The Voice, the direction, and the failure

Psalm 81:13
13 "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,

Once we have followed the steps and have learned the voice of God does that mean that we will never have problems again?.....If only that were true. Many things happen along the way, sometimes we hear the Word of God yet decide to take our own route, sometimes we fail to understand what God is trying to tell us. The point is that we will not always get it right. Here are some examples of two different ways to deal with the aftermath.


Men who fell short and recovered

Abraham: He lied about Sarah being his wife for fear he would be killed and his wife
taken from him. Yet he is called a man of faith and the friend of God.

Moses: He struck the rock and called forth water instead of speaking to it as God
directed. Yet the Bible states there has never been another prophet as great as Moses.

David: He committed adultery with another man's wife, then had the man killed to try to
cover his sin. Yet he was a great king and is called a man after God's own heart.

Jonah: This preacher went the opposite direction when God called him to preach in
Ninevah. Later he preached the greatest revival in history. The whole city repented.

Peter: He denied Jesus, but later became a great leader in the early church.

Men who never recovered

Samson: He was an important judge in the nation of Israel and had great physical strength
given him from God. He began to deliver Israel from the Philistine enemy. But through
involvement with a heathen woman, Samson was taken captive and died while yet a
prisoner of the enemy.

Uziah: This king originally did what was right in the sight of the Lord and God made him
prosper. But Uziah sinned by entering the temple and performing duties which only the
priests were permitted to do. He was stricken with leprosy and died.

Saul: The first king of Israel, Saul was a man adored by the people and upon whom the
Spirit of God rested. Because of disobedience, Saul was rejected by God and another
king was selected to complete his task. Saul's life ended in failure, disgrace, and suicide.

Eli: Originally a great priest in the house of the Lord, Eli and his sons died in disgrace
because of disobedience.

Judas: Judas was a disciple of Jesus during His earthly ministry. He witnessed the great
miracles of Jesus and heard His teachings. Yet he betrayed Jesus and ended his own life
by suicide.

So what is the difference, you might ask. I find the best explanation in 2 Corinthians 7:10
10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.


We have to expect to make mistakes. We are not perfect. We will falter. It is a matter of knowing that it will happen, and be willing to put the hard work in to correct the transgression. The difference between the men on the first list and the men on the second is a simple as understanding that the men on the first list recognized their sin and repented. They took steps to correct the problem. They asked the Lord for forgiveness, and the asked for his guidance. They might have started off acting under their own motivations, but in the end they submitted to the Lord and had the patience, faith, and hope to wait for his will.

We can all learn to hear the Word of God. He does still speak to his people today, and he has a very specific plan to relay to you. Through the Holy Spirit his plan will be revealed to each of us, but will it always be easy to discern. Will it always be a spoke word? Far from it. God uses many different methods to relate his message to us. Let’s look at a few examples from the bible.

Dreams

The following are a few of many Biblical examples:
-God warned Abimelech in a dream about his sin of taking Abraham's wife,
Sarah. Genesis 20:3
-An angel spoke to Jacob in a dream to remind him of his vow to God.
Genesis 31:11-13
-God used dreams to reveal His will to Joseph. Genesis 37.
-God appeared to Solomon in a dream and gave him the opportunity to ask
for whatever he desired. I Kings 3:5
-A dream was used to direct shepherds to return to their country by a
different route because of an evil king. Matthew 2:12-13

Visions

-God appeared to Abraham in a vision and made him a great promise.
Genesis 15
-The book of Daniel is filled with visions (as well as dreams). God used
these to reveal many things about the future of the world. He spoke to
many other Old Testament prophets through visions.
-God gave Peter a vision concerning the need to take the Gospel to the
Gentile nations. Acts 10
-God called Paul to Macedonia through a vision. Acts 16:9
-God spoke to Paul in the night through a vision. Acts 18:9-10
-The final book in the Bible, Revelation, is based on a vision seen by the
Apostle John.

The Holy Spirit

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
(Romans 8:14)

He that searches the hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit,
because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
(Romans 8:27)

Paul gives us so many examples of different ways God will communicate with us:

-On the Damascus road Paul was directed by a bright light and a voice from
Heaven. Acts 9:1-8
-When a plot was formed to murder Paul, he was warned by believers who
were used of God to help him escape. Acts 9:20-25
-Barnabas was used by God to establish relationships between Paul and the
other disciples. Acts 9:20-28
-Believers were used of God to help Paul escape the angry Grecians. Acts
9:29-30
-When Paul met an occultist, God gave him discernment to bring
deliverance. Acts 13:6-12
-Prayer and the Holy Spirit guided Paul into a special missionary ministry.
Acts 13:2-4
-Personal prophecy by Agabus confirmed the experience that awaited Paul
in Jerusalem. Acts 21:10-14
-God spoke to Paul through dreams and visions. Acts 22:18; 26:19; 27:23-24
-An effectual door of service for the Lord caused Paul to change his
personal plans. I Corinthians 16:8-10
I bring all of these to light to point out the fact that God is not limited on how he speaks to us. He uses many different things in our lives. That is why I often say that you must be still and listen, pay attention to what is going on around you. That is not to say that every dream, every vision, or every inner revelation is from God. We must remember to go back and read the scripture; God’s will never departs form God’s written word. The Lord has much to say to each of us He is the great Creator, and the great communicator. But we must listen, and open our hearts. The path might not always be smooth, and easy, but God will always offer direction is we will prepare our hearts, and open our minds to the Lord

