Hearing God

Thanks mike.

I'll be continuing once I am back from my trip to Indiana. Should be home by Sunday morning.

All,

According to the (modified) outline we would be here(red highlight below):

* The Dilemma
* Some necessary background understanding
* Man’s Solution #1 - Appoint someone else to hear the word for us
* Man’s Solution #2 - Deny Others from hearing the Word
* Man’s Solution #3 - Insist on the “proper” way God speaks
    1. Must confirm scripture - everything we need to know is contained in scripture already
    2. Must be balanced
    3. Must be confirmed by many witnesses
    4. Must sound a certain way
    5. The person hearing must have certain credibility
    6. Must be accompanied by true results
    7. Must be taken very lightly - should not be used to form doctrine
* God’s Solution
* Spiritual Discernment
* Faith vs sight
* Learning to walk in Pentecost with an eye toward Tabernacles


However, I think it may be more profitable to skip to God's Solution instead.  I can come back to 4,5,6,7 later, or if someone asks about them in particular I can cover them at that time.

I'll get started on this as soon as I get a chance.

Ok. Another quick point. When we talk about hearing God we have various types of instructions that come to mind. This thread has brought up a couple and some were shifted to another thread. So I wanted to clear that up before moving on.

Some people claim to hear God who gives them "a word" for someone else. Like, "God told me to tell you that you are going to move to Texas.", or "God told me to pray for your healing." Other people have impressions, or intuitions about people that they have learned to trust over the years. Others may claim to receive specific prophecies for the whole body, like "The rapture will happen October 5, 2017." Still others receive interpretations of dreams or scripture or a word heard by others.

All of these words follow similar patterns and I am not here to say some are real and some are not. I just wanted to set the stage that there are different ways people claim to hear God and we will likely need to discuss them at some point.

Amen! The Great I Am. YHWH defines Himself. Think we all need our own little Job (as in The Book of Job) moment.

He Is and
He Is
who He says
He Is.

As MikeTaft pointed out in his recent reply, this core, which God presented to me, is a threefold witness to "I AM". It is a simple statement, but there is so much power in it. Let’s take some time to pick it apart just a little.

He Is …
God exists. No matter what else we know, feel, or believe about Him - He exists. There is no explanation that fits the evidence better. This evidence can be physical as in the wind, water, trees, stars, the Brooklyn bridge, etc. It can be metaphysical as in miracles, beauty, evil, love, etc. It can be logical as in rational thought, proofs, scientific methodologies, etc. And it can be spiritual as in the inner conviction within my spirit. He Is! This also demands his sovereignty. He is so pervasive that he need not clarify beyond - HE IS.

and He Is who He says He Is …
This contains so much.
First, it implies that he tells us who he is! He is not an unknown God. He reveals himself.
Second, it demands His integrity. He tells us who he is - but he really is who he says he is. He is Holy and he keeps his promises.
That means I can be confident in Him. I can rest in Him. I can trust Him.

Next, it means this belief system is all about Him - not about me. It is him in the beginning, him at the end, and him all the way through.
In a way, this simple statement reflects, once again, the three main feasts -

He Is (passover - believe in me), and
He Is
who he says (pentecost - hear me)
He Is (tabernacles - become one with me)

Some of you are concerned at this point. You are uncomfortable that this belief system does not talk about trinity, salvation, death on the cross, resurrection, heaven and hell, depravity of man, rapture, baptism, communion, righteousness, etc. Please feel free to add your favorite item to the list.

I understand your concerns. I promise I am not teaching “another gospel.” But let’s not jump too quickly away from this point. Because, my friends, this is THE point we need to really drill home. I can not overstate this. These are just electrons on a screen to you right now, but I believe it would be good to bring this statement of faith to God and meditate on it. Ask Him to open the eyes of your heart in regard to it. Once we add anything to this - we are then free to add much to this and much of what we might add has the potential to be unnecessary and / or errant.

