Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
9 18 2024
John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”
John 14:26: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”
How does that happen? Why have so many not heard that inner voice or leading?
You felt or heard something when the Holy Spirit prompted you to return to church or to reaffirm your relationship with him or drew you to a bible study or a small group or maybe water baptism.
People hear, sense, and feel this inner wooing of the spirit.
So many may not dwell on it for long because the noise of our lives is so big.
But in a moment, you felt some urge to do, say, or act in a particular way.
So many brush it off as a coincidence or some serendipitous feeling. Too often it is not that.
Growing in God has a lot to do with training. Training your ear to listen. Training your intellect to recognize a higher matrix of thinking, believing, and responding. Romans 8:14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
Did you realize that we were born with that inner voice? The Lord said in 1 John 4:4, “He who is IN US is greater than he who is in the world.” If that inner voice doesn’t get our attention, we can then search for scripture that pertains to our situation. Everything that we make decisions about today is in the Bible. I pray you are listening. Listening requires an attentive ear. Being present when someone is talking. And God the Holy Spirit IS talking when you read scripture. The problem is IF we read scripture, are you listening attentively? Or do you do it so infrequently that you can’t differentiate your voice from that inner voice of God? It is something we develop as we mature in every part of our lives.
When we were toddlers, we had an attention span of about 10 seconds. Some Christians have never grown out of that baby stage with God. They have learned to walk but don’t understand yet what they need to learn next without proper instruction. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to be deaf. Not be able to hear anything being communicated to us. So they develop their other senses. They see what we don’t easily see. They feel what we don’t easily feel. What a blessing our hearing is. So I understand the frustration of not being able to hear that inner voice of God at all. After a while, we just give up. It doesn’t work for me! Perhaps that is why Barna has said that millions of people have fallen away from the faith. They had a one-way conversation with God, and as far as they knew, they never got from God a clear answer. Look, I don’t want you to take my word for this. We all need to rely on God’s written word.
• Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and KNOW that I am God.”
• 1 Kings 19:12: “A still small voice”
• Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
• John 14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
I have to make a call this morning and ask a couple of direct questions. Honestly, I don’t want to. It could cause a rift or confrontation but I must make the call. We MUST talk to God about a lot of things in our lives. Why don’t we? Oh, we often say, help Dyan’s recovery. Help me find a new job. We are quick to describe our needs or even those of others. But that isn’t a conversation. That is just our “I Want List.” The Holy Spirit has a lot more to say, but we are not asking, and we are not listening.
“Be still, and KNOW I am God.”
Sometimes God may speak to us by invading our minds with only part of a sentence or just a single word, or an impression that we may not even understand at the time. Has that ever happened to you? You got invaded by this thought or feeling. We recognized it! Even though it seemed to make no sense at all. Write it down, and send yourself a text reminder so you can revisit that moment in your quiet time or bible reading. Give God time to unfold what seemed like gibberish or something seemingly incoherent.
So… what I ask takes some intentionality. It will take some discipline on your part. But let’s face it, since when are we so spiritually minded that we can’t take some gentle instruction to grow our spiritual ears? IF you take the time, you will discover God the Holy Spirit is talking to you all the time. REALLY!
I promise you will grow to a place that when you ask God for direction – often right when you need it…you will get a word, a scripture, or someone will say something or do something that will be a pretty clear indication of the Holy Spirit’s leading. But we must grow that part of our discerning spirit to hear God.
To be brutally honest, If you don’t think we need to hear from him, or if we think our bible knowledge is insufficient or that our ministry skills will get us through, THEN WE PROBABLY WON’T HEAR HIM SPEAK LIKE THIS. So the key always is…are you listening?
How long would you stay happily married if every time your spouse wanted to talk, you kept watching TV or kept interrupting her to speak or do something else? That is exactly what we do to God. How disrespectful can we get and still breathe? Where is our Fear of God? The things we would do to prepare to meet a world leader, renowned movie star, or King would be exhaustive. Then why are we not offering, at least, that same respect…that same attentiveness to every word, every action or motion that God makes or says of Himself? That tells the tale, doesn’t it? We are just adolescents who are not listening. We are so caught up in our own little insignificant world, that we don’t have time to ask or listen for the response of the Lord of the Universe! If you did that in a foreign kingdom, they would have your head! Literally.
A divine impression comes to us from the leading of the Holy Spirit. While intuition arises from within our human spirit. We will come to learn and discern the difference. The next time let’s take some time to drill down further and be hopefully be Overjoyed and Surprised by the Voice of God.
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Matt West Don’t Stop Praying
Excerpts are taken from the Book Surprised by the Voice of God by Jack Deere page 150 – 154
