First let me say happy Birthday to my daughter this morning - Kelsey Joy. What a joy she has been and continues to be in my life. She is a life giver. I love you Kelsey.
Today and tomorrow, I want to look at how we recognize God’s voice over all the other voices we hear in life. I want to look at how we can be sure that it is God speaking to us, when we get an idea or thought or impression and not just something I thought up.
1 John 4:1 says “Don’t believe everything you hear just because somebody says it’s a message from God. Test it first to see if it really is.” Notice it says, “test if first.” It’s important to test/confirm what you think you hear God saying.
Jesus said in John 7:17 “Anyone who wants to do God’s will can test this teaching [there’s that word again] and know whether it is from God or whether I’m making it up.” Today, we’re going to look at four ways to confirm or test what you think God is telling you. Four ways to know if an idea that you’ve got in your mind is from God or not.
Let me say this - if it doesn’t line up with all four, it’s not God talking to you. On the other hand, if you get an idea a thought or impression and it passes all four of these tests you can know with absolute certainty and total confidence that you have heard from God. Make sense? I pray so. Let’s roll!
How do you know when it’s God talking to you? Four ways:
#1. DOES IT AGREE WITH THE BIBLE?
That’s the first way you can test/confirm weather your are hearing God speak or not. Does it agree with the Bible? Because God will never contradict what He’s already said in His word.
In Luke 21:33, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will never pass away.” In Proverbs 12:19, God says “My Truth stands the test of time.” What does that mean? Simpy this…
Fads change. Therapies change. Trends change. Popular opinion changes. But the truth of God never changes. God would never say something then change His mind later and say, “I changed My mind. We don’t believe that any more.”
So if God says in the Bible, which He does, “Pay your taxes,” for instance, then when April 15th comes and you get the idea, “I could just shave off a little bit here and save some money,” that idea didn’t come from God. Because God would not contradict what He’s already said.
If God says in His word, you should only have sex with somebody you’re committed to in marriage, then He’s not going to tell you go have sex with anybody you want to have sex with. Because He has not changed His mind. The truth is there and it’s there for you to live out.
What am I saying? The words in His book, the Bible, are Holy, because they are God’s very own words to us! If you think God is speaking to you – you have to ask yourself, does it agree with the bible? The Bible is all true – every word of it. In fact, the vast majority of God’s will for your life is right here in this book. All you’re got to do is read it.
You want to know how important this is to God? Listen to Galatians 1:8 (Paul speaking) “Let God’s curse fall on anyone including myself who preaches any other message. [In other words, other than the Bible] Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message let him be forever cursed.”
There’s a second question that you and I need to ask ourselves when we want confirm that God is talking to us is...
#2. DOES IT MAKE ME MORE LIKE CHRIST?
If I follow through on what I think God is telling me to do, will it make me more like Christ?
Philippians 2:5 says, “In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.” Folks, that is God’s #1 goal for every one of our lives! That is why he gave us the bible, that’s why he want us in church, that is why fellowship with other believers is so important – all of them help make me more like Christ!
So, a great question to ask – WWJD!(what would Jesus do) James 3:14 & 17 is a great checklist for helping us see how Jesus would act. It gives us great understanding into what Jesus would do and what we should do as well.
The verse starts out by saying “If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition, such wisdom is of the devil.” What is James saying? This way of thinking and living is obviously not from God. So how do you know when what you are thinking is not from God? How can you know when it is NOT God talking to you?
If you harbor – if have any bitter envy or selfish ambition it’s not from God!. If it’s about wanting to retaliate against somebody, getting even with somebody, then that is not from God. If you want to strike back against somebody who has hurt you can be sure that God is not in that. That idea has only one source – one father – Satan himself.
The ideas that come from God are going to be to serve others and make a difference in other people’s lives.
James goes on to say - “The wisdom that comes from God is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial and sincere.” This is a great checklist
If I think God is speaking to me, I need to ask - is it pure thought or idea? If it’s impure it’s obviously not from God.
Keep on going down through the list. Is it peace loving? God’s going to give you thoughts and ideas that promote harmony and not conflict.
Is it considerate? When God speaks to you, He is concerned about the impact that idea or thought is going to have on somebody else. Is it going to hurt somebody else’s life? He’s not going to give you idea’s or thoughts that mess up other people’s lives.
Is it submissive? That’s not a word that we use very much. It simply means is it humble?
If you’ve really heard from God you’re not going to be afraid to test that idea by sharing it with others and getting their in put on it. It was God’s idea anyway not your idea. On the other hand if you ever meet somebody who is prideful and arrogant and won’t listen to anybody else you can know right away. It’s all about their ideas. It’s not about God’s ideas.
Is it full of mercy? That’s how you know if it’s from God. I’ve met a lot of people who think they have been spoken to by God and yet they’re the most judgmental, condemning, negative people. I’ve met some preachers this way. You know what I’m talking about. Those people haven’t heard from God. They’ve heard from their own prejudices, their own anger. If you really hear from God it makes you full of mercy.
It’s also impartial and sincere. You don’t try to manipulate others and control others.
These seven things – these are all character qualities of Jesus Christ. When I sense/believe or think God is speaking to me, I need to ask – is what He is telling me going to make me more like Jesus.
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!
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