Listen to the Holy Spirit in you

Yeah, welcome to treasures in the storm. I’m Cindy Schmidler and today we’re gonna be talking about the Holy Spirit in you how to hear from the Holy Spirit, what it looks like in your life, how to be directed by that holy Spirit. So that still small voice and so I’m going to pray for us and we’re gonna get started, I’m gonna share some testimony, uh fun testimony of things that God has asked me to do and you, I know you will get a big kick out of it too as I did too, just going back and reminding myself of these things that the Lord has asked me to do. You know, he wants us to get out of the boat and walk on water with him often and we just have to be ready and able and willing to do that when he calls us. And so I’m going to pray for us and we’re gonna get started. Dear heavenly father Lord, I thank you for giving us your Holy Spirit to live in us more important, better for us than even you jesus when you were here with us. It’s hard to imagine it’s hard to believe, but we have that counselor, the Holy Spirit in us and Lord, we want to draw upon that we want to hear you speak to us. We, we know that obedience brings you such pleasure Lord and how can we obey if we don’t hear you Lord. So will you speak in a way that my audience and myself can know and believe and act upon what you are telling us Lord and we need more of you to be able to do that Lord. And so through me today as your container Lord, will you bless your people today. Lord God. And I trust Lord and they trust that you are acting um as only you can in the best interests of you and of us. And so we thank you God for who you are in our lives. Please speak to your people today in jesus name. I’m so thankful to be here today to share uh my my talk today is called listening to that Holy Spirit in you. Uh one of my favorite verses is and I quoted it here on my episodes often. It’s Ephesians 2 10 for we are God’s workmanship created in christ jesus for good works which he has prepared in advance for us to do. There’s a lot of he in there, right. He created these good works. He’s prepared them in advance for us to do. There’s not us in there, there’s all him in there. And so I I always say obedience is everything. Because how do we show love to God by obeying him. The bible says And 1st 1st Peter 2 9 this is how I look at. First peter 29 we are dispatched by the Holy Spirit on Kingdom assignments and we serve at the pleasure of the king And I love that I love that view. We serve at the pleasure of the king and we’re on kingdom assignments led by the Holy Spirit. So let’s put that on today. So my wonderful husband john had been working at a big job in our home state business in the business world and he really felt for a long time calling on his life to work in the church. And we had done a lot of ministry work already. We had done a huge ministry called kids Church in the inner city of our state. And so we’re very familiar with that kind of work. But john was feeling called to work in the church. And so the pastor had invited him in to be over all of the groups, let’s call the groups in the church. So it would be like a community life groups and over the women’s groups and over the men’s groups. He was over counseling, He was over all of that. So that was his umbrella, that things he took care of. And so he started working in the church and we have many um interesting funny stories about all of that too. But one of the things he noticed when he was working in the church is each group, let’s say the worship team and the Children’s church and the men’s group, They were all in their own silos. He called it. Each had their own office and they did their own work in their office, but they didn’t often connect with each other and he said, I really like to get these people in connection because so much happens when you sit and share. So this group may say, oh you know, I’ve been really struggling with this and this group over here is this, let me pray for you and oh by the way, I know so and so that can come help you. That’s what happens when people interact and that was going on in the business world and john knew all about that, but not in this particular group and so he said Cindy, I really, I want us to get more together. And the only time I can see because everybody is so busy is during lunch and people love to come together to fellowship uh during lunch. So he said would you mind making meals for the staff like once a week and then they could fellowship during that time and we’ll see what the Lord does. So he really felt the Lord calling him to this. And so he came to me and asked me and I said, oh sure. I I I said sure because I know God wanted me to do that. I didn’t say sure because it was an easy thing or I was a good cook. In fact it was just the opposite. I cooked very little minimal. I was not a cook, I didn’t wasn’t raised that way. And so I, I just said yes because I knew it was the right thing to do and so That first Tuesday, I was thinking, what am I gonna make, what, what what what I do, and there was about 40 staff, so you’re talking about church leadership. So I’m making food for the elite team of God’s ministry world, that’s what I would call it, the elite team. And I wanted to make something good, but I thought, I don’t know, I don’t know how to cook. So I had a brilliant idea, I said, I will go to Sam’s club and I will order their lasagna, which is yummy, big pans of lasagna and they have breadsticks there, I’ll get the breadsticks and I’ll heat them up and then I’ll get their big bags, salad, I’ll rip it open and put it in a bowl with their dressing and I’m all set boom, it’s done. And I was so pleased with my idea. So the first Tuesday came and I heated all the food up at home. We lived very close to the church at this time and brought it in at lunch. And you can just imagine the smell of that warm lasagna. I think it was october, so it’s cool outside, it’s just so perfect. And and I brought it in and I set up all the chairs so that they in a big square that faced inward so that people could share, People could talk and share, and then I got the food together and I served everybody and they loved it. Look, can I tell you how much? They loved it because it smell good. It was lunchtime. They could smell it all the way down the hall. So I I was just so proud of what I had accomplished here In the eight and everything went good. I cleaned up after and on my way home I thought, wow! Mission accomplished. I have really done a great job and the Lord put on my heart at that moment, Cindy, do you remember CAin and Abel, do you remember the story? Abel brought the first fruits, he brought the best and Kane, Kane brought in genesis. The afterthoughts. You can go read about that. His afterthoughts and he