Hearing God's Voice.. Craig Denison Ministries

 Hearing God's Voice

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

You and I have been given the invaluable gift of communication with God. Last week we learned about the process of making the soil of our hearts soft and receptive to God. This week we’ll learn some different ways to receive the seed of his word. May your communion with God flourish as you engage in continual conversation with your loving, present heavenly Father.

Scripture: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13

Devotional:

God desires to speak directly to you.As a good Father, he longs to engage with you in continual conversation. So great was his longing for communication that he’s given you the gift of the Holy Spirit. You now have access to the heart of God through the Spirit. You can know his will, hear his voice, and live with the knowledge of his love.

John 16:13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” If you are a Christian, the “Spirit of truth” has come. He dwells within you. He longs to tell you how God feels about you. He longs to guide you to the Father’s perfect, hopeful, and pleasing plans (Jeremiah 29:11). His voice is perfect, full of love, and always truthful. He will never guide you into something that isn’t best for you. He will never speak hate or condemnation to you. As John 16:13 promises, he will declare to you what he hears the Father say.

Let the truth that God desires to have real, life-transforming conversations with you sink into your heart for a minute. Think about what it means for your own life to have communication with God. Your Creator longs to help you with your decisions, relationships, work, finances, and identity. God himself wants to talk with you about your life—to fully know you and be known by you.

Just as any good parent loves talking with their children, your heavenly Father loves talking to you, his child. You see, God speaking to you is so little about your ability to hear his voice and so much more about his desire for you to know him. His voice in your life is just another product of grace, God’s unmerited favor for those who believe. Like any conversation, you will only hear him when you are listening. And just like any good conversation, God longs to hear from you as well.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Have faith that God longs to speak to you. Draw near to him in the assurance that he is already filled with love for you. The Holy Spirit longs to have a communicative relationship with you. Let the weight of conversation with God rest on his shoulders, trust in his word and his character, and listen to whatever he would speak to you today.

As you enter into guided prayer, take time to quiet your heart and listen to the voice of the Spirit.           

Guided Prayer:

1. Take a moment to quiet your mind and soul. Receive God’s presence and meditate on the important truth that the Spirit speaks.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”John 16:13

2. Now listen to God. If you have a situation, question or anything you want to ask him, now is the time! God longs for you to tell him what you want help with. If you just want to know how he feels about you, ask him! Again, the weight of God speaking is on him. Trust him and his timing. God does desire to speak to you.

3. Write down whatever God tells you. Rest in the goodness of what he’s spoken.

Communicating with God is similar to engaging in conversation with a close friend. I don’t go to my friend and ask them to tell me anything so I know they are real. Rather, I seek to know them as a person and conversation takes place as a result. Seek to know God as deeply as possible. Trust that he is real and that he speaks. Talk with him because you simply want to know him. And rest in the fact that you will have conversation with your loving heavenly Father throughout eternity. May your day be marked by life-giving conversation with the Holy Spirit.

Extended Reading: Psalm 27

God Doesn’t Work by Coincidence..TRACIE MILES

 God Doesn’t Work by Coincidence

TRACIE MILES 

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11a (NLV)

I nervously typed up the email and reviewed it a few more times for accuracy.

For more than a year, I had been working on this new project. But now I knew it was time to trust God, move forward and spread the word rather than continue to let fear and procrastination keep me stuck.

As my fingers hovered hesitantly over the keyboard, I finally hit the “send” button. And off it went. A sense of anxiousness came over me but was quickly interrupted by a quiet voice stirring in my spirit.

What is today’s date, Tracie? God whispered.

Perplexed, I glanced at the calendar and was instantly taken aback. It was not until that very moment that my eyes were opened and I realized the significance of the date.

It had been exactly seven years, to the day, since my 26-year marriage imploded and my entire life turned upside down. My thoughts were instantly drawn back to the painful memories, overwhelming emotions and crippling fears that had brought me to my knees on that unforgettable, traumatic day seven years ago.

But God quickly shifted my thoughts and helped me refocus. I certainly hadn’t planned on kicking off my new business project on this particular day, and at first I thought, It's just a coincidence. But was it?

