Hearing God

Spiritual Discernment - Basic Framework - Identification(Fins)
 
Once a word has been presented to us, we move on to step 2: Identification.  Who spoke this word?  Was it God? Was it Me?  Was it some other spirit?  It is important to keep in mind, this framework is a fluid guide.  I am not conscious of this framework every time I hear.  I am not checking off the points one step at a time.  It all flows together.  But for the purpose of instruction and understanding, I have broken it out into these seven steps.
 
When we eat food from the water - it should have fins.  The fins represent purpose, intent, guidance.  Is our walk one of purpose?  Are we on the path of righteousness?  Are we being guided by the Holy Spirit? 
 
Many of us are quite distracted by the world around us.  We move from one activity to the other.  One day flows into the next into the next.  If we stop to consider God and pray we tend to treat it like an event.  We GO to church.  We SAY our prayers.  We READ the word.  The fin life is not like that.  The fin life keeps us upright, moving forward, and guided.  We dont' Go to church, because we ARE the church.  We don't Say our prayers because we pray without ceasing.  We don't Read the word, because we are communing with The Word moment by moment.
 
When we walk (swim) this way - identifying if the speaker is God is relatively simple - because we are communing with Him as part of our normal motion. On the other hand, if we only take moments here and there to walk in faith, if we schedule our times with the Father, we are easily confused by the various food that comes our way and the author of those words is not nearly as clear.

Mat 14:14  And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
Mat 14:15  And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
Mat 14:16  But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
Mat 14:17  And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
Mat 14:18  He said, Bring them hither to me.
Mat 14:19  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Mat 14:20  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
Mat 14:21  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
Mat 14:22  And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
Mat 14:23  And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Mat 14:24  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Mat 14:25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mat 14:26  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Mat 14:27  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Mat 14:28  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Mat 14:29  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
Mat 14:30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Mat 14:32  And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
Mat 14:33  Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

These verses are typically broken into two stories. I will be combining them into one lesson. There is also content pertaining to this lesson earlier in this chapter and later in the chapter, but I will confine myself to the passage given above.

Jesus has gone into a remote location and the people followed him. He spent the day walking among them and healing their sick. Please try to picture this, there are about 5000 people in this area. People were talking, shouting to one another. Children were playing and running around. As people would receive healing, I’m sure there was weeping, and praising. Other’s would ask, “What happened?” and the stories would spread across the group. The disciples were moving among the people as well, likely arranging for Jesus to come to some group or another that had a need.

We think of Jesus as God - but remember, in his state - he was human. The whole day, as this was going on, Jesus was “swimming” in the crowd. He was living a fin life. He was communing with the Father, hearing His voice, acting on His instructions with faith and authority. Perhaps something like this....

There is a child, Father, bless her, what is your will for her.
She should be healed, my son.
Child - your faith has made you whole. Father, the day is growing long, I am weary.
My strength is sufficient for you.
Yes Father, sustain me. Father, my people do not know you, bring them to me so that I may show them you.
I will, my son. I will.
Father, this old man is on his deathbed.
Let him go my son. Soon he will be with me. I’ll take care of this one.
Father, my disciples are confused.
I have something in store for them. We’ll be teaching them later.
Father, my feet are hurting.
Stinks to be you, doesn't it!  
Thanks, Father, very funny.
You can get away later and rest, the time is so short.
I know.  I hear you.

He was intent on his mission, focused on his purpose, praying without ceasing, one with the Father.

Meanwhile, his disciples were distracted by the crowd. Sure they saw the healing. They blessed the people with what they could. They comforted with their words and with their message. They provided logistic support to get Jesus to the right place at the right time. But even while doing the work of the kingdom, they also saw the sky beginning to draw on toward evening. They saw the challenge of being in such a remote location. And they were beginning to be more concerned about the physical situation than the spiritual.

So finally, they come to Jesus and say, “Hey, teacher, we need to send these people away so they can eat and we’re kind of tired and hungry, too.”

Father, they have a point, the people need to be fed.
My son, we have been feeding them all day. But to prove this to the people and to your disciples. Let’s really give them some food!

Jesus tells his disciples - so feed them. Give them food.
They respond, "Ah, Jesus, we have little food to give."



I’m going to skip over the fact that this food was barley and fish. That is a lesson for another day. I am also skipping over the fact that there were 5000 people. This has restoration implications. But is not part of this topic.



Son, take the bread and break it - because the few must be broken in order for the many to be fed.
Yes Father.

Jesus then, in acknowledgment to the Father and in the presence of all, breaks the bread and then gives it back to the disciples to feed the multitude. The disciples heard the word and passed it out to the multitude.

But the disciples still needed a lesson on hearing the word so Jesus sent them into the sea. Where fish swim.

