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All Scripture Is God Inspired – Not So, the Editing – He Said
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All Scripture Is God Inspired – Not So, the Editing

All Scripture Is God Inspired – Not So, the Editing

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.  Hebrews 6:10

I hate a double negative. A double negative is not unlike a squirrel running around a tree in order to arrive at the place from which he left. It is not uncommon in writing to find double negatives scattered throughout the prose of new writers. But in Scripture? And from God? (Timothy reminds us: All Scripture is God-breathed. The editing, not so much.)

If I seem a bit punchy in this week’s He Said devotional, it’s because I have spent the past week at two writers’ conferences with authors, editors, and agents. When you hang around such esteemed word-weavers, you parse, pick at, and slave over every “jot and tittle.” Jot, by the way, is a funny-sounding word that is seldom used in the English language. Tittle, on the other hand, means … well, I have no idea what tittle means, but it’s probably not what you men might be thinking.

For any of you writers out there hoping to land an editing gig for God, here are a couple of examples of how you might have improved this week’s verse. (Week as in seven days in a row, not weak as in feeble writing.)

God is not unjust. Tighten the sentence to read: “God is just.”

He will not forget. Shorten to: “He remembers.”

Have shown him. Okay, this is not a double negative, but it is passive writing, so change the phrase to: “the love you showed.”

Here’s the thing. (Thanks to Rebecca Stuhlmiller for that cliché.) I’m tired. It’s Thursday and the editor side of my brain will not allow the creative side of my brain to craft a devotional fit for He Said, She Said. But you know what? That’s okay. My ministry partner, Cindy Sproles, was nominated for a Selah award and that ain’t nothing to sneeze at. (“Was nominated” was a test to see if you picked up on the passivity. If you did not, contact Andrea Merrell or Alycia Morales to help you edit your next novel.)

All Scripture Is God inspired – not so, the editing. But praise God He will not forget (remember) your efforts to spread His truth. Therefore let us not be discouraged (be encourage) and press on to the goal of sharing His good news of love and salivation … salvation.

And may God add to your work and writing an editor.

God Made a Book Farmer – He Said
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God Made a Farmer

God Made a Book Farmer

Click to see the God Made a Book Farmer video

Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.  Exodus 5:9

For several years I have prayed the petition of Jabez: “Lord, bless me. Enlarge my territory. Expand my area of influence for you. Keep me from pain. Keep me from sin. Keep me under your hand of protection.”

But no more. God can keep His blessings.

Turns out acquiring more land and expanding your tent requires hiring more help and the workers I have, won’t – work, that is. This week another one quit on me.

God loves to show up at the last minute and I’m good with that. I find it exciting to stand at the edge of a swollen river and watch God part the waters. To see God’s hand deliver during times of despair is an awesome thing. But what becomes of the servant who wades out into swollen waters without God’s help. I’ll tell you what – he drowns.

That’s where I am this week … drowning.

Couple of months ago our Pub Board voted to publish several new books. I had planned to offer contracts to those new authors. I believe that is our mission – to help launch new careers and advance His truth through books.

But without hay, clay, and time to rest, brick makers break. Without workers, books go unpublished.

If you hoped to find an upbeat, funny, “Oh, here’s another of those quirky Eddie devotions” message today, forget it. I don’t have the time or energy to be witty and wise. Only thing I can do is cry out to God and so I will. I’ll plead for help, resources, and patience from authors, editors, and agents.

Then I’ll go back to work.

Speaking Off Pitch – He Said
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Speaking Off Pitch

Speaking Off Pitch

Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you. Ecclesiastes 7:21 NIV

Junior year in chorus, Mrs. Marley bounced me from her class. It was my fault. I’d cussed her. Not intentionally, or to her face, but she heard me.

See, what happened was this. Kevin and I were sitting in the tenor section singing some lame Christmas carol and halfway through the first refrain, Mrs. Marley stops and tells me I’m flat. I didn’t think I was but when we restarted the song, I focused and tried harder. She stooped and told me to stop messing around, that I was still off. I’m a lot of things – off being one of them – but that time I was on pitch. We tried again. This time I didn’t sing at all, just mouthed the words.

She stopped and called me out. “Eddie, either sing it right or don’t sing at all.”

Mrs. Marley wandered over to the soprano section to give them an earful about something, I forget what. Kevin nudged my elbow and told me to settle down. Guess he could tell I was ticked by what I was saying under my breath.

“If you don’t shut up, she’s going to hear you,” he warned.

“Let her, the old bat. For all I care she can kiss…”

And that’s when Mrs. Marley ignored King Solomon’s warning to overlook the curse words of a singing servant.

