Does God speak to people today?

In most of the western world, people are moving at a very hectic pace where “noise” come at us from way too many different types of mediums.  When I first started contemplating on the subject of hearing God’s voice, there was no Twitter, there was no Facebook, there was no World Wide Web and cellular phones were big and bulky with batteries that lasted 20 minutes.  And yes, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time but it comes at a time when we are experiencing information overload.  So even if God wanted to speak to us, how could He?

We have many questions to answer:

• Does God want to speak to His people?
• Does God still speak to His people?
• How in the world can we hear God’s voice in our busy, hectic, chaotic world?

In this series of messages, I will attempt to answer the above questions plus many more by considering and examining the God of the Bible.  And if God really does wants to speak to His creation – us, this maybe one the most important books you will ever read!  We will see a God who wants to reveal Himself to his creation.  We will also see a God who calls us not servants but friends.  A God who is all about relationships – even before time began.

So, as in any relationship, we must become great listeners.  Fortunately, hearing God’s voice is not just a gift for the only “most spiritual” among us, but a skill that each believer can further develop.  This series is meant to help all of us to develop this skill.  So sit back and enjoy.  And, by the way,  you’re not crazy, no matter what the world says.

We need to hear the voice of God to get the Lord’s direction – especially now.

• Psalms 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
• We see that we must let the Bible dictate what we believe, not our experiences.
• How God’s written Word trumps every other voice – Psalms 138:2b (NKJV) – For Your loving kindness and Your truth;
  For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

But be careful, there are many voices in our world.

• Not every voice is going to be good – Matthew 24:24 (NKJV) – For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
• But His people know the Lord’s voice – John 10:27 – My sheephear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

Learning to hear God’s voice is an act of faith.

• Rhema is God speaking to us – Romans 10:17 (KJV) – So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word (Rhema or living voice) of God.
• And this Rhema Word comes from being connected to the correct network – the Vine – John 15:5 (NKJV)
• But faith without works (doing what the Lord tells us to do) is dead – James 2:18-20.

God speaks thru the Body of Christ – “by the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established” – Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1.

• Matthew 18:19-20 (NLT) – “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.²⁰ For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

We were created to have fellowship with God.

• Jesus calls His followers friends – John 15:15 (NLT) – I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

Ultimately, hearing God’s voice basically comes down to this – Yes, No, or wait.

• 1 Samuel 30:7 (NKJV) – Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸ So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake themand without fail recover ”
• But the bottom line is to correctly know what the Holy Spirit is telling us – what is He directing us to do. It is hard to hear thru our emotions, thru our agendas, our hurts, our desires.  It is hard to hear from God thru the noises of the world.  And we only make it worst when we don’t admit to having any of these earthly/fleshly problems.  We all do.
• But if we can remember that God’s answer to us can be broken down to one of three answers: yes, no, or wait. And sometimes wait is initially no.  The Old Testament ephod and breastplate contained Urim and Thummim that would determine the Lord’s will for His people (Exodus 28:28-30).  This was a shadow of how the Lord wants to speak to His people today.
• So the challenge for us today is are we willing to accept His answer??

* The audio corresponding to this post is under “media” on this site – dhfirstag.org