SIGNS THAT GOD IS SPEAKING TO YOU

                               SIGNS THAT GOD IS SPEAKING TO YOU

  "God, Who in sundry (various) times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He has appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds." Hebrews 1:2

 God Almighty, the Creator of all things and our Maker, is tirelessly drawing every person to Himself, whether they will come or not. He has been doing this since we fell away from Him in the Garden of Eden, and He will continue to do so until Jesus returns.

THREE CAUTIONS

  WHY MUST WE FOLLOW THE BIBLE AS THE FINAL AUTHORITY?

 1 - Before we venture too far in this subject, it is imperative that we understand that, however we may think that God is speaking to us, what we perceive will not contradict the teaching and doctrines of the BIBLE, which is the Benchmark, the written Word of God, and the final authority. Furthermore, the end product should and will always lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God. He is the Central Figure of the Bible. He is the living Word of God, the Savior of the World. It is only through His blood that He shed on a cross that washes away the sins that separate us from God. It is only through the Lord Jesus Christ, Who ransomed us back to God by His death and resurrection, that we can be reconciled to our Heavenly Father. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, but through Me....I said therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I  Am He, you shall die in your sins. " John 14:6, 8:24  "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand before you whole...Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among Men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:10, 12

MISINTERPRETING THE BIBLE

2 - "The sum of Your Word is truth..." Psalm 119:160                                                    It is important to emphasise that people whether we ourselves or others can misinterpret the Scriptures of the Bible or use them for our own agenda, as Satan tried on Jesus (Matthew 4:6), or as Peter pointed out when referring to Paul's writings, "As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest/distort, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction." 2 Peter 3:16.  Conclusions, ours or anyone else's, must not contradict other Scriptures, the character and nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, nor be contrary to the Heart and purposes of God (all of which is revealed in Christ). Remember when James and John wanted to call down fire from Heaven on a village of the Samaritans, like Elijah did? Jesus answered, "...He turned and rebuked them and said, 'You know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.'" Luke 9:52-56  The Scriptures of the Bible must not be taken out of context.

WE HAVE AN ADVERSARY WHO CONSTANTLY TRIES TO DEVEIVE US

3 - "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.  Hereby you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of antichrist..." 1 John 4:1-3

  The search for God is a spiritual quest, and there are many voices out there that run interference and try to draw us away in our pursuit of faith. Satan, the enemy of our souls, who is behind all deception, cannot stop us from seeking and desiring to be reconciled to God, but he will throw everything he can at us to turn us away, distract us, or deceive us. Now God will keep us safe, but the whole affair is an issue of our hearts, which we must watch diligently. If we are motivated or driven by pride, lust, or idolatry, we are easy targets for the devil's deceptions. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8 God does cover for us if we are moving in ignorance and or with no malicious intention, "And God said unto him in a dream, 'Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart, for I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore, I did not all you to thouch her...'" Genesis 20:6

HOW DOES GOD SPEAK TO US? HOW CAN WE KNOW IT IS HIM?

 God does, and wants to communicate with us. It is exciting for us as mere mortals that God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, is intimately interested in every one of us and wants to awaken our hearts toward Him. He actually created us in His image and likeness to be His children, to know Him, to love Him, and to be with Him. Too often we get distracted by the mystical, the miracles, the spiritual experiences, and lose sight of the most important objective of God, and which should be ours too, and that is to be reconciled to Him. Again, God, our Heavenly Father, is Holy, and it is our sin that separates us from Him. That must be removed first. That was accomplished by the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, whose blood washed away our sins. Next, we can easily lose sight of the simplicity that is in  Christ and the daily walk of faith, which is what our Heavenly Father is really looking for in us, "...for we walk by faith and not by sight...without faith it is impossible to please Him." 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:6.

 Nevertheless, signs, wonders, and miracles can and should be expected as the Lord directs in His timing and according to His sovereign will, especially as citizens of the Kingdom of God. We can get off track by overemphasizing them and getting our focus on them instead of on Jesus, or we can disregard them and miss out on what the Lord wants to do for and through us for His glory. 

   As individuals, the concern is, "Does God speak to me?" According to the Bible, God speaks to us in a variety of ways and for various purposes: 

 - To awaken our awareness of Him.

 - To draw us to the Lord Jesus Christ if we have not already believed on Him.

-  To offer help in a time of need, even if we may not know Him. 