It’s hard to disregard the harsh words and slander tossed at us. Just this week a friend got all bent out of shape because of a review of his book. “Let it go,” I advised. Like I ever do, I thought.

Catching barbs and hurling them back seldom does any good, but it’s tough to let it go. And yet, let it go we must.

The evening after I got bounced from Mrs. Marley’s class, my mom asked what happened. Somehow she knew – moms always know. I think God tattles on bad boys. When I finished explaining that it wasn’t even me singing off pitch, she said firmly: “Tomorrow you will go back and apologize.”

“But I’m not –”

“No buts. She goes to our church, for goodness sake. How will it look, you getting thrown out of her class for cussing at her?”

Next day I apologized to Mrs. Marley. Later, she wrote a college letter of recommendation on my behalf. I saw her a couple of years ago and she remembered me without introduction. I didn’t bring up the “incident.”

All this is a way of saying, if I cussed in my heart this week, I’m sorry. Hope you’ll forgive me.

And forget it ever happened.

Good Eating – He Said
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Good Eating

Good Eating

Some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. Exodus 16:20 NIV

In 1968 I bit into an Almond Joy bar and chomped through a worm.

I forget what type of worm. Brownish pink, if I recall. I was riding home on my red Schwinn Spider bicycle (with banana seat, high-rise handlebars, and sissy bar) from Thompson’s store. I’d torn off a corner of the candy wrapper and taken my first bite when I glanced down and saw the remains of a worm wiggling amidst the coconut.

I woofed the mouthful of candy and worm guts onto the shoulder of the road, wheeled around, and returned to the store with the half-eaten candy bar. I got my money back, but it was a long time before I would eat another Almond Joy.

The Hebrew children had larvae-in-their-food problems too. We pick up the maggot story in verse eleven: The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp…the Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it…everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses.

Same thing can happen with God’s blessings sometimes too. If we’re not careful — if we try to horde His goodness for ourselves — the sweetness of His provision will rot and leave us with a bad taste in our mouth.

There is no “getting ahead” with God. We can only get behind Him and follow. Nothing wrong with planning for the future, saving, investing, and building barns to store a bumper crop. But in the end, God warns that disease, blight, war, pestilence, and taxes can leave us impoverished.

Best thing to do is stay close on His heels and pick up only as many blessings as you can stomach in a sitting.

Hard to Find Good Help – He Said
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Hard to Find Good Help

Hard to Find Good Help

The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. John 10:12

It’s hard to get good help. In fact, these days it’s hard to get the help you hired to show up.

I can cite numerous instances where an employee failed to appear for their first day of work. No call, no email. Nothing.

In today’s workplace the clicking of typewriters and computer keyboards has been replaced with thumb-texting and bowed heads. And if you’re a customer waiting for service? Forget it. Your pending purchase merely serves as an interruption amidst the barrage of breaking news, tweets, posts, and pins.

At the risk of tempting God to whack me for editing the words of Jesus, allow me to alter today’s verse. The hired hand is not the boss and does not own the business. So when he sees the work coming, he abandons the job and runs away.

Work is not a wolf, but some employees treat physical and mental exertion as a thing to avoid. From my reading of Scripture I sense Christ never backed down from hard work. In fact, I suspect one reason he launched his public ministry so late in life was because he stayed home to run his family’s construction company. Though supremely gifted in other areas, he did the hard thing: he performed menial tasks. And he did so faithfully.

The good shepherd sticks around and takes care of His boss’s business.

Do we?

Next time we’re tempted to slack off, call in sick, or text on company time, remember: any task done to the glory of God is worship.

Veggie War – He Said
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Veggie War

Veggie War

Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred. Proverbs 15:17

For St. Patty’s Day my wife cooked corned beef and collards. If you’ve never been in a home while collards simmered, you cannot appreciate the aromatic fragrance the leafy substance exudes as its steam rises from the boiler. My cousin Milton will occasionally radiate such a scent and be asked to leave the room.

I do not eat collards. I do not eat veggies. I do not like green things of any kind – though I can stomach lettuce. My wife likes asparagus, broccoli, string beans, lima, pinto, black, and butter beans. The only bean I like is coffee.

Cleaning up the kitchen after our St. Pat meal, I shelved the corned beef in the fridge and carried the pot of collards into the garage to — you know — air out.

Next day the veggie war erupted. My wife found the collards on the workbench next to my drill and complained that because I had not put them in the fridge they were not fit to eat. I was tempted to point out the flaw in her argument but did not. The collards were in the trash; I did not wish to join them.

