E100: 31 – HEARING GOD SPEAK

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.  It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was, that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, "Here I am." Then he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, lie down again." So he went and lay down. The LORD called yet again, "Samuel!" So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he answered, "I did not call, my son, lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him. So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, "Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  1 Samuel 3:1-9

 

 

Did you notice at the start of that passage that the God speaking was a rare thing in those days? We do live in a different age – the Holy Spirit lives within each believer – but there is something we can learn. Samuel was a rare child – he grew up dedicated to God. He was different from the other kids and other people of his generation who lived for themselves and forsook following God.

 

Learning to recognize the voice of God is part of learning to hear the voice of God. It is just like when a friend rings on the phone – if they are a new friend you may have to ask who is on the phone, but when they are a good friend you recognize their voice. It takes time and conversation.

 

God wants to fellowship and communicate with us. That’s two-way communication. Why? Because you can’t really have a relationship unless there is true dialogue. How do we get to know a person? By communicating with them. By talking and listening. God wants us to know that He loves us and how to follow Him.

 

It’s the same with our relationship with God. He talks, we listen. We talk, He listens.

 

God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to take our place and to die for us. He did this so that we could once again have fellowship with Him. In the book of Hebrews we see that we can have access to God’s very presence, "…having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way…" (Hebrews 10:19-20a).

 

God speaks to us. We are His children. We also have the revelation of the Word of God that we can trust in and follow for instruction for life and knowing God.

 

The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice." John 10:2-5

 

The Holy Spirit lives within us to reveal God to us – 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 – but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

 

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 16:13-15

 

We are led by God – because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14

 

Does the Holy Spirit live within you? Are you a Christian? Are you a son or daughter of God? Then YOU ARE LED by God. God guides you. God speaks to you. That is the promise of God and the reality we live in. It may not be with flashes of lightening and angelic revelation but nonetheless God is speaking and guiding and it probably wont be until we see our lives from the other side of eternity that we see just how much God was speaking and leading us.

 

Are you confident and secure in the truth and reality that God speaks to YOU?

 

God spoke to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3), Habakkuk knew the sound of God speaking to him (Habakkuk 2:2). Elijah described it as a still, small voice (I Kings 19:12 ). However, I have found that usually, God’s voice comes as spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions.

 

For example, haven’t you been driving down the road and had a thought come to you to pray for a certain person? Didn’t you believe it was God telling you to pray? What did God’s voice sound like? Was it an audible voice, or was it a spontaneous thought that lit upon your mind? Or in a conversation you feel prompted to say something or to encourage a person? Or when praying for someone you get a picture or a thought that just seems random and that just popped in there?

 

Hearing the voice of God is as natural as hearing your best friend talk to you. He speaks to us in the natural moments of life. Do you want to hear God’s voice? Then you must be ready to listen.

 

And as we trust God to speak and trust that what we’ve heard/thought it God the easier it will be to discern His speaking as we listen.

 

read more from HEARING GOD SPEAK

Totally Love Tuesday

 

i love THE 99% – INSIGHTS ON MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN site… and really clicked with this article about FINISHING YOUR MASTERPICE.  “Finishing masterpieces is daunting. Over time, motivation and desire fade unless we make deliberate strides toward our goals every single day. But getting into the mindset of being deliberate with our work is a paradigm shift. Being deliberate means that when we are working, we are always working on something with an end goal in mind.  Finishing masterpieces is daunting. Over time, motivation and desire fade.” 

 

 

 

love my spunky girl!  she’s full of style and full of personality.  she is delightful.

 

 

 

me and my husband are rewatching fringe.  i love it.  i missed all of season 2 because it was on too late or conflicted with something.  we watch at least an episode a night.  its good hanging out time too.  last night was my fav episode which i had already seen, where walter tells olivia about taking peter from the other universe.  awesome.

 

 

this arvo we took the bikes to school and had a good ride around.  evangeline “had forgotten” how to ride.  yes seriously.  we took her trainers off last September but since then perhaps she hasn’t done it enough but she had totally spooked herself.  we tried here at home the other day, unsuccessfully, to get her mojo back… but within about 4 seconds at the school, with lots of room to ride, she was away sailing!  because she was so brave, and we always love to have an excuse to celebrate, we had ice creams.  i had for the first time the cornetto enigma.  and yummo!

 

 

 

and as always.  i love Jesus with all i am and all my heart and all my soul and all my days. For His glory and the building of His kingdom and the rescue of the lost.

 

 

so what are you totally loving this week?

… check out what other peeps are loving whatever day of the week it is over at Paisley Jade

Creative Inspiration

      

 

i’m working on our church magazine at the mo and busy finding images for each article.  i love when someone writes a science/creation type article.  lots of inspiration out there. 

 

Romans 1:20 says, For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

The natural world, its intricacy, its order, its beauty reveal to us things about who God is.

When I look at creation I am reminded all the time that God is creative. And big enough. Creative enough and big enough to deal with my life and sort it out.