My parents, along with several other families, helped start the church that I grew up in for most of my childhood. These families all saw a trend of their kids growing up and leaving the church, because they never knew God themselves. They wanted more than going through the motions and doing “the right” thing. They wanted real—live—Jesus.
Their passion became my inheritance. I long more and more for real—live—Jesus to be revealed to me and in me and through me! One of my greatest passions and call on my life is to introduce people to real—live—Jesus! To move from concept-God to a real relationship with Him!
So, I want to tell you about this real—live—Jesus if that’s okay? (If it’s not, you might not be in the right place! ;). Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus is the kindest man I know (and my Dad is extremely kind). He is full of compassion and unfailing love. No one is more passionately in love with his kids than Him. His good thoughts toward us outnumber the grains of sand! And he doesn’t want to keep those thoughts to himself. He longs to speak to us!
He spoke the world into being. All throughout the Old Testament he spoke to and through the prophets. Then the WORD became flesh! It wasn’t enough to stay separated, so he came and spoke the words of life! When he rose to heaven he sent his Spirit. The Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead—he sent to set up his home inside of us. Now the Spirit of God is no longer resting only on the prophets—a select few. He dwells in us who believe! And when he poured out his Spirit, he did not discontinue his speaking. No, I’m not talking about writing a new Bible. His words will never contradict his WORD. I’m talking about being “led by the Spirit”. His “Still small voice”. “My sheep know my voice”. “Live by the Spirit…keep in step with the Spirit.”
But the voice of God is often very different than we imagine. In fact, it might even be more aptly named “The Communications of God”. Many people think of the voice of God and imagine only the booming audible voice of God from heaven that sounds like thunder. But if you are only waiting for those moments—you’re going to miss out on the ways God speaks the majority of the time!
Acts 2:17-18 says, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. And your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy.”
Acts 2 says He will pour out his Spirit on ALL flesh! And what happens when his Spirit is poured out? Prophesy, Visions, Dreams… the communications of God. His voice. He breaks down all prerequisites to the Spirit of God poured out on you. No longer is it for the select few. It’s not just for prophets, priests, or pastors. ALL FLESH! Young and old, male and female—God wants to speak to you!
He is a good shepherd. He is a wonderful counselor. How does he shepherd us and counsel us? By his Spirit! “The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth”. But what do we think of when we remember the role of the Holy Spirit? Is it conviction? YES! Praise God! Thank you Holy Spirit for your conviction (NOT to be confused with condemnation—the voice of the enemy that pushes us down and points out our wrongs in order to lead us into the paralyzing bondage of shame. Conviction lifts us up. Conviction says, “You’re way too good to be acting like that”).
So yes, conviction is ONE of the ways God speaks. ONE of the roles of the Holy Spirit. ONE of his communications. But stop and think of how you experience conviction? Do you feel convicted? Maybe you have a thought that you shouldn’t be doing this, that “you were made for far greater…”
Right there you’re tapping into understanding one of the ways the Lord will speak to you. Did you ever imagine God’s voice—A subtle nudge? A spontaneous thought? A “knowing”?
Here is a powerful realization: Not every thought you have is yours! We also have an enemy. Jesus calls him the “father of lies”. This is his most common method of attack—whispering lies. Isn’t that interesting? A thought you have in your head might come from the enemy. I think sometimes we have more faith for hearing the enemies voice than we do for hearing our good Father’s voice… the one with more thoughts about us than the grains of sand.
Jesus says if any of you needs wisdom, ask, and God will give it generously! Could it be that we pray for wisdom, and one of the ways he gives it is through a “random thought”? A communication of God—His voice.
Jeremiah 29:13—“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jesus constantly speaks in parables. Parables are not for the passer-by. They take slowing down and leaning in close. In the same way, the communications of God—his voice today can be “overlooked”, and it can even be offensive to us. Our expectation of how, or when, or on which topics his voice will speak can be quite different from the “still small voice” we read about in scripture.
- It will take humility to hear his voice—a laying aside of our preconceived ideas.
- It will take faith to hear his voice—A belief in His goodness that propels us into searching him out.
- It will take time to grow in hearing his voice—just as we tune our ears to hear OUR child’s cry or to recognize a friend’s voice on the phone, we tune our ears over time to hear his voice.
What is more worthy of your time and attention? Is there anyone or anything more worthy of your pursuit? Your slowing down, stepping aside, leaning in, drawing close? The Spirit of God is still speaking to us the words Jesus spoke to Mary and Martha. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet. Martha was distracted by the duties of life. But, “There is only one thing needed”.
- It’s time to come aside and focus on the “ONE THING”.
- It’s time to trust more in God’s good ability to speak, than our inability to hear.
- It’s time to trust that a good father will teach his kids how to communicate with him.
- It’s time to stop finding life in “bread alone”, and start finding it through every word that PROCEEDS from the mouth of God.
God’s voice is for YOU! Will you slow down and search him out? Will you seek him and keep seeking him until you find him? Will you sit at his feet?
—Mark
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“…You have the words of eternal life” —John 6:68
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26
“After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” 1 Kings 19:12
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