My wife says she can live on nothing but veggies. Had I lived before the Great Flood, I am sure I would have starved. It is only after Noah ran aground that God allowed the skipper and his crew to eat meat. Yes, there is a treasure at the end of the rainbow and it’s a Weber grill.

Solomon is said to be the wisest man to have ever lived. I have no doubt he was. According to the Bible, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. The wives are described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh’s daughter and women of Moab, Ammon, Sidon, and the Hittites. Any man receiving that much advice is bound to be a really smart fellow.

I cooked high and low for the point of this verse and I think it is this: Love covers a multitude of sins and sometimes it can mask the smell of collards. If I am wrong in regards to this, I have no doubt my wife will let me know.

Husbands, next time your wife says, “Honey, all I need is a little loving and some collards,” pay attention. This is her way of making peace in your home.

But just to be safe, you might also want to pay to get the house fumigated.

Gimme Some More Happy Pills – He Said
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Gimme Some More Happy Pills

Gimme Some More Happy Pills

And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 1 Corinthians 10:10 NIV

“If you don’t have anything good to say don’t say anything at all.” – My mother

“End of the road… nothing to do… and no hope of things getting better.” – Eeyore

“Stop complaining. There are starving kids in China who’d love to eat your dinner!” –My mother, again

Last week my wife asked if I was out of my happy pills. By this she meant was I still taking my daily dose of oxitriptan. Oxitriptan is supposed to promote a positive mental outlook on life but you’d never know it from listening to me yell at the television.

Oops, sorry. What I meant to say is: OH MY GOSH DO I FEEL GREAT! I’M LIKE SO HAPPY TO BE, YOU KNOW, HAPPY!

I come from a long line of sad and jaded genes. On my mom’s side of the family we joke about the Wooten women – those dour aunts, great aunts and not-so-great aunts that find tarnish in every silver lining. Dad was more laid back. In fact, Dad is really laid back, now.

Dad is dead.

Oops, sorry. That’s the yippy-skippy, anything-I-say-sounds-funny-to-me pill kicking in.

I inherited the cynic gene from Dad. “The races are rigged, every one of ’em.”

Dad made this pronouncement twenty – no, forty years ago. Back then they didn’t even have racing rules, let alone drivers who could read a rulebook. You simply drove your car onto the track, stomped the pedal and crashed into a wall.

“Pro football is fixed, all politicians are crooked and kids can’t be trust – you especially, Eddie.”

Thanks, Dad.

Thanks, Mom.

And thank God I’m not dumb enough to complain to God when He sends my favorite college basketball team packing after the first game of the NCAA tournament. Oops, sorry, what I meant to say is: OH MY GOSH I SO LOVE THAT N.C. STATE LOST TO TEMPLE.  I THINK IT’S GREAT WE WERE RANKED NUMBER 6 IN THE COUNTRY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR AND PICKED TO WIN OUR CONFERENCE AND COULDN’T EVEN BEAT A TEAM OF OWLS.

This week’s He Said, She Said verse references an event in history when God’s spoiled little boys and girls didn’t get their way (again). A power struggle broke out between Moses and two guys I can’t remember. Moses went to God and complained. God told Moses to stop being a tattletale. Then God said He was pretty miffed with the pair, too, and told Moses to warn everyone in the camp to back up and watch out – God had heard enough grumbling for one day. Most everyone backed up except for the two guys whose names I can’t remember.

The earth opened up. The two men, along with their families and camels, fell into a giant pit that resembled a Florida sink hole and were buried alive. By alive I mean they were alive when they fell into the hole but then, you know, not so much.

Next day the people complained to God, again. This time it had to do with the two men. Seems the pair of rabble-rousers were the only individuals in the camp that knew how to change the channels on the TV. God in His infinite wisdom sent a plague and wiped out 14,000 spectators, not to mention those with media passes, including Dick Vitale.

Moral of the story? Don’t expect your team to win any games in the NCAA tournament and you won’t be disappointed.

Other moral of the story?

There are starving people in China, India, and Africa that would love to have the crumbs we sweep into the garbage.

If you do not have anything nice to say, you should keep quiet – especially if your comments are in any way related to your wife’s appearance.

And yes, sometimes things do not get better with time, so remember the good times and be grateful you can remember anything.

