Today If You Hear His Voice
Written by Dale Ebel
503-957-4547
“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.” – Hebrews 1:1 NLT
God’s ability to speak in strange and mysterious ways is nothing short of astonishing!
Think about it. God spoke to Moses via the burning Bush (Exodus 3). He spoke to Pharaoh through ten signs and wonders (Exodus 12). He spoke to Hezekiah via illness (2 Kings 20:5). He spoke to Babylonian astrologers with the stars (Matthew 2:7). He spoke to Belshazzar via the disembodied hand that inscribed mene, mene, tekel, parsin on the palace wall (Daniel 5:5ff). He also spoke to Balaam through a donkey (Numbers 22:28)! I guess if God can speak through Balaam’s ass, he can speak through anything or anyone
He spoke to Cornelius, the God-fearing gentile centurion, through a vision (Acts 10:4). He also spoke to Phillip telling him to go south on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza to speak to an Ethiopian eunuch, thus opening the Good News of the Kingdom of God to Africa (Acts 8:26ff).
As I have traveled through my life, I have discovered that God speaks to and through so many different personalities and in so many different ways. He also speaks to people through all their various types of intelligence.
According to Dr. Howard Gardner, who wrote a groundbreaking book called Frames of Mind, there are multiple intelligences. Simply put, different people are smart in different ways. His original categories had eight types of intelligence: word smart, number smart, picture smart, body smart, music smart, people smart, self-smart, and nature smart. Look to Mark Batterson in his book Whisperer page 55.
Describe now what the Holy Spirit has said to you recently…
A Family Assignment
The other day Linda and I evaluated each other regarding our intelligence. It was fun! I think there are more than 8 categories of intelligence. Why don’t you assess each one of your family members and identify their particular type of intelligence? If you talk together about this, it could be illuminating and empowering at the same time.
One of the most encouraging things you can do for another person is to randomly express your appreciation for the regarding their intelligence! I do this all the time with Christians and non-Christians alike. We do not need years of friendship to make such evaluations. THIS IS VERY REWARDING ON MANY FRONTS!
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” – Hebrews 10:25 NLT
(By the way, “meeting together” is far more expansive than simply going to church on a Sunday.)
Identify two instances in this last week when you have communicated with someone about their intelligence. What was their response?
Every person is smart in different ways, and that is a testament to the God who created us! We also relate with God in different ways, which is a testament to a God who is big enough to be heard by anyone and everyone, anywhere and everywhere.
What does this have to do with hearing the voice of God?
We each hear Him a little bit differently. I pause after this statement because it takes a level of humility to realize that as each person is different, so also they hear God’s voice in unique ways. As Christ followers, its easy to emphasis the portions of Scripture that we find most natural to obey. One of my temptations is that I want people to listen to God the way I listen to God. I want people to understand Scripture, the way I do. I think our Lord is far too creative to allow us to become so narrow.
How do you think your personality shapes the way that you understand Scripture?Please write out your response now.
Shoot. Stubbornness plays a part in listening to God?
I am intrigued by the following verses below… especially verse 8.
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. [By the way, this the most accurate description of worship. The Bible many times interprets itself.] 7 For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness.” – Psalm 95:6-8 NKJV
Our capacity to hear God’s Voice is directly connected to the receptivity of our heart (our most central motivations)! Verse 8 informs us that we all can be a little bit stubborn when it comes to hearing God’s voice. In the Book of the Covenants (OT), Yahweh instructs us how to change our heart so that we have the capacity to hear Him speak:
”Yet on your fathers did Yahweh set His affection to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 “So, circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” – Deuteronomy 10:15-16 LSB
Identify one point in the past month where you believe you were stubborn. Explain.
Its so easy to hear what we want to hear, and to turn a deaf ear to everything else. But remember…it’s a package deal. If we don’t listen to everything God has to say, then we eventually won’t hear anything He has to say. And we probably need to hear most what we want to hear least.
Jot down what resonated with you from the above passage and comments.
“Circumcise your hearts,” literally means to cut away the thickening of your heart, or the foreskin of your heart. Moses was telling the Israelites to rid themselves of anything that blocked them from hearing God. Notice that God expects us to perform surgery on ourselves; it is not up to Him. (Yikes)
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” – Hebrews 12:1 ESV
Uncircumcised Ears? Really!
The prophet Jeremiah speaks to the Nation of Judah, because they had become tenderized to the hostility of the Babylonians, and he makes an intriguing comment:
“To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed [the Hebrew is literally uncircumcised] so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.” – Jeremiah 6:10 NIV
It sounds like the people of Judah had allowed wax to build up in their ears !
Uncircumcised ears produce a spiritual deafness. The result? We do not hear God’s Word and, equally important, we potentially take “no pleasure” or “delight in His Word”! Wow! This is staggering!!
Before the people of Israel entered the land of promise after being released from Egypt and wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, an entire generation grew up who had not been circumcised. The Lord told Joshua to stop at Gilgal before they went into the land and for all to be circumcised, (ouch! It was good to be a woman ) before they could experience the blessing and the power of God in the Promised Land. Here they had to deal first with their flesh (our inner propensity to do evil. (See 1 John 2:16). For us to hear the voice of God and to experience His hand upon us, we must stop periodically at Gilgal and peel back the “thickness of stubbornness” in our hearts and remove the “wax of indifference” from our ears.
Hearing God’s Voice Through His Word
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” – Matthew 4:19 NIV
Linda and I it took two of our granddaughters to tour Boston and cruise up the Eastern coast into Canada and tour Prince Edward Island (famous for the story of Anne of Green Gables). On our five and a half hour flight home, I sat next to a young teen age girl. We did not converse until an hour before we landed. I pulled out my computer to do some last-minute work on which I have a decal Identifying the nation of Israel (IL- YISA’EL). She looked at my computer and quietly asked me, “Do you support Israel?” I answered that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I believe that God ultimately will work His purposes through the Nation of Israel. She instantly identified herself as being Jewish and proudly showed me her Star of David necklace around her neck.
What pursued was a 45-minute interaction about her concerns and fears for the nation of Israel and herself. She was wary about identifying as a Jew because many people in America are revealing their hatred for the Jews and the nation of Israel. She was planning to attend dance school in New York and was very secretive about her being Jewish. She described how her family attended synagogue, celebrate the Passover, and participate as traditional Jewish people. She emphasized how devout her grandfather was as he studied the Torah every day. She said I reminded her of him. It was so rewarding to listen to her rich knowledge of the Jewish faith.
Towards the end of our conversation, I explained to her the way of salvation through following Jesus Christ. I was very clear about explaining that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and, therefore, is the only one capable of forgiving and taking away our sin. I also clarified that I believe the Messiah her Jewish people were waiting for is Jesus Christ (the anointed of God). She was very receptive to and appreciative of my words.
As we were leaving the off-ramp of the plane, she turned to me and said, “THANK YOU VERY MUCH” with a big smile on her face. I hope to see Hadassah (Esther) in heaven.
A Few Key Take-aways!
God speaks to us through His written Word!
“Live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most of every opportunity.” – Colossians 4:5 NLT
I did not need additional prompting to hear from the Holy Spirit to speak to Hadassah. He already told me through His written Word (Col.4:5). I simply needed to obey!
God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time with the right people.
“6 … Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” – John 4:6-7 NLT
God is preparing good works for us in advance!
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10 LSB
God is ordering our footsteps!
“The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” – Psalm 37:23 NLT
The Holy Spirit is out ahead of us—keep up with Him!
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” – Galatians 5:25 NIV
Anyway, What Do You Plan To Do With What You Have Read?
Listening and obeying with you.
In Christ,
Dale