God Still Speaks with Leon du Preez

Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. In 1 Corinthians 1, the answer to those demanding a sign and those seeking wisdom is Christ crucified. At the cross, God's love and justice meet. His presence stays with you beyond a Sunday encounter. Ask God for wisdom when you need direction, and trust His power when you reach the end of your own strength. You carry Christ into your workplace, your family and the situations you face tomorrow.

A burden from God is a weight in your spirit that moves you to act. In 1 John 1:1, the Word of life is heard, seen and handled. Because you are united with Christ, His leading can become familiar within you. Prayer makes you sensitive to that leading, and obedience to small promptings prepares you to recognise a greater assignment. A burden may move you to pray for someone, speak, give or change direction. Learn the difference between a burden and anxiety, and let prayer expose your own desires before you call them God's will.

God's Spirit bears witness with your spirit. The Urim and Thummim provide the picture for five inward lights, each with a different meaning for your decisions. A delay calls for patience; a firm warning calls for obedience. Yet a troubled soul may still be facing the right assignment, as Jesus shows in John 12:27. Learn to recognise quiet assurance and the stronger urging of the Spirit without waiting for a dream or vision. Hebrews 5:14 calls you to exercise your senses through use. Keep the Word of God within you, notice the inward witness and check the outcome as you learn to follow His leading.

The joy of the Lord gives strength when the work is hard and opposition is real. In Nehemiah 8, the people hear that God's joy is their strength. Joy grows in His presence and rests in the grace Jesus has given, rather than in a good week or a cheerful personality. When praise becomes a duty and you stop expecting good, return to His presence, speak truth to your soul and remember Christ's finished work. Put on the garment of praise. Keep building people and carrying God's Word to the next generation, even when the work takes longer than you hoped.