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Installment for today Thursday
CHAPTER THREE – APPROACH GOD WITH FAITH JESUS HEARD GOD’S VOICE The next chapters of this book will cover three parts. • Proofs that God speaks to people and that His words can be communicated to others. • How to approach God so that you are made ready to hear His Voice. • Practical steps to practice hearing God’s Voice. I will use verses from the Bible to indicate that God speaks to people. It is very important in these times to be able to communicate with God for help in making decisions in our lives. We need to be able to understand clearly what God is saying, enough to speak it out to others in our own language. First of all, let us start with the expert at hearing God, Jesus Himself, who spoke the Father’s Words, Perfectly. 35 Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. Joh 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. Jesus is famous for performing miracles and in verse 10 above He gives Father God credit for doing the mighty works through Jesus. The Father spoke to Jesus and then Jesus REPEATED what He heard the Father say. In other words, Jesus had a conversation with the Father and then Jesus spoke what the Father said. 36 GOD GIVES US THE FAITH TO BELIEVE IN HIM Joh 8:47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Here we have undeniable proof that those of us who are born-again believers, are of God, and that we can hear God’s Words. And if we hear God’s Words, then we can communicate those Words to others. How do we become “of God” so that we can hear His words? What does it mean to become “born again”? How do we approach God so that we can hear Him? Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 37 The very first thing you need is FAITH. You must believe that God exists. God in this context is the Creator of all things and the uncreated One; there exists no other god beside Him. Once you have the faith that God exists, then you also need to believe that He will answer you if you seek Him diligently. Diligently means to be in constant effort to accomplish something. Therefore, if you want to hear God’s Voice, then you need to keep praying to Him, “God, I want to learn to hear Your Voice.” And regarding the FAITH that you need, please take note: Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 38 So, you see God even gives you the measure of faith that you need, to believe that He exists. GOD IS A PERSON WHO IS HOLY The next major point that you need to understand is that God is a “Person”. Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. See here, that the God of Jesus, is our Father and a father is a person. God is not an unknowable force of energy, nor is He a disinterested one consciousness with no personality. Besides having faith in God, we need to embrace Him as a loving Father who cares for His children and desires one on one relationship with us. Next, we need to be made ready to approach God. We have the faith that He 39 exists. Now we need to know that God is Holy. Definition: Holy 1. having a spiritually pure quality: ... 1. inspiring fear, awe, or grave distress: We will use these two definitions from Dictionary.com. God is spiritually PURE; He has no taint in Him, no imperfection or flaw. He is sacred. Also, He inspires fear, in the form of awe. And last, He and His presence might provoke in you, grave distress because you are unclean in His Presence; His holiness would consume you. Here are several verses to ponder: 40 Psa 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Pro 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility. Isa 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; (Ancient prediction of the coming of Jesus) To fear God is to give Him reverence, which doing so, is a wise thing to do, and which reverence gives you understanding. Also, you become humble in God’s presence. 41 So, to recap, you need faith that God exists, you need to consider God as a Person, and you need to revere God which gives you wisdom, understanding and humility.
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