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Post by wingsofaneagle on Oct 7, 2007 19:45:29 GMT -5
This question was posted in another thread. I would like to hear from others how they know that it's God speaking to them and not some other source or influence?
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shushy
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Post by shushy on Oct 7, 2007 20:17:28 GMT -5
I know it is God if it comes true/or lines up with scripture. Everything you recieve is subject to judgement. In my daily life it often comes as a thought that flys through my mind. Within days it has happened. In those instances it is because it happened and I remember later I already had been warned of this. It takes yrs to learn to 'hear' from Him. Its also by reason of use of the spiritual gifts. If its a vision or dream, I sit on it. I will share it with my close friends and see if their spirit witness's to it or not. If unanamously they say no I let it go. (In the mulitiude of council there is wisdom)If its confirmed by more than 2 I still sit on it. Wait for it to happen. The best guide is the 'still small voice.'
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Post by Homeboy on Oct 7, 2007 20:21:09 GMT -5
This question was posted in another thread. I would like to hear from others how they know that it's God speaking to them and not some other source or influence? Cause you have blocked out your own mind and listened for his voice. You have prayed for something and you patiently wait his answer. He has filled you with peace, joy and eagerness for his answer alone. You have in advance, accepted the answer he has waiting for you. Part of the big struggle is him preparing us for the answer. He softens us up so we are completely pliable in his masterful hands. We could snap like a stick if he just simply answered our questions, or we might explode! By the time you are ready for his answer, you know its his voice. You also recognize the "other" voice. The other voice uses fear to subdue you. The other voice has sharp claws to threaten you with. The other voice cowers away, as you have been filled with Love, by your Faith.
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Post by wingsofaneagle on Oct 7, 2007 20:54:57 GMT -5
I know it is God if it comes true/or lines up with scripture. Everything you recieve is subject to judgement. In my daily life it often comes as a thought that flys through my mind. Within days it has happened. In those instances it is because it happened and I remember later I already had been warned of this. It takes yrs to learn to 'hear' from Him. Its also by reason of use of the spiritual gifts. If its a vision or dream, I sit on it. I will share it with my close friends and see if their spirit witness's to it or not. If unanamously they say no I let it go. (In the mulitiude of council there is wisdom)If its confirmed by more than 2 I still sit on it. Wait for it to happen. The best guide is the 'still small voice.' Yes Shushy I think we do need to "train our ear" and our eyes. I am reading "The God Hunt" in a bible study at the moment and it goes into detail about training ourselves to see and hear God when he is speaking to us, even in the little things. I know I have become more aware of His presence and His voice since.
Yes Godly counsel is good. We need to be aware of counselors like Job's however!!
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Post by wingsofaneagle on Oct 7, 2007 21:00:56 GMT -5
This question was posted in another thread. I would like to hear from others how they know that it's God speaking to them and not some other source or influence? Cause you have blocked out your own mind and listened for his voice. You have prayed for something and you patiently wait his answer. He has filled you with peace, joy and eagerness for his answer alone. You have in advance, accepted the answer he has waiting for you. Part of the big struggle is him preparing us for the answer. He softens us up so we are completely pliable in his masterful hands. We could snap like a stick if he just simply answered our questions, or we might explode! By the time you are ready for his answer, you know its his voice. You also recognize the "other" voice. The other voice uses fear to subdue you. The other voice has sharp claws to threaten you with. The other voice cowers away, as you have been filled with Love, by your Faith. I love what you wrote! Thanks for sharing. Especially enjoyed "He softens us up so we are completely pliable in his masterful hands. We could snap like a stick if he just simply answered our questions, or we might explode!". You are so right! It amazes me just how much God prepares me for what is next! Sometimes I get weary in waiting and then when I look back I can see His wisdom in it all. Why would we want to interfere with what God is working into our lives when His plan is so perfect? I know I can be so foolish at times and so impatient!
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Post by really on Oct 9, 2007 22:59:41 GMT -5
My sheep hear my Voice.
