He Speaks to Me
July
2004
Why should believers be satisfied
with "hand-me-down" revelation?
Why do you and I settle for the
Word of the Lord that has been revealed
to someone else and simply passed
on to us as if God does not speak
to all of us individually? This
shouldn't satisfy Christians who
want an intimate walk with Christ.
He desires to speak to us personally.
He wants us to hear His voice, understand
and obey. It seems that many of
us have fallen into the pattern
of thinking that leads us to believe
that He only speaks to some believers;
only those who have reached some
mystical level of spiritual prowess
that the rest of us could never
attain to. So we have become satisfied
with a mediocre Christian existence
that sits on the side lines while
those that we consider to be "highly
spiritual" have a relationship
with God. However, one of the rights
and privileges that we all have
as followers of our Lord is that
He speaks to us, each of us. . one
on one. Whether you sit in the pew
or speak from the pulpit; teach
a small bible study in your home
or speak to a crowded auditorium;
whether your mission field is across
the street or across the world,
He can and will speak to you! He
doesn't play favorites. Each of
us has the right and privilege to
have a personal relationship with
our God in which we communicate
with each other. He meets us where
we are despite who we are and reveals
His will for our lives with His
still small voice.
As I have asked the Lord to make
His voice clear to me, I have begun
to notice a couple of very interesting
aspects about many of the Biblical
examples of God speaking to His
people. First, before God would
speak to so many people in the Bible,
He would wait until they had done
something to show their interest
in receiving His word. For example,
when God called out to Moses in
the dessert of Horeb from the burning
bush, it wasn't until after God
saw that Moses "turned aside
to look" and see why that silly
bush wasn't consumed by the fire
(Exodus 3). The resurrected Jesus
gently called Mary's name only after
she came to the tomb desperately
seeking the body of her Savior (John
20). A woman with an extremely complicated
medical problem that no doctors
could seem to fix, saw the Master
turn his attention to her and speak
but only after she had forged her
way through an enormous crowd of
people and obstacles and reached
out to touch the hem of his cloak
(Luke 8). A 12 year old boy named
Samuel got the surprise of his life
when He heard the voice of God calling
out to him but only after he had
positioned himself directly outside
of the holy of holies (1 Samuel
3). And David got clear direction
from God regarding several major
decisions he needed to make but
only after ?he inquired of the Lord?
(1 Samuel 23, 30)
Could it be that our inability to
hear God call our name and speak
clearly to us has less to do with
His ability or desire to speak clearly
(to which we often attribute it)
and more to do with our lack of
desperation and preparedness to
hear Him? Is it possible that the
Lord speaks clearly and emphatically
to those who have correctly positioned
themselves to hear from Him? Often,
we as believers feel so distant
from Him and we wonder how it will
ever be possible to find His will
for our lives since we can't seem
to make out His voice. We pray and
ask Him to speak to us and reveal
Himself to us in an unmistakable
way yet it seems that He will not
answer. However, the Lord has on
many occasions gently reminded me
that "it is [my] sin that causes
the separation between me and God".
(Isaiah 59:2). It's not Him, it?s
me! I am the one who is standing
in the way of receiving His fresh,
personal and revealing Word in my
life. And if you and I want to hear
from the Lord; if we want to know
what He has to say to us, we must
be desperate to fulfill our part
of the deal. We must be purposeful
in our desire to do what He has
asked of us so that there is no
interference in the "broadcast
signal" between us and Him.
I don't know about you but I want
clear reception! And Scripture is
straightforward in showing us that
there is nothing wrong with the
broadcast signal but there is much
to be desired of us; the receiving
devices. There is far too much noise
on our end and when we can't hear
God we think it is His fault.
God?s voice is heard by those who
are prepared to hear it. Could it
be that God is simply waiting on
you to "turn aside to look"
like Moses or desperately seek Him
like Mary Magdalene? Could it be
that we need to re-position ourselves
like the boy Samuel or simply take
the time to inquire of the Lord
before we make a single move like
David did? While you are waiting
on God to do His part, He could
be waiting on you to do yours! Ask
the Lord to show you what your part
is. What steps of obedience and
faith is the Lord requiring of you
so that you might be correctly positioned
to hear Him clearly.
Then, my sister, the challenge after
hearing the word of God is to be
obedient to the word that you hear.
There was rarely an occasion when
God chose not to speak in the Bible
(although God withheld His word
from those who were in rebellion),
there were far more illustrations
of people?s lack of responsiveness
to what He was saying. They either
ignored His voice or blatantly disobeyed
it and they suffered the consequences.
As you begin to more clearly make
out God"s voice in your life,
you will have to resign yourself
to complete obedience; not to do
so will be sin against God. James
4:17 says, "To the one who
know the right thing to do but does
not do it; to him it is sin."
Make a committed to be obedient
to whatever He may say whether you
like it or not! If you do, I promise
you, you will not be disappointed
in the glorious results.
Adapted from "He Speaks To
Me" by Priscilla Shirer To
be released in March 2005 by Lifeway
Christian Resources
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