I have never actually heard God's voice but when I do, I figure it will
sound like mine. I laugh when I say things like that but in one of my
ebooks called Symbol of Evil, a man dies and goes to Heaven. As he meets
the Lord, he tells Jesus he thought he'd look more like himself. Don't be
surprised when we get there if the Lord does indeed look like you. Anyhow,
tonight, this is Thursday, we found out a newly married Christian couple
were heading out to the hospital. She had not felt movement for about a
day, she thought, so they wanted to make sure. The baby is almost due so it
won't be long now. Anyhow, I knew, since this is their first, both husband
and wife would be more than a little concerned so we did the only thing we
could do; we prayed. By we, I mean, my son, Sandy, me, and everybody else
they contacted. I was at my desk so I stopped to pray. I did not open my
mouth but I prayed in my thoughts as I mostly do these days. I was praying
for a number of things concerning the couple of their baby and when I
mentioned the little girl, still in her mother's womb, I heard what easily
could have been taken as my own voice but it wasn't. The thoughts that
touched me were these. "She is asleep." The feeling of well being touched
me emotionally and I believe the words I heard. After all, the Bible says
we have the mind of Christ. An hour or so later, the couple contacted our
son, the husband works for our son, Everett, in his drapery shop, and
reported all was well. I then told my wife and my son what the Lord told
me. Why didn't I call the couple myself and tell them what I had heard? I
could have done just that but I didn't because the Lord never told me to
tell them. If the Lord had said to tell them, I would have done just that
but with fear and trembling. When you receive a Word from the Lord such as
that, you best be buddies with Jesus and your relationship best be tight, if
you know what I mean. If you say, "This is what the Lord says," you better
be right but I also learned from the Lord a long time ago, intercessors are
to keep such things to themselves unless the Lord says otherwise. I'll tell
you something more. As I received the all clear report about the little
unborn girl, I sat and thank God for everything and I did something else.
If you know nothing of the position of an intercessor, this won't make much
sense to you but I'll tell you anyway. In my attitude of thanksgiving for
all God had done, I was praying along, silently, and my thoughts changed on
the fly, as it were, and I said, "Little girl? You are ok now. Jesus wants
to sing to you. Will you listen? He is going to sing to you and He likes
singing to little ones." As I said, this likely sounds weird to you but it
has happened to me personally so many times over the years, I accept it for
what it is; God. So it all boils down to one thing and that is, what are we
willing to accept from God. Are we willing to accept His Word? How about
His mind and His thoughts? No, you say? It's too new age for you. Ok,
what did I hear in my thoughts? Some would say you heard a lying spirit.
This means you know little about lying spirits, if that is what you think,
because they don't speak of life nor do they ever tell the truth or speak
the truth. Additionally, some of us believe God never speaks outside His
written Word. If you believe all there is to know about God is only talked
about in the Bible, then I understand why you don't believe God has a voice
and He uses it. If you know the Bible at all, you know it says we, as born
again children of God, carry within us the person of the Holy Spirit; the
third personage of the Trinity. The Bible clearly teaches the Holy Spirit
is in communication with God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, and this
communication is perpetual and eternal. God doesn't have to use words but
He functions entirely within the framework of His written Word. That is,
within the context of the Bible. Do I hear God's voice because I'm such a
wonderful guy, a wiz of a Christian, and the best Bible interpreter and
teacher to come down the pike since the first century? We both know the
answer. So why does God talk to me? The answer is simple. It is because I
am learning to listen. Most of the time, we want God to listen to us and to
be aware of our feelings. There is nothing wrong with that but Jesus wants
to share all of whom He is with us. It is known as fellowship. I don't
know, you say, it is still weird and there is something wrong with it. Let
me tell you of another way I prayed once upon a time.
We were holding Friday night prayer meetings in our home and Sunday morning
church type meetings. We sang and worshipped both times. One Friday night,
someone made a request. We did not go around the circle and ask for
individual prayer requests alone. That is to say, we did do that, but it
was understood, and practiced by all, to speak up during the time of prayer
so we could focus on that request at any given moment. Sometimes we prayed
together, that is more than one person praying at a time, and other times we
prayed quietly to ourselves. The Lord nudged me in the spirit and said,
"Pray for," and He told me to focus on whatever someone had mentioned as a
request. I did pray for that request and near the end of the petition I
laid before the Lord, I spoke something I had not previously had in my mind.
This means, I spoke without thinking and the words came out of my mouth
before my brain registered them. I said, "Lord, I am asking you for this
because we are friends and friends do things for each other. I'm asking
you, as your friend, to do this for me." The strange thing isn't what I
spoke without afore thought; the strange thing is I felt the power and
authority of the words themselves. You see, they weren't my words but those
of the Holy Spirit speaking through me and they bypassed my brain and
thinking processes. In other words, they bypassed my mind. Did I make it
up? No, because I said them before my mind registered the words I spoke.
What if they were not of God? By this, I suppose, you are saying they might
be demonic in nature or just something I thought sounded cute and spoke them
to impress everyone in the room. First, using a little common sense, not to
mention some Biblical discernment, is what I said wrong or even
unscriptural? If you've read the Bible at all, you know we have fellowship
with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ and the ministry of the
Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Don't make me quote all the Scriptures
that confirm what I just said. If you doubt what I said, look it up for
yourself. So, it can't be demonic but it could be something I made up on my
own. No one in the room, unless they have spiritual discernment, would know
if I were faking it or not. I know the truth, of course, because those
words literally left my lips before my mind had a chance to identify them.
Yes, it is my word against yours. Again, it gets back to what we are
willing to accept from God. The lack of acceptance of who God truly is,
relates to pride. That may be a hard pill to swallow but if you stop and
think about it, unbelief is nothing more than pride hiding behind human
reasoning. Also, if you know next to nothing of New Testament covenants,
you will be unable to accept much from God at all, including a salvitic
experience of being born again; the greatest covenant of all. Let's talk
about covenants for a minute. The basic definition of a covenant of any
kind is this: Everything I have belongs to you and everything you have
belongs to me. Most Christians can accept the first half of that definition
but not the second. How can everything God has belong to me? I mean, I get
it that I owe everything to God but it sounds, and feels unscriptural, to
think it works both ways. What about a marriage? Does my definition of
covenant manifest itself in a marital relationship? If it doesn't, it is a
mighty poor marriage. Many marriage relationships, even Christian ones,
fall apart, or at best are miserable, simply because they do not understand
the nature of a covenant. It is true, on the other hand, that a marriage is
a covenant, meaning, everything the wife has belongs to her husband and
everything the husband has belongs to his wife. I can talk about covenants
later but for now, what does God say. The answer? Whatever we believe.
Phil.
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