ptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) (01/30/86)
Hi,
Good question - how do you hear God's voice? I don't think I've
directly heard God's voice in the physical sense of hearing. For
me He seems to speak mostly through other people. It's especially
meaningful when someone talks with me about something that has been on my
mind, giving me direction, and a short time later someone else, totally
unrelated to the first person, says essentially the same thing. This is
often what many refer to as `confirmation' of what God is telling you
through the first person.
This must be tested, though, to make sure it is from God. The test
includes: it must be scriptural, supported by God's Word. God
will not tell you anything that goes against His Word. Also, your own
spirit must be at peace with what is said. That doesn't mean
you have to like it, just that you know deep inside you, in your heart
(not your emotions, but your spirit) that it is true. And being confirmed
by another person says a lot, too.
Sometimes He speaks through His Word. At times, a verse or passage will
suddenly pop into your mind, answering a question or giving you guidance.
Sometimes there isn't a voice. This is an answer too. God has shown me
He wants me to be self-confident, trusting in myself; meaning - to trust enough
in His Love for me, that I'll use the Gifts and common sense He's given me
and do the best job I can, living Life as He wants me to live it - all out.
This is the Glory of God - living the life He's given me to the fullest, and
choosing to accept His undeserved Gift of eternal Life with Him, starting now.
Easier said than done, but worth the end results. And for the times when I
do fail, or I do whatever for my own glory and in general screw up, I can
still be confident in the fact that He won't let me go. He'll be right
there to help me up, holding out His Hand. I reach for His Hand by asking
for His Forgiveness.
His silent answers can be sooooo frustrating, but then so can His verbal
ones. Often times they are exciting and fun, or just plain releaving.
And His peace will be at the center of the answer or guidance we receive,
even though we might sweat a lot. :-)
This is a great subject to talk more about.
God Bless,
Mike Andrews
--
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God says He is always with us, and will not leave us.
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ARPA : fluke!ptl@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP : {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!ptlptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) (01/31/86)
Hi,
A little more on my personal experiences with hearing God's voice:
Maybe 8 or 9 years ago, I was puttsing around the house, cleaning up,
thinking a lot about a question that had been on my mind for days.
I was really asking hard "Who is Jesus Christ?" I distinctly remember
leaning over the couch for something when I heard "He is the Son of God."
Can't tell you if it was a voice in my head or physically present, but it
was so real to me that I turned to see who said it to me. And I was the
only one in the house. What's even more interesting for me personally, is
that I startle easily at the unexpected. So turning to see who was talking
to me when I knew I was the only one in the house would normally freak me
out. But this time, there was no sudden apprehension, none at all. I was
at complete peace. I believe it was an angel speaking to me. And I also
remember thinking that what I heard still doesn't answer my question, what
does `Son of God' mean? I didn't hear anything else - possibly God wants
me to do some searching.
Another incident - about 4 years ago, I was riding my motorcycle down
a country highway (a 1973 BMW 75/5 - my baby), when I tried (notice the
`tried') to pass a car, misjudging the distances and the speed of the
on-coming truck. To avoid a head-on with the truck, I pulled back in,
right behind a car going much slower than me. I pulled off to the right,
finding a gravel shoulder - no fun on a bike. To top it off, the car was
going so slow because it was turning right, and I was headed for it now.
I sideswiped the car, and distinctly remember thinking "I don't believe
this is happening!" - not exactly what you'd call a devout prayer. And
in my head I heard "You'll be alright." That's all. I proceded to
bounce off the car to the right, but the car kept turning right, so I
hit the car a second time. This time I got knocked over, and slid about
30 feet, before both the bike and I ended up in a big ditch. I was
half hanging out of the ditch, looking up at the car's bumper just a
couple of feet from my head, stopped. I stood up fine. The only damage
was one of my shins got skinned apparently hitting one of the carbs.
A group of bikers stopped and helped me pull the bike out of the ditch.
Got her up on the highway, and she started on the third kick. Other than
scratches, the only thing the bike suffered was a broken turn signal - which
was broken by one of the people as they pulled the bike out of the ditch.
Again, I believe it was an angel who spoke, and even protected me. They're
talked about in God's Word the Bible, if you want to find out more about them.
Please note that they are not to be worshipped, only God is - see Revelations.
God is great!
God Bless,
Mike Andrews
--
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God says He is always with us, and will never leave us.
