The Goodness of God

The Goodness of God

Hearing God’s Voice

“I love your voice
You have led me through the fire
And in darkest night you are close like no other
I’ve known you as a Father
I’ve known you as a Friend
And i have lived in the goodness of God, yeah”

Goodness of God, Bethel

27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:27, NIV

How do we learn to hear the voice of the Lord? 

The Good Shepherd cares for His flock – loves His sheep. The sheep trust Him and know His voice just as He knows them.

The Good Father cares for His children – loves them. His children trust Him and know His voice just as He knows them.

Our relationship with Jesus will determine the degree to which we hear and recognize the Voice of the Lord.

Samuel was sleeping in the temple when he hears the Lord call his name. Because there was no relationship yet he could not recognize the voice for what it was and goes to Eli instead.

God is always speaking. He never stops. 

We just need to get tuned in – like those old ‘rabbit-ear’ antennas we had growing up. They would ‘hear’ the signal and convert it into a vision on our TV screens. Sometimes it would take a little bit of effort – tuning your set, adjusting the position of the antenna, maybe even moving around the living room until you could see and hear clearly.

We need to get tuned in to God. We need to learn to hear, recognize, trust and love His voice.

Relationship helps us distinguish between the voice of our Father and the multitude of other voices around us.

Through daily prayer and meditation we get to know the Voice of God.

We learn to recognize His voice by spending time with Him.

I am reminded of Elijah. At one point he finds himself in a cave, hiding from the forces of King Ahab and Jezebel, despairing even unto death.

In 1 Kings 19 we read about how God spoke to Elijah – the Presence of the Lord came by in the form of a mighty rushing wind, an earthquake and even a fire – but the heart of God for Elijah was communicated in a soft and gentle whisper.

And in this whisper we find direction – in this intimate communication from God.

It is time that we draw near to God – near enough to hear the gentle whisper of God. Near enough to hear His heartbeat for us.

Too often we are waiting for the mighty rushing wind and the earthquake – an encounter full of goosebumps and sensation – but God is speaking to you in a much deeper way.

It is in the stillness of the secret place that we will hear Him much clearer.

Elijah tells God: “I have been very zealous for You.” (1 Kings 19:10,14)

“I have been burning with love for You…” 

And there is no indication in his words that he had ever stopped loving God. 

Take 15 minutes and retreat from your surroundings – your situation, your circumstances. Pour out your love for the Lord.

Another thing that Elijah does is bring his fear, insecurity and brokenness to God.

Take 15 minutes out of your day. Pour out your need for His love and mercy. Pour out your love like precious perfume. And then…

Wait… 

And hear what God wants to tell you today. Respond to this whisper with obedience. Act on what God is impressing upon your heart. Let His answer flood your heart and see how He fills your life with His presence.

Prayer: Lord, anoint the ears of my heart that I might hear Your sweet and gentle voice. Open the ears of my heart so that I might hear the whispers of Your love, mercy and grace. Fill me with Your presence. Saturate me with Your peace. I love You Lord. Help me seek You and see You more clearly. Draw me closer. Pull me deeper. And when You speak, Lord, in whichever way You deem fit – give me the wisdom to act and obey so that I might see Your Kingdom come in my life and the lives of those around me. In Jesus Name. Amen.

 

 

Disrupt: Presence over Preaching

Disrupt: Presence over Preaching

27 February 2024 Disrupt: Presence over Preaching

God is raising up a generation of evangelists who will preach – not through word but through deed. A generation that will demonstrate the power of God, as in the book of Acts. Demonstration, not focused on signs and wonders, but through an authentic life – a renewed mind is consistent. The change is undeniable. Demonstration through acts of service, kindness and love. Demonstration through giving, sharing and living like Jesus lived.

There will be signs and wonders. There will be healing and deliverance – but there will also be a very real move of God in the hearts of believers. No more ‘Sunday Lip Service’ Christianity – but real, authentic rivers that run deep and transform communities. 

God is going to strip many titles of their power in this season. Many thrones and strongholds are going to be pulled down. Many fig trees will wither for they have carried the fruit of bitterness and ego.

Those who remain standing will be those who know how to bow. Those who know how to sway and move with the winds of God. 

God is calling fishermen to come and build His Kingdom. The hierarchies have failed in a lot of ways – the systems man have put in place. The world mocks the church and laughs in derision because the church has become like the world.

It is time for authentic Christianity. It is time for the church to become the Church again – the Ecclesia – the household of the Lord. 

The world needs our presence – not our preaching.

Repent of your ego. Repent of your small ambitions. 

It is time we get our hands dirty – it is time we do the hard work of the Gospel again. Uncompromised lives sold out to the Truth. Hands and feet willing to walk on water and sit with sinners. It is time for us to crucify the church. It is time for us to strip ourselves of ourselves so that Christ can shine clearly in and through our lives. No more compromise. No more double standards. No more hypocrisy. No more ‘multiple personality disorder’.

Compassion rather than compensation. Empathy rather than esteem.

Presence over preaching.

Your preaching means nothing if people cannot see Jesus in you.

Your title means even less.

The only title that matters is servant.

1 Corinthians 4:20: 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

James 1:21-25: Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 

Matthew 7:21-27: “Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

When the apostles, prophets, pastors – those with titles and esteem – stop declaring the uncompromised, true and faithful Word of God, the stones will cry out. God is raising up fishermen once again. Men who do not need to talk – but show the power of God.