Not new, but have not been here for a while

[nate7829]

Hello everyone,

I'm not new here, although I had totally forgotten about even having an account here for a number of years. I have not been walking with God for quite some time, because of a lot of confusion over hearing His voice and what that really means in practical life.

I am realizing, however, that my life has spiraled out of control, and I'm going down a path I don't want to continue going down, so I'm reading the Bible once again and seeking God in order to draw close to Him again.

Interestingly enough, my confusion with hearing God's voice is not that I don't hear it enough, but that I constantly hear it (or what I believe is His voice). It seems like I'm always getting impressed with thoughts and ideas that do not come from myself. I've realized that these probably are a mixture of my own unconscious ideas, God's voice, and probably deceptions from the enemy as well.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to discern God's voice, I'd really like to hear them.

Thanks, and looking forward to fellowshiping with you all again.

 

[tourist]

Hello everyone,

I'm not new here, although I had totally forgotten about even having an account here for a number of years. I have not been walking with God for quite some time, because of a lot of confusion over hearing His voice and what that really means in practical life.

I am realizing, however, that my life has spiraled out of control, and I'm going down a path I don't want to continue going down, so I'm reading the Bible once again and seeking God in order to draw close to Him again.

Interestingly enough, my confusion with hearing God's voice is not that I don't hear it enough, but that I constantly hear it (or what I believe is His voice). It seems like I'm always getting impressed with thoughts and ideas that do not come from myself. I've realized that these probably are a mixture of my own unconscious ideas, God's voice, and probably deceptions from the enemy as well.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to discern God's voice, I'd really like to hear them.

Thanks, and looking forward to fellowshiping with you all again.

Glad to have you back into the fold. Welcome to CC.

 

[MendedSoul]

Welcome back Nate! Glad to have you.

 

[laughingheart]

Hi Nate,
Welcome back. When you know someone well you learn to recognize their voice. As a mom I can be surrounded by other people's children but as soon as my son would call me I know that it was him. The more time you spend in the word and in quiet prayer you learn to discern his voice.
Years ago I was at a local fair and there was a prayer tent. I went in and asked for prayer. As the people were praying one woman started praying in a low voice, becoming louder and louder calling for repentance of unspoken sin. I stopped the process and looked at her and said that that was not my father's voice. She stopped cold, was silent and apologized. She said she'd gotten caught up in the emotion of the moment. It is not that I was refusing to repent of anything in particular but the haughtiness and disdain that I heard was not correct.
You are searching for his voice and that is beautiful. You are overwhelmed. Maybe ask God to buffer out the noise so you can sit under his sheltering wing. Maybe focus on one aspect of God or on gratitude for blessings and let him cloak you in these truths. Blessings brother.

 

[Magenta]

 

[TabinRivCA]

You made a good decision to come back to this site, it's good to have Christian fellowship such as at CC. God bless you!

 

[nate7829]

Glad to have you back into the fold. Welcome to CC.

Thank you, tourist. I've definitely seen both sides of the gate, and this is definitely the side I want to stay on.

 

[nate7829]

Hi Nate,
Welcome back. When you know someone well you learn to recognize their voice. As a mom I can be surrounded by other people's children but as soon as my son would call me I know that it was him. The more time you spend in the word and in quiet prayer you learn to discern his voice.
Years ago I was at a local fair and there was a prayer tent. I went in and asked for prayer. As the people were praying one woman started praying in a low voice, becoming louder and louder calling for repentance of unspoken sin. I stopped the process and looked at her and said that that was not my father's voice. She stopped cold, was silent and apologized. She said she'd gotten caught up in the emotion of the moment. It is not that I was refusing to repent of anything in particular but the haughtiness and disdain that I heard was not correct.
You are searching for his voice and that is beautiful. You are overwhelmed. Maybe ask God to buffer out the noise so you can sit under his sheltering wing. Maybe focus on one aspect of God or on gratitude for blessings and let him cloak you in these truths. Blessings brother.

Thank you, laughingheart, for your story. I thought I knew God's voice, that was the totally frustrating thing about it. I was regularly being used, it seemed, by God to speak to people. On numerous occasions, people would ask me, "how do you know that?" or something similar, and that was evidence that I was hearing from God. Yet, in one of my major life decisions, I went through with what I sensed was the right thing to do, and it turned into an utter disaster. Without going into all the details, I have since realized that there were things in me (broken things), which I was not aware of. But, that experience really made me start questioning if I had ever really heard from God and if I could even trust what I felt was God's voice any longer.

When I do get into the Word daily, and start really seeking God, is when I hear the same voice, and I start hearing things about my own life, about the world, etc, and yet now, I approach it with dubious responses, like, "that's probably just my own head" or something similar. I know God always speaks to us in order to encourage us, and that when He does rebuke us, it's to wake us up so that we will start following Him again.

