Day 3 - Recognizing God's Voice

[MandoRon]

Welcome to Day 3.

Wow! Great words today on how to recognize God's voice.

I found Charles Stanley's advice for confirming the voice of God to be pretty useful:

1. God's voice is always consistent with the Bible
2. God's voice might conflict with human wisdom
3. God's voice will likely clash with our fleshly nature
4. God's voice may challenge our faith
5. God's voice will often require us to be courageous

What did you learn today?

Which of God's attributes are you most grateful for today? Share your Daily Praise.

[MandoRon]

God...
You are ever patient.
You don't give up on us.
Ever.
You don't grow weary with us.
Even when we frustrate you with our disobedience,
You wait for us to come back.
You embrace us with open arms like the prodigal son.
Thank you for loving us enough to wait on us.
Thank you for waiting on me.

[Wannabe a Worshiper]

The ways we know it is God's voice stood out to me.
-It is familiar. I learn what God's vioce sounds like by hearing when he speaks to me. Before long, I will know plainly when it is him speaking.
-He calls my name. What a wonderful thought! That's how I know he is speaking to me, not the person beside me.
-His vioce is clear, his message simple and to the point.
-There is love in his voice. Even when he is rebuking me, he speaks in love. He wants to draw me nearer, not push me away.

My praise today was from something we studied last week; that he is both Elohim and Jehovah.

God, how good it is to acknowledge your majesty, glory, holiness, and awesomeness; to try to visualize you seated on your throne, surrounded by a host of angels who are constantly singing your praises.
Then how sweet to realize that you are the same God who desires and initiates a personal relationship- you want to be my friend!
How truly glorious the thought! How marvelous the reality!
The almighty One who sits on the throne knocks at the door of my heart and, when I open it, you come in and fellowship with me! (Rev. 3:20)

[efrisch]

There were two things that hit me today. The first is that God's voice is familiar, it's comfortable... we recognize it and feel compelled to come home to it. The second was this quote drawn from the Philippians passage:

"If you and I are 'pressing toward the mark' with a maturing heart determined to please God, he will not allow us to make a mistake or misunderstand his leading. Hallelujah!"

What an incredible idea! The thought that God can work through our own lack of knowledge, our own doubt is simply amazing to me.

[MandoRon]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I found great comfort in this passage from Philippians.

[Maggievt]

The Philippians passage was also very strong for me today, but what jumped out was something I have been wrestling with lately - the inability to forgive myself for things that occurred so long ago - and, here I read "something inside us keeps recalling those sins and shortcomings, pushing us down even further. That "something" is actually someone: His name is Satan, the "accuser of our brethren"."
It is no surprise to me that this issue for me is Satan-driven; he sure does not want this recovering alcoholic to draw further from him and closer to God; does not want my 11 years of experience, strength and hope to be turned to use for our Lord; and surely does not want me to keep pressing toward the mark! The way the passage said 'pushing us down even further' hit home - I've BEEN down and won't go back! and those days I can feel old ways of thinking sneaking around in my head, I say, OUT LOUD sometimes, 'not today Satan, you’re going to have to find someone else'.
So, for me, today, God's holiness shone through, not His 'usual' attribute for me -
Oh, Father, today I celebrate Your Holiness; how it is truth and love; fearsome and awesome and unwavering. Oh, Lord, let me seek to live in Your Holiness, as I cannot convey what I do not seek; I can't pass on what I do not know. Today, let me live in reverence. Amen

[efrisch]

It didn't hit me until I read Maggievt's post, but this lyrics just came into my head:

Shane & Shane: "Embracing Accusations"

The father of lies
Coming to steal
Kill and destroy
All my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying cursed are the ones
Who can’t abide
He’s right
Alleluia he’s right!

The devil is preaching
The song of the redeemed
That I am cursed and gone astray
I cannot gain salvation
Embracing accusation

Could the father of lies
Be telling the truth
Of God to me tonight?
If the penalty of sin is death
Then death is mine
I hear him saying cursed are the ones
Who can’t abide
He’s right
Alleluia he’s right!