As I pondered this, God calmed my anxiousness and gently reminded me that over the past seven years, He had turned my life around completely, exchanged my sadness for joy, and transformed my pain into purpose. In His perfect timing, He had brought me to a place where I never thought I would find myself — healed, restored and filled with passion for a purpose I never even imagined.

I immediately recalled how, in Scripture, the number seven often symbolizes a sense of fullness or completeness. In fact, throughout the Bible, the number seven appears 735 times, and it often references the holy works of God, repeatedly serving as proof of the perfection and beauty God orchestrates.

In today’s key verse, we read that “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This verse reminds us that all things are crafted by God — including time. He is behind all things and the way they will turn out. It also reminds us that everything happens exactly when it should. Not by chance or irony but by a divine plan beyond our comprehension.

On this day ordained by God, after experiencing a devastating heartbreak I thought I’d never recover from, I stepped out in faith, pushed past my insecurities and pursued a dream God laid on my heart. I had no idea this was the day God had appointed for me to take this leap of faith. But it was. Certainly not a coincidence, this had been planned long before my time on earth even began.

My faith soared, and this evidence of God’s sovereignty reminded me to put all my trust in Him for all things. Always. Why?

Because nothing is random with God.

He had been divinely orchestrating behind the scenes to turn my ashes into beauty, in His perfect timing, exactly seven years later.

God is in the process of perfectly planning out your life as well, in a way only He can. Trust that He is in the details, and believe with all your heart that one day you’ll see His perfect plan for you fall into place.

I promise it will cause your heart and your faith to soar.

Lord, help me never to assume something is a coincidence but to see circumstances as God-incidences ordained by You just for me. Help me cling to the truth that You have a perfect, beautiful plan for me, my circumstances and my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Fruitful Giver..Dr. Charles Stanley

 The Fruitful Giver

Dr. Charles Stanley

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

If you've ever visited Israel, you have no doubt experienced the contrast between the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The banks of the Jordan are surrounded by trees and greenery, but nothing lives around the Dead Sea. The reason is that there is no outlet. When the water flows into that sea, it stays there. Eventually the salts accumulate and poison the water.

This is a vivid picture of two different financial plans. The Dead Sea compares to the world's system, which is based on accumulation and preservation of wealth. The goal is to get enough so you can have enough, but this approach results in self-centered stagnation. Christians who follow this plan mistakenly believe it's the path to security. But what they fail to understand is that hoarding makes their lives spiritually unfruitful and hinders the good works God wants them to do.

The Lord's financial plan is like a river that moves continuously. As His provisions flow into our lives, we pass them on to others. This results in a fruitful life centered on building God's kingdom. Perhaps you've realized that He promises to supply "bread for food" to those who give, but did you know He'll also provide "seed for sowing" (v. 10)? He supplies enough to live and enough to give.

Have you hindered your spiritual growth by sowing sparingly? If you become a generous giver, God promises to "increase the harvest of your righteousness" (v. 10). There are needs in the church and the world that He wants to meet through your generosity. Let His blessings flow through you.

Gaze at God for Peace-filled, Positive Thoughts..Meg Bucher

 Gaze at God for Peace-filled, Positive Thoughts.

By Meg Bucher

“Later that same day Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake.” Matthew 13:1 NLT

The solution to positive thinking hit me during prayer one morning as I struggled to believe for good outcomes in various areas of my life. Filled with skepticism because of failed attempts and fresh wounds, positive thinking wasn’t my current default. “Positive thinking = thinking about God,” the Holy Spirit pressed upon my heart. Thinking about God has become a natural by-product of the way I live. Yet, I rushed by thoughts of Him to the solutions I was seeking, forgetting He is enough. All of the things we think about pale in comparison to who He is. Meditating on Him alone ushers in the peace and positivity we seek in life. It isn’t the problems being solved or the provision He so faithfully gives …it’s Him. 