Peace,
Brian

Making changes

Continuing from last week

We are told in Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

If we want to clearly hear the voice of the Lord, we have to start with shutting out the voices that lead us off the path. When we turn our attention to the Lord we allow ourselves to become born again. We allow Christ to enter and start the good work inside of us. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! If we are to start listening we have to start changing., and that change comes by giving our lives over to Christ. As I mentioned earlier, all of the people who are in the bible that talked with God, and heard his voice, were men who followed God. I want to be clear about one thing. They were not perfect men. SO often people think well I can never hear the Lord, because I will never be good enough. But as Paul reminds us in Christ we are new creations, not perfect creation, but new. The slate has been clean, and we are just as good as the next person….even the men in the bible. Will we hear as clearly, will we be as blessed? Well that is not for us to decide, that is up to the will of God. The important thing to take in is that you have to make that change. If you want to hear the Lord, you have to give him your heart, and have faith that he will keep his promises.

Christ told his disciples that there would be help; there would be a way to realize his plan. We read in John 16:13 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. This is what typically is referred to as being led by the Spirit. Some examples are: Acts 8:29 The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." or Acts 11:12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them.

Once we have given our lives to Christ we allow the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of God to enter into our lives. The Spirit of Truth is with us always, gently whispering in our ear, leading us down the path to the Glory of God. Will you follow?

Peace,
Brian

Which Voice?

SO if we do want to hear the Lord, we have to listen, but what does the Lord sound like? Well in John 10 we read: 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.

So Christ is telling us that we will in fact know his voice, but his voice is not the only one rolling around in there is it? How do we know it is the Lord talking to us? Well we have to go with what we know. First we know our own voice. We are always running thoughts in our minds, we reason, and think to ourselves. So we know our own voice very well.

Who else might we find when we listen for the Lord? Well there is little doubt we will find the devil himself. Have you ever been in the middle of a prayer, or maybe reading the bible, and then right out of the blue you get the most off the wall thought. One that you do not have the least idea where it came from, but you know good and well that it does not belong in your head……you know what I mean……yeah, that one! Folks that is the devil stepping in to say hi! He creeps in and throws the most random things in just a quick thought, maybe a little mis-direction. With a little effort it is very easy to recognize the devils voice. It is the suggestion that springs forth, that your voice typically follows with Oh no you will not!

SO how will we know it is the Lord? Chris told us that we will know his voice, so it comes down to separating the Lord’s voice form all the others. It comes down to “logos” and “graphe” both are used in the bible both mean word. However one is the spoken word, and one is the written word.

Acts 17:11 gives us a good example: These were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the word (logos) with all readiness of mind, and searched the
Scriptures (graphe) daily, whether those things were so.

The spoken Word of God always aligns with the written Word of God. They always
agree, there is no contradiction.

So how do we get to that point? How can we really learn to pick His voice out of all of the
others? Well we have some work to do on our part. Remember how I pointed out that the people that heard God’s voice so clearly in the Bible all had one thing in common? Well they all were in tune with the Lord. They searched him out, they made their lives a living example of His love.

Each of us have to do the same thing. There is a process to get to that point, and that is where we need to make sure we put the work in.

If I do not pick this up tomorrow, I will continue with it on Monday.


Peace,
Brian

Stop, Look, and Listen

I spend quite a bit of time focusing on God plan. I am always quick to say we need to listen for the Lord’s instruction; we should wait and see what He has in store for us. This is all very true, but I get a lot of questions about how do we know God’s intentions in our life, how can do we know if it is God’s will to do this instead of that? A lot of people make the observation that while they pray and pray, they never “hear” the Lord.

So this week I want to spend some time looking at how the Lord speaks to us, and how we can prepare ourselves to really get in tune with God’s plan. We will look at three different areas; first does God speak to man? Next we will ask can we understand or “hear” the Lord. Third (and this is where we will spend the majority of the time) we will look at what the Lord has to tell us, as well as how to hear Him clearly, and know His voice.


