Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
God speaks to all of us, but how we respond to Him is another matter. Our response to God depends on the condition of our heart. God speaks to us in many ways. First, we must learn how to recognize his voice. God can speak to us quietly.
1 Kings 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
He can speak through a sign.
Judges 6:37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
God can speak to you in a normal voice.
Acts 7:30-31 30And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
God can speak to you through an animal.
Numbers 22:27-28 27And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. 28And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
God can speak to you through his ministers.
Jeremiah 38:20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.
God can speak to you through an angel.
Luke 1:11-13 11And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
God speaks through the heavens.
Psalm 19:1-4 1(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 4Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
And God can speak to you by visions, dreams and many other ways.
But the greatest way God speaks to us is through His Word.
Psalm 138:2b for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
Here we see how much value God places on His Word. Knowing some of the ways God speaks to us, and the value he places on His Word brings us to our next point.
How do we respond to the voice of God? Our response to God depends on the condition of our heart.
Proverbs 4:20-23 20My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart 22For they are life unto those that find them, and health (medicine) to all their flesh. 23Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. NIV Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
A wellspring is a source of continual supply. The origin of something; it's the fountainhead from which something flows from. Like a river.
Do you know what the longest river in the world is? The Nile is the longest river in the world, followed by the Amazon, then the Yangtze and the Mississippi.
We just read in verse 23 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
ESV Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Take the Mississippi river for an example. There are more than 260 fish species (25% of all fish species in North America), 325 bird species, 50 mammal species, and 145 amphibian species living in and around the Mississippi River. It is estimated that 18 million people or more than 50 cities rely on the Mississippi for their daily water supply.
This is why we are to guard our heart because out of the heart flows the matters of life. As the waters of the Mississippi affect and influence numerous environmental concerns, likewise our hearts, if not kept tender, will effect what flows from our lives. Concerning the physical heart, there are warning signs or symptoms of an impending heart attack. Cold sweats, chest pains, pain in one or both arms pain in your back, neck, stomach these can be warning symptoms of an approaching heart attack.
Likewise, there are symptoms, warning signs of a hard heart.
I'd like to list 9 symptoms for your consideration of a hard heart.
When we hear the Lord's voice how do we respond? Are you motivated to seek a deeper relationship with your Heavenly Father? Do you strive to become more obedient to His Will in your life? Is your heart responsive to the voice of God, or do you resist and refuse to hear and do? If you find yourself less responsive to God's Voice / Word, it could be your heart has become less receptive, even sluggish. At times this is hard to notice because it happens slowly over a period of time, and is often cloaked by our rationalization and excuses.
As a Christian, how do you respond when the Holy Spirit speaks to you through the scriptures or by some other means? The first symptom I'd like to list for your consideration is insensitivity.
1) Are you insensitive to what God says?
1 Samuel 3:4-8 4That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 6And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. 8And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli, perceived that the LORD had called the child.
It took Eli three times before he realized what was going on. Eli was the high priest and he was out of tune, insensitive to God's voice.
The second warning sign concerns God's authority. Do you resist God's authority in your life?
2) Resistance to God's authority.
Numbers 22:20-22 20And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. 21And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. 22And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
God was upset with Balaam because he was told to wait till the princes of Moab "came to call him" If the men come to call you (Nu 22:20) and for his desire for "the wages of unrighteousness".
2 Peter 2:15-16 15Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
The third warning sign I'd like to list is disobedience.
3) Outright disobedience. Are you outright disobedient to God's instructions?
God gives the church instructions in the following verses and yet many of the so called Christian churches blatantly disobey.
Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Many so called Christian churches perform same sex unions they misrepresent as marriages. God only recognizes a man and a woman when they enter into marriage. Any other union man officiates over is sin and God does not and cannot bless that union for God does not bless or condone sin.
To be continued…ÿ
Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation, NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, and NAB means the New American Bible translation. For more information, go to theWorks Cited page.