Tag Archive | choice

Can You Hear It?

Oct19

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Hear what?

The voice of god.

 

This topic comes up so frequently in conversation.

 

I’m no expert,

but I have made some observations and asked some questions.

I’ve gotten some great answers,

and been quite bewildered by the answers of others.

 

Here’s what I think.

I believe God is always speaking.

Always.

I am just not always listening.

Sometimes I think I am listening,

only to find later how much I missed.

OR

I do not understand the manner in which He is speaking.

These two observations made me want to find a better way of hearing.

It’s been a long, long study,

but I’m learning more and more every day.

 

Questions…

How does God speak?

How do we know we are not just making it up?

What about all those coincidences?

If I connect the dots, will they lead back to Him?

What that one scripture that I simply cannot get out of my mind?

Can I HEAR His voice with my ears?

What about those “gut” feelings?

 

I am positive that you can add more questions to this list.

As many people as there are,

there are AT LEAST that many questions.

 

As stated earlier, I believe God is ALWAYS speaking.

Consider this thought –

What if –

  Babies were born with the ability to hear and communicate with God,

and they lost that ability through neglect or lack of knowledge or just plain unbelief?

Perhaps the big people around them didn’t know this language,

or they chose not to believe it if they did know.

Could be?

 

If we spend time each day getting to know God and His Word,

then our minds will become renewed.

Slowly, over time,

our thoughts will become more like His.

We will learn through His Word about His character.

We will learn through His Word His expectations.

We will learn through His Word that He LONGS to communicate with us.

We will learn through His Word the “sound” of His voice.

My sheep hear my voice and they know me.

The voice of another they will not follow.

John 10:26 -28

(That’s another couple of posts all by itself!)

When we spend the time,

We can be fairly certain that we are not making it up.

He is Faithful to watch over his Word to do it

Jeremiah 1:12

Do your thoughts align with God’s Word?

Do your thoughts align with the promises He has already written for you in His Word?

If so,

you can be pretty sure He’s been speaking to you.

Somehow.

 

In the late 80’s there was a program called “Perfect Strangers”.

In it, the character Balki was always saying “What a co-in-o-dink!”

He meant coincidence of course.

Well, I do not believe in them.

I choose to believe that it is God’s way of connecting the dots for our lives.

Look back on some things in your life.

Things that in no way go together,

but in the end,

the dots connect to the next big thing that God had for you.

 

He’s talking to you.

Are you listening?

 

Is there a verse that you have read that just will not let you go?

One of my biggest ones; Psalm 139 of course.

but especially verses 13-16-

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you  when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me  were written in your book before one of them came to be.

 

Oh yeah!

I’m NOT a mistake!

 

God’s voice,

God speaking to me,

will always make me know that I have worth and value.

 

I HAVE heard the audible voice of God.

This is not so common,

but I believe that God uses whatever it will take to get us to listen.

In the circumstance I was in,

I am so glad He spoke,

no,

He yelled!

People tell me that God wouldn’t yell.

 In my case He yelled “SHUT UP!”

(He would never say that!)

Well He did.

It WAS the only way I would listen.

It made all the difference in the outcome.

 

My husband has heard His voice audibly as well.

If he hadn’t listened,

we could have been burying our daughter due to a strangers foolish mistake.

 

I’ve had experiences where my insides just didn’t settle well in a given circumstance.

Some of those unsettled times I have not paid attention,

and later paid the price for “not listening”.

By the same token,

Some I have taken to heart,

listened,

and in the end seen exactly the pit fall Holy Spirit was trying to keep me from.

God was speaking to me.

In my gut.

 

I choose to believe that He uses all these ways and more

to communicate to a world that He so longs to interact with.

To SPEAK to us.

To build relationship with us.

To love and to bless us.

 

I have a little story I’s like to share with you on this subject

I have permission to do so.

My friend and I were talking a while back about this very topic.

We were talking about the fact that we want to teach our children and grand-children

how to hear God in whatever way He chooses to speak.

Recently she was sitting on her front porch,

She was enjoying the sights and sounds and smells of the beautiful fall here in the mid-west.

She spends her quiet time there.

Encountering God and listening for His voice.

On one day,

her not quite pre-school age daughter came to join her.

