June 2 - Hearing When God Speaks

The sermon is titled Hearing when God Speaks and no you're not delusional. And I'll explain where the where that's coming from.

1st Kings 19 11 through 16 and Luke 11:28 and John 8:42 247 And as I was going over these passages one of my favorite stories is this one from 1st Kings. There is Elijah's out in the wilderness in this is a time prophets tend to do these things. They tend to get apart from people to be able to hear from God in some fashion. Because the number of voices that are in our lives are always like driving us to do things always having expectations of things always wanting things from us. And and so we get confused sometimes with the number of voices that are in our lives trying to tell us what what are the best things to do? What are the best ways to going about doing things? I mean, I have full bookshelves worth of books that talk about God then talk about how to talk to God and talk about how to think theologically that talks about, you know, how to interact with each other and being a few of our best for each other and all these all these things are written down for us to help us doing First one. I have a problem with acknowledging that they are good and positive things for my life. And from time to time. I need to take different approaches, but it can cause a confusion in my life with the number of voices that are always around and so the prophets understood that if they they understood that there's so many different voices that we're trying to tell them how and how to interpret scripture the trying to tell them about in COD from each individual perspective. And so they had to get away. to be alone to be able to place themselves in a position of hearing from God.

And in this time Elijah was like any apparently he was in a position of it trying to hear from God. And maybe it wasn't happening for a while.

Maybe he couldn't hear God's voice as much. And he needed to step away and he was trying to find God's voice and different things that were happening in his life. I mean what the what does the scriptures talk about? I mean first and talk about like like wind tearing through you know, where he was like, I don't sell weed that we'll talk about the storm that we just had. Okay, I mean the storm that went through and they were terrible rain was coming down everywhere where my previous church was and Harleysville trees came down all over the place took down power lines trees went through homes a tree went through the back of the church through their sailing and right now they can't have services on Sunday morning because of all the damage that happened in the neighborhood. The wind was strong with Mighty and it was a possible tornado that tore through there. And that's the kind of thing that we're pointing it out here in in this first Kings passage when when the wind is blowing through and it's a you know, it actually says that mountains were coming apart and things were shattering Boulders are falling off a mountain right hand when you think about that. I mean people could be living anywhere. I'd somebody's home could have been under underneath one of those Boulders after such a thing. Pennis feels like the Earth is just coming apart. Coming apart at the seams not just the wind but the this earthquake like I've never really been an earthquake, and it was a few years ago where we felt that one that was like up and down the east coast and I didn't even feel that I was too busy working and I was doing stuff in the shop. So I'm like actively working that entire time so I know she'll little little ground shake. This is not what we're talking about here giant earthquakes things that rip the ground apartment Boulder start falling down in destruction happens and

Elijah's trying to figure out why is this happening?

Where is God in this?

God did we do something wrong?

trust for this to happen. Mountains are shaking Boulders are falling things are shattering a breaking. It's loud. It's destructive and fire comes and rips through and his Burns trees Forest houses, whatever. It's in his pack. Lord did we do something wrong?

My hometown turn my teenage years with along the Chesapeake Coast. and poor area

Most of our economy was it was built on crabbing and fishing. and I guess it's got to be almost almost 10 years now he is but a bit a big hurricane had come through the town another one. I mean, it happens often enough to disrupt thing and anytime it rains more than one day that it did the town floods and you'll get at least like a foot and a half to two feet of water throughout town.

This time when a hurricane came and took out the last grocery stores that were in town. And the closest grocery store is other than what we had was at least a half an hour away. Show it disrupted live.

We had at least a church or two that was coming apart. Adam be repaired not only just people's houses had to be ripped apart. I mean the drywall have to be ripped out of the wall you put in a new pc stop. Even when insurance covers these things. You still got to do this stuff. You still going to rip out the drywall. Are you still going to rip out the insulation materials in and rebuild and sometimes you might have to move?

Sometimes the cost of rebuilding under new regulation it would be to raise your house in order for you to stay there and it's too much. It just cost too much.