I've recently begun doing a study on God's voice in the Bible, tracking down all the references to it, in hopes that it will provide some clarity for me about what I have been doing wrong, or help me to understand how to begin to recognize it. Jesus said that His sheep know His voice and follow Him; I have to, therefore, believe, that when we are saved by believing and repenting, and receive God's Spirit, that we are able to know it is God speaking to us (as it says, the Holy Spirit communes with our Spirit).

I honestly don't know why I am experiencing so much confusion in this area.

At any rate, thank you very much for your encouragement.

 

[nate7829]

Hi Magenta,

Thank you very much for those really encouraging messages, I appreciate you.

 

[nate7829]

You made a good decision to come back to this site, it's good to have Christian fellowship such as at CC. God bless you!

Thank you TabinRivCA; yes, I have really been failing at fellowshipping lately. I appreciate your warm welcome.

 

[tourist]

Thank you, tourist. I've definitely seen both sides of the gate, and this is definitely the side I want to stay on.

That is good to know. Consider becoming a frequent regular contributor to the forums. There are a lot of class act members that are definitely worth knowing.

 

[oyster67]

Hello everyone,

I'm not new here, although I had totally forgotten about even having an account here for a number of years. I have not been walking with God for quite some time, because of a lot of confusion over hearing His voice and what that really means in practical life.

I am realizing, however, that my life has spiraled out of control, and I'm going down a path I don't want to continue going down, so I'm reading the Bible once again and seeking God in order to draw close to Him again.

Interestingly enough, my confusion with hearing God's voice is not that I don't hear it enough, but that I constantly hear it (or what I believe is His voice). It seems like I'm always getting impressed with thoughts and ideas that do not come from myself. I've realized that these probably are a mixture of my own unconscious ideas, God's voice, and probably deceptions from the enemy as well.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to discern God's voice, I'd really like to hear them.

Thanks, and looking forward to fellowshiping with you all again.

Time meditating upon God's Word and time spent with fellow Believers. God will never give you a message that goes against what He tells us in His Word.

Welcome to CC, brother Nate, and welcome back home. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.

 

[Deade]

Hello Nate, welcome to Christian Chat. I hope you'll enjoy your stay here.

 

[nate7829]

Hello Nate, welcome to Christian Chat. I hope you'll enjoy your stay here.

Hi Deade, thank you, I have already made some encouraging fellowships here. I hope you're having a good evening.

 

[Bingo]

"Welcome back. Perhaps for good reason, not yet realized.
A subject touched on by many, hearing God's voice.
I have learned over the years, my spiritual journey is from personal
experience, and I am thankful God found me, at a low time in my life.
The Holy Spirit, being a remembrance of how we should conduct our lives,
and to earnestly strive to do so. Sounds easy perhaps, but here lies the
greatest challenge, each day...to act upon God's word, and strive to conduct
our lives accordingly, this in itself, has helped me to change my attitude and
behavior, and I have learned of a more orderly and manageable life...believe it.
The Holy Spirit, my spiritual 'awareness' of 'hearing' and bringing to remembrance
of God's 'principles' of living my life, here in the now. All things of God, being
'illuminated' by and through the Holy Spirit, within ones own life."
'Praise God'

 

[AndyMaleh]

Stay sober in the correct basic assumptions. Yes, God is good, but this life is not Heaven, and not easy as such. It is only a test to ensure we are good enough to go to Heaven. As mentioned in the Bible over and over again, following God does not mean everything will be rosy. Prophets have gone through very difficult trials, including Jesus Christ and his apostles after his resurrection, and have all affirmed the importance of striving for God out of love for God and his people. Anyone who doesn't hate sin and strive to do their best to avoid it everyday doesn't love God's people who get hurt by their sin. Disdain for evil is good. Remember the evil ones in the Bible always thought righteous people were haughty (e.g. Pharaoh hating Moses's courage to talk to him about God and thinking he was overstepping his bounds) when it was in fact the other way around since the evil ones were too proud to admit their pride and dumped it on their enemies instead as an excuse not to correct themselves.

Also, do not confuse God's grace that is given only to children with God's grace for adults. Some people want to remain in the idea of God's grace for children as adults, which earlier in their life was very gentle and loving, yet only appropriate for young children, and not sufficient for adulthood. God's grace for adults is much richer and fuller. Once one grows into adulthood, God starts revealing the full scope of his truth, including the difficulty of living in this world. One then starts to appreciate what David had to go through to prove himself to God against Goliath. What Moses had gone through to follow God's word against the Pharaoh of Egypt. What Jonah had suffered before being rescued by God's fish to earn God's grace through his people accepting God in the end. Do not be confused by the example of people who are unwilling to totally accept the Lord, and thus shelter themselves in their childhood's image of him. True, God asks his men to go into hiding sometimes to rejuvenate themselves like he did with Isaiah and Jesus Christ. That does not mean one stays in hiding forever. One must face the full splendor of the Lord and face up to the challenges of this world just like David did with Goliath and Samson with the Philistines.

