The Call
Everything on The Consider Podcast and website has to do with the call for all men and women to repent. Such is an offer of mercy for those willing to follow Jesus by hating their life and picking up their cross. After all, even the demons believe in God, but they are terrified. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder. James 2:19
The Voice of God
Audiobook
Text The Voice of God
What do we mean by the voice of God? All that the Bible denotes as the voice of God. It can mean the voice of God declared through the universe that we see around us.1 It can be an audible voice spoken to our human ears, or the voice spoken to one’s heart or soul by the Holy Spirit. God’s voice can be His presence in circumstance or in the use of spiritual gifts. He may speak to us through an individual or messengers, such as angels or prophets. God’s voice goes forth in many ways and He is no respecter of manners or ways of speaking. He speaks on His terms and in any way He chooses and those who listen to God will know in their “spirit” that He has spoken.
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts. . . (Mark 2:8)
In the Bible, God spoke in many ways, sometimes in fire or water, or whispers or thunder, or visions or thoughts, or through the spirit or soul of man. He spoke through prophets and miracles, once through a donkey and another time with writing on a wall. Indeed, Jesus spoke in a boat, on mountainsides and even drew in the dirt. God continues to speak today in many ways and fashions, so we should listen for His voice in any way He chooses to speak. Let us simply, with a full heart of faith, set our minds on things above so we might be privileged to hear angels singing in the far distance.
The most important thing for us to realize is that we need to face the truth about every situation. The odds are stacked way against us that we will hear God correctly, that we will too easily declare, “The word of the Lord”3 when we have not heard God at all. Our hearts are deceptive above all things,4 sin deafens us to the voice of God, and Satan always stands ready to twist God’s Word as soon as it is spoken.
The church as a whole does not teach the offensive message of the cross that crucifies opinion. Therefore each group considers their dogma the voice of the Lord. Then there are those in church fellowship, some with good intentions, who offer advice that does not spring from enlightenment by the Holy Spirit and death to self, but from mockery the flesh can perform in the name of the Lord. Our fleshly desires and the opinions of others cloud and mislead us in directions opposite to God’s will. Add to this the multitude of books, commentaries, and devotionals that speak of hearing God or entering His presence but without a resolve to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which only muddle the voice of God.
Many think that if we read the Bible and understand Greek and Hebrew, we already have the voice of God. Ink on paper is not the voice of God. Besides the ink on paper, the Holy Scriptures tell us to listen for more than a printed book. As the Bible declares, Greeks look for wisdom and Jews for miracles but we preach Jesus crucified and that is how we obtain ears that can hear. It is not with the mind of man that we understand God. Nor can we hear God by seeing miracles. Rather, those who come to God with no dependence on themselves to hear Him will hear His voice.
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:22–23)
We cannot just let life come at us, ask the Lord’s blessing, and assume He is with us. Counting our blessings will not work either because God blesses the wicked along with the righteous. I know many in false and empty churches that still think they are right with the Lord because of all the blessings in their lives. Goodness, Jesus healed many, but in reality, only a few were His sheep.
The Gibeonite deception is a perfect example of looking at the externals of everyday life without really seeking the Lord. Joshua had defeated many of the enemies of God while marching into the promised land. As a result the Gibeonites feared Israel and schemed a plan to protect themselves against Joshua’s army.
And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.’” This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now, see how dry and moldy it is. And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.” The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. (Joshua 9:11–14)
On the surface, everything looked correct, but Joshua failed to inquire of the Lord. Likewise, we may think something is of God but we prayerfully discern if it truly comes from God. For example, circumstances may point to God leading us to buy a house, join a church, travel or do something we want. Everything may point to yes, yet it may be just a trap laid by the Evil One. Our flesh wants something and we deceive ourselves into seeing God work when God is really not in it. We may read our Bibles but God may not be in the Bible reading. We may go to church and everything may look and feel like God is present, but we must test, examine, and inquire to see if the Lord is really in it. We must learn to always ask, “Where is the voice of the Lord?” The bread may be dry and moldy, the wine skins empty and cracked. The clothing may be worn and show signs of the truth, but not be of God or come from His Holy Spirit. We must make sure that our life is holy or God may allow a lying spirit to lead us to our destruction, as he did to King Ahab. For without hearing God’s voice, we will always come up short and sinful in our obedience to Scripture and to God. We simply cannot be our own god, speaking to ourselves the Bible and bestowing the blessings of God. We need to learn from King Saul that we need to hear and obey the voice of the Lord above all our sacrifices, prayers, and talk.
But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)
Such things, and more, conspire against us to keep us from hearing God correctly. Indeed, our flesh does not want to do God’s will even if we understand what He says. In fact, this book cannot touch on how to do God’s will , but we will see how we can obtain ears that hear, to “consider carefully how” we listen.
Therefore consider carefully how you listen . . . (Luke 8:18a)
Chapter 1 The voice of God
- How do you feel that God may have spoken to you in the past? In what ways could you have been wrong about His voice? Are you willing to face the truth that you could have heard wrong?
- What feelings arise in your heart when you hear the phrase “the offensive message of the Cross?”
- List some things you feel may keep you from hearing the voice of God.
Ears to Hear: Chapter 2 | [Continue to Next Chapter →]
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The Salt Shaker Christian bookstore, because of persecution by Washington State Authorities, was destroyed and ran out of the town of Enumclaw. Just part of the proof that Sound Doctrine Church was walking the narrow road with Jesus.
For you, brothers became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men. 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15
It was a beautiful store. A result of the hard work of Sound Doctrine Church. In the store was a free rack because, as Jesus said, "Freely you received, freely give." The following track is a small reproduction of the love that burned in our hearts to give freely.
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Cultural Christianity is part of God’s powerful delusion to decieve the "Christian" element of mankind.
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