A storm arose and the disciples, still having not learned to pray without ceasing and to rest in the Father, are dealing with their situation at hand when suddenly they see Jesus walking toward them on the water. But, the wind is loud, life is distracting them, the waves are tossing, and there are so many things going on - they don’t recognize who he is. Even when Jesus is right with us, we don't tend to recognize him due to the things in life that steal our focus and take us off the intentional course.

Is this my voice? Is this God’s? Or is this the voice of some spirit? They became afraid. So Jesus calls out to them. It is I. But they are still not sure - now they have heard his voice - but still don’t recognize it. So Peter says, Lord, make a clear command of me. Then I’ll know it is you. If we don’t recognize his voice, we ask for clearer instructions. We ask for signs. We ask for confirmation. This way we don’t require as much faith. But even though we ask for these things out of our weakness, many times, God is willing to comply, so Jesus says, Come.

And Peter, now certain - Steps onto the water. He grows fins. He is walking in faith. He is in direct contact with God. He has his eyes on Him and Peter’s ears are open. He is living his life moment by moment.

But then the wind grows too “boisterous”. The distractions of life creep in again. The moment was over and He could no longer hear the voice of His Lord. Without hearing, he lost his faith. Without faith, he lost his authority - he can't act. He begins to perish. To sink. So Jesus touches him, chides him for his lack of faith, and rescues him.

This is the state of our life.  We are in a boat and the storm rages around us.  Even at times when we feel in control - we aren’t.  And lately, the storm has become more and more boisterous.  We must have fins and be constantly and intentionally in communion with the Father. Then, when we hear His voice. It will be easy to identify.  Others may not agree with us - but hey, we're walking on water while they are sitting in the boat!


In our next section, we will move on to:

Translation of the word (In the Spirit) (Grieve not the Spirit) (Faith not Sight)

I agree Natalie that the religion we create from our faith can make things stale. Most of the time I enjoy Sunday worship because of the fellowship, the relationships, and most importantly the corporate unity of worshipping the Father. Even reading the Bible just isn't enough for me because I really just want to talk with God. I feel my relationship with the Lord is so much more than the rituals we do every Sunday. 

(As I sit here writing this next to my wife reading her bible) 

These last two post have been fantastic. Not that the others aren't great, but these are really hitting home for me. Treating the word, talking (praying) to the Lord, and attending church or fellowship as our literal daily bread and water. We know everyday we need to eat and drink to stay nourished and energized. Kinda a do or die We really do not put much thought into it, we just do it. It is an instinct. When we do not eat or drink, our body reacts. We lose energy, blood sugar drops, dehydration sets in with nausea, weakness, and cognitive impairment. To further this, the healthier our foods, the healthier our bodies will be. Put junk in and you usually some not so nice side effects like low energy and weight gain...

Treat our relationship with God like it is something that so naturally happens in our day. Make it a habit, not a chore or something that is action that we feel we must do or we are straying away or breaking the "rules" of religion. Eventually it will become so natural we won't think about it, we will just do it ❤️

SK your contributions to the (this) body are so valuable! Thank you... My request would be to finish the two (it is two?) threads going then start anew. That's just me, if you are led otherwise, do as He shows you

Spiritual Discernment - Basis Framework - Verification of the word (Split hoof) (Witness)
As we mentioned in the last section, the food we take from the land must chew the cud and divide the hoof (split hoof). The split hoof tells us that we need a witness to what we hear. We should not consider our interpretation of what God has told as “truth” until it has been established through a second witness.

Deu 19:15  One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

2Co 13:1  This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

This does not mean we ignore words that have not been seconded. We still need to take it seriously, but before we act upon it, we seek a second or third witness.

Now, for those of you concerned at the beginning of this thread that I was dismissing scripture as a proper way to verify a word from the Lord, you may finally breath a sigh of relief. Many many times, our verification will come from scripture as our second witness.  And what we hear should certainly not contradict scripture.  What we must constantly keep in mind is that our process to hear God through the bible is exactly the same as what I have defined in this thread. The bible is not magical in its ability to cause us to hear God. It is just one more way that God speaks to us and this word must go through the same framework as other words of God.

God will confirm his word through another word. It could be through properly interpreted scripture, songs, another person, circumstances, miracles, signs, etc.

But we must be very careful, because once we hear the word, identify it as God, have it translated, and now interpreted - we are at our weakest place - I mean, the Creator of the universe just spoke to us and we understood! How awesome is that! Almost anything that happens next, can be made to seem like a double witness. You see, we just grew a new idol in our heart and that idol came directly from God. To us - it does not seem like an idol at all - but an alter to the Almighty which we are ready to throw our lives upon.

I’ve used this before so I will just touch on the surface. Abraham heard from God that he would have a son via Sarah. He then had a son. From this son would come a great and innumerable nation. This was word from God. It became an idol in Abraham’s heart. Then Abraham was told to sacrifice this son.

