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What will you say to Moses when you meet him one day? 
Usually when I hear God told ME.....I start squirming......God speaks through his written word and a prodding by the Holy Spirit of God...very few examples found through out scripture where God audibly spoke to anyone and I am pretty sure none of us are on the level of Moses, Abraham etc.......<---when it comes to God speaking audibly...!
V
Amen. Anything any of us have to say about a circumstance in another person's life is almost always our own opinion, hopefully based on God's word but often mixed in with a bit of layman's pop psychology and maybe a bit of unwittingly digested Zen.
Opinions are like belly buttons: Everyone has one, and most collect lint. Well, except for the lint part.
The most important thing we can do is make certain we are biblically literate ourselves, and can discern godly advice based on a long-time and deeply abiding relationship with Christ, vs. the other stuff.
"Nice work with Israel. Glad we had the written word to rely on. Musta been hard to make yourself heard over two million muttering people, huh?"
Opinions are like belly buttons: Everyone has one, and most collect lint. Well, except for the lint part.
The most important thing we can do is make certain we are biblically literate ourselves, and can discern godly advice based on a long-time and deeply abiding relationship with Christ, vs. the other stuff.
What will you say to Moses when you meet him one day?
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So your God is like Allah - transcendent and distant?
My God is immanent! That means he came to earth as a man, and after he rose, he sent the Holy Spirit to be with the church and every believer.
As a point to Crossnote, the problem is that the charismatics have made the voice of God too close, and a god recreated in their own image. While I don't doubt that some charismatics hear from God, too many are walking in their own egos, and their own power.
The fact, is the Bible says in John 10:27 that we hear the Good Shepherd's voice and we know it and we obey it. So if you do not hear it - how are you to obey it? How do you know if that person is trustworthy? How do you know the leading of the Lord for your life? How do you follow him if you do not hear his voice?
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27
I am a Baptist, and I hear my Good Shepherd's voice. I think many people in western culture do not know what that means. Here is a brief 2 minute video of what it actually means - to hear the shepherd's voice.
[video=youtube_share;e45dVgWgV64]http://youtu.be/e45dVgWgV64[/video]
Sometimes it is a challenge to hear God's voice. When I was first saved, I heard God's voice clearly and strongly, telling me to follow him. Then I got bogged down in churchianity. But God was good. He would tell me something, I would hear another voice questioning "Has God said?" Then, I would read what God said in my Bible. I would hear it in a sermon. A friend would come up and say it again to me, but not with the "God told me." Sometimes completely unaware that it was a message from God. So I learned to hear the voice of God again, and now, I will not stray. I come, when God calls, just like the sheep came in the video when they heard the voice of their shepherd.
My God is immanent! That means he came to earth as a man, and after he rose, he sent the Holy Spirit to be with the church and every believer.
As a point to Crossnote, the problem is that the charismatics have made the voice of God too close, and a god recreated in their own image. While I don't doubt that some charismatics hear from God, too many are walking in their own egos, and their own power.
The fact, is the Bible says in John 10:27 that we hear the Good Shepherd's voice and we know it and we obey it. So if you do not hear it - how are you to obey it? How do you know if that person is trustworthy? How do you know the leading of the Lord for your life? How do you follow him if you do not hear his voice?
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27
I am a Baptist, and I hear my Good Shepherd's voice. I think many people in western culture do not know what that means. Here is a brief 2 minute video of what it actually means - to hear the shepherd's voice.
[video=youtube_share;e45dVgWgV64]http://youtu.be/e45dVgWgV64[/video]
Sometimes it is a challenge to hear God's voice. When I was first saved, I heard God's voice clearly and strongly, telling me to follow him. Then I got bogged down in churchianity. But God was good. He would tell me something, I would hear another voice questioning "Has God said?" Then, I would read what God said in my Bible. I would hear it in a sermon. A friend would come up and say it again to me, but not with the "God told me." Sometimes completely unaware that it was a message from God. So I learned to hear the voice of God again, and now, I will not stray. I come, when God calls, just like the sheep came in the video when they heard the voice of their shepherd.
S
I don't think my conversations with God are such than anyone else could hear but I do have conversations with God.
One of the recent ones went something like this.
God, why is it that sometimes I feel like a champion for you, like I can do anything, but other times I feel so down and defeated? When I spoke this I was driving by myself. Immidiently God told me to look up at the moon. It was daytime but I could see the moon clearly. It was one of those instances when I could see that come night only a small sliver would be lit up, but now I could clearly see the entire moon.