We know that the Lord speaks to us. Throughout the bible we read the phrase “the Lord said” We read that the Lord spoke to many people throughout the Bible. Adam, and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Nehemiah, Jonah, the list goes on and on. We do know one thing; yes The Lord does speak to us. Sometimes he even uses animals as in the story of Balaam found in Chapter 22 of Numbers. The Lord used a donkey to speak to Balaam. Then of course there is scores of examples where the Lord sends His messengers to relay his desires, and his plan to men. Mary, and the Sheppard’s are two that come to mind. The Father of John the Baptist would be another.

There is no doubt that God does indeed speak to us! He has much to say, and He wants an open line of communication. It does take some practice, and desire on our part. If you notice most of the people that the Lord speaks so clearly to, happen to be very in tune with the Lord. They are people who spend their time in prayer; they spend their time searching out God’s voice.

The Lord wants to talk to you, the question is do you want to listen?

Peace,
Brian

the application

TO wrap up the week on Mom’s I want to leave you with a job discription I found. I hope You all have a great weekend!

Position: Mom
JOB DESCRIPTION: Long term team players needed for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work various hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in faraway cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.
RESPONSIBILITIES: This is for the rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated at least temporarily, until someone needs $5 to go skating. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, and embarrassed the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.
POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION: Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: None required, unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.
WAGES AND COMPENSATION: You pay them, offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.
BENEFITS: While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered, job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

There is little doubt that God knew what He was doing when He created women. The Lord knew good and well that men would never be able to get by with out them. That is why God gave woman the responsibility of bringing life in to the world. The undeniable love that a woman possess for her child is the closest glimpse we get of seeing the love that God has for each one of us.


Peace,
Brian

Jesus and Mom

You know I can’t help but think about Christ when I think about Moms. You might think I am crazy to say that but hear me out. First remember how Christ ran the money changers out of the temple? All is right with the world, Jesus and his friends are walking in to the temple then BAM out of nowhere, Jesus makes short work of all of the people desecrating His Fathers house! See that is how my Mom was…..I dare say that is how my wife is! Moms just do not have a lot of room for blatant disobedience, and justice comes quickly, and thoroughly.

It is not just the discipline end of it, although I will say if the man is king of his castle, then the mom must be the judge and jury! When I think of how Christ fed so many on so little, I cannot help but think of Moms. There is no end to how far a Mom can make a dollar go. I can come back from the store thinking I got a bargain, only to see my wife come back form the store with twice as much, and still spent less than I did! Then how far she can make those groceries go! I walk to the pantry and see nothing, I show up to the table and the woman has prepared a full meal! I do not know where this food comes from, but I am quite certain that food was not in there when I looked, yet there it is a feast ready to eat!

One of the many amazing things about Christ was His ability to heal others. He cast out demons, he healed lepers, and he brought people back form the dead. There is not a doubt in my mind that God gave Mothers some of that healing magic. This same woman who had brought a child to tears earlier in the day, can relieve the pain of skinned knee with a hug. She can pull the venom out of a bee sting with a kiss, and can break the fever of any sickness with a cold washrag, some Vicks, and an I love you while brushing the wet hair from their child’s eyes! Oh yes, a mother has healing powers, I do not know of a father that does not feel the pangs of jealousy when he see the love of a mother heal the wounds of children.

But when you get down to it, the point that drives it home for me is very simple. As adults we trust Christ, we turn to him, and we look for guidance, we read God’s word and listen for His direction on how to live our lives. We pray to him, we ask Him to heal our broken souls. There is nothing that Christ will not do for us, He was even willing to give His life to save ours…..but you see…when we were young we did not know Christ. We had no idea who he was or what he did for us. That is why He gave us mothers. See, all of Christ’s roles for us when we get older, are trusted to dear old Mom when we are young children. She will bend over backwards to give her child anything they need. She nurtures, she guides, she protects, but most of all she loves. She loves as only a Mother can. Wholly, fully, completely, and is willing to die to defend her child. A mother is unique indeed, a mixture of force, strength, and unyielding love.

Peace,
Brian

Mom

Gen 3:20
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.


This Sunday is Mothers day. SO this week I want to spend some time putting some thoughts together on Moms.

The first Mother was Eve. Eve meaning life. God made Adam, and Adam was given many responsibilities. HE was Gods first human creation, however God save the most important duty for His second human creation, the creation of woman. To the woman he gave the gift of life.

Every man woman and child on the face of this earth, have one very vital thing in common. They all have a Mother. I know many might think well without a man a woman cannot produce life. However you would be wrong to assume that. Mary is the example of what happens when God wants to create special life. No man needed!

Even today with all of our modern advancements the woman is vital in bringing life into this world. There is no device or substitution for a mother’s womb. We have come to a point in science that the man is almost irrelevant, relegated to the sidelines, yet without the mother providing a safe place for the baby to form, and grow, life has no chance of maturing.

It really goes beyond that though doesn’t it? Mothers are a unique creation, they have very unique traits. The uniqueness of the Mother is what I want to look at over the next few days.


Peace,
Brian