She was very quiet,

and after a bit her mom was going to speak to her,

and she put her little finger to her lips and shushed her mom.

A bit shocked,

mom asked why?

To which the little replied,

“I think I hear God talking.”

So of course mom asked,

“So what do you think He’s saying?”

To which the little answered.

“Chirp, chirp.”

 

A heartwarming story to be sure.

A surprising answer from a babe.

Purity.

 Sweetness.

A complete lack of guile.

A heart ready to HEAR what God has to say.

—————-

Fearfully and wonderfully made

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You. God’s Creation

Oct12

What is it exactly that God created you to be?

Do you know?

If you do,

Are you living up to it?

If you do not know,

Would you like to?

I’ve reposted a quote from a post by Billy Coffey.

A post I read at the beginning of the year.

Here closer to the end of the year I am re-reading and re-evaluating.

Having just returned from an amazing conference in California held by Aglow International,

My thoughts return again to this topic.

Billy said something in this post that caught my attention.

Again.

My mind goes in and out and around this thought many times over during the course of a year, a month, a week or even a day.

The old sound track of my life tries desperately to play yet again.

Here’s the quote;

“He said something else to me then. It was soft and swallowed by the wind, but I think he said that he will always win so long as we believe we are ordinary. I’m almost positive that’s what he said.”

It is my firm conviction that even when we think we know what God created us to be,                                that we do not, oy, cannot understand it.

We fall in to believing we are ordinary.

Not strong.

Not smart.

Not useful.

Not whatever.

You fill in the blank.

I can stand firmly in this because I have known for a while what my calling is.

That thing about me that is not ordinary.

I can also say that God , in His revelatory nature,

is adding more to this knowledge slowly.

He is revealing more of Himself in me slowly over time.

As I go.

As I can handle it.

As I process it and re-process it.

As many times as it takes for me to understand each point He is trying to make.

Then we move on.

When I get it,

We move on to the next.

The time between one revelation and another seems to be shrinking.

Maybe I am more open to the process or maybe,

I think,

The time of His coming is near,

and there is much to be done.

Here are some Bible verses for you to consider.

Does one or more of them “jump off the page” to you?

Does one stir something in your heart?

Does one make you want to find out more about it?

Good.

Go with that.

Look it up in all the versions of the Bible you can find for a clearer picture of what it is that God is saying concerning you.

His amazing creation.   (That would be you!)

Read it over and over again.

Until it sinks in and makes its home in your heart.

 

Have you been told you are of little or no worth?

Psalm 139:14 NIV 1984 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.

Have you been “un-chosen” all your life?

Colossians 1:27  NIV 1984 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Has there been no one to truly love you?

Song of Solomon 6:3 ESV  I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.

Have you struggled finding your place of belonging?

Romans 9:25 ESV As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”

Have you felt weak in your body or your mind?

1 Corinthians 1:27 KJV But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

Has the pain been too much to bear?

Isaiah 61:3 New KJV  To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

Could your victory story be the one to comfort another and draw them into victory for themselves?

2 Corinthians 1:4 New KJV  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Are you ready to give up?

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV 1984 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

My prayer is that the words here will begin a new sound track in your heart and mind.

Allow God to speak to you through the Holy Spirit.

His answers may appear on the printed page.

His answers may appear in some social media you visit.

His answer may appear through some “chance” encounter with someone.

His answer WILL come by reading His Word, the Bible,

with the intent of knowing Him better.

Remember  ~  You are NOT ORDINARY.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You are made with a purpose.

You can read the rest of Billy’s post here; http://www.billycoffey.com/2012/01/new-years-with-the-devil/

You can find out more about Aglow International by visiting here; http://www.aglowinternational.org/

You can find many Bible versions here; http://www.biblegateway.com/

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Fearfully and wonderfully made

What About the Updates You Didn’t Ask For?

Sep30

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You may not be a geek, but you are here,

so at the very least you are a little bit computer-ish.

You probably have an email account,

a Facebook account,

maybe a Twitter account.  

Maybe you are Linked-In or you Spotify. 

Whatever the case may be. 

You know your settings. 

It took a while to get things just the way you like them,

and then, BAM!

Totally out of nowhere,

one of these accounts decides to update,

or even upgrade to a different way of doing things or worse yet,

a whole new  program.