I know them and they are known of me.
God is a Spirit,and when we worship Him in our spirit,we hear His Voice...there is no doubt about it
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Post by Johnny DeRaad on Oct 10, 2007 2:25:06 GMT -5
God spoke to me once in a dream, a night vision.. twice in one nite..a dream of something that would happen that I was praying for.. in the first dream just a regular person came and told me the news that I was waiting on. .I was so excited and happy..bursting... then I woke up. ..snap!. .laying there wide awake..instantly. .. the most vivid dream...I prayed about it and went back to sleep. .dreamed again... this time a brother came in and told me the news I was waiting for ..so happy..knew for sure I could believe him.. snap... laying there knowing God had just told me this would come to pass!!!. .it did about a year and a half later. . .in my life and situation at that time, what I was praying for was a pretty major deal for me.. .God had His timing for it all and handled it! Thank you, Lord!
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3
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Post by 3 on Oct 10, 2007 9:13:46 GMT -5
What about those who have never heard God speak to their heart, in spite of desperately seeking his voice?
How do you who 'live the dream', reconcile that?
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Post by Johnny D on Oct 10, 2007 11:07:38 GMT -5
Reconcile would mean that I somehow need to bring these two together with a reasonable answer of why they are different ... . .there is not a need to "reconcile" this, for me..my situation is mine, theirs is theirs..God handles each in His own way..I guess I don't think I need to get off in why He spoke to me and not to someone else.. ..are there answers for this??..I would assume so..
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2007 11:32:45 GMT -5
I put the "voice'' to two simple tests and both must affirm:
Does it agree with the words of Christ?
To where does it lead?
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3
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Post by 3 on Oct 10, 2007 12:39:20 GMT -5
I disagree.
I think the issue of why God supposedly speaks to one person and not another is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Why would a merciful, loving & kind God speak to you yet ignore some one else who desperately wants to hear his voice & come to know him?
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Post by hearing things on Oct 10, 2007 14:40:34 GMT -5
The insane asylums are full of the criminally insane who were certain that God told them to preform their horrendous acts. Its just a matter of degree, whether society lock you up or proclaims that you are a prophet.
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Post by wingsofaneagle on Oct 10, 2007 14:46:01 GMT -5
3 wrote: "I think the issue of why God supposedly speaks to one person and not another is an issue that needs to be addressed."
"Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." Isaiah 59:1,2
"Why would a merciful, loving & kind God speak to you yet ignore some one else who desperately wants to hear his voice & come to know him?"
Im assuming you mean an unbeliever who wants to know God?Do you know of anyone who has deperately sought God and has been ignored by Him?
ATHEISTIC BARBER NOT GOD A minister and an atheistic barber were once walking through the city slums. Said the barber to the preacher: "This is why I cannot believe in a God of love. If God was as kind as you say, He would not permit all this poverty, disease and squalor: He would not allow these bums to be addicted to dope and other character destroying habits. No, I cannot believe in a God who permits these things." The minister was silent until they met a man who was especially unkempt and filthy. His hair was hanging down his neck, and he had a half-inch of stubble on his face. Said the minister: "You can't be a very good barber or you wouldn't permit a man like that to continue living in this neighborhood without a haircut or shave." Indignantly the barber answered: "Why blame me for that man's condition? I can't help it that he is like that. He has never given me a chance to help him. If he would only come to my shop, I could fix him up and make him look like a gentleman!" Giving the barber a penetrating look, the minister said: "Then don't blame God for allowing these people to continue in their evil ways, when He is constantly inviting them to come and be saved. The reason these people are slaves to sin and evil habits is that they refuse the One who died to save and deliver them."
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3
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Post by 3 on Oct 10, 2007 14:58:12 GMT -5
Wingsofaneagle:
Yes, I know someone who DESPERATELY sought God's voice for year after year. Me. I was not an unbeliever. I was raised 2x2, then jumped into evangelistic christianity for 5+ years.