God then spoke these words to me concerning my question " the fullness is always there." It went off in my spirit like a bomb and I knew God was telling me that no matter how I felt, he was with me just the same. I still had the same relationship with him as always and that I was to walk by faith rather than my feelings which are subject to change.
I could also see the relationship between the sun and moon, how the moon was a reflection of the sun's brightness just as we are to be reflections of the brightness of Christ.
Then I stupidly asked why that feeling of brightness is lessened. Then the Lord said, "because the world gets in the way." I could see how I had let circumstances change my feelings and how I had let worldly things get in the way of my faith.
When I was first saved I begged God all the time to speak to me and tell me what he wanted me to do. I was ready for anything and expected God to send me somewhere right away to help him. All I heard at first was "read my word." Later I would hear God's voice speaking his written word in many situations that came up in my life. Even later I would hear something like the above.
One of the recent ones went something like this.
God, why is it that sometimes I feel like a champion for you, like I can do anything, but other times I feel so down and defeated? When I spoke this I was driving by myself. Immidiently God told me to look up at the moon. It was daytime but I could see the moon clearly. It was one of those instances when I could see that come night only a small sliver would be lit up, but now I could clearly see the entire moon.
God then spoke these words to me concerning my question " the fullness is always there." It went off in my spirit like a bomb and I knew God was telling me that no matter how I felt, he was with me just the same. I still had the same relationship with him as always and that I was to walk by faith rather than my feelings which are subject to change.
I could also see the relationship between the sun and moon, how the moon was a reflection of the sun's brightness just as we are to be reflections of the brightness of Christ.
Then I stupidly asked why that feeling of brightness is lessened. Then the Lord said, "because the world gets in the way." I could see how I had let circumstances change my feelings and how I had let worldly things get in the way of my faith.
When I was first saved I begged God all the time to speak to me and tell me what he wanted me to do. I was ready for anything and expected God to send me somewhere right away to help him. All I heard at first was "read my word." Later I would hear God's voice speaking his written word in many situations that came up in my life. Even later I would hear something like the above.
Woe! A Christian hierarchy, with some being better, or higher, or more spiritual than others??
We are all equal and loved in the sight of God. The Bible never says that one believer is better than another.
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3:28
"My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:1-4
"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him." Romans 10:12
I just don't see any distinctions in the Bible between Christians. God loves us all the same. And God will use us equally if we hear his voice and obey it! Of course, that means knowing the Bible, really, really well. Because if we hear a voice telling us something that is contrary to the Bible, then it is not God!
We are all equal and loved in the sight of God. The Bible never says that one believer is better than another.
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3:28
"My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:1-4
"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him." Romans 10:12
I just don't see any distinctions in the Bible between Christians. God loves us all the same. And God will use us equally if we hear his voice and obey it! Of course, that means knowing the Bible, really, really well. Because if we hear a voice telling us something that is contrary to the Bible, then it is not God!
I didn't believe it either. I was a non-believer when He audibly spoke to me. It rocked my world, turning everything upside down and coming out sideways. The eventual end result was my coming to believe, the number one biggest change of my life, a surrendering of my will to His. It was turning in faith to Him. I could not prove to myself or anybody else that it was real, but I unmistakably and immediately knew Who it was when I heard His voice, though I wanted to deny it, and tried rationalizing it away among other things. Even so, I had to accept it on faith.
I questioned it myself. Yeah, you better believe I questioned it. I did not want to believe in the God of the Bible. I doubt if anyone who has seen a number of my posts over the last six to seven weeks since I have been here could doubt that I am now a believer. I was a professionally practicing pagan when He spoke to me twelve years ago. It took almost a year after that for me to surrender my opposition to Him.
If you deny that God speaks to people, you deny Scripture. He explicitly promises to show Himself to those who diligently seek. Check this out: http://www.gotquestions.org/God-still-speak.html
One more thing I would like to say. It was no still small voice. I do experience that, but the time I am referring to, God's voice boomed, cutting through and drowning out my other thoughts. And you know what? No matter how hard I try, I cannot adjust the volume of my thoughts. Even if I think yelling, the volume is the same in my mind as thinking a whisper. Even though His voice boomed, He was not ordering me to do something. The tone, aside from the volume, was neutral, and one of making a suggestion. A suggestion that would throw over my whole way of life if taken. Such was coming to belief for me.
I questioned it myself. Yeah, you better believe I questioned it. I did not want to believe in the God of the Bible. I doubt if anyone who has seen a number of my posts over the last six to seven weeks since I have been here could doubt that I am now a believer. I was a professionally practicing pagan when He spoke to me twelve years ago. It took almost a year after that for me to surrender my opposition to Him.
