Goodbye Norway

Today we head home after nearly 3 months in Norway. What a delightful time we have had.

If you have never been to Norway, you must come - so beautiful - such wonderful people.

God bless you Norway!

...And Now Something Completely Different...

Husband of the Year Awards...


Honorable Mention Goes To Untied Kingdom:

...Followed Closely By USA:

...And then Poland:

But...3rd Place Goes to Greece:

It was very, very close - the runner up prize goes to Serbia:

But here is your winner of the husband/partner of the year award - Ireland...don't you just love the Irish:

(He's even holding her hand!)

(Once again, this comes by way of my good friend, Richard in Australia)

God's Voice 5

Here are the final points from my list of the different ways we hear God's voice. I would appreciate any suggestions if you can think of other ways we hear Him.

-   The sacraments–Lu. 24:35

    Jesus made Himself known in the breaking of the bread. This is still one of the sweetest ways to hear his voice.

-   Angels—Num. 22:31:35; Jud. 6:12; Zech. 1:14; Lu. 1:13, 19, 28

God has directed angels – His holy messengers – to guard all Christians. If you do encounter an angel, pay close attention, because the message he or she delivers will be important.

-   Commonsense wisdom—Prov. 2:6; 3:13

Your common sense is a gift from God that you can use to help you make wise decisions. If you don’t sense God leading you about a particular decision in a specific way, you may be able just to trust the common sense He has already given you.

-   Signs—Ex. 10:2; Jud. 6:17, 36-40; John 3:2

   God may choose to get your attention through a supernatural and direct sign, but He will usually do so in conjunction with other ways of speaking to you. Don’t depend on signs to hear from God. Instead of focusing on signs, focus on God Himself and strengthening your relationship with Him. If you become close enough to God to recognize His voice, you won’t need to test Him by asking for signs. Sometimes it’s fine to ask God to send you a sign – when you want to obey and need one to strengthen your faith.

-   Dark sayings—Ps. 49:4; 78:2; John 16:25

Puzzles, hard questions, proverbs, parables, riddles; allegory or illustrated speech. The psalmist even found that playing the harp helped him to understand the riddle or mystery (Ps. 49:4). Jesus used parables and allegories to convey the heart of the Father to us. Luke 15 is an excellent example of His parables.

-   Words which are seen—Amos 1:1

    It seems that the prophet Amos saw the words he was instructed to speak from the Lord as some form of scrolling tablet or writing.

-   Burden—Nahum 1:1; Hab. 1:1; Zech. 9:1; 12:1; Mal 1:1

    It seems that some of the prophets received prophetic messages as a “burden” on their heart. It must be noted that the Lord will never put a heavy burden on us that is overwhelming to carry. His burden is always light (Matt. 11:30). The message of God can come to us as a burden that “presses” upon our spirit for a season. In Hebrew, the word for “burden” is massa which can also mean - a prophetic song.

-   Burning fire inside—Jer. 20:9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.

-   A donkey and a hand—Num. 22:28–30

   The main thing we can learn from these two instances is that the Lord can use anything to convey His message to us.

    In Num. 22:28-30 the Lord used a donkey to speak to Balaam – even though there was an angel there who could also speak God’s word.

In Dan. 5:5, 24-28 The Lord used a hand (with no body attached) to write on King Belshazzar’s wall and give him a message. This was a very affective communication with this wicked king. Even though the writing was in Aramaic, which was understood by the Babylonians, no one but Daniel could interpret the prophetic significance of the four words.

The Voice of God 6: HERE
The Voice of God 1: HERE

Irresistible

I'm sorry - just a little indulgence - my grandson - Samson Jude Hibbert (b. July 27 2010) asleep with the family dog, Benny:

The Voice Of God 4

Here is the next installment of those different ways where we hear God's voice:

  -  Prophecy—Heb. 1:1; 2 Sam. 23:2; 2 Kings 21:10; Lu. 1:70;

     A prophecy occurs when God speaks a message through one or more person(s) for the benefit of another. If God directs you to deliver a prophecy to someone else, be faithful to do so. But be careful! Be sure to thoroughly test any prophecy against biblical truth, and check to make sure the timing is also correct. Never add anything of your own to a prophecy. Remember that if a prophecy is indeed from God, He will confirm it in other ways and bring it to pass.

-   Seers—1 Chron. 21:9; 25:5

     Seers are those who see prophetic things.

-   Prophetic songs—1 Chron. 25:1–7; Eph. 5:19; Col 3:16; 1 Cor. 14:15

     Our God is a singing God (Zeph. 3:17). It can be so powerful to hear His voice through a song. God’s primary role for singers is that they should be singers of His words. The first prophetic song in the Word is in Exodus 15 (Moses’ song after Israel crossed the Red Sea), and the Bible is full of prophetic songs that bring deliverance, comfort, direction, and hope.

-   The gifts of the Holy Spirit—1 Cor. 12–14

     All nine of the gifts of the Holy Spirit can be used to convey God’s heart and mind to us – especially, prophecy, discernment, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, tongues, interpretation, and faith. Each of these are a supernatural gifts that equip us to think, speak and act like our Father, and to partner with Him every day as ministers of His glory. For example, when we pray in a spiritual language under the Holy Spirit’s direction, we can go beyond the limits of your human intellect and own language to communicate deep messages that glorify God and bless other people. Paul talked about “praying with the spirit, and also with the understanding” (1 Cor. 14:15). We can open our spirit to the Spirit and voice of God by praying in tongues. Our spirit is activated first, and our mind follows. We are used to leading with our minds, but the Lord may draw our spirit first and speak there before our mind can diminish or rationalize what God is saying. When we speak in tongues we are speaking mysteries (1 Cor. 14:2) – we are participating in our Father’s business.