I wholeheartedly, sincerely, desperately sought to know God. I did everything. I did nothing (for those who would tell me there's not a formula to follow - just ask God into my heart). I prayed the sinner's prayer over and over and over again. I gave my heart & soul Jesus.
Your analogy re: the barber & the minister doesn't fit my situation b/c I did ask God for a haircut, over and over again.... ...... I'm still waiting.
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Post by really on Oct 10, 2007 15:20:03 GMT -5
Answer His prayers...and yours He'll gladly answer.
...brings to mind a thought I heard... Why did Abel receive the blessing and not Cain?...Abel's sacrifice was acceptable to God. Cain wanted blessing without repentance.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2007 15:21:59 GMT -5
3, perhaps God hasn't "spoken" to you, not because he hasn't, but because you have set the standard, not God. I used to expect that God should have a nice little fireside chat with me, tune me up and send me on my way. It never happened because I had set the standard. It was only when I began to realize that God's "voice" is not necessarily a man's voice that I began to hear God. For example, have you ever seen a child or an old person fall down and then sensed a spontaneous urge to go over and help them up? If you have, then God has spoken to you. Learning to recognize the voice and then obey it is something that we as adults find difficult, even children are much better at it than we are. This is difficult to define in words but let me suggest how to begin to recognize God's voice. God is speaking whenever we experience an urge toward a selfless act, whenever we feel strongly about being perfectly honest and accurate about something, whenever we recognize that we are but dust in the big scheme of creation yet we sense we have worth. There are many other ways to "hear" God, but to me that is a sampling of learning to hear Him and establish a relationship with God. The relationship is affirmed when we sense a "blessedness" ie an ultimate and deep sense of spiritual well being and joy. While I can't prove it, I believe that God speaks to everyone, and is trying all the time. We just have to learn to listen on His terms and in His dimension, not ours. Wingsofaneagle: Yes, I know someone who DESPERATELY sought God's voice for year after year. Me. I was not an unbeliever. I was raised 2x2, then jumped into evangelistic christianity for 5+ years. I wholeheartedly, sincerely, desperately sought to know God. I did everything. I did nothing (for those who would tell me there's not a formula to follow - just ask God into my heart). I prayed the sinner's prayer over and over and over again. I gave my heart & soul Jesus. Your analogy re: the barber & the minister doesn't fit my situation b/c I did ask God for a haircut, over and over again.... ...... I'm still waiting.
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shushy
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Post by shushy on Oct 10, 2007 15:37:34 GMT -5
[What about those who have never heard God speak to their heart, in spite of desperately seeking his voice? How do you who 'live the dream', reconcile that?]
3 God is speaking continually.My pastor said from the pulpit one day God wants to speak to you. I thought what??? then he came and visitied and said God has told me you are botht the next youth group leaders.'I was what??? how do you know God is speaking to you?? He said I know the Lord.. I shook with fear. I thought only the workers heard from GOd. I wanted to hear him speak to me. I asked so many questions I must have driven him nutz..But he turned out to be avery influental person in my christian walk. Be encouraged 3.....I just kept persevering and trying to push thruogh my mindsets, it was through giving thanks/praise and worship, first his presence, sometimes scriptures, mostly scriptures, then Id see things as well. Keep believing He does want to speak to you and for you to hear him, its just practice, he says that if we knock the door will be opend, seek and you shalll find..Those scriptures he kept giving to me for some time while I kept pushing into the secret place where he dwells. ALso lifting the eyes of you rheart and the eyes of your understanding and asking him is there anything in me that shouldnt be there Lord, he would show me what was blocking it might be fear or dissappointment or anger or confusion or somethimg like that in my heart. So I would repent and renounce whatever it was and keep singing love songs to him, writing loving words because I saw him as my future bridegroom. I know it sounds soppy but it worked for me. He taught me thruogh the power of the Holy sPirit, of course Id pray in tongues as well. I never would just leave my mind open and sit there. I was activily focusing on him. Sometimes I would visualise him as in the scripture of 'hair of wool, eyes of fire, the sword of the spirit coming out of his mouth etc to help me remain focused on him. He loves you 3. Dont give up on him. There is a place he can be found. We have 5 spiritual senses he taught me that. yrs later I went to a conference where a man came and taught everyone the same thing that the Holy SPirit taught me himself. He was able to articulate better than I can. Thats the difference witha teacher their ability to help you understand.
