God Comes to Us!

We all need to hear God's voice and I have yet to find a person, who is following God that does not want to hear God's voice. God knows our futures, our pasts, our sins, our hopes and our fears. God knows everything about, even the choices that are best for us and the right time to make those choices. Now the problem happens when we begin to hear other voices. There is astrology, fortune cookies, tarot cards, palm readers, people who live with an ear to the ground (so to speak) and who claim to hear “voices” or possess abilities to channel in “the-other-side”, or even be a pipeline to God. I do not want you to tune out to God because others have turned you off to wanting to hear Him. We have to be able to discern through all this. And God is telling us not to accept every message, even when the person says it is from God. We are commanded to test it and confirm it. Then God can lead us into an awesome life when we are in communication with Him.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1John 4:1)
The Bible says that we were created in His image. It also means that we were created to have a close, personal relationship with our Creator. However, because the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) broke that relationship with God, everyone born after that also has a broken relationship with God. Thus, the Bible reiterates that “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23). And we sense this as we go through life. That’s why we try to reconnect with God. Yet, they insist on their own self-made religion or self-made spirituality. We all have the potential to make-up or mistake God’s voice because all of us are imperfect. Sometimes we may want something so bad that we are consciously or unconsciously looking for “signs” to validate our point of view. On the same note, sometimes God may be speaking to us but because our desires are so intense, we actually misinterpret His instructions. (Ezekiel 13:2-3)How Can We Hear God's Voice
1. SATURATE MY HEART AND MIND WITH GOD’S WORD.
That is why we promote journaling so much at LFC. You can miss out on knowing what God sounds like if all you do is pray or sing. You need to know the word - HIS word to us. As Christians, we are always reminded to refer back to the Bible and the following scripture tells us why it is so important: “…no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21) What does it mean? It means that the Bible did not originate in a fallen world and did not originate in the minds of fallen men trying to find their way! The Bible originated in the mind of God and using the Holy Spirit, God spoke it to the human authors. Of course people will argue that anytime men are involved things become corrupt. However, we can be sure that when God is involved, He can protect what He wants to do or say through any situation. What we then hold in our hands (the Bible) is an accurate compass of truth. We then know that knowing the truth is due in great part to meditating on the truths in the Bible. We can miss the full impact of the bible if we don't meditate on it and saturate our hearts in it. When we are trying to decide on a course of action (even an answer to a question) we can start by setting up “guard posts”. Guard posts are things that we know for sure about God. For example, if you are asked to do something that is unethical at work, you ask God for guidance. You begin by dropping down your guard posts. We may allow ourselves to become hurtful towards another or even hateful. But a “guard post” in the Bible says we are to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. We may ask for revenge, but another “guard post” says revenge is the Lord’s. And though we may want anymore “guard posts” - we are told that we not only need to speak the truth in love, but to also not let the sun go down on our anger. The bible becomes boundaries for us that keep us from going over the edge. · The bible helps me fine-tune my spiritual ears to my Father’s voice. The apostle Paul tells us how we can be sure we are doing God’s will: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2) When we saturate ourselves in God’s word, it begins to renew how we think and it fine-tunes our hearing so that we recognize God’s voice even when it’s soft and inaudible to those in the world.
2. We NEED TO CONFIRM GOD’S VOICE WITH OTHERS WHO LOVE GOD!
In the Bible, there’s a spiritual gift called prophecy that God gives to whoever He wills. It is miraculous and wonderful. God will spontaneously give someone (who has the gift of prophecy) a message meant for someone else in order that they be comforted, encouraged, and built up in the Lord. Yet we must be careful because even with that gift, the Bible puts up guardrails. “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.” (1Corinthians 14:29) Even when we think that God has given us a message, it has to be run by other people to confirm its truth or accuracy. When we are faced with a situation where we have to make some major decisions, it is a good idea to get a lot of counsel and prayer from those who love God, not just those who will tell you what you want to hear.
3. I NEED TO BRING A TEACHABLE HEART TO MY COMMUNICATION WITH GOD.
Beware of people who hold their gifts and speak in arrogance. If they mix in any insecurity or bad motivation, you can’t trust it. If we are trying to discern the voice of God accurately, we need to bring a humble, teachable heart. God says: “…I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2) God has a soft spot for those who are humble, deal with their sin in an authentic way, and are eager to obey. It doesn’t mean we will be perfect, it means we deal with a situation and God has a lot of grace. God won’t steer the boat unless you row it. It is something to think about when we are unsure of the voice we may be hearing. Be willing to take action toward obedience with what you already know. God will come to us and He will speak.
We must be ready to listen and to obey Him in all things. May God give us ears to hear and hearts to obey and eyes to see.