THE VOICE OF GOD!!
.
Do you hear Him?. Many Christians are familiar with Psalm 29, which speaks of God's voice being very powerful, shattering trees and upstaging storms at sea.
I took a closer look at that Psalm today because the topic of God's voice was on my mind. I noticed a couple things. One was, twice the Psalmist seemed to be making God's voice synonymous with He Himself. His voice is on the waters, He is on the waters. His voice breaks the cedars , He breaks them. I dont know if I should be putting too fine a point on that, because there may be some Hebrew poetry techniques at play here, but then again, the Lord might be teaching , at least me personally, that His voice to me can be heard in the powerful things of nature I see around me, in His creation.
I've been wrestling a little lately with wanting to hear Him better and feeling like I need a spiritual hearing test.
It also occurred to me that the Power of His voice doesnt necessarily have to be loud and thunderous as it is in most verses of Psalm 29, because right smack in the middle the writer points to God's voice dividing flames of fire. I think the message there is that God's voice is heard in nature.
You see God having the power there to make dear run and His voice penetrating dark forests where falling tress dont make sounds.
Reminds me of a "happy days" episode where Fonzy is camping alone in the woods, and he cant get to sleep because the forest creatures are all making sounds. He gets up and shouts out "COOL IT"!!..the forest becomes silent. Fonze gestures as if to say "that's how cool I AM!..aaaayyy" God is providential over all nature....and ..cool.
I think again of Elijah's little lesson where he witnessed powerful occurrences of nature , but stated that God WASN'T in them, but it was only afterwards Elijah heard when the voice was a "small still" one. (1 Kings 19:11,12).
In August of '07 i blogged twice about hearing God ("Ears to hear" and "Listen closely"), talking about coming before God reverently in prayer and preparing our hearts to hear. This witnesses to me so much, even though I blog about it, I am still learning it. Learning how to hear God. How to stop whining and ranting long enough to listen. He may be wanting to speak but I cant hear because His voice is being drowned out by my fussing.
Lately I'm becoming more aware that life around me itself is a way God speaks. The answer to prayers many times is found in the circumstances I'm facing. In addition to hearing though heart-felt Spirit influence, through the words of others, through dreams, and most of all through His Word, I'm becoming more keenly aware of my surroundings being the way He is speaking. I'm learning the language.
When you know someone well, you know their language. If a person in your life is someone you're close to and that loves you and you them,..you have a special communication together. sometimes without words. You dont have that with strangers.
Jesus said that. He said "My sheep know Me and they hear My voice." He said "a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers."
Want to have a better communication with God?..want to feel more of a 2-way connection in your prayers?...get better acquainted with Him. Get to know His language. The Bible says "draw near to God and He will draw near to you". Bible study is the preeminent way. But time walking with your friend tends to bring about a familiarity also. I hate to use this illustration, but many have seen that clip from "Kung Fu" where Kwai Chang asked how the master was able to hear the grasshopper at Kwai Chang's feet. The master replys, "how is it you do not"? Kwai Chang hadn't learned yet how to hear.
I pray with all my heart that we Christians get well acquainted with our God and know His voice well.
.
Do you hear Him?. Many Christians are familiar with Psalm 29, which speaks of God's voice being very powerful, shattering trees and upstaging storms at sea.
I took a closer look at that Psalm today because the topic of God's voice was on my mind. I noticed a couple things. One was, twice the Psalmist seemed to be making God's voice synonymous with He Himself. His voice is on the waters, He is on the waters. His voice breaks the cedars , He breaks them. I dont know if I should be putting too fine a point on that, because there may be some Hebrew poetry techniques at play here, but then again, the Lord might be teaching , at least me personally, that His voice to me can be heard in the powerful things of nature I see around me, in His creation.
I've been wrestling a little lately with wanting to hear Him better and feeling like I need a spiritual hearing test.
It also occurred to me that the Power of His voice doesnt necessarily have to be loud and thunderous as it is in most verses of Psalm 29, because right smack in the middle the writer points to God's voice dividing flames of fire. I think the message there is that God's voice is heard in nature.
You see God having the power there to make dear run and His voice penetrating dark forests where falling tress dont make sounds.
Reminds me of a "happy days" episode where Fonzy is camping alone in the woods, and he cant get to sleep because the forest creatures are all making sounds. He gets up and shouts out "COOL IT"!!..the forest becomes silent. Fonze gestures as if to say "that's how cool I AM!..aaaayyy" God is providential over all nature....and ..cool.
I think again of Elijah's little lesson where he witnessed powerful occurrences of nature , but stated that God WASN'T in them, but it was only afterwards Elijah heard when the voice was a "small still" one. (1 Kings 19:11,12).
In August of '07 i blogged twice about hearing God ("Ears to hear" and "Listen closely"), talking about coming before God reverently in prayer and preparing our hearts to hear. This witnesses to me so much, even though I blog about it, I am still learning it. Learning how to hear God. How to stop whining and ranting long enough to listen. He may be wanting to speak but I cant hear because His voice is being drowned out by my fussing.
Lately I'm becoming more aware that life around me itself is a way God speaks. The answer to prayers many times is found in the circumstances I'm facing. In addition to hearing though heart-felt Spirit influence, through the words of others, through dreams, and most of all through His Word, I'm becoming more keenly aware of my surroundings being the way He is speaking. I'm learning the language.
When you know someone well, you know their language. If a person in your life is someone you're close to and that loves you and you them,..you have a special communication together. sometimes without words. You dont have that with strangers.
Jesus said that. He said "My sheep know Me and they hear My voice." He said "a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers."
Want to have a better communication with God?..want to feel more of a 2-way connection in your prayers?...get better acquainted with Him. Get to know His language. The Bible says "draw near to God and He will draw near to you". Bible study is the preeminent way. But time walking with your friend tends to bring about a familiarity also. I hate to use this illustration, but many have seen that clip from "Kung Fu" where Kwai Chang asked how the master was able to hear the grasshopper at Kwai Chang's feet. The master replys, "how is it you do not"? Kwai Chang hadn't learned yet how to hear.
I pray with all my heart that we Christians get well acquainted with our God and know His voice well.
.
posted by Shiloh | June 05, 2009
3 Comments:
Outstanding post, per usual. I will have to read this again, there is so much here. Thank you, brother. You always stir my mind and my heart in the way you write. Very refreshing!
Peeks his head in, looks around, doesn't see a new post... walks off disappointed :(
You've not written in your blog in months. Miss your writing. *Ahem..cough..cough. ;)
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