said, I felt like the Lord was saying to me, Cindy, you have given me your afterthoughts, you have fit this into your schedule. You have not made this a priority and I want you to make this a priority. And that was just a personal thing that the Lord was talking to me about. And so I I went home feeling you’re right, Lord, you’re right. I need to be better about this. And so I decided not being a cook at all. I decided I would watch tv shows to learn how to cook because I didn’t know how to cook. And one of the shows that I would watch was Rachel Ray on tv And I loved her. 30 minute meals. It was quick. It was a half hour. I would take notes. I’d watch it, take notes. And then I would go do what she did. The problem is she, she was feeding 2-4 people and I was feeding 40. So I had a times it and I am not a math person so many times I had times that to make it all work. And I made a commitment to the Lord. Like I often do, I say, Lord, I will do this, but you’re gonna do it through me. It’s not gonna be me, it’s you have called me through my husband. I’m doing this in obedience because he has asked and that means you have asked. And so I trust you with that. And my commitment to you is I’m not going to taste it because Lord, if I taste it and it doesn’t taste good, I will not know what to do. You know, I will not know what to do. So I made a commitment, I wouldn’t taste it. And so far so good. So every Tuesday was doing these meals and it was working out and people like them, I’m like, wow, this is going well. And I felt like the Lord’s pleasure was on me because I was working, doing my best at at the very best. I knew how trusting him for it. And then one day I, I made a, she had a meal on, on tv. It was a chicken in a sauce with grapes and the sauce was a wine sauce. Well, it was the morning of and I realized I needed wine and we didn’t have anyone in the house were or tea, total orders, if that’s what you call them. And so I didn’t have any wine in the house. And I thought, Lord, what am I going to do? And I felt like the Lord impressed upon my heart, I had apple juice, take apple juice and vinegar. Now, why? I have no idea. But those were the two things on my mind. And I said, okay, Lord, I’m going to use apple apple juice and vinegar. I’m gonna put it together and it’s gonna work out good. And remember now that I have to, I’m not feeding too, but 40. So I had to times that by what is it? 20 something really high. And so I did my little math and all of that and measured it our little, this little that, which is how I cook and making the promise the Lord, I’m not tasting it. Lord, I am not gonna taste it. So I put it all together. I took it to the church. I served it to the elite ministers of the Lord. And as I was cleaning up, one of the pastors came in, he said, Cindy Cindy, that was the best chicken recipe I’ve ever had. You know what it tasted like. There was wine in it. And I just smiled because that is a personal thing between the Lord and me. A complete active obedience. When I did not feel qualified to do with the what? The thing the Lord had asked me to do, but stepped in. I got out of the boat into the water because he had called me to that, trusting him all the way. Not leaning on my reasoning of tasting food to see if I could figure it out, but just trusting him all the way. And then these sweet kisses of the Lord come to me in responses like this pastor. And I felt that was the pleasure of the Lord with me in obedience to the thing that he had called me to. That’s a simple act of listening to the Holy Spirit, trusting God for that thing that he wants you to do now. I don’t know. I don’t want to miss out in my life and all the great things. The Lord has planned those things that are so wonderful. I want to taste and see them out as he has given them to me. But I won’t get to experience that if I stay in the boat so often I need to get out often in my life all of my life, he has forced me to get out of the boat so that I can experience him. That’s where experience happens when we get out of the boat. And so I hope today That that Ephesians 2 10, that workmanship that were the container and we serve at the king’s pleasure that that would sink deep into your soul today. Of whatever he might ask you. It may just be a meal for your neighbor who’s not feeling well, but you may not feel qualified to make a meal that will taste good enough because you don’t know them. Get all of that garbage out of the way, go and do the thing that he’s asked you and let yourself be blessed and let them be blessed just like that Pastor was blessed. And so let me pray for us. Dear heavenly father, I thank you God that you make me say yes Lord. I thank you That I get to experience you in these incredible ways. Lord. And I know all of my life. I think of going to africa and all these places that you have sent me God out of my comfort zone because you want me to experience you and it has to be in this way. And I thank you Lord. That you use me to bless others. Just because I’m a container? Nothing more than a container. Lord and I wanna be your container. I want my audience to experience just as far as I went. Lord, will you give them experience helped them to get out of the boat. To trust you enough in those hard things to be able to get out of the boat Lord. And we’re gonna trust you for all of this. Knowing that you are speaking to them right now right where they are right in their chairs in jesus name. Thank you so much for joining me today. Hello, my name is Cindy Schmirler and I have something very special that I want to share with you today. This is a book that I’ve written called tragedy turned upside down. This is a book full of hope and help if you need some strength today, I call it God vitamins if you need some real uh inoculation of the Lord and faith and belief in your life. This book is for you. My readers have said they devour it. They sit in one sitting to finish it. They have laughed, they have cried most of them have taken notes on it because there’s so many good foundational truths in it that you will want to write down and keep for the storms of your life. Mostly you’re going to take this book and you’ll want to share it with others that are struggling to. So at your earliest convenience, I’d say pick it up, read it, you will be blessed, blessed, blessed when you read this and share it with those that are struggling right now. Maybe even if they’re not struggling somebody who needs to know, maybe they don’t have faith and you want them to have faith. You want them to know who jesus is. This book is for you those words that you you just can’t bring to say to a friend or relative. This book is full of all the things that you had hoped to say to them, So pick it up at your earliest convenience.