Great verses on obedience and hearing the Holy Spirit. This chica came a long and was saying all the right things (vs.17), she was speaking actual truth, but something didn't feel right! (vs.18) Paul was uneasy about something that was not "seen" to the natural eye. The natural eye says, "hey this lady is supporting you... you should actually follow what she says... you should put her on every committee that you can... and oh you should duplicate this person!" Easy to see the connection w/ now... hunh?

So what looks like a NO BRAINER when it comes to "lay" leadership aka appointing key leaders in the church, it is not so easy. Cuz the Spirit says, "BEWARE of soothsayers!" Beware of this lady, cuz what you think is good... is actually evil and if you follow that you are in trouble! Truth is, we as leaders should not follow any but Christ... even those that are "good" can lead us a stray if we don't appease them one week. We need to stop seeking approval from man!

Man, I need to learn this lesson. My name, Daniel, means, "God is my judge". In other words, I need to find my approval from only one place, Jehohah God. This has been a life long challenge for me. I have found myself to be seeking approval from man all the time, cause I don't want to experience rejection.

So the challenge is, despite everything looking good on the outside are we still asking the right questions but most importantly are we still LISTENING TO THE SPIRIT?

amen

Acts 16:17-18