Oh the devil’s singing over me
An age old song
That I am cursed and gone astray
Singing the first verse so conveniently
He’s forgotten the refrain
Jesus saves!

[Rogenia]

I apologize for this week, been in revival. Next week with be at a "Women Conference." I will catch up with lessons. Please continue to keep me in your prayers.

This has been a good lesson for me. I feel great in knowing today that God does speak to me. I know that God speak in different ways; and I am at fault to not hearing Him at all times, and that is because I get in the natural and is not relying upon the heartfelt words of God, that is written in the bible.

When I was studying this lesson, I know God brought this to me, when “Through His still small voice, Elijah heard the voice of God.” I Kings 19:11 I love the way this scripture starts off with these loud booming sounds. That was often what I use to expect when I was waiting to hear from God. But those loud sounds were not where God’s voice was heard. God does not yell when He speaks with us. Funny, how I use to be waiting for a loud clap of thunder, and I was missing Him all the time.

Today, I find myself always telling someone that God said “My sheep will hear my voice and follow.” That is it in a nut shell for me. “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep and THE SHEEP LISTEN TO HIS VOICE. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out his own, entire he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because THEY KNOW HIS VOICE. But they will never follow a stranger, in fact; they will run away from him because THEY DO NOT RECOGNIZE A STRANGERS VOICE.”

I hear Him, now my prayer is daily that I continue to obey and follow Him. Sometimes it easy for me to get side track, because of the entire different road I choose to follow and think God is leading me and come to find out that it is me leading and that is the trouble with the road become “dead end.”

I praise and thank God for His patience with me and his teaching of teach me how to follow him. Like Efrisch said, "If you and I are 'pressing toward the mark' with a maturing heart determined to please God, he will not allow us to make a mistake or misunderstand his leading. Hallelujah!" He will allow us to know him, so that we will know his voice.

[Wrapped in Jesus Love!]

I'm finally posting on days 3, 4 & 5 of this past week. I have been keeping up with the readings this week but not the postings. I've been dealing with some medical issues. (A blood clot in a hemerrhoid which they have now packed - so hopefully til midweek next week, I'll be feeling much better).

This medical problem reminds me how often Satan tries to keep us from hearing God's still small voice. Every time I tried to read the lessons, the pain kept me from concentrating. But in the end I focused on God's voice and made it through the readings.

I did have a question during this reading that came to my mind. When we accept Christ as our Savior and He lives in us, our lives are changed - our thoughts are changed - we desire to become more like him. The question I thought about was: After we are saved, are the sinful, earthly thoughts Satan's way of talking to us. God speaks in the still small voice. It seems like Satan speaks in a loud booming voice and we don't have to recognize Satan's voice and we still hear it.

We need to remember that God's voice is always consistent with the Bible. If we are not sure if it is God speaking to us, check it with God's Word and see if it agrees. Even if we don't think it's God and we shrug it off - if it is God, he'll continue and we will eventually be at peace knowing it is God.

I like how God speaks in the still small voice. He could speak with a loud booming voice but he doesn't. He speaks quietly. He gives us the option of really listening to him or not. It's our choice. But we need to focus to hear him.

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you speak to me in your still small voice. Help me to focus in on your voice so I can be in tune with you always. Thank you for guiding me through an employment change from one church to another church last year. Thank you for the peace that you gave me to help me to discern what you were telling me at that time. Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

[Wannabe a Worshiper]

[QUOTE=Wrapped in Jesus Love!;16134]
I did have a question during this reading that came to my mind. When we accept Christ as our Savior and He lives in us, our lives are changed - our thoughts are changed - we desire to become more like him. The question I thought about was: After we are saved, are the sinful, earthly thoughts Satan's way of talking to us. God speaks in the still small voice. It seems like Satan speaks in a loud booming voice and we don't have to recognize Satan's voice and we still hear it.QUOTE]

What a good insight. Thanks for sharing it with us. Maybe the reason we have trouble hearing the still, small voice is that Satan is drowning him out. We need to demand that Satan leave us alone, depart from us. Then maybe we will hear God's voice.