Destructive things happen in our lives like in this passage in first kings and we're always thinking God. Why does this happen to us? Why is it happening to me?

Are not good enough?

Aren't I doing enough for you are and I am on Sunday mornings and worship. every Sunday Are they giving enough to you? Putting enough in the offering plate am I?

Am I good enough? Am I doing enough?

I think that's one of the points that guy was trying to make to Elijah at the time.

It's not about. Hugh What you have done whether you're worthy enough. It's not about whether these gigantic things that might happen in our lives. Whether that's a reflection on what we do.

May God had to build the world, right so they had to be it had to be you no air and it had to be clouds there had to be storms. To change things even with fire and forest fires forest fires have to happen so that the nature can regenerate again. I'm going to have to happen some kind of cooling of trees has to happen after. Of time. It's just one of those things that God built into nature.

And so we don't have to think so much about did I do something wrong to deserve?

Send this passage when we go back and we talked about this woman who said blessed is the one who who birthed Jesus and and that's fine. We do we say Mary is blessed because she was allowed to give birth to Jesus into the world. But Jesus is saying even more than you're giving blessing. to my mother

two or more blessed when you hear the word of God and obey.

How do I connect those two things? Well and didn't Jesus getaway often enough when he was in his ministry in Galilee. Remember the times he tried to get away tried to get away in a boat go across the lake and people still showed up and gotten to his present still wanted something from him still expected something from him.

Anion in and I don't know about you, but I would have an attitude because I'm an introvert and so I need to get away often enough to regenerate when I'm in public. And so, you know, I need to get away and stupid for me to get away is is positioning myself to be able to hear from God. And so that's one on one form of prayer intercessory prayer when I go into my own personal space when I am praying to God about another person. That is an intercessory prayer.

And there's other times where somebody might be away like my mother-in-law went to England. And she traveled to England and she was doing her tour thing with the group and all that stuff. And apparently it's something happened and a spider may have bitten her or something. They don't really know and so she contracted a rare form of encephalitis.

And if you know anything about Encephalitis Encephalitis effects via the fluid that goes through your brain stem ending and goes into your brain and basically it can make you seem crazy.

I can make you seem delusional. It changes the way that you perceive like everything and so we couldn't even talk to her in a logical way. She saying things that

family couldn't really understand. And so we wouldn't have to cuz I was here in the United States. I couldn't go over to and to visit her but thankfully Becky's dad and Becky could be able to do that. And when I talked to her on the phone, there is nothing I could really say that that would help. So I just kept repeating that we loved her that God loves her and that he will take care of it Tristan. That's all I could do and whether she got that or not, you know, I have to say that she probably did cuz she's here today and she can talk and she can logically think and she is healed. And I got to believe that during that time when we prayed over her and I presented myself in the Gap called praying in the Gap is when a person comes for prayer in order for other people to lay hands on them to pray over them so that somebody else might be healed. Paint is presenting yourself in humility for another person. And so that's why it's important to another reason why it's important to come publicly. Fab Four are there things that can happen in a public space when we talk about prayer when other people pray for us we get encouragement. We are renewed by the spirit in the life of the body of Christ. We are encouraging our spirit is enliven because the spirit that is with you and this. That's in me to Max. A scripture actually says when we get together, we pray together some things more effectively can happen. How do I explain that? I don't write the Bible uses languages of Angels in the number of angels, but I think that's a little hypothetical. So when we get together and pray it is of more of effect was he say that?

So we have to come together publicly in order to get that effect.

Sunrise passage in John 8:21 to 30 Turn Jesus is talking to the Pharisees.

And he's talking about the perspective that they are taking and what he's saying can be interpreted differently. There's a reason for that. And Jesus says I'm going away and you will look for me and you he's talking about the Pharisees will die in your sins where I got you cannot come to those who don't believe in him. Can I come to him? Cannot understand? Can I can I come they they will die in their sin. Jesus insane believe believe in me

not just cuz it he is a son of God. But because of the love that he showed them.