Survive and Advance – He Said
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Survive and Advance

Survive and Advance

Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.”  2 Chronicles 14:11 (NIV)

March 11, 1983, Atlanta’s Omni Arena: “After Lo hits these two free throws I want us to guard the inbound pass, but don’t foul.” The starting five for N.C. State’s basketball team broke from the huddle and walked toward the free-throw lane. At the last second, Coach Jim Valvano is rumored to have pulled point guard Sidney Lowe aside and whispered, “If Lo misses these two shots I want you to…”

An unwavering belief in our abilities may be the key to our success. That Friday night in Atlanta, freshman Lorenzo Charles and N.C. State needed a confidence boost. State’s chance to secure an NCAA bid rested in the hands of a freshman, a player whose free-throw average stood at 67.6%. Odds were that Charles would miss at least one of the shots. Maybe both. He’d never gone to the line with the outcome of a game resting in his hands. Valvano knew Lorenzo Charles needed a shot of confidence, so the coach told the players how to react after Charles made his free throws.

King Asa needed a boost of confidence too. Though he’d served God and prospered during a reign of peace, the king’s men—armed only with large shields, bows, and spears—faced “a vast army and three hundred chariots.” Asa knew the risk of fighting alone. He needed help. “We rely on you,” he cried out to God. “You help the powerless. There is none like You. You are our God.”

We’re prone to think that we can win on our own strength, but our legs grow weary and our nerves fray. We squander our chances for victory, advancement, and promotion by accepting God’s accolades as our own. All work is a team sport. Family, friends, and co-workers cheer us on in our profession. They remind us that we are more than the sum of our past; they believe that we can do better and that today, we will.

Charles’ first attempt missed the rim—wasn’t even close. But his second shot fell through the net and State advanced to the next game. The following week State was crowned ACC Champions, received an NCAA bid, and eventually won the national championship all because of Lorenzo Charles’ last-second dunk.

What recent defeat prevents us from believing in God’s goodness? What disease, financial setback, or broken relationship threatens to crush our confidence and causes us to cower in fear? God has placed us in His starting line up for a reason. He expects great things of us. When no one else believes we can, God does.

Today let us advance with confidence: we play for an awesome God.

(Reprinted with permission from My Father’s Business 30 Inspirational Stories for Discerning and Doing Gods Will)

Catch the premiere of Survive and Advance, the story of N.C.State’s miraculous 1983 run and Jimmy V’s fight against cancer  Sunday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN

I’m Tired, What’s Next – He Said
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 Screen shot 2013-03-07 at 9.22.57 PMBlessed are those….whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.  Psalm 84:5 NIV

“I’ve been really blessed to be able to do what I truly love. By far, this has been the most thrilling and meaningful part of my professional journey, but … I am just tired. I’ve had to admit that. I am tired.”

My friend Bill spent nearly 40 years in same industry, but this week he stunned friends by announcing his retirement. I reflected upon Bill’s announcement and wondered how he and his wife would handle their new pilgrimage. Here are a few thoughts.

Abraham abandoned his family and set out for a land occupied by another nation. Joseph’s pilgrimage began when his brothers seized the young boy and sold him into slavery. Moses shunned the security of Pharaoh’s empire, Samuel heard a voice whispering in the night, and Paul traveled a dusty road certain he was doing God’s will. One thing about walking by faith – life is full of dead ends and detours.

God is a walker and talker. He strolls through His Garden in the cool of the day and hikes along a lake shore calling to fishermen. He moves in the hearts of women and men and calls us new lands, new vocations, and new problems. To journey with God means avoiding the crowded paths and familiar byways.

“We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement,” writes Oswald Chambers. “You must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas. We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing.”

This week Bill called it quits. The weariness of a vocation he once loved left him drained, so he walked away. When the Spirit leaves, we must too. This is the first step in obedience.

Three things we know about a God-calling. First, if He calls, He will bless. The promise of a God-anointed pilgrimage is His provision along the journey. Second, the call will demand we give up something of value: security, familiarity, or perhaps our rigid beliefs. Third, we will find joy in the journey, even in the midst of trying circumstances.

Paul was prepared to die for his calling. Moses faced down Pharaoh’s army. Duty will carry us to the river but only God’s Spirit can part the waters and allow us to cross to the other side. Find your delight in His calling. When you do, you will find His load is light.

Good luck, Bill. May God’s blessings be upon your pilgrimage.

Bootcamp19Eddie Jones is the co-founder of Christian Devotions Ministries. He is Acquisition Editor of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, an by-product of Christian Devotions Ministries. He is a three-time winner of the Delaware Writers Conference and his Young Adult novel, The Curse of Captain LaFoote, won the 2012 Moonbeam Award in the Pre-Teen Fiction/Fantasy category and 2011 Selah Award in Young Adult fiction. Dead Man’s Hand, the first book in the Caden Chronicles mystery series, is now available from Zonderkidz.

