Hearing God's voice...

I've decided to try and post once a day. Right now I'd like to post more because I have lots of ideas for writings, but I know myself too well. If I don't make a limit, I'll start out posting twice a day until I burn out of ideas and stop posting all together. I may not actually post every single day, but I'll try my hardest to keep consistency. In an attempt to keep it exciting, if you ever would like to know something about what I believe or what the Bible teaches, then send me an idea and I'll try and write a post on it. You can do this via facebook, e-mailing me at pastorJamie@acworthcogop.org, or commenting on this blog.

Yesterday I was wrapping up some payrolls in the office print room when the Holy Spirit hit me with an awesome word. This is not a rare occurrence, nor should it be in the life of any believer, for our Lord said, "My sheep hear my voice" and "Call unto me and I will answer you...". This is what we call the rhēma Word of God (see Mat. 4:4b). The Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts with a "still small voice" that instructs, encourages, prompts, and disciplines us when we are obediently listening for Him on a daily basis. We see this constantly through the logos (or written) Word of God: the Bible. Some people, unfortunately will use the "rhēma" as an excuse to justify fulfilling their own desires. They will say things like, "God is leading me to do this" or "God is telling me to go ahead with this." These statements are not inherently unbiblical. However, we need to understand that if what we are calling the "rhēma" Word does not line up exactly with the logos word, then it (ironically enough) is not the rhēma Word. The Holy Spirit will not contradict Himself--even further, He cannot contradict Himself!

This is the exact reason that we must pray for discernment and wisdom:

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, [that is], those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Hebrews 5:14

and also,

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

The truth is, we are flawed--completely and utterly flawed (God help us!). We can convince ourselves of anything, and if we are truthful and honest with ourselves will realize that we do it on a regular basis (see Prov. 14:12). I have (in my short time in the ministry) already come across so many people who are completely walking in the flesh and wallowing in sin, yet continue to say that God is leading them where they are going. They will be completely rebellious toward spiritual authority and will dishonor their parents in the name of "following God's will." Christ spoke of this about the religious rulers of His day:

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in [yourselves], nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Matthew 23:13

If you'll allow me to, let me warn you now. This is how crusades are started. Like I said, our disease of sin so allows us to convince our minds of anything. A man will convince himself that going to Mass on Sundays causes God to look past his drunkenness and abusive behavior. A politician or lawyer may convince himself that because he is of a certain position he can live a justified lifestyle of deceit. The broken-hearted and the betrayed will convince himself that because he feels unwanted, he must be, and his life ends in suicide. As Leeland Mooring sang it, "This is an emergency!"

I know that I'm probably making this whole "remah" thing seem to cause more trouble than it does good, but let us continue just a few more steps in this direction in order to better discern the voice of this world from the voice of God.

I came across a pitiful situation a while back. I was talking with a young man that claims atheism and my heart was broken. He had harbored up such bitterness toward his parents because of abuse that he got down one night to ask God to intervene. He waited for a few minutes and heard nothing--no voice like thunder in his bedroom, I assume just yelling from his parents in the next. He let me know that this was the biggest proponent in his choice to live as an atheist instead of a Christian. I asked him if he felt like he was let down by God, and he said yes. I then asked him if he felt let down by his dad, and he hesitated. After a few seconds he looked down at the floor and replied, "yeah, kinda." I could see brokenness in his face.

This breaks my heart because it seems that no matter how much a person knows or doesn't know about God, we are all desperately waiting to hear from Him. We want to know...have to know that there's someone or something that can make things better.

Throughout highschool I talked to so many atheists who, after trying to prove God's nonexistence, would tell me about how they tried religion and it didn't work for them. It may have been that they prayed for God to heal their grandparent only to have them die, or they believed that God would mend their parents' broken marriage and received a divorce in return. Whatever the case, they believed that God never showed up, and instead of placing their disbelief on the foundation of their own brokenness and tears, they researched, studied, and eventually convinced themselves that they simply didn't believe in God. They refused, as is a person's first instinct, to be considered fragile or vulnerable.

This is where our thought comes full circle. We are flawed and naturally want to feel justified in everything that we do. As backwards as it may seem, we need to realize that it is this very issue of wanting to feel justified in of ourselves that we condemn ourselves. We want to hear God's voice, but only if it justifies our actions--only if it is a catalyst to our selfish ambition or caters to our current situation with our prescribed remedy. The only time that we will hear this remah Word--the voice of God, is when we are walking in the Spirit--that is, as the Bible teaches us, "walking not after the flesh." It seems like circular reasoning, but it makes perfect sense. We cannot and will not hear it otherwise. You cannot live in a lifestyle of half-heartedness and sin with expectancy to hear the voice of God.

The paradox is that in order to hear God for ourselves, we must take ourselves out of the picture by denying ourselves and seeking after the voice of God. We cannot continue in sin! We must repent and turn from our sinful lifestyles. If you are questioning whether the lack of God's voice in your life means that you aren't saved, then read 2 Corinthians 13:5 carefully:

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves...

We must allow God to crush our desires so that our desires can be truly realized. I will be praying for you tonight that you may hear the voice of God in your life on a daily basis... not with your ears, but with your heart.

In Christ,
Jamie