HOW GOD SPEAKS TO US
Mar
10
Written by:
3/10/2011 12:00 AM
HOW GOD SPEAKS TO US
Feb. 20, 2011
(Acts 16:9 NIV) During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." (Acts 16:10 NIV) After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
My last message was about three keys to hearing God`s voice. In the message I talked about hearing God`s through the bible, our thoughts and through prayer. There are many more ways God speaks to us. In this message I will talk about more of the ways God speaks to us. God is a God of infinite variety and he speaks to us in many different ways!
(1.) Visions - The bible passages at the beginning of this message concern a vision that Paul had during the night. After the vision Paul and his companions got ready at once to go to Macedonia, concluding that God has called them to preach the Gospel there. On the morning of Feb. 12, 1999, my wife received a vision of Awaji Island. Big ways were coming against the island and people were crying out, “Won`t you please come and help us?” After discussing the vision with our senior pastors, the Aokis, my wife and I decided we should move to Awaji Island as soon as possible. We moved there on Feb. 24, 1999.
(2.) Dreams – Dreams are mentioned in the bible more than 120 times. In fact, many will have dreams in the last days. (Acts 2:17 NIV) "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Everyone has dreams. Most of the dreams we have are soon forgotten before we wake up. However, some dreams can be from God. All of you have heard of the dream my wife had of the site this church was built on. The dream came a few days after we agreed God wanted us to start a kindergarten. However, it was almost two months after the dream that we found this site.
(3.) Prophecy - Much of the bible is prophecy. Many Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are many other prophecies concerning Jesus that will be fulfilled during the second coming of Jesus Christ. Many bible prophecies concern the Jewish people, Israel and other countries in the Middle East. The books of Daniel, Zechariah and Revelation contain many prophecies about the end times and especially Armageddon. Many of the books of the Old Testament were written by the four major prophets: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel. There were also many minor prophets that wrote books such as Joel, Zechariah, Amos and many others.
Paul wanted people to earnestly seek prophecy. (1 Cor 14:5 NIV) I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified. Even today many people prophecy. However, all prophecy must be tested. (1 Th 5:20 NIV) do not treat prophecies with contempt. (1 Th 5:21 NIV) Test everything. Hold on to the good.
(4.) Circumstances - Many times my wife and I have experienced God`s hand in our circumstances. The building of this church and preschool are a good example. From the start until the project was completed many, many things happened to confirm the project was in the center of God`s perfect will. There were problems, but God always made a way for us to overcome them. We all have times that we wonder why something happened. However, we often find out later there was a reason for what happened. The ways God moves through the circumstances of our lives may be simple or very complex. God often opens doors or closes them through circumstances. However, we must discern if the circumstances are from God or Satin.
Over 20 years ago our friends, John and Hyoncha Clark, were in the Philippines with their three young daughters. The car they were travelling in broke down. They were able to get help to fix the car. After a delay they continued on their way. Later they found out if their car had not broken down they would have been caught in an ambush. It is possible that the whole family would have been killed. They were very happy they had car trouble! The Clarks have been missionaries in Taiwan for over 20 years.
(5.) Other people - God often uses other Christians and also non-Christians to speak to us. Before making a major decision it is good to ask other people for advice. (Prov 15:22 NIV) Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. However, any counsel we receive must agree with God`s word. We have to discern if the counsel we receive is good or bad. God can use people to warn us of problems we may face. Paul received counsel on his way to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:10 NIV) After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. (Acts 21:11 NIV) Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" (Acts 21:12 NIV) When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. The counsel came in the form of a prophecy. After hearing the prophecy Paul still went to Jerusalem. Paul believed it was God`s will for him to go to Jerusalem. As was prophesied Paul faced many difficulties in Jerusalem. Jesus also willingly went to Jerusalem. Jesus determined to go to Jerusalem against the advice of his disciples to bear the cross for all mankind.
(6.) God spoke to people in the bible in many ways such as through angels, dreams, visions, storms, insects, prophets, plagues, fish, a donkey, a whale and even with an audible voice. God still uses some of these ways to speak to us today. There are many other ways God can speak to us such as through testimonies, books, the media and even through creation. (Rom 1:18 NIV) The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, (Rom 1:19 NIV) since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. (Rom 1:20 NIV) For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Oneof the greatest blessings in this life is that God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, wants to have a personal relationship with us. He wants you to speak to him and he wants to speak to you! God can speak to us in many ways, but we must listen. We should all take time to hear from God!