Walking the Path II: Hearing From God
Updated: Apr 20, 2019
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it.“ Isaiah 30:21
Last week, we discussed the benefits of waiting on God – mainly that this is the best time to prepare mentally and spiritually for whatever it is you are requesting for (Read it here: http://bit.ly/2Ijsgw1). The question for today is “How do we even know when God responds?”.
For distinction, the question is not “how does God Speak to you?” because God’s will, ability & channels he chooses to speak to you cannot be limited. Biblical records show that people have from heard God in a lot of different ways – A voice in the head (like Samuel in I Samuel 3), through others (Prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah in II Kings 20), an apparition (Angel Gabriel to Mary in Luke 1:26-38), a burning bush (with Moses in Exodus 3) and even a speaking donkey (Balaam’s in Numbers 22). The list goes on.
The question here is how do you know that it is God who spoke? For all cases stated above, the devil has his imitation: Another animal spoke in Eden and deceived Eve (Genesis 3), the elder prophet deceived the younger (I Kings 13), and either as an apparition or as a voice in the head – the devil tried to deceive Jesus in Matthew 4.
It strikes me as true therefore, that recognizing God’s voice is crucial to our walking the path with Him. Genesis 3:8 shows this, Adam & Eve heard God’s voice and acted (albeit to hide themselves from Him). If you do not recognize His voice, you either do not recognize that he has spoken when he does speak or when he hasn’t spoken, you become prone to being deceived by the devil who can speak to deceive.
Jesus’ talk in John 10 clarifies this issue, He uses the analogy of a Shepard and His sheep. Please read John 10 and meditate on it – there are powerful reflections hidden there.
Verses 4, 5 & 14 are representative:
“And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” Verses 4 & 5
“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own” verse 14
Some takeaways from John 10:
The First striking thing is that Christ says that he is both the door and the shepherd. His sheep are led in or out both through Him and by Him. By this, I believe Christ first demands a relationship with you (passing through Him) and our submission to him (led by Him) in order to recognize His voice. First we recognize His person and then we will recognize his voice. You can only recognize the voice of the person you know, if you do not know Him, then you cannot recognize His voice.
You must build a relationship with Him. Yes, God often speaks to through others, but you must be careful about this and remember to test all spirits (1 Kings 13). Also, it is important not to contract out God’s words and leading. You must learn to lean into God and let him dwell in you heart so that you don’t need an oracle to contact your father. You can and should create a relationship with God first through Christ (by becoming born again). And then reach him directly by meditating on the bible with the help of the Holy Spirit.
On submitting to Christ, God continues to dwell in us, in the form of the Holy spirit: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” I Corinthians 3:16. His function is to ‘teach us all things’ and this involves communicating (speaking) with us. All we must do is surrender (submit) our hearts to the Holy Spirit and gradually he molds our minds into that of Christ (Philippians 2:5).
What this means is that God’s words become a part of us - through His Holy spirit indwelling we hear Him.
We would like to know how you recognize when it’s God speaking to you. Drop your comments below or mail us at gmadb@yahoo.com.
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