Conference yukon::christian_v7

545.0. "Hearing God" by ODIXIE::HUNT () Wed Aug 24 1994 14:51

    There has been a lot of talk in this conference about truth and whether
    we can know the truth.  To me, a lot of what was discussed really seems to
    boil down to - How do I hear God and how do I know if its God speaking?
    
    I read a very good chapter in Dudley Hall's "Grace Works" book.  The
    chapter is entitled "The Simplicity of Hearing God".  I thought I would
    post some excerpts from this chapter to spur interest and hopefully to
    encourage others.
    
    Mr. Hall says that God speaks to us in many different ways.  Four ways
    he mentions are: through creation, through His works, through His
    scriptures, and through the inner voice living inside you.
    
    CREATION
    "  So many of the basic truths about God's nature are evident in the
    world, even to those who have not heard of Jesus.  We can learn about
    God in the orderliness and beauty of the physical world, the poignancy
    of human need, even the ultimate futility of fleshly life.".... 
    .."Creation is not a complete revelation, of course.  The whole purpose
    of this book is to point out that common sense and natural observation
    are not enough to keep us from living futile lives.  And yet creation is
    a starting point.  If we respond to the revelation we find in creation,
    God will see to it that we get more revelation".
    
    BELIEVE THE WORKS
    "  Sometimes God's voice sounds like his works." .... "Every sign and
    wonder that ever happened in his earthly ministry was God shouting his
    nature to those who were listening.
       When he healed the sick, he was shouting his mercy.  When he fed the
    hungry, he spoke of his compassion and power.  When he walked on the
    water, he declared his rule over nature.  When he raised the dead, he
    revealed his ultimate victory over death.  When he died defenseless for
    sinners, his unconditioanl love reverberated throughout the universe."
    
    THE OBJECTIVE STANDARD
    "  Sometimes God's voice is heard through searching the scriptures. 
    Through his written word, God gives us the information we need to be
    introduced to the living Word."
    "  As we read the Scriptures and become intimate with the God of the
    scriptures, we are able to know his character and discern his voice in
    other ways.  The Scriptures are God's eternal, objective standard of
    revelation.  No message that comes to us from God through subjective
    means will ever violate the obvious revelation of the written
    Scriptures."
    "That's why any person who has a legitimate desire to communicate with
    God will be a serious student of the holy Scriptures.  Without
    reference to the authority that resides there, subjective communication
    becomes nothing more than a mumbo-jumbo subjectivism, much like that
    being set forth by the proponents of the so called "New Age" movement.
    
    THE INNER VOICE
    "  Perhaps the most profound, yet simple, truth about how we can hear
    God is that God speaks from where he lives."....."God has also sent the
    Holy Spirit to actually dwell within us.  Those of us who are going to
    hear from him consistently must learn to hear the inner voice of God."
    "Remember, we are not living under the old covenent, where God's law is
    written on an external tablet.  Under the new covenant, his law is
    written on our hearts, so direct communication can continue at all
    times.  To wait for God to speak from some faraway star or to come from
    some external source is to bypass the most obvious means of
    communication that God has designed.  God talks to us from the inside. 
    Maybe we are so accustomed to being controlled from the outside by
    manipulation and guilt that we really don't know how to live from the
    inside out."
    "  Not everything that comes out of the heart is of God.  But when God
    speaks to a believer, it does come out of that person's heart--because
    that's where God lives."  And as we grow in him, God promises to renew
    our hearts, to make us more sensitive to his voice within us: 'I will
    give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove
    the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And
    I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes,
    and you will be careful to observe my ordinances' (Ez 36:26-27)."
    
    THE LANGUAGE OF GRACE
    "  It can be summed up in these words, 'God speaks the language of
    grace.'"
    "When God speaks to his children, he speaks without wrath.  His voice
    to his children was drained of wrath, when Jesus died on the cross for
    our sins; now it is one of unconditional love.  That love may have
    correction and reproof in it, but it will always be loving.  The world
    has nothing to look forward to but wrath.  But for God's children,
    there is only love.  If you hear a voice with wrath in it, therefore,
    it is not the voice of God."
    
    Again, this is just an excerpt.  To get the full message, I suggest you
    read the book.
    
    Love in Him,
    
    Bing
    
    "Grace Works", Dudley Hall, Vine Books, 1992.

	Nice note Bing. I thought it gave some great examples of how we can
hear God. Thanks for writing it.


Glen