I am working on a presentation that I will be giving in a couple of weeks. The main theme is God speaking and us listening. I am wondering if you would be so generous as to answer a few questions for me. Please answer honestly and not what you think I want to hear or what you think is the right answer.
I would so appreciate and value "real life" perspective of where people are with this as I head into it. If you don't feel comfortable giving your answers in the comment section, please e-mail me. You can find that address in the "contact" tab at the top.
So, here we go:
1. Do you believe God speaks today?
2. Do you believe God speaks in more than just our crisis moments?
3. Do you believe God has ever spoken to you?
4. How does God speak to you? What does it look like?
5. How do you know it is God speaking to you?
6. Do you believe we have any responsibility in whether God will speak to us personally or not? If so, what?
7. If you could ask any question regarding God speaking and us listening what would it/ they be?
** Any other thoughts, comments or perspective you'd like to offer on this topic?
Thanks again for giving your thoughts! I greatly appreciate it!!
Hi, Donetta, Thanks for stopping by. I'll be drawing the winners this weekend. Good luck & I hope you'll come back to see me.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really hard question. First, let me say.....God can do anything He wants to do including speak to me.
ReplyDeleteBut.....according to Hebrews 1:1 and following....He says He has chosen to speak to us by his Son. I think any question we will ever have is answered in the Bible. I don't necessarily believe in "receiving a Word"....(my opinion only).....
I do believe He speaks to us through prayer, study of His word and the advice of true believers that we seek out for Godly counsel....but I think that even then, He still speaks through the Bible.
Example......Two days ago I had a very serious thing to talk over with my husband. I am prone to fly in and start talking and acting like a defense attorney. Instead, I prayed and immediately I thought of the verse "be still....." So I printed out the email which had the very serious subject in it, handed it to hubby and walked away.
My husband is verrrrrrrrrrry slow, takes his time, prays and processes things. Now i was itching to say "well, what's the answer???" But I had that verse and for once I kept my mouth shut. It took two days before Husband came to me and said we should do the particular thing asked of us in the email.
In my life, God speaks in that way.
I hope that makes the least bit of sense!
1. Do you believe God speaks today? Yes, He speaks through His Word, He speaks to us through His Holy Spirit, he speaks to us through other believers and He speaks through our circumstances.
ReplyDelete2. Do you believe God speaks in more than just our crisis moments? Absolutely, if we would just, listen. As a society today, we are so busy we don’t make time to sit at His feet and just listen. Even in our prayer time we are so busy talking that we don’t let God get a word in.
3. Do you believe God has ever spoken to you? Yes!
4. How does God speak to you? What does it look like? He has spoken through my circumstances (whether those circumstances are discipline or blessings), through that still small voice (the Holy Spirit) nudging me to obey for instance; through other believers (those who have a personal, vibrant relationship with Christ too), through His Word
5. How do you know it is God speaking to you? If it doesn’t contradict the Word of God I can believe it.
6. Do you believe we have any responsibility in whether God will speak to us personally or not? If so, what? Yes, we have to make ourselves available for Him to speak. We have to have any ongoing relationship with Him that is continually growing and flourishing.
That finger does not look good. Was it fractured or just in a lot of pain? Doesn't matter. Both deserve kisses. That's what we say at our house.
ReplyDeleteI had to comment here and let you know that I wouldn't be able to function in my life if I didn't know that God speaks to us today. The whole of my conversion is based on a moment of this truth for me when I knelt down and prayed about what to do with my life after I left high school and home. I felt a distinct answer in my heart. I knew it was God speaking through the Holy Ghost to me because the answer was so clear and so different from what I expected. It was a gentle no, you're plan is not my plan, but you'll be happy with this direction I'm pointing you.
Ever since then, I've tuned in to the messages of the heart like these, the words of God in the scriptures and inspired counsel from the prophet and apostles of our church. All these words from God spoke to me as if he was right there giving me loving words himself. His words have changed my course and strengthened my faith that God lives today.
I appreciate the questions because this is the most important way I discover answers that are tailor-made for my life and circumstances.