Conversation
God wants me to hear his voice. He delights in talking to me. He wants all of us to hear his voice, and God is always ready to talk...but he leaves the start of the conversation to us.
When God made Adam and Eve, He spent time with them face to face. The apostle Paul said that He made us to be family. God's idea of family is all about loving and talking...being together.
When sin separated us from God, we could no longer be with God face to face. Not because He is too good to be with us, as some have taught, but because as Moses said, the brightness of His holiness would actually kill us. He loves us too much to let us see Him in our fallen bodies!
But God still wants to spend time with us. The way we can be with Him for now is talking to Him. When we talk with God we give Him the only thing we can...the thing He truly desires from us...our attention!
The more we talk to Him, and listen for His responses, the more we start to see Him again, only it is not with natural eyes, but with the "eyes of our heart.". We can actually ask God for this. "God, please let me hear you more clearly, open the eyes and ears of my heart, in Jesus' name."
Beginning the conversation takes some risk. It takes time to learn to hear his voice, and know you are hearing Him. As you begin to pursue Him, He will give you opportunities to step out on what you think He is telling you, so you can see Him move in agreement with His words, and you can begin to build a history of hearing Him. The more you hear Him and interact with Him, the more confidence you will have for the growing of your relationship with Him. As this happens, you become very valuable to those around you. You become a conduit for His words and will to the earth. God loves this process!
This is the trick though: because of love, God waits for you to start the conversation. He will not force you into it. If you will ask God to help you grow in this, He will...but you could go your whole life not hearing God just because you wouldn't take those firsts steps. He is so powerful, His voice is so powerful, that if He took the first step towards you, you would have to respond, and your free will would be violated.
David knew well the feeling of growing in confidence of hearing God, but also experiencing the insecurity of not having complete confidence yet. Check out what He said in Psalm 27. It is an excellent picture of this truth!
Psalm 27:7 Hear me as I pray, O LORD . Be merciful and answer me! 8 My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me."
And my heart responds, "LORD , I am coming." 9 Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don't leave me now; don't abandon me, O God of my salvation!
David is saying: God, talk to me...oh, I hear you beckoning me to more...are you really talking to me!? Don't abandon me! Where do I stand with you?...
This is how it works, but as we grow in confidence and His voice becomes more and more clear, we can lead others to His truths. Right now the earth needs many who hear Him!
When God made Adam and Eve, He spent time with them face to face. The apostle Paul said that He made us to be family. God's idea of family is all about loving and talking...being together.
When sin separated us from God, we could no longer be with God face to face. Not because He is too good to be with us, as some have taught, but because as Moses said, the brightness of His holiness would actually kill us. He loves us too much to let us see Him in our fallen bodies!
But God still wants to spend time with us. The way we can be with Him for now is talking to Him. When we talk with God we give Him the only thing we can...the thing He truly desires from us...our attention!
The more we talk to Him, and listen for His responses, the more we start to see Him again, only it is not with natural eyes, but with the "eyes of our heart.". We can actually ask God for this. "God, please let me hear you more clearly, open the eyes and ears of my heart, in Jesus' name."
Beginning the conversation takes some risk. It takes time to learn to hear his voice, and know you are hearing Him. As you begin to pursue Him, He will give you opportunities to step out on what you think He is telling you, so you can see Him move in agreement with His words, and you can begin to build a history of hearing Him. The more you hear Him and interact with Him, the more confidence you will have for the growing of your relationship with Him. As this happens, you become very valuable to those around you. You become a conduit for His words and will to the earth. God loves this process!
This is the trick though: because of love, God waits for you to start the conversation. He will not force you into it. If you will ask God to help you grow in this, He will...but you could go your whole life not hearing God just because you wouldn't take those firsts steps. He is so powerful, His voice is so powerful, that if He took the first step towards you, you would have to respond, and your free will would be violated.
David knew well the feeling of growing in confidence of hearing God, but also experiencing the insecurity of not having complete confidence yet. Check out what He said in Psalm 27. It is an excellent picture of this truth!
Psalm 27:7 Hear me as I pray, O LORD . Be merciful and answer me! 8 My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me."
And my heart responds, "LORD , I am coming." 9 Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don't leave me now; don't abandon me, O God of my salvation!
David is saying: God, talk to me...oh, I hear you beckoning me to more...are you really talking to me!? Don't abandon me! Where do I stand with you?...
This is how it works, but as we grow in confidence and His voice becomes more and more clear, we can lead others to His truths. Right now the earth needs many who hear Him!
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