- To warn/restrain us from destructive behavior.

- To divert us from a bad or harmful direction, choice, or situation. 

- To comfort, relieve, inspire us.

- To fill us with joy, praise, and thanksgiving.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE BIBLE SAY GOD SPEAKS TO US?

- Through the preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.                            This includes: Reading or hearing the Bible, Bible preaching and teaching,                                 through people's testimonies

CAUTION! - IN THE FOLLOWING LIST ARE POSSIBILITIES THAT GOD HAS SPOKEN TO YOU, BUT, AS ALREADY STATED, THEY MUST NEVER CONTRADICT THE TEACHINGS OF THE BIBLE OR MISREPRESENT THE NATURE AND CHARACTER OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. FURTHERMORE, WE  USE THE BIBLE FOR REFERENCE, CONFIRMATION, AND THE FINAL AUTHORITY. THE FRUIT OF OUR EXPERIENCE SHOULD POINT TO AND GLORIFY JESUS ONLY.

-  Through inspiring thoughts.

- Through dreams and visions.

- Through angelic visitations

- Through conscience alerts

- Through reason

- Through answers to prayer and miracles

AGAIN: All of these must be confirmed by the Scriptures of the Bible. God speaks to everyone in some way or another, and on that Day when we stand before Him, if it isn't recognized or acknowledged now, it will be then. We may ask, "Why does He not just come out and speak plainly so that we are sure?" That is understandable, but what God is looking for is faith, without which it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). The faith that He is looking for reflects an attitude of the heart, and that is what He is looking at. "Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." John 20:29

WHEN GOD IS CALLING YOU

  God speaks to us and reveals Himself in different ways, and likely many times during our lifetime. His goal is to awaken our awareness of Him, for us to be reconciled to Him, and then to walk with Him daily.

  As far as I know, there is no set formula as to how and when the Lord begins to draw us to Himself, nor the ways He chooses to speak to us. He works with every individual according to their design and need, but it is never contrary to the teachings of His Word, the Bible. It may be through answers to prayer, miraculous experiences, dreams, visions, someone preaching, a deliberate searching for answers as He is drawing us, or God speaking directly to us... Regardless of the way He draws us, the truly important thing is that we come to Jesus with a genuine and repentant heart by faith and walk in harmony with Him by heeding His Word and following His Holy Spirit.

BIBLICAL 

  God spoke to Abram (later Abraham) and told him plainly what He wanted him to do. Now, there is no indication that Abram even knew who the real God is. In those days, there were few, if any, revelations of God. All they knew was what was passed down by their ancestors. Meanwhile, there were plenty of man-made gods. God obviously saw Abram's faith and heart, so God chose him to become what we call the Father of Faith. Genesis 12:1-4

  Jacob's knowledge of God initially was through his father, Isaac, Abraham's son. But when he had the dream of the angels ascending and descending on a ladder that reached to Heaven, and the Lord standing at the top of it, and spoke to Him, God to him was no longer a teaching, but a personal God. Genesis 28:11-21

 The prophet Samuel was only a boy serving in the temple under the guidance of the priest Eli, but he did not know the Lord. One night, the Lord came near and called him by name. He called him three times until Samuel answered Him. Now, it might be good to point out that Eli realized that the Lord was calling Samuel and had to instruct Samuel as to how to answer the call. There are times in all our lives that we need the guidance of more knowledgeable and experienced believers to help and direct us in our pursuit and revelation of God. 1 Samuel 3:1-10

 Naaman, the Syrian general, was sent to Israel by his king because his servant girl, who was a captive from Israel, told him of the prophet Elisha, who could heal him of his leprosy. When Elisha told him to dip in the Jordan seven times, he was furious. He was expecting Elisha to perform a form of sorcery, the way that the pagan priests typically did. When he finally obeyed and God miraculously healed him without the help of any man, he became a genuine believer in the true God, the God of Israel.

 The sailors of the boat that Jonah boarded while running from the will of God also learned to fear and believe in the God of Israel when the Lord calmed the sea after they cast Jonah into the water, as Jonah instructed them. All their sacrifices to their gods were to no avail, but by obeying the Lord, even though they did not know Him, they were saved. 

 The apostle Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christian Jews there when a bright light from Heaven shone around and he fell to the ground, and the Lord Jesus spoke to him.

 

 "...for we walk by faith and not by sight...without faith it is impossible to please Him." 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:6.