When Jesus was always praying he was praying in the public spaces and then he got a loan to regenerate. He was praying no matter where he went if it was in public if he was with the disciples if he was alone and there it was pretty much cover like every Avenue that that we rent right when we were in the workspace with a with her co-workers, you know, when we're alone and when we're in the Public's play Space of worship just like we are it covers all those things and if you're missing one of those things you're missing something critical. inner spiritual life a prayer So that's another reason why it's important this mean the Jews asked him and it didn't he is particularly talking about the Pharisees those in authority. Will he kill himself? They were thinking that he was going to commit suicide right? They didn't understand that what he was saying here. They were thinking about the the Prophecies of the Messiah, but they were interpreting it their own way. They thought he was coming in political power and going to overthrow the Romans in and Reign and rule in his throne in Jerusalem, and that will still one happen one day.

But not this time.

Then continue to you are from below and I am from above. You were on this world. I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins. If you do not believe that I am he and he is talking about The Prophecy of the Messiah. He will indeed die in your sins and they ask who are you? Finding God, he was so they're asking a question Jesus. Who are you? Why do you why do you make a difference? What is different about the authority that I have when I come and I pray and I die talk about scripture and the authority that you have. Which is totally different Authority that Jesus has is this the wording over all things spiritual and physical over us over over the Angels over the demons over you name it? Okay, all of creation. Jesus is in authority over.

Jesus said just when I've been telling you from the beginning so all of his life in his ministry, I've been talkin about this in front of you guys for three years and yet you don't believe you don't understand because you don't believe

I have much to say in judgement of you, but he who sent me is trustworthy and what I've heard from him at I tell the world.

See this is this is Jesus life in his ministry. This is what he saying. Whatever I hear from God whenever I hear from the father, I am telling you this is my this is all what I'm doing. What I'm showing you is exactly what God wants to happen when I'm telling you is exactly what God wants you to hear what I am doing when my example is what exactly you should be doing. believing God It's a hard hard hard thing for us to get why because our lives are designed in such a way to be about economy. Our lives are designed to be about economy to make money to buy things so that we have a house. We have a home with food and you know, we have posed but we have other things that we don't necessarily need. Our lives are driven all about economy. And so we must work in order to get the things that we even need leaving the basic.

So we have an understanding about life. It's all about economy.

And Jesus is talking about a different kind of life. Jesus is talking about a different kind of life more of a Reckless lead giving and generous life. Not just like financially but spiritually and physically, how can I help you? What can I I I give to make your life. well What can I do to give you some comfort and peace in his life? So there's some things that we can draw in from this pisses specifically from the scripture theologically. Jesus says when we believe God we love God. When we believe God we love God if you don't feel like you're necessarily loving God. We need to reflect on our faith and whether or not we believe. I know because I've seen this for myself there been times when I die actually say I love you too, and I try to obey him but I but do I love

I wasn't sure. Had to figure that out.

When we do when we do not believe we cannot hear. When we do not believe God we cannot hear. How can you hear someone who who you think that does not exist? And this is where I was coming from the last week or two. I watched Ted Talk that is a technology education in the design and these TED talks about like 10 20 minutes and they're all about the different topics. And one of the topics was a person who works in the field of psychology. And so basically what the summation of her Ted Talk was is that anyone who thinks they hear from God or talk to God is delusional.

That was her entire point to you and pointed to a particular set of studies, but there are other particular set of studies that say when you do pray it is effective. Because there's been information written down and done studies the same scientific process way of accumulating the data of what people say happens to their live in it what people say happens in their lives is they believe God exists because they see the effects of what happens when they pray.

They believe because they see the effects of what happens when they pray and that does include the miraculous things like having metal pieces that were applied in surgery to their body disappearing or dissolving.

Can having a having scans done before and after of those things not being there anymore. Its don't ask me how that happens. I do not know like I can't sit there and scientifically pure. Okay. I'm a Star Trek transporter transport things out of other things dissolve it and make things with it and it is it's Syfy it's fiction. That's a nice thing to believe in but it's not the reality. But the reality of things for for me is that I have seen people get up. And walk when they couldn't before.

my mother-in-law came back from England because

we had churches praying about her the entire time she was there.