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ARPA : fluke!ptl@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP : {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!ptlcraig@think.ARPA (Craig Stanfill) (02/01/86)
I hear God's voice once in a while too. Sometimes I will get a powerful urge to do something. On brief reflection, it is clearly in accordance with scripture and what I believe to be `right.' It is not always something I want to do, but I do it anyway. Who am I to argue with the almighty? And afterwards I feel at peace with my actions. On other occasions, I will hear the voice of satan. This voice is very different. On brief reflection, it is not consistant with scripture OR with what I believe to be `right.' It is often something I want to do. The voice argues and rationalizes. Sometimes, being of a sinful nature, I follow that voice, even though I know where it's coming from. Then I do not feel at peace again until I come back to God and beg his forgiveness. Who, being merciful beyond comprehension, restores me to grace. The funny thing is, everytime one of these things happens, I change a little bit. Everytime I hear and follow God, I draw closer to Him. Everytime I follow satan and repent, I grow more revolted by my own sin, and more grateful to God for his mercy. And so, through the miracle of God's grace, every act of the devil works against his own cause. Truely the Lord is marvelous. Craig Stanfill
marauder@fluke.UUCP (Bill Landsborough) (02/10/86)
I wanted to share what had happened to me when I was "talked to" by God. I had felt a desire to serve the Lord buasked Him to tell me how I was to serve. I just put it into His hands and really did nothing. About a month later I was asked to teach the badly neglected College/Career age Sunday School Class at the Church which I attend. I felt that this was something important but I was very busy with my schedule and really didn't have time to do it. So I declined saying that I really would like to but "maybe some other time". The Sunday School Superintendent said that he understood and we hung up and I thought that was that. Within 8 hours I was having violent back spasms to the point I couldn't stand. They were muscle related and moved daily around my back. I went to a doctor and he could find nothing wrong. Then I realized that possibly God was talking to me and basically saying, "You asked to serve and I provide then you refuse? My Sunday School Class is going on its third year and I have become the Sunday School Superintendent as well as the Christian Education Chairman. God in His infinite wisdom knew that this was the time and I was to take that position. Skeptics call this a "coincidence" as 1 Corinthians chapters 1 and 2 talks about. But there is no doubt in my mind that God uses any means He feels warranted to speak to anyone He choses and this was His way of firmly speaking to me. God speaks in what is known in the Christian buzzwords as "Christian coincidences". And I'm trying to listen. Bill Landsborough ---- "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude... Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
pete@valid.UUCP (Pete Zakel) (02/15/86)
> I had felt a desire to serve the Lord buasked Him to tell me how I > was to serve. I just put it into His hands and really did nothing. > About a month later I was asked to teach the badly neglected > College/Career age Sunday School Class at the Church which I attend. > I felt that this was something important but I was very busy with my > schedule and really didn't have time to do it. So I declined saying > that I really would like to but "maybe some other time". > > The Sunday School Superintendent said that he understood and we hung > up and I thought that was that. Within 8 hours I was having violent > back spasms to the point I couldn't stand. They were muscle related > and moved daily around my back. I went to a doctor and he could find > nothing wrong. Then I realized that possibly God was talking to me > and basically saying, "You asked to serve and I provide then you > refuse? > > Bill Landsborough Why does this necessarily have to be "God" talking to you? It is fairly well accepted that one's own mind can cause various "medical" problems to manifest. Maybe it was your own guilt over refusing to teach this class that caused your spasms. Perhaps it was God, but I don't think so. I would think it more likely that the opportunity to teach was an answer to your prayer, but your back spasms were caused by your own guilt over your hypocrisy. -Pete Zakel (..!{hplabs,amd,pyramid,ihnp4}!pesnta!valid!pete)
emery@fluke.UUCP (John Emery) (03/03/86)
In article <804@cylixd.UUCP> charli@cylixd.UUCP (Charli Phillips) writes: > >As I said before, when I have a serious decision to make, I pray about >it and ask God's guidance. I get all the information that I can. If >necessary, I seek the advice or counsel of people with knowledge or >experience in the area I'm concerned about. If it seems appropriate, I >might seek counsel from my pastor or another Christian on the subject. >I check all aspects of the decision against the Scripture. I might find >out what my husband thinks. And then I do what seems right. I don't >look for anything beyond that, although, certainly, if God provided >something beyond that, I'd pay attention! > >Rick, in what way does this process I describe fall short of Biblical >"standards"? I don't think what you say falls short of what God asks of us, Charli. In fact, I took what you said as good personal advice. John Emery -- UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!emery "...and if have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2 "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13