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Post by ll on Oct 10, 2007 15:42:35 GMT -5
..and hereby we do know him by the spirit he has given us!
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shushy
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Post by shushy on Oct 10, 2007 15:42:37 GMT -5
Oh BTw try to relax its a key...
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3
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Post by 3 on Oct 10, 2007 16:37:52 GMT -5
Thank you for your replies.....
clearday: When I see someone in need - a little old lady needs help across the street - and feel the urge to reach out & respond, I'm to assume that is God speaking to me/prompting me to help her? It's not my innate kindness/goodness?
Where do plain old morals come in? Morals that have nothing to do with God - right vs. wrong?
I drop my napkin & my 2 year old niece picks it up and hands it to me with a 'here it is'..... she is responding to God, not to innate kindness/goodness within?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2007 16:57:36 GMT -5
Thank you for your replies.....
clearday: When I see someone in need - a little old lady needs help across the street - and feel the urge to reach out & respond, I'm to assume that is God speaking to me/prompting me to help her? It's not my innate kindness/goodness?
Have you considered that the two are one and the same? God is love. Whenever you see or are urged by divine love (the unselfish kind), you are experiencing God.
Where do plain old morals come in? Morals that have nothing to do with God - right vs. wrong?
God has everything to do with the division of right and wrong, and with the desire to do what is right.
I drop my napkin & my 2 year old niece picks it up and hands it to me with a 'here it is'..... she is responding to God, not to innate kindness/goodness within?
You're getting it! It won't be long before your niece begins to think of the self effort and tedium it requires of her to pick it up, and will begin to deny God and focus on self. Just wait, and try not to be too disappointed in her!
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Post by really on Oct 10, 2007 17:10:43 GMT -5
...and His that gentle Voice we hear Soft as the breadth of even That checks each thought,that calms each fear And speaks of Heaven.
And every virtue we possess And every conquest won And every thought of holiness Are His alone.
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3
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Post by 3 on Oct 11, 2007 8:24:06 GMT -5
thank you, clearday.
you've given me thoughts to ponder....
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2007 9:13:16 GMT -5
Actually, I was thinking last night how grateful I was for your quieries, it helped me clarify my own experience. Thank you! thank you, clearday. you've given me thoughts to ponder....
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Post by I like this on Oct 11, 2007 10:46:31 GMT -5
From Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations With God:
"I talk to everyone. All the time. The question is not to whom do I talk, but who listens?
First, let's exchange the word talk with the word communicate. It's a much better word, a much fuller, more accurate one. When we try to speak to each other - Me to you, you to Me, we are immediately constricted by the unbelievable limitation fo words. For this reason, I do not communicate by words alone. In fact, rarely do I do so. My most common form of communication is through feeling.
Feeling is the language of the soul.
...I also communicate with thought. Thought and feeling are not the same, although they can occur at the same time. In communicating with thought, I often use words and pictures. For this reason, thoughts are more effective than mere words as tools of communication.
In addition to feelings and thoughts, I also use the vehicle of experience as a grand communicator.
And finally, when feelings and thoughts and experience all fail, I use words. Words are really the least effective communicator. They are the most open to misinterpretation, most often misunderstood.
...These, then are the tools with which I communicate, yet they are not the methods, for not all feelings, not all thoughts, not all experience, and not all words are from Me.
Many words have been uttered by others in My name. Many thoughts and many feelings have been sponsored by causes not of My direct creation. Many experiences result from these.
