HOW DO YOU HEAR FROM GOD?

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You want to hear His voice, yet you do not:

Be still and know that He is God.

You cry out in your despair, "I do not hear You Lord!"

yet you are not obedient to His Words.

He desires a relationship with you, but once

He blesses you, you turn away until you need Him again.

Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

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ACCEPTANCE

Is this how it happened for you?
You were beckoned by the Holy Spirit and accepted
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

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FORGIVENESS

Your first step in this acceptance was to ask forgiveness of your sins. I John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Psalm 103:11-12 "For as the heaven is high
above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him."

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CONFESSION AND BELIEVING

Then you believed and followed Romans 10:9-11 - "That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith,Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed."

So now you have been forgiven, you have confessed and believed in Jesus and accepted
Him as your Lord and Savior. But did you notice the part where it said, "Believe in your Heart?"

It is easy to say something and feel you believe it, but to act like you
believe it, is another subject.

Hebrews 3:12-15,19 - "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is
called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we
are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;
While it is said, Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

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HEARING FROM GOD

Take note of: "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." The
question has been asked so often, "HOW DO YOU HEAR FROM GOD?" Romans 10:17 - "So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." IT APPEARS THAT IN
ORDER TO HEAR HIS VOICE YOU MUST READ AND BELIEVE HIS WORDS.

Unbelief is a trap of the devil, you must be aware of his schemes. One way
to hear from God is by reading His Word. If you do not study and read the Scriptures you
can not possibly hear from God. The voice you might hear in your head might be from
God, but if you do not know His Word to test the spirits, how will you know for sure whose
voice you are hearing.

When you hear that still quiet voice of God, how do you react? Do you get
excited and eager to do as you are shown in His Word? Do you harden your heart and say,
"That was not from God, even though I saw it in His Word, it can not be what He wants of
me?" Or worse, "I do not have the time to listen to or read the Word of God." Do not
let the enemy deny you the Living Word. For example, do you say: "I just do not
understand what the Bible is saying." Instead of giving up, you should start reading and
thanking Him for the things you do understand. And pray for the spirit of wisdom and
the spirit of understanding. Then believe with expectancy and wait upon Him to open your eyes.

Have you ever asked yourself, "Why am I hesitant to open up my Bible?" "Why do
I feel so much better when I do read my Bible?" The answer to the first question is
that the enemy is working as hard as he can to keep you too busy to read it. The second
answer Is that when you are reading your Bible, you are hearing from the Loving God,
Jesus Christ, Whose love is so comforting.

Are you too busy with the worries and pleasures of this life for the Word of
God to take root in your heart? Remember the parable of the Sowing of the Seed?
Luke 8:11-15 - "Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God. Those by the
way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their
hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when
they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in
time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when
they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this
life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an
honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."

Wouldn’t you rather listen to the Words of Jesus and know you are building a
relationship with Him that will stand forever. Matthew 7:24-26 - "Therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his
house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one
that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man,
which built his house upon the sand:"

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The summary this far is:
ACCEPTANCE, FORGIVENESS, CONFESSION, BELIEF AND HEARING.
The next one is:

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OBEDIENCE.

Obedience is by far the most difficult. You see it is not a problem to ask for
forgiveness, it is beneficial to you and does not hurt. Believing is another one that
doesn’t require anything active of us. But obedience requires an active role on your
part. Most people want to be obedient but the cares of this world block them from hearing God.

Matthew 7:21 - "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in
heaven." Luke 6:46 - "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"
The solution and assurance of knowing that you will be one of the multitude to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven is to learn how to hear from God and then to believe and obey Him.

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SUMMARY

In summary, the most important step to HEARING FROM GOD is the first step, and
that is reading your Bible daily. Remember: "Faith comes from hearing and hearing
by the Word of Christ." Romans 10:17 Some wait for years to hear an audible voice
from God with their ears, and all along they have been hearing Him with their eyes.

Lastly, here is a suggestion for you if you want to go beyond the HEARING of
God to JOYING in God. Learn how to pray and praise the Lord. When you learn how to be
in a constant attitude of prayer and praise, it will change your life. Don’t let
the schemes of the devil tell you this will be boring. It is the most exciting way of life
you can experience.

Colossians 1:9 - "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not
cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all
pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and
longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:" Psalm 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I
am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

To those who know Christ, but have not been obedient, He has promised to
forgive your sin when you confess it. Do it now and learn to recognize the schemes of the
devil. If you don't know Jesus, you need to understand that your life will not get
easier with knowing Him. But no matter what life throws at you, no one can take the pure
joy of truly knowing Jesus away from you. Do you want to acknowledge Jesus now and fulfill
His will in your life? You will have more joy in your heart than you can imagine.

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If you do, then Pray:

Dear Jesus, please forgive me for my sins, and I accept you as my Lord and Savior.

I believe You died for my sins and rose again. Please help me Lord to do Your

will and to be obedient. Thank you Lord Jesus for Your gift of faith that you have given me today.

by Linda Marie
© 1998

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Song
"In The Garden"

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