New phone.   New operating system.   New program.   New gadgets.

Pretty new packages with lot of work packed inside.

Ugh.

 

Resetting takes time.

It takes brain cells.

It a lot of  mental energy.

How did you handle the news?

Did you get angry and pout?

Did you throw things or complain?

Or did you receive the updates as a matter of course?

The latter choice will mean accepting the change.

It will probably mean rearranging your schedule to give you time to familiarize yourself with the new,

and reset everything from the start.

If you are just a bit computerish,

this may cause great hardship.

For a geek or a techi,

it would be a nuisance perhaps,

but you’re used to it,

so you can get it done pretty quick.

 

After far too many techi type updates and upgrades,

there is something I’ve noticed about them all.

It is there regardless if my trouble is long term,

or if it is of the quick fix type.

I have noticed the same thing with updates that are physical,

emotional and intellectual.

It is there whether it is my computer that is broken or if it is my heart.

 

Most recently,

my own updates came in both the techi and the emotional realm.

This then of course leaked all the way into the spiritual side of things.

These simultaneous happenings threatened to take me out.

 

Folks when this happens to you,

you must seat yourself securely in your chair and follow all the prompts until you reach the end.

Some of those prompts are simple yes – no, click – don’t click.

With some on the other hand,

you have to wait for the action to take place,

then actually shut down and re-start for the update to take place.

Start – stop. Start – stop. Start – stop.

 

My recent updates,

led to some very expansive and not to mention expensive upgrades.

Totally new equipment and programming required.

Here I am on the other side (Thank you God!)

I’d like to share some of the BIG stuff I learned.

Perhaps it can help you too!

There is no “set” way to handle such things,

but I believe that God’s principles work no matter where you use them.

 

*Get a comfy seat – Ephesians 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and

                                               seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

*Settle in – Isaiah 32:18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, 

                               in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.

*Be thankful – Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer,

being watchful and thankful.

*Rest in Him – Psalm 62:5 Find rest, O my soul,

                   in God alone;  my hope comes from him

ASK.

Matthew 7:8
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;

and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

I had to begin in each case asking God just what it was I was supposed to learn from each circumstance.

When you learn what you are supposed to,

you can advance to the next thing.

 

WAIT.

Psalm 38:15
I wait for you, O LORD;  you will answer, O Lord my God.

I always pray for the quickly to happen,

but God does not always answer that way.

The waiting, the crying,

the praying,

the seeking,

the finding,

the trusting,

all take time.

Sometimes I learn more slowly than other times.

 

DO OVERS.

Proverbs 24:16 (CJB)For though he falls seven times, he will get up again;

it’s the wicked who fail under stress.

If I didn’t get it quite right, I get to do it over.

The fact of the matter is that I don’t want to move on one minute sooner than He thinks I’m ready.

I  really can’t skip any steps and expect everything to operate smoothly.

 

TRUST.

Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name trust in you,  for you,

LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

This is where the trusting comes in

Knowing He will move me ahead when I am ready,

if I’m really trusting Him,

and not trying to do it myself,

I won’t have to do it over again.

 

ATTITUDE.


Ephesians 4:23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

I have to repeatedly check my attitude.

It can change from moment to moment.

Am I grumpy?

Am I complaining?

Am I doing all I can to change that if I am?

I have to ask God to give me an attitude of thankfulness for the opportunity

to learn some really hard things with the Holy Spirit at my side.

STOP STRIVING


Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart  and lean not on your own understanding;

I don’t know about these things God, but you do.

How about I let you handle this.

Again and still.

When each new pop-up and prompt comes,

I get to choose how I will respond.

Will I follow the prompts?

My prayer should always be “I’m asking your way of dealing handling this God.

I can exhaust myself in the striving.

YOU, however, are inexhaustible.”

When are faithful to adhere to His promptings,

we can be assured of a good outcome.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.

Follow those prompts!  Every one!

His way is may not be the fastest,

but it is always the best.

 

What promptings are you receiving from God in your circumstance?

Are you reading His manual the Bible?

Are your eyes and ears open to his instruction?

If you answer yes to these questions and follow through,

then you can expect great things.

They don’t always come in packages we recognize,

but we can be sure they will be worth the effort.

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You are fearfully and wonderfully made

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