-   The leading of the Holy Spirit—Is. 30:21; Rom. 8:14

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. God is able to speak, lead and direct us when we live as sons.

-   The conviction of the Holy Spirit—Jn. 16:8

Recognize the difference between conviction and condemnation – God convicts you to help you find His forgiveness, grace, and mercy, while Satan condemns you to bring you into bondage to shame and false guilt. Be quick to repent when God convicts you.

-   Preaching, parables and stories—Mark 2:2; 4:33; 1 Thess. 2:13

    One of the greatest ways that Jesus got His words across was through preaching, teaching and telling stories. His sermons are some of the wisest and most beautiful words ever uttered. Today, anointed preaching and speaking is still an excellent way to be tuned into God’s voice.

-   The Body of Christ—Pr. 15:22; 24:6; 27:17

He can use anyone to speak to us, but He mostly uses other Believers. Be open to hearing God speak through any part of His Body from any nation or Church. Before taking people’s advice, however, make sure they’re mature believers whom you trust, and that you’ve thought and prayed about the advice yourself.

-  The local church: God may often speak to you through your spiritual leaders and fellow believers at your local church. Pay close attention to what they say and seriously consider it. Do your part to support and encourage them, as well.

-  Circumstances—sometimes our circumstances lead us to and through the thing that God is trying to say to us.

Voice of God 5: HERE
Voice of God 1: HERE

The Voice Of God 3

I started talking about the voice of God a little while back. This is the 3rd posting on the subject:

Expect to hear the Lord speaking to you—Expectation is a big issue when listening. Since "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8) you can count on it that He is still speaking by these various methods in our own day.

Not only does the Lord speak audibly in both the Old and New Testaments, but He also speaks through:

-   Praise and Worship—Ps. 95:6; 138:2; Jn. 4:23; 1 Cor. 14:24-25

     Worship is our whole-of-life communion with our Father. We open ourselves up to hearing from God when we praise Him for who He is and what He has done. Praise moves us into His presence; worship opens our heart and ears for His voice. The worship in Psalm 95:6 leads to hearing His voice in verse 7.

-   The Word—Ps. 119:130; Jer. 2:1; Acts 8:30–35; Rom. 15:14; 2 Tim. 3:16

     God may cause a portion of Scripture to jump off the page for you while you’re reading it. He may make you aware of how it applies to your life right away and use it to lead you in a particular way. The Bible is your final authority – the standard by which you should check everything else you think God may be saying to you. Remember that nothing God says in any other way will ever contradict what He says in the Bible.

Meditate on the Word—Ps. 119: 15, 27, 48, 78, 148

Praying and meditating through the Bible is an excellent way to slow down our busy hearts, and allow the Lord to point out key scriptures. Meditation brings you deeper into a passage and opens your heart and mind to God’s thoughts.

Choose a Scripture verse or passage and reflect on it over and over in your mind. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind as you think about God’s Word in a focused way.

-   Personal prayer and communion with God–2 Chron. 7:12–16; 2Cor. 13:14

     Don’t hesitate to ask God to speak to you. He cares about every detail of your life, so pray about everything, and expect Him to respond. Approach God through prayer with confidence, knowing that He wants to hear from you and will be sure to answer at the right time.

-   Every day situations and circumstances—the Lord can use any means around us to communicate His ideas such as newspapers, movies, and people. You can hear God’s voice through circumstances as He opens and closes doors of opportunity. The key, though, is to be led by the Holy Spirit rather than by the circumstances themselves. God will give you peace about His message and its timing if you check it out with Him. Sometimes the Lord makes us uncomfortable in order to indicate that it is time to move on.

-   Natural world, God’s creation—Ps. 19:1; 97:6; 148

    God reveals Himself through nature – what He has created. You can learn a lot from God by observing nature and listening to the messages God may speak to you through it.

-   Visions or pictures—Is. 1:1; Jer. 1:2–4; Ez. 1:1; Am. 3:7; 1 Cor. 14:3; Heb. 1:1

   Visions from God are experiences of intense imagery, sound, and feeling that happen when we are awake. Visions communicate important information. If you experience a vision, be sure to pray for discernment about it, and evaluate it by the Bible. Don’t assume it’s meaning; instead, wait for God to reveal the correct interpretation.

-   Night visions—Gen. 46:2; Daniel 7; Acts 18:9

     These are the same as day-time visions – they just occur at night. Daniel 7 is an excellent example of Daniel receiving a vision by night. There are 7 mentions of Daniel looking and watching. He watched, looked, watched and saw 7 layers of seeing the vision.

-   Dreams—Gen. 37:5; 40:8-41:39; Dan. 2; Matt. 1:20

   God may speak to you through a dream, with a clear message and a specific purpose. Dreams that confuse you may just be the result of your brain processing thoughts while you’re asleep. If a particular dream is from God, He will give you a confirmation in your spirit that He was communicating something to you through it – and the message will line up with biblical truth.

-   Impressions—the thought that is not your own. Inner voice—the voice that brings a peace. This is usually the work of the Holy Spirit—Acts 15:28. This might also be the still small voice of God that Elijah experienced 1Ki. 19:11-13

     God often speaks directly to your spirit in quiet yet powerful ways that nudge you to pay attention. For example, He may urge you to pray for a particular person at a certain time. Rather than just expecting God to speak in dramatic ways, tune into the quiet voice of His Spirit amidst the noise of everyday life.

    Over the next two days I will continue with this list. Please let me know if you can think of other ways the Lord speaks. I think I have about 30 different ways to hear His voice - this is just the first 10.

Voice of God 1: HERE
Voice of God 4: HERE