God Speaks to His People

Sunday, October 02, 2011

God Speaks to His People

God has not changed.  He still speaks to His people.

Don’t let anyone intimidate you about hearing from God.

Hebrews 1:1:  1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

John 14:26:  26 But the Counselor, 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 16:13-14:  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. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

John 8:47:  47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

Personalized: How God communicated with us:

1.    In the Old Testament God spoke at many times and in a variety of ways.

2.   Through Jesus, God spoke to His people.

3.   Now God speaks through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will teach me all things, call to my memory the things Jesus said, guide me into all truth, speak what He hears from the Gather, tell me what is yet to come, and glorify Christ as He reveals Christ to me.

Personalized: Does God really speak to people today?  Will He reveal to me where He is working when He wants to use my life?  Yes!  God has not changed,  He still speaks to people.  If I have trouble hearing God speak, I am in trouble at the heart of my Christian experience.  I am still growing in this area but I can confidently say that I have a real sense about when God is speaking to me.  He doesn’t speak audibly He kind of just shows me stuff and I do it, if that makes any sense.

Hearing God’s Voice

Sin has so affected us (Romans 3:10-11:  10  As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.) that you and I cannot understand God’s truth unless the Holy Spirit reveals it.  He is the Teacher.  When He teaches you the Word of God, carefully listen to Him and respond to Him.  As you pray, watch to see how He uses Scripture to confirm in your heart a word from God.  Watch what He is doing around you and in your circumstances.  The God who is speaking to you as you pray and the God who is speaking to you in the Scriptures is the God who is also working around you.

Knowing God’s voice comes from an intimate love relationship with God.

 God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.  When God chose to speak to people in the Bible, they knew it was God, and they knew what God was saying.

In John 10:2-4, 14 Jesus said:

·        “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.

·        The sheep listen to his voice.

·        His sheep follow him because they know his voice.

·        I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

Personalized: The key to knowing God’s voice is not a formula, nor is it a method you can follow.  Knowing God’s voice comes from an intimate love relationship with God.  That is why those who do not have the relationship (“do not belong to God,” John 8:47) do not hear what God is saying.  I must watch to see how God uniquely communicates with me.  I will not be able to rely on other people’s walks with God.  I will have to depend of God alone.  My relationship with Him is of upmost importance.

Can’t I get a word from the Bible?  Yes, you can!  But only the Holy Spirit can reveal to you which truth of Scripture is a word from God for a particular circumstance.  The Holy Spirit must help you understand how a particular verse specifically applies to you.  Even if the biblical circumstances are similar to yours, only God can reveal His word for your circumstances.

You also need to be careful about claiming you have a word from God.  Claiming to have a word from God is a serious matter.  If God has spoken to you, you must continue responding to that word until it comes to pass (even 25 years, like Abram).  If you have not been given a word from God but say you have, you stand in judgment as a false prophet: “You may say to yourselves, ’How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’  If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.  The prophet has spoken presumptuously”  In the Old Testament, the penalty for being a false prophet was death.  That certainly is a serious charge.  Do not take a word from God lightly.

Personalized: God loves me.  He wants to have an intimate relationship with me.  He wants me to depend on Him when I seek a word from Him.  He wants me to learn to hear His voice and know His will.  My relationship with Him is the key to hearing when God speaks to me.

God, I pray that I will grow in my relationship with You so much that when You speak, I will immediately hear and respond.

What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture I read today?:

John 8:47:  47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

My Prayer is:

Daddy, I realize that you I belong to You because I do hear Your voice.  And that just highlights the fact that before I didn’t hear Your voice, so now I am left to question, Did I really have a relationship with You before?  Guide me dear Lord.  In Jesus name, I pray, amen.

What does God want me to do in response to today’s study?

I believe God wants me to be thankful for the relationship that I now have with Him.

The Memory verse for this unit is:

Some may trust in chariots, some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.  Psalm 20:7