This verse in Matthew today details what Jesus was doing. He went to sit beside the lake. This would have been the Sea of Galilee. Perhaps living in a lake town provides me with some insight to the peace simply sitting by the lake provides. Especially on a day when the sunrise splinters a calm lake into a million fractions of the same prism of colors. The incredible nature of God’s creation points back to Him. Sitting by the lake, Jesus prepared to teach the crowds which had gathered. Matthew continues,  

“A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore.” Matthew 13:2-3 NLT

If I were in such a crowd, my gaze surely would have drifted across the scenery, magnifying the words of the One True God being spoken on earth! What an unimaginable scene and experience to hear Jesus teach and tell stories from a boat on the lake. The ESV Study Bible explains, “Sitting was the typical posture for teachers. According to tradition, this teaching took place at the ‘Cove of the Parables,’ a natural horseshoe-shaped amphitheater. The sound of Jesus’ voice would have carried over 300 feet from the boat to a crowd of hundreds on the shore.” Jesus situated Himself perfectly so the people could hear Him, even if they couldn’t see Him. 

Intersecting Faith and Life

Then Jesus’ told him, ‘You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.’” John 20:29 NLT

A peace-filled, positive thought life blooms from meditating on His words. Even in admiring God’s creation, we are meditating on the creation of the Creator, and the Word was with God while He created it. Imagine what the actual physical presence of Jesus must have felt like for the disciples. We experience His presence poignantly throughout our days but still cannot physically hug, high-five or laugh with Him. “Blessed are they who believe without seeing me.” There’s a positive thought for us …Jesus is speaking of us in this verse. We believe without seeing Him, and so we are blessed! 

Scripture tells us to keep our thoughts aligned with the Truth of God. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 

“We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT) 

Every is a tall order, but also an encouraging promise. We can lead every thought to Jesus. He is the Word. When we gaze across the lake, we can think about Him being there as it was created. When we look in the mirror, we can think about how Jesus died to save that face right there. When we feel lost and alone, we can remember His promise to be with us to the end of the age …always. When we feel powerless, we can remember the Gift Jesus left us as a deposit of our eternal inheritance: the Holy Spirit, living in us. 

Sometimes we are tempted to solve our way into positive thinking when the answer so often is to look to Him and stop there. Stay there. “Remain in me,” Jesus said, “and I will remain in you.” (John 15:4 NLT) Peace-filled, positive thinking isn’t something we accomplish but is developed and activated in us as we look to God. He wants the best for us. His plans are good. He loves us. We can wholeheartedly believe and trust for the healings we hope for and problems we seek solutions for. He knows what we need, and He is faithful. 

Peace-filled, positive thinking = thinking about God!

Additional Reading:

• Romans 12:2
• Philippians 4:8
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• Jeremiah 33:3

 

The Loud Voice Like a Trumpet..Cara Meredith

 The Loud Voice Like a Trumpet (Revelation 1:10-11)

By: Cara Meredith

On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” - Revelation 1:10-11

A couple of weeks ago, I stole into the forest for a few hours to hike. There weren’t very many people on the trail, as nearby parks have intermittently been closed throughout the global pandemic. But as another woman approached me on the trail, I felt my heart race. Shivers, like goosebumps, scaled up my arms. A niggling voice that wasn’t audible as much as it was pressing, breathed into my soul and into those deep places that can’t always be put into words.

It was like she and I were supposed to talk to one another on the trail that day, for ours was a kind of Holy Spirit encounter, perhaps not unlike the one John speaks of in the book of Revelation. Because when we stopped, said hello and looked at one another in the eyes (six feet apart, of course), I knew I was leaning into physical prompting that came straight from God down to me – our encounter most divine.

Sometimes, when I dive into the book of Revelation, I can’t help but wonder what John the writer heard that prompted him to write a letter to the seven churches in the province of Asia. He writes that he was in the Spirit, when he heard behind him a “loud voice like a trumpet” (10). Some theologians say that John was in the most holy of trances, while others (including many of the early church fathers, such as Ignatius, Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria), state that “the Lord’s Day” referred not to tribulation, per say, but to the first day of the week.