If you deny that God speaks to people, you deny Scripture. He explicitly promises to show Himself to those who diligently seek. Check this out: http://www.gotquestions.org/God-still-speak.html
One more thing I would like to say. It was no still small voice. I do experience that, but the time I am referring to, God's voice boomed, cutting through and drowning out my other thoughts. And you know what? No matter how hard I try, I cannot adjust the volume of my thoughts. Even if I think yelling, the volume is the same in my mind as thinking a whisper. Even though His voice boomed, He was not ordering me to do something. The tone, aside from the volume, was neutral, and one of making a suggestion. A suggestion that would throw over my whole way of life if taken. Such was coming to belief for me.
A
I can give you a humorous example. A mere week or two before I started going to a new church the church had split in three. It was part of the Discipleship Movement of the 80's. Well, future-hubby, who I hadn't even met yet, had talked to his oversight (sort like a guy he had to turn to to check out any fairly major decision he was going to make) a couple of months before that about buying a new car. The guy told him, since he didn't have much to live on (he was paying child support), he should buy a VW Bug (aka Beetle.) Apparently God spoke through oversights.
But, as I said the church broke into three, big revelation at the time that the pastor was taking a bunch of the younger people to "serve" the highest oversights of that group far away, and then the other people split in two over whether that was good or bad. BUT discipleship kind of stuff fizzled a bit at that point, and hubby hadn't noticed. (Well, he noticed. He was just confused about what was going on, postponed getting the car, until he really needed one again.)
So, then he asks the new pastor if he should get a Bug. The pastor was 5'10" tall. Hubby was 6' 2" tall. The new pastor (a friend of his) snickered, and then broke out in a laughing fit. Obviously confused hubby, but the pastor owned a Bug. So he took hubby to the car, had him sit inside, and laughed at him again. Hubby had a hard time fitting into the car. His head was on the ceiling of the car. He couldn't get to the peddles, because his leg was cramped uo against the stering wheel in a strange way, and the pastor couldn't even sit in the passenger seat, because that's where hubby was leaning ti fit.
Pastor asked him, "How's the fit?"
Hubby grimaced. "I don't fit. I'm not sure how I'm getting out, but should I buy a Bug?"
Pastor laughed. "Why do you need to ask someone else if you should buy a car, when you already know you can't fit in it?"
And then the pastor's first sermon to the fragile group was to remind them to use their common sense instead of someone else's "word from God."
Guess who he used as an example? (Which is also why I know it's okay to tell this story. The pastor did ask hubby if he could use him.) And guess who never bought a VW Bug.
I'm his "little lady." I'm only 5'9.5" (used to be 5'11") and 192 pounds. I don't fit in Bugs either. lol
But, as I said the church broke into three, big revelation at the time that the pastor was taking a bunch of the younger people to "serve" the highest oversights of that group far away, and then the other people split in two over whether that was good or bad. BUT discipleship kind of stuff fizzled a bit at that point, and hubby hadn't noticed. (Well, he noticed. He was just confused about what was going on, postponed getting the car, until he really needed one again.)
So, then he asks the new pastor if he should get a Bug. The pastor was 5'10" tall. Hubby was 6' 2" tall. The new pastor (a friend of his) snickered, and then broke out in a laughing fit. Obviously confused hubby, but the pastor owned a Bug. So he took hubby to the car, had him sit inside, and laughed at him again. Hubby had a hard time fitting into the car. His head was on the ceiling of the car. He couldn't get to the peddles, because his leg was cramped uo against the stering wheel in a strange way, and the pastor couldn't even sit in the passenger seat, because that's where hubby was leaning ti fit.
Pastor asked him, "How's the fit?"
Hubby grimaced. "I don't fit. I'm not sure how I'm getting out, but should I buy a Bug?"
Pastor laughed. "Why do you need to ask someone else if you should buy a car, when you already know you can't fit in it?"
And then the pastor's first sermon to the fragile group was to remind them to use their common sense instead of someone else's "word from God."
Guess who he used as an example? (Which is also why I know it's okay to tell this story. The pastor did ask hubby if he could use him.) And guess who never bought a VW Bug.
I'm his "little lady." I'm only 5'9.5" (used to be 5'11") and 192 pounds. I don't fit in Bugs either. lol
B
I partly agree with this <comment to comment>, because I have been given "fore-knowledge" about some things and "what God told me... came true. Because I DO NOT go around telling people God said "thus and thus", for the EXACT reasons the topic is being discussed... it was difficult for me to have real peace about the fact that God told me "anything".... specifically that he told me about an issue coming which being forewarned made going thru that time so much easier.