The challenge is one of discernment. The difficulty is knowing the difference between messages from God and data from other sources. Discrimination is a simple matter with the application of a basic rule: Mine is always your Highest Thought, your Clearest Word, your Grandest Feeling. Anything less is from another source.
...The Highest Thought is always that thought which contains joy. The Clearest Words are those words which contain truth. The Grandest Feeling is that feeling which you call love.
...And so I will continue sending you the same messages over and over again, throughout the millenia and to whatever corner of the universe you occupy. Endlessly will I send you My messages, until you have received them and held them close, calling them your own. My messages will come in a hundred forms, at a thousand moments, across a million years. You cannot miss them if you truly listen. You cannot ignore them once truly heard."
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ann
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Post by ann on Oct 11, 2007 18:39:50 GMT -5
God’s Silence— Then What?
When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was —John 11:6
Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes. The actual evidence of the answer in time is simply a matter of God’s sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you may have said, "I asked God to give me bread, but He gave me a stone instead" (see Matthew 7:9 ). He did not give you a stone, and today you find that He gave you the "bread of life" ( John 6:35 ).
A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, "I know that God has heard me." His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.
** Oswald Chambers
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Post by eyedeetentee on Oct 12, 2007 0:45:52 GMT -5
Convenient christianity. Christianity is all about explaining things as they fit the circumstances. There are very few who have heard God speak to them in this day and age. Everyone else has to believe they have heard God to keep sane and convince neighbors that they are indeed christians. It's all catch 22 - bogus. If you haven't heard God speak to you then you are not a converted christian . . . you are a lost soul. You have no hope if you don't fit the mold. The mold says you must be joyful and full of glee that you have christ within and god speaks to you daily . . or at least weekly . . . . . weakly.
There are groups out there who claim to see and hear 'miracles' daily. Strangely enough, they are the only ones who see and hear them. If God wants all to come to him, don't you suppose the average noncharismatic Joe would see and hear these 'miracles'? Current christianity is an exclusive club. I don't like exclusive clubs and don't care to belong.
I remember a story about a man walking up to a lone woman and asking for a drink. He had no agenda, no point to prove, no amazing miracles to talk about, no 'voices', . . . he just wanted a drink. He did not belong to an exclusive club. All he was looking for in life were subscriptions to his organization. And the only fee was to believe in his walk.
Simplicity. Forget about trying to fit into the ideals of the masses. They are more lost than those they are trying to lead. Blind leading the seeing. But the seeing don't realize they can see better than the blind because the blind have disillusioned the others that their blindness is sight. When the chrisitianity business is so involved that only the 'enlightened' have the answers, it is obvious to me that the simpletons have the vision and the enlightened ones are blinder than bats. But the enlightened ones sure like to give advice on how to be blind . . . er, like them.
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3
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Post by 3 on Oct 12, 2007 9:22:52 GMT -5
eyedeetentee:
Having waited on God year after year, hoping to hear him 'speak' to me, I hear what you are saying.
I have a very good friend who is a stong christian. She & I were at the beach one day. My friend was rather 'down in the dumps' and asked God to speak specifically to her, letting her know He cared for her, loved her, etc.
Agreeing we each wanted time alone, she walked north & I walked south, agreeing to meet back at the car in one hour.
When we met at the car, she was estatic as God had spoken to her via nature. That day there was an unusual amount of live sand dollars on the beach (when they are live, they are magenta in color). She was overwhelmed by their color & number and felt this was a gift from God, specifically to her.
Also, she delighted in watching the sandpiper birds, scurrying around in their flock, making identcal moves so the flock appeared as one giant movement. This was God's gift to her as well; her own little miracle.
Being a nature lover, I noticed and enjoyed the sand dollars and sand pipers from my own end of the beach. I'm too much of a skeptic to believe that God placed those sand dollars on that beach just for my friend!
This same friend sees a rainbow or a shooting star and claims it's God assuring her of his love for her.
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