Regardless, this was a loud, horn-like sound. While we don’t know if musical notes blasted from heavenly skies, if an audible voice actually sounded, or if the physical presence within John’s body merely felt like the brassy tones of a trumpet, all we know for sure is that the notes on that day’s holy music score were clear.

For me, as someone who doesn’t tend to meet God in the noise as much as in the quiet of forests and darkened cathedrals, I am encouraged perhaps now more than ever before. That day on the trail, I didn’t so much hear the vibrant blast of a trumpet on the trail as much as I felt it rumble and roll around within me – but I can be certain that the blast was the Lord’s. And you and me both can know that this blast will continue to make its way known, extending to “Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea” (11), and ultimately, beyond.

So, tell me, what does the trumpet sound like in your life? Even if the sound in your heart feels rather muted compared to some of your brothers and sisters, it’s the sound of the Lord, nonetheless – this voice an invitation to lean into the holy music of God, whether on forest trails, in coffee shops or under archaic cathedral ceilings alike.

After all, the trumpeting Spirit of God beckons speak to us all.

A Prayer for Newness..Jessica Van Roekel

 A Prayer for Newness

By Jessica Van Roekel

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19, ESV

Do you have regrets? I know I do. I can get so caught up in regretting decisions from a year ago, a month ago, or a day ago. Maybe it was taking the wrong way home and getting caught in a traffic jam. Or it was flinging harsh words at a loved one. Sometimes it’s faithlessness in the face of God’s faithfulness that fills me with regret.

The apostle Peter knew regret. He betrayed and rejected Jesus while Jesus faced his accusers. He couldn’t stay awake and pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. He refused to accept Jesus’ declaration that Jesus would suffer, die, and rise again on the third day. Peter was well acquainted with regrets, yet he also knew the power of forgiveness and restoration.

I wonder if, when Peter was old, he ever looked back at his empty passion and ruefully shook his head at his immature self. It could be that his many regrettable mistakes led him to the place where his passion would have a thread of steel running through it. When we choose to remember not the former things, it means we don’t dwell on it so much that we fail to see the new things God does in our lives.

Our past could overtake our present and determine our future, or we could place our past in the Lord’s gentle hands and allow his grace and mercy to overtake us. In this passage from Isaiah 43, Isaiah captures so beautifully how God promises restoration and rescue. The Lord makes his way through the mighty waters of the sea to bring his people to a new land, a new purpose, a new resolve.

Our regrets tempt us to spend too much time dwelling on the past and all the mistakes it holds. It becomes a wilderness filled with thorns and danger. People serve as reminders. Places take us back in time. And in an instant, we feel our thoughts spiral out of control. But God.

He promises to make a way through the wilderness. And not only does he guide us through it, but he also somehow makes it a place of beauty. If we can let him lead us from regret to a place of remembering not, we discover so much. We discover the power of forgiveness. We receive forgiveness and extend it. We learn about joy and suffering and how we can hold them in the same hand.

We give him full access to every part of our heart—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and submit to his ministrations. He refines us. Yes, this sometimes involves walking through the wilderness we thought we had left far behind. But this time, we walk with eyes wide open to the newness he creates.

With his help, we can see where bitter places grew the fruit of forgiveness and surrender. We forgive ourselves for our mistakes, and we forgive others for their trespasses against us. We see how surrender bloomed into a beautiful trust that the Lord is good and that what he does is good. And when we look back, we remember God’s faithfulness to make a way in the wilderness and to provide what we need for spiritual sustenance in the desert.

If your regrets prove to be overwhelming, release them to the Lord. Allow him to meet you right where you are, just as Jesus met Peter on the beach after Jesus rose from the dead. Go to him the way Peter ran to him. Fall at his feet and receive from him. In him, all things are made new.

Let’s pray:

Holy God,
I feel stuck in the wilderness of regret. I’m lost as I remember things I would rather forget. But in you is the newness of life. You promise to do a new thing. I’m ready for it, Lord. I stand with eyes wide open to what you’re about to do. I’m looking for a new time of forgiveness, blessing, restoration, and your presence. So, I’m going to praise you right now, at this moment, because I believe that you’ve made me new.
In Jesus’ name, Amen