Then, once you have given this to God. Once you have died to your personal desires and beliefs. Then we can slowly, ever so slowly, ask the question: But who does He say He Is? Notice the essence of this question. We are not asking What. We are not asking How. We are not even asking Why. We are certainly not asking When. We are asking WHO. The whole point is to know Him, not doctrine.

For most of us, it will take years of burning off our flesh and destroying our idols before we can move onto this question with honesty. This burning happens each time we hear his voice and submit to his will. He who wishes to save his life will lose it. Our life must be lost, for His name’s sake. We must daily, deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. We can only do this if we are hearing his voice. We can only correctly discern his instructions as we deny ourselves and allow ourselves to die.

Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

It seems the smarter we are, the more school we have, the more seminary we have attended, the harder it is to simply know God. This is also true if we are rich, talented, healthy, etc. Now we might start to see why God needs to bring us low, in order to raise us up. We get in our own way so often. It seems so appropriate to study scripture, memorize, etc. But if we are not hearing the Spirit, we are just looking at words on a page, forming our own doctrine at the expense of knowing Him.


So Who does He say that He Is?
The heavens declare it, the wind shouts it, the trees and flowers state it, all creation sings out his praises and tells us who he is.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

God speaks it out through everything. Sometimes very vocal, sometimes cryptic, sometimes silently, sometimes plain as day. He reveals himself in his word both written and via our spirit. In truth, it is all his Word. He Conceives, He breathes, He completes through his Word. We begin to see that he is all powerful, all knowing, he is more than one, yet one at the same time. He is the Father (conceives), the Holy Spirit(breathes), and the Son(Word). Because he is sovereign he may even communicate via strong’s numbers, gematria, pyramids, donkeys, stones, etc. But like all words, we must also use spiritual discernment. If we start with a preconceived desire/belief, we have already eliminated our ability to properly discern.  I'll skip the scripture proof for now, but he often gives us words that agree with our idols.

He is in all, with all, and through all.  He is in charge of every minute detail of every single event that happens.  Nothing is outside of his control.  Every experience you have, every breeze on your cheek.  Every raindrop, every leaf in the wind, every howl of the wolf.  Oh, my brothers and sisters, we so underestimate the power and intimacy that our Father delivers into our lives.

So the simple process is:

We hear
Our faith grows
We obey through faith
We act in a way that burns off our flesh, destroys our idols, and brings about death to ourselves
...
We hear…..

This cycle repeats over and over and begins to grow our spiritual ears while also cleaning out our house. This in turn reduces the idols in our heart and allows for clearer understanding of the Word we hear. Over time, as God works to finish the faith he began in us we find ourselves coming into agreement with him. Indeed as we come into agreement, we find ourselves doing that which he desires without Him having to tell us. His goals, as our father, are being completed. This is Pentecost. Hearing of the Word so that His Law is written in our hearts. It is necessary for us to achieve spiritual maturity. It is necessary for us to move into Tabernacles. Unfortunately, much of the church will stay at their Passover experience. Saved to Heaven, but not coming into agreement with God. But to those with an eye toward Tabernacles - Pentecost is the road home.

We will have our ups and downs. We are still stuck in this flesh. This is not a perfect path. We must be tried with fire until only the pure is left.  For a bit of encouragement to those who are on this path - there is much dying. But the balm is lovely. He will hold us up - he does this for our good. Please see this:

Isa 54:5  For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Isa 54:6  For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

There are times when he appears to have forsaken us - but this is but a moment. Be at peace - rest in him - for there is no better place, no drug, no belief system, no person who compares to knowing the savior and hearing his voice.



NOTE: For those who look at the scripture above and say, He is talking about Israel, you can't apply this to us, today.  Oh my friend, Yes!  Yes we can! 

Another pause, I think.....

I don't know MikeTaft. Maybe you should take over. You managed to say in 4 sentences what I said in a small book.

You write out the depths of the thought, I just absorb it all in and paint a pretty picture!