Godspeed.

 

[nate7829]

"Welcome back. Perhaps for good reason, not yet realized.
A subject touched on by many, hearing God's voice.
I have learned over the years, my spiritual journey is from personal
experience, and I am thankful God found me, at a low time in my life.
The Holy Spirit, being a remembrance of how we should conduct our lives,
and to earnestly strive to do so. Sounds easy perhaps, but here lies the
greatest challenge, each day...to act upon God's word, and strive to conduct
our lives accordingly, this in itself, has helped me to change my attitude and
behavior, and I have learned of a more orderly and manageable life...believe it.
The Holy Spirit, my spiritual 'awareness' of 'hearing' and bringing to remembrance
of God's 'principles' of living my life, here in the now. All things of God, being
'illuminated' by and through the Holy Spirit, within ones own life."
'Praise God'

View attachment 219476 View attachment 219477

Hi Bingo,

Thanks for your reply to my post. It's interesting that you mention God's word, because my studies have had me going through references to God's voice in the Bible, and I have been going through Ps 119 specifically, which talks about God's word and voice, and numerous times there are references to God's voice being His written word. I do believe the Holy Spirit leads us and guides us, but that our foundation must be the Bible, as that is what we know is God's word, in that it has been passed down through the ages and can be provable with prophecies and such.

I also like that you said the Holy Spirit brings to your remembrance God's principles for living, which are in His word. Indeed, I'm reminded of the passage in Ps 119, which says your word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

I appreciate your take on hearing God's voice and how God is leading you.

 

[nate7829]

Stay sober in the correct basic assumptions. Yes, God is good, but this life is not Heaven, and not easy as such. It is only a test to ensure we are good enough to go to Heaven. As mentioned in the Bible over and over again, following God does not mean everything will be rosy. Prophets have gone through very difficult trials, including Jesus Christ and his apostles after his resurrection, and have all affirmed the importance of striving for God out of love for God and his people. Anyone who doesn't hate sin and strive to do their best to avoid it everyday doesn't love God's people who get hurt by their sin. Disdain for evil is good. Remember the evil ones in the Bible always thought righteous people were haughty (e.g. Pharaoh hating Moses's courage to talk to him about God and thinking he was overstepping his bounds) when it was in fact the other way around since the evil ones were too proud to admit their pride and dumped it on their enemies instead as an excuse not to correct themselves.

Also, do not confuse God's grace that is given only to children with God's grace for adults. Some people want to remain in the idea of God's grace for children as adults, which earlier in their life was very gentle and loving, yet only appropriate for young children, and not sufficient for adulthood. God's grace for adults is much richer and fuller. Once one grows into adulthood, God starts revealing the full scope of his truth, including the difficulty of living in this world. One then starts to appreciate what David had to go through to prove himself to God against Goliath. What Moses had gone through to follow God's word against the Pharaoh of Egypt. What Jonah had suffered before being rescued by God's fish to earn God's grace through his people accepting God in the end. Do not be confused by the example of people who are unwilling to totally accept the Lord, and thus shelter themselves in their childhood's image of him. True, God asks his men to go into hiding sometimes to rejuvenate themselves like he did with Isaiah and Jesus Christ. That does not mean one stays in hiding forever. One must face the full splendor of the Lord and face up to the challenges of this world just like David did with Goliath and Samson with the Philistines.

Godspeed.

Hi AndyMaleh,

Thank you for replying to my post on here.

I would have to disagree with you in that we can never be good enough to go to heaven, because Paul has told us that we all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Ro 3:23), and that eternal life with God is God's gift to us, and not through our works, lest we should be able to boast about it (Ep 2:8-9).

I believe that we are not saved because we don't sin; we are saved by Jesus' gift of His sacrifice for our sins, and then our believing on Him and confessing Him as our Lord and Savior (Ro 10:8-10). I also believe that when we are saved, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and starts to purify us and we begin to bear fruit for God. I know that I can't stop from sinning in my own power; as Jesus said, we are the branches and He is the Vine, and apart from Him, we can do nothing (Jn 15, 1Jn 1-2).

So, while not sinning cannot save us, for we all have sinned, and are thus guility before God; we should not be sinning out of willfulness, and instead have the desire to live a life of purity to God, because the Holy Spirit is at work within us (Ro 6).

I do appreciate what I think you are saying in here though, that God's grace is sufficient for us, because where sin abounds, His grace even more abounds (Ro 5:20)