Now wait - this would be a word from God that is the opposite of the first word from God. So, Abraham, expecting a second witness, now seems to be hearing that the first word may not have actually been from God.

Do you see this? He could have said, based on the first word and idol in his heart - No. this word to sacrifice my son is not from God for several reasons. I will not obey. He did not do this. Instead he meditated on the word, held it up to the father and walked in the faith of both words at the same time. While still believing the first word, he set out to accomplish the second word.

Now - everything we have learned in this thread (and some still to come) is taught in this story. The unbelievable faith that Abraham walked in should stun us. Only because his life manifested what we have been teaching in this thread was this possible. And he had to learn this through is life. Even after the promise of a son, Abraham walked in the flesh to accomplish God’s spiritual purpose - this needed to be done to teach us how to cast off our own Hagar - but it also was done to perfect Abraham’s faith.

God did end up confirming, through the witness of his angel and the ram, that His first word was indeed true. And in this story we learn that we too have a one who was sacrificed for us.  But we also have learned that even a word from God should not stand as an idol in our heart.  

Spiritual Discernment - Basis Framework - Application of the word (doers vs hearers) (Faith)
This will be my final post in this thread other than to answer questions or concerns that others may have.

So here we are:

1. Presentation of the word (Scales) (Armor of God)
2. Identification of the source of the word (Fins) (Path of Righteousness)
3. Translation of the word (In the Spirit) (Grieve not the Spirit) (Faith not Sight)
4. Interpretation of the word (Cud) (Meditation)
5. Verification of the word (Split hoof) (Witness)
6. Purification of the word (Blood) (Do not eat the blood)
7. Application of the word (doers vs hearers) (Faith)

We have had a Word presented to us and because we were wearing the Armor of God we were protected from many other words that could have made it our way, but walking the path of righteousness and being guided by the Holy Spirit we are more easily able to recognize the voice of our Lord. As the Lord translates the word into something we can understand we begin the process of meditating on the word received and holding it lightly back out to the Lord for confirmation. This second witness comes and confirms the first and we ensure our message / action will be delivered in a way that does not “shed blood”, but rather, brings light.

So now we must apply the word. And I use the “must” intentionally. This is our act of faith. Are we doers of the word or hearers only?

Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Good old James, who generates so much conflict in his telling us to do works to prove our faith. But James is not talking about works outside of faith. He is talking about works of faith.

Rom 14:23  … for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Yes, I totally just pulled that out of context. It’s ok.

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Jas 1:21  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Jas 1:23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Jas 1:24  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jas 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Jas 2:14  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Jas 2:15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
Jas 2:16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Jas 2:17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Jas 2:18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jas 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Jas 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:21  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jas 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jas 2:24  Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jas 2:25  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Jas 2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Jas 5:15  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.


James is not referring to the works of so many believers today, who see a need and rush to solve it. Or who desire to be seen and do something that displays themselves. These are not acts of faith. These are acts of sin and death. Remember,

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

If we are not doing works according to what we hear - we are not walking in faith. But the opposite is true as well. If we hear, and do not walk in the authority of the faith that we just received through the word - we are also not walking in faith.

We must respond by stepping out onto the water. We do not demonstrate our faith in the boat. If we receive a word and do not act, according to James, we do not have faith. These are the works that James is speaking of. The works that result from a spirit led life of faith. The works that result as the last stage of spiritual discernment when we apply what we have been told.

The reason I include this as the last stage of discernment is two-fold: 1. We may never be sure until we step out in faith. 2. As we quench the spirit, our ability to apply the rest of the stages of discernment are hindered. It is a cycle that strengthens or weakens.


This idea of walking in the spirit is a deeper topic and though it is deeply connected to the topic of hearing God, it would probably be best to make it a separate thread. It connects to knowing God’s will for our lives, making decisions in life, handling sin and temptation, healing and other mighty works, prophecy, teaching, discipleship, and more.

The key starts with how we react when we hear God. Do we obey? Do we make excuses? Or do we shy away because, it might not have really been God?  Are we double minded?  Do we step out in faith and then grow afraid?  Do we avoid stepping out at all?  If we want to hear God - we must then apply what He tells us.  It may be a sacrifice he wishes us to make.  It may be a healing.  It may be a exhortation to a brother or sister.  It may be a request to use His resources that you are a tenant of, for a purpose at an appointed time. It may be a message to you personally or the Body at large.  Whatever it is, walk in the authority that your faith provides when you hear God.

My dear brothers and sisters, they don’t call it faith for nothing!  If Jesus was standing right next to us and telling us in straight English, what to do.  We wouldn't need any faith to obey.

Now - go forth and hear the Lord!


I am happy to answer questions or cover topics we may have missed.  Just let me know.  Otherwise, I consider this thread completed for the time being.