emery@fluke.UUCP (John Emery) (03/03/86)
In article <809@cylixd.UUCP> charli@cylixd.UUCP (Charli Phillips) writes: > >But it is in baptism that our sinful nature is put to death, that we >are united with Christ and joined to His resurrection. (See the >various writings regarding baptism in the epistles.) > Charli, A small contradiction from experience. I received Jesus into my life and then received from him received the promised Holy Spirit before I was bap- tized. My life changed and I received from the Lord stregthening of faith. My sinful nature was being crucified and I was united with Christ. It was later through my baptism, that I publicly declared that I was making a commitment to the Lord Jesus and rejecting my worldy life. I do believe that God wants us to be baptized in water as the normal way of declaring our joining his family. However, I personally feel that baptism in water is an outward *sign* or reflection of the real baptism into Jesus in which we are baptized into his death and raised through his life. I believe that the baptism that you refer to in the epistles is the spiritual baptism in which our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit. In many cases our water baptism and our spiritual baptism come and the same time, but I don't think God uses this as a hard fast rule. >But if you want to *continue* to believe, I think you must be baptized. Perhaps this is indeed true, I don't know. Charli, perhaps any Scriptural references or further reflections would stregthen this statement. John Emery -- UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!emery "...and if have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2 "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13
ptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) (03/11/86)
Thanks, Dave, for a very clear description of hearing God's voice, and using
the Gifts He's given us to use.
Something I'm being taught in this area is that God doesn't want to
do for us those things He's already given us the Gifts to do for ourselves
and others. It's really exciting when He first gives us wisdom and knowledge
in a particular area, showing us `how to do it.' But I'd get really
frustrated waiting for Him to do it again; when all the time He was waiting
for me to do what He'd already shown me how to do with what He had already
given me.
It seems God wants us to trust ourselves, be self confident, mature.
Scary, huh. I'm a perfectionist, so `But what if ...' is a big part
of my vocabulary. God's been helping learn, thru situations and thru some
wonderful Christians on this net, just how self confidence and trusting God
aren't separate. To truly trust myself, I must trust God within me.
I *must* unconditionally believe first that He Loves me, and so from that know
without a doubt that He wants the best for me in my life. No matter
what the situation - without exceptions, without conditions, no matter
what doubts hit, and they will hit hard. Especially when I make mistakes
believing I was doing what God wanted. I'm learning even when I see it,
whatever it is, as a mistake, God may not. And even when it is a mistake,
and they will happen repeatedly, God can still make it work out. Here
I learn Hope and Faith.
Notice I said `can'. Peter Homier has taught me that one key, and for
me the second step to truly trusting God within me, is to praise Him.
I'm finding it opens a channel for God's Grace to flow into the situation,
and helps me place greater trust in Him. The results speak for themselves.
Praise Him not just for what He can do in a situation turned over to Him,
praise Him also for just Who He is.
God Bless,
Mike Andrews
--
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God says He is always with us, and will never leave us.
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ARPA : fluke!ptl@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP : {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!ptlptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) (03/11/86)
Rick's scripturally backed discussion on hearing God today, and the
existence of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit right now was great. Another point
for the fact that God's Spirit speaks to us today, and God cares for everything
in our lives (He does say that He even knows how many hairs [or lack
thereof :-) ] are on our heads) - just look at the Fruits of the Spirit
today. I've witnessed people using the Gifts of the Spirit to help others
really experience God's Love, and share it. I've been present at physical
healings. Also seen people healed of mental torments brought on by
unforgiveness or resentment. Listened to people give a word of knowledge
which God later proved true. Over the years I've met people who God gave
knowledge about me that they couldn't possibly know on their own.
I've also seen the Gifts abused - used by people who like to be known for
what God has chosen them to do. And we've all seen or heard of people
who have what appear to be gifts from God when in reality they bind others
up to dependency on the `giver of the gift'.
When God is behind the Gift, the people are not just healed, they are also
freed from sin or receive a deeper experience of God's Love, or both.
And the focus is on God, not the Gift, nor the person thru whom God
chooses to use the Gift.
God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
God Bless,
Mike Andrews
--
*******************************************************************************
God says He is always with us, and will never leave us.
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ARPA : fluke!ptl@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP : {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!ptl