Hearing God's Voice

     I've been doing some zoom sessions with a group on Sunday mornings looking at the book "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby.  Henry talks a lot about how we can hear and know the voice of God.  He talks about how we can hear from God by the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, prayer, circumstances and through the church.  The key to the whole thing is that we work on building a strong, intimate relationship with God and stay near Him, so that we can hear Him.  There are no shortcuts to hearing from God.  I have to spend time with Him and in His Word and in prayer.

     In John 10:27 it says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."  This passage also talks about how the sheep know the voice of the shepherd.  They know the voice of the shepherd because of their time spent with Him.  They know that the shepherd cares for them and protects them from harm.  The shepherd guides them in a loving way and goes before them.

    It is incredibly easy even as a believer to get your own will and God's confused.  Sometimes we want something so bad that we will convince ourselves that it is God speaking to us.  We have this amazing ability to deceive ourselves.  But, the first task of the believer in understanding God's will is to surrender your own will and make sure there is no selfish motives in what you are seeking.  God doesn't promise to bless your plans.  We are told in Matthew 6:33 

   "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."

    There is a story that Jesus illustrates in Luke 22:24-27 where Jesus says,

 

   "And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded as the greatest. And He said to them "the Kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called "Benefactors",  But no so with you, but let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant.  For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table, or the one who serves?  Is it no the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as one who serves."

    Jesus told this to his disciples around the same time that he washed the disciples feet.  This was the act of the servant of the household.  None of the disciples volunteered to wash the other disciples feet, so Jesus did it himself.  He did this as an example that of the humble and servant like attitude we should have towards one another.  It is something that at the moment, the disciples were too proud to do themselves.  This to me is an illustration of what God has called us to do for each other.  God has called us to serve and we should be willing to make adjustments to our life to do so.  It may not be a position with a great title or lots of attention, but that is not the important thing.  The important thing is that we are faithful with whatever God has called us to do.

https://youtu.be/qAavZw5o20c

Living in the Newness of the Spirit

    Years ago, when I was involved in Campus Crusade for Christ, a book called "The Search for Significance" by Robert S. McGee was really popular.  The idea in that book that we are made to believe certain lies about ourselves.  These lies are something we need to be freed from.  One of those lies is that in order to feel good about myself I must meet certain standards.  One of the others that I identified with was "I am what I am: I cannot change; I am hopeless."
     Paul tells us in the book of Romans that the law with all its rules and regulations held us down in its grasp.  In other words, the more you try to live your life by the law the more you realize that it truly is impossible.  This leads to frustration and a feeling that your never going to measure up.  Look in Romans 7:6

    "But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter."  

     That word "bound" is the same word you would use if you were to say that someone was bound up in shackles or in prison.  Paul goes on to say that all the law really did was make me aware of my sin and my need for God.  That is why he calls the law "my tutor" that led me to Christ.  Because without the law we may never realize how much we fall short, but the more you try to live by the law the more you realize that you cannot ever please God through the law.  James went on in James 2:10 to elevate that further by saying,

   "For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."

    The good news of the Gospel is that through the death of Christ, I can get off this performance wheel and realize that though I don't deserve salvation.  God has saved me now on the basis of what he did on the cross.  I didn't earn it, but he did.  Look in Colossians 2:13-14

      "And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumsion of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

     You look there in particular in that passage in Colossians and you can see how God is the one who is doing all the work.  We are called "dead" in this verses and also in others (Romans 5:6,8).  It is God who makes us alive by canceling out the certificate of debt.  Romans 5:6 calls us helpless in our sins when Christ died for us.  Therefore, what we never earned we cannot undo by our works.  We are set free the passage in Romans 7:6 says to walk in the way of the Spirit or as the NASB version says, "in the newness of the Spirit."

    The good news of the gospel is that if you feel you don't deserve to be saved you are correct.  God didn't save us based on what we did or didn't do, but I am called to put my trust in Him to be able to save me based on what His son did on the cross.   This is what the Bible refers to as justification.  Through Christ we have peace with God (Romans 5:1).  It is a legal term which means that we now stand justified in God's presence based on what  Christ did.  That allows Paul to say in Romans 8:1

    "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."