Anyway then "God told me" something about another person... who was really struggling... and when the opportunity seemed to arise to tell that person what God told me.... it turned out to be TRUE... but the person refused to take comfort that the thing happening to them was from God even tho they didn't understand it. What should have been a great comfort was entirely rejected... for the very reason jimmie mentions... I had no PROOF God told me tho I have no idea how that person contrived in their mind I did know the thing "God told me".
So I would encourage the uber-scoffers to take a step back a bit and be willing to consider that sometimes "God told me" might be pretty vital for you to hear.
Anyway then "God told me" something about another person... who was really struggling... and when the opportunity seemed to arise to tell that person what God told me.... it turned out to be TRUE... but the person refused to take comfort that the thing happening to them was from God even tho they didn't understand it. What should have been a great comfort was entirely rejected... for the very reason jimmie mentions... I had no PROOF God told me tho I have no idea how that person contrived in their mind I did know the thing "God told me".
So I would encourage the uber-scoffers to take a step back a bit and be willing to consider that sometimes "God told me" might be pretty vital for you to hear.
A
How about we see if we can get a handle when to believe and when not to? One person example was someone else telling him he should pray for someone else's mother. Seems far fetched that's God. If it were, God would have told the teller to pray for the person's Mom. What's the sue of a middle man?
Obviously God didn't tell anyone that hubby should get a Bug. God doesn't tell us to get useless stuff.
As for what I know God says to me? I thought I only heard his audible once. I thought he told me to believe in myself. Judging from what happened after words, definitely not God. So, I picked up when it's not God. The only thing I know for sure as to when it is God is when he gives me a verse I didn't want to hear as an answer I much prefer having my way to begin with. (Ever notice how often he gives us a completely different thing from what we wanted? lol)
I really never have trusted "that small quiet voice in my head." Every time I have, it was a part of me going in the wrong direction. At least the loud voices are definitely me inside my head.
As for God's audibles? Never had one, although some folks on ere have said they have, and hubby has, so I trust them enough to believe them.
God does talk to me, but it's not a voice. It's more of this "where did that come from? That's not something I like" kind of feel to it. Then when I think it over, it seems like a brilliant answer, even if I don't like it. When I do it? It works out good. (May not be proper English, but I really meant good, as in sinless and positive from God, rather than well, which seems to be more of a health thing or a mere okay. Good from God is sooooo GOOD! lol)
Obviously God didn't tell anyone that hubby should get a Bug. God doesn't tell us to get useless stuff.
As for what I know God says to me? I thought I only heard his audible once. I thought he told me to believe in myself. Judging from what happened after words, definitely not God. So, I picked up when it's not God. The only thing I know for sure as to when it is God is when he gives me a verse I didn't want to hear as an answer I much prefer having my way to begin with. (Ever notice how often he gives us a completely different thing from what we wanted? lol)
I really never have trusted "that small quiet voice in my head." Every time I have, it was a part of me going in the wrong direction. At least the loud voices are definitely me inside my head.
As for God's audibles? Never had one, although some folks on ere have said they have, and hubby has, so I trust them enough to believe them.
God does talk to me, but it's not a voice. It's more of this "where did that come from? That's not something I like" kind of feel to it. Then when I think it over, it seems like a brilliant answer, even if I don't like it. When I do it? It works out good. (May not be proper English, but I really meant good, as in sinless and positive from God, rather than well, which seems to be more of a health thing or a mere okay. Good from God is sooooo GOOD! lol)
S
really never have trusted "that small quiet voice in my head." Every time I have, it was a part of me going in the wrong direction. At least the loud voices are definitely me inside my head.
That's why it's so important to know God through his word first. You know the voice and character of God through his written word. He will never disagree with that. Sometimes satan pretends to be God but you can always tell when he says something out of character of God's written word.
That's why it's so important to know God through his word first. You know the voice and character of God through his written word. He will never disagree with that. Sometimes satan pretends to be God but you can always tell when he says something out of character of God's written word.
If someone is implying that God audibly told them something, their nuts.. But if they are just inferring that God spoke to them through his written word, or that they gained an understanding through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then its understandable. I'd refrain from saying "God told me". There's a special place with padded walls for people who hear voices
Sadly, there are lots of them now in churches
I fully agree that we are all equal under the banner of faith...I was not implying that some are better than others, but rather that the few examples of God speaking audibly found in the bible were very specific in application to the men of faith in the bible and how in the last days God has spoken through His Son in the written word...even grand events such as the birth of Christ was announced by an angel and not God speaking directly....so when someone starts off by saying...God told me I get a little suspicious....