would lead the youth to “seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him.” Acts 17:27. But the Jewish teachers gave their attention to matters of ceremony. The mind was crowded with material that was worthless to the learner, and that would not be recognized in the higher school of the courts above. The experience which is obtained through a personal acceptance of God’s word had no place in the educational system. Absorbed in the round of externals, the students found no quiet hours to spend with God. They did not hear His voice speaking to the heart. In their search after knowledge, they turned away from the Source of wisdom. The great essentials of the service of God were neglected. The principles of the law were obscured. That which was regarded as superior education was the greatest hindrance to real development. Under the training of the rabbis the powers of the youth were repressed. Their minds became cramped and narrow.  {DA 69.3} 

     “The child Jesus did not receive instruction in the synagogue schools. His mother was His first human teacher. From her lips and from the scrolls of the prophets, He learned of heavenly things. The very words which He Himself had spoken to Moses for Israel He was now taught at His mother’s knee. As He advanced from childhood to youth, He did not seek the schools of the rabbis. He needed not the education to be obtained from such sources; for God was His instructor.  {DA 70.1}

“All who are under the training of God need the quiet hour for communion with their own hearts, with nature, and with God. In them is to be revealed a life that is not in harmony with the world, its customs, or its practices; and they need to have a personal experience in obtaining a knowledge of the will of God. We must individually hear Him speaking to the heart. When (1) every other voice is hushed, and (2) in quietness we wait before Him, the silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of God. He bids us, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. This is the effectual preparation for all labor for God. Amidst the hurrying throng, and the strain of life’s intense activities, he who is thus refreshed will be surrounded with an atmosphere of light and peace. He will receive a new endowment of both physical and mental strength. His life will breathe out a fragrance, and will reveal a divine power that will reach men’s hearts.  {MH 58.3}

Oh, if you have never tried this, then try it today! This is the experience we so desperately need in these last days. Infact we are told:

  “An intensity such as never before was seen is taking possession of the world. In amusement, in moneymaking, in the contest for power, in the very struggle for existence, there is a terrible force that engrosses body and mind and soul. In the midst of this maddening rush, God is speaking. He bids us come apart and commune with Him. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10.  {Ed 260.2}

     “Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail of receiving the blessing of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried steps they press through the circle of Christ’s loving presence, pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their burdens they return to their work.  {Ed 260.3} 

     These workers can never attain the highest success until they learn the secret of strength. They must give themselves time to think, to pray, to wait upon God for a renewal of physical, mental, and spiritual power. They need the uplifting influence of His Spirit. Receiving this, they will be quickened by fresh life. The wearied frame and tired brain will be refreshed, the burdened heart will be lightened.  {Ed 260.4} 

     “Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with Christ, to sit down in companionship with Him–this is our need. Happy will it be for the children of our homes and the students of our schools when parents and teachers shall learn in their own lives the precious experience pictured in these words from the Song of Songs:

     “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,

      So is my Beloved among the sons.

      I sat down under His shadow with great delight,

      And His fruit was sweet to my taste.

      He brought me to the banqueting house,

      And His banner over me was love.” Song of Solomon 2:3, 4.  {Ed 261.1}

To Be Continued…

If you were blessed by these inspired instructions and have tried this spiritual recipe would you leave your testimony in the reply box below, that it might encourage someone else to “taste and see that the Lord is good”?