 

 

MyFathersBusiness-300x464Devotional Stories Featuring: Jeremy Lin, Bruce Wilkerson, George S. Patton, Walt Disney, Jim Valvano, Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln, Colonel Sanders, and others with selected quotes from Oswald Chambers.

What does it mean to discern God’s will for your life? How can you hear His call? The word discernment comes from two Latin words: discernere (to perceive) and discretis (to separate). To discern God’s voice and will is to converse with Him. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word will means “to yearn.” When we say, “Lord, Your will be done,” we are asking God to infuse His deepest yearnings into our spirit and alter the circumstances of our life in order that we may grow. God sees beyond our past and knows our secret desires, even those desires yet to be born. In My Father’s Business, you will see how others responded to the yearning God placed within their heart and enjoyed their Father’s blessing.

Print: $5.95  
Kindle: $1.00 

You Still Ask What I Want – He Said
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You asked what I wanted

You asked what I wanted

What do you want Me to do for you? Luke 18:41

My last great birthday party occurred when I turned forty. I invited all the kids in the neighborhood to our driveway and lowered the basketball goal to eight feet. I was in my zone, swatting shots into the grass and dunking on middle-school age boys. The opposing team complained I held an unfair advantage. I did. Birthdays allow you to bend the rules and on that day, at least, we played ball the way I wanted — with me king of the court.

“What do you want for your birthday, Eddie?”

I read those words this week and thought, Not much, Lord. Boys are grown and healthy. We survived the Great Recession. The wife and I have our health and a DVR stocked with back episodes of Downtown Abbey. Life could change tomorrow but for now, we’re set.

“Set? Is that what I asked? How are you set? Set is for people who settle. I asked you what you want.”

I examined the verse again. Jesus arrived at the well in the heat of the day without any tools for drawing water. How dare He ask the woman – or me — “What do you want me to do for you?”

To want is to risk picking at our dead dreams until the scab bleeds.To want is to risk acknowledging life has not turned out as we’d hoped, that hope disappoints, and that the author of hope failed to deliver on our dreams. And still Christ leans against the well filled with our bitter water and asks,  ”What do you want me to do for you?”

Our encounters with God leave us disturbed. Just when everything is set, we feel the tug of His Spirit asking us to pick and probe until we confess our disappointment in Him – and our need for Him to come through for us, still.

Some days, when the sun is warm on my face and the sound of waves draws me to the shore, I recall the dreams of my youth. Those wants of the young dreamer still bring tears to my eyes and make my heart skip when I think, Yes, this – this is what I want. To enjoy God’s creation from the deck of a surfboard with nothing but a thin coating of Coppertone to weigh me down.

You asked what I want, Lord. Here it is: To have my bitter tears transformed into a wellspring of living water. May your Spirit keep me forever young, Lord, even when I am old.

Photo courtesy microsoft.com free photo gallery

Bootcamp19Eddie Jones is the co-founder of Christian Devotions Ministries. He is Acquisition Editor of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, an imprint of Christian Devotions Ministries. Eddie has authored four non-fiction books, one young adult novel, an adult romantic comedy, and written over a hundred articles that have appeared in over twenty different publications. He is co-founder of Christian Devotions Ministries and a contributing writer for, CBN.com, Common Ground Christian News, The Ocracoke Observer, and Living Aboard Magazine, among other publications.

His Young Adult novel, The Curse of Captain LaFoote is available from Port Yonder Press as well as his newest release, Dead Man’s Hand from Zonderkids. From Lighthouse Publishing, My Father’s Business.

Read Eddie’s devotions.

MyFathersBusiness-300x464Devotional Stories Featuring: Jeremy Lin, Bruce Wilkerson, George S. Patton, Walt Disney, Jim Valvano, Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln, Colonel Sanders, and others with selected quotes from Oswald Chambers.

What does it mean to discern God’s will for your life? How can you hear His call? The word discernment comes from two Latin words: discernere (to perceive) and discretis (to separate). To discern God’s voice and will is to converse with Him. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word will means “to yearn.” When we say, “Lord, Your will be done,” we are asking God to infuse His deepest yearnings into our spirit and alter the circumstances of our life in order that we may grow. God sees beyond our past and knows our secret desires, even those desires yet to be born. In My Father’s Business, you will see how others responded to the yearning God placed within their heart and enjoyed their Father’s blessing.

We often complicate the business of knowing God’s will, but His word is clear: “And You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV). Those who seek and ask, hear His voice. The following devotional stories illustrate how others have heard God’s call and heeded His voice. My prayer is that you, too, will learn to recognize God’s voice so that you will be able both to discern and to do His will.

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