The doctors there was no no treatment that they can put in place that would guarantee any kind of success.

It was rare.

So can I say that the treatment from the hospital with what happened? No, because they didn't write that down didn't say this is a tree man. This is how it happened. This is the number days we expect her to and actually the number of days that they respected they may have kind of respecting some kind of recovery was months and years out. They said that she would have such a fax of this because there's already been Is there any the bend dementia and her family? So basically they said no you're going to get early onset dementia within a year hasn't had.

They said that you won't be able to think at the level being all that you did before and she doesn't 200% but she thinks a lot better than I expected her to.

She recovered and I wasn't by their expectation.

We can't hear God's voice correctly. If we can't understand what God says or even hear what God Said.

To the spirit comes in our lives and interprets the scriptures for us. So even though there are a lot of people out there in the world who have knowledge of what the Bible is and in know the scriptures back and forth and even the enemy knows the scriptures and every detail in every word and he twists every single word anytime anytime. He presents himself. He twists every single word. I say what it want. He wants it to say.

And Jesus have to go back and be like now know this but that's not the intention of the scripture here.

Jesus has to point the other scripture, form and he does. Tienda the enemy is easy it nearly list. Every every single word in the law every single word in the law to him means exactly something pretty twisted. Hazel legalist And so if we don't know the word and he knows the word any twist every word they were easily convinced to believe something that we should not be believing. What happens to every single one of us?

But when we truly believe and have faith in God to do all things for us. We act upon it. We do something with it. When we believe something is true. We do something with it when we know that a chair is going to hold us up with sit on it.

When we know a table is going to hold stuff we place things on it when a cup is going to hold liquid we pour stuff in it and sometimes it doesn't stay in there.

Do we believe that God? I can do all things through Christ who is in US. If we do, then we can believe that people can be healed. If we do then we do have hope that the end of everything will turn out for our good no matter which way it comes with your premillennial a millennial post-millennial. It doesn't really matter. My eternity is not based on how many years is going to happen and you know, dausen year reign on Earth afterwards or any of that kind of stuff. My faith is based on that. God loves me. that God Reigns in my heart But he softens my heart.

When it gets hard, he lets me know.

And he has affected to change it.

If you don't hear from God right now you're in good company.

I haven't been able to hear from God all the time. And there was even a time where I said to myself. Tell God if you're not talkin to me.

I got to do something else.

And I took somebody coming into my life to speak truth into my life say you know what you can't accuse God of not talking to you. He is speaking. He is knocking on the door of your heart. And your do you have something in the way and you need to let that go?

And he said to me this is what the Lord is telling me to tell you right now.

I didn't abandon you I didn't leave you I didn't forsake you.

I've been exactly where I have been.

Just letting other things getting away.

When I can receive that.

things open up my ears turn back into God.

I could hear me again.

And when I heard something changed in my heart.

I started growing again. Started believing him started praying again in even more hourly than it was doing before. Because God is proof that he was there. And I was letting things get in the way.

No, I'm not delusional.

I'm not even that charismatic. terms of people use in church to describe, you know people who are outward and and shouting about things about God and

All I know is saying God is effective. His word does not come back void and means something it changes lives at changes heart and all I can do is to help you to recognize.

May God continues to speak God continues to knock. She can't hear him now, please. Let me help you.

Would you please help other people recognize the voice of God when they can?

Cuz that's where we all started. When were in arson and we cannot hear anything from God when we don't recognize God from anything else in the world and we think we know and the devil speaking into our lives and all we can here is his ways and we live by his voice and we do what we want. We do everything that we want to do. Because we don't know any different. Because we don't know the difference from the good things and the bad things.

Can people are waiting to know hearts are waiting for you to know the voice of God?

So I'm asking you. how what? Are you willing to do what are you willing to risk?

To share with other people the voice of God. Because it is a life-and-death decision. It's that important.