God Speaks Part 2

Ge 15:1-6(NIV) --(1) After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” --(2) But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” --(3) And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” --(4) Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” --(5) He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” --(6) Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

If 99.9 Percent Is Good Enough, Then …

· Two million documents will be lost by the IRS this year.

· 811,000 faulty rolls of 35mm film will be loaded this year.

· 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes.

· 1,314 phone calls will be misplaced by telecommunication services every minute.

· 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day.

· 268,500 defective tires will be shipped this year.

· 14,208 defective personal computers will be shipped this year.

· 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year.

· 2,488,200 books will be shipped in the next 12 months with the wrong cover.

· 5,517,200 cases of soft drinks produced in the next 12 months will be flatter than a bad tire.

· Two plane landings daily at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago will be unsafe.

· 3,056 copies of tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal will be missing one of the three sections.

· 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour.

· 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year.

· 880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips.

· $9,690 will be spent today, tomorrow, next Thursday, and every day in the future on defective, often unsafe sporting equipment.

· 55 malfunction automatic teller machines will be installed in the next 12 months.

· 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months.

· 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped this year.

· $761,900 will be spent in the next 12 months on tapes and compact discs that won’t play.

· 107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed by the end of the day today.

· 315 entries in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language will turn out to be misspelled.

THE CONTENT OF GOD'S COMMUNICATION.

What does God want to communicate to us?

What does God want to say to us?

Let me tell you two basic facts about God's communication:

#1 God does not waste words.

#2 God does not chit-chat or engage in casual conversation.

In These Encounters God Communicates 4 Things To Abram.

I) God communicates regarding His person.

Ge 15:1(NIV) --(1) After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

A) The most important thing God can speak to you about is His own person.

B) God wants you to:

Know Him

Know His character

Know His nature

Know His ways

Know His heart

Know His mind.

Php 3:10(NIV)--(10) I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Is 9:6(NIV)--(6) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

C) Before you can ever know God's will about anything....you must know God.

D) It is extremely important that we be very intentional in our efforts to get to know Him.

II) God communicates regarding His Care.

A) God wants you to know He is the One who is always in control and He is at work in every circumstance in your life.

B) God wants you to see Him in every circumstance of life.

C) God wants us to know that He will always be here for us to care for us.

D) Abraham had evidently been fearful

1) Almost lost his life

2) Maybe he was afraid the enemy would come back

3) Maybe he was afraid of being alone

E) We all have fears

III) God communicates regarding His plan/purpose.

A) God has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life.

B) No detail of your life has gone unnoticed by God.

C) I believe God has a specific will and plan for every detail of your life.

Je 1:5(NIV)--(5) “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

D) And God seeks to communicate His will concerning every detail, direction and decision of your life.

1) You may not think your job is important but God does

IV) God communicates regarding His promise.

A) When God points you a specific direction, He will always give you a specific promise that is conditional upon your obedience.

B) Notice the promise God gave Abram.

Ge 15:4-6(NIV)--(4) Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” --(5) He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” --(6) Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

C) God wants to communicate His promises to us.

Mk 4:9(NIV)--(9) Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

1) God would not have said this if he did not want us to hear something

2) What are His promises

a) Long life – No

b) No Suffering – No

c) His presence – Yes

d) His guidance – Yes

e) His help – Yes

f) His home – Yes

g) Forgiveness of sins – Yes

A former park ranger at Yellowstone National Park tells the story of a ranger leading a group of hikers to a fire lookout. The ranger was so intent on telling the hikers about the flowers and animals that he considered the messages on his two-way radio distracting, so he switched it off. Nearing the tower, the ranger was met by a nearly breathless lookout, who asked why he hadn’t responded to the messages on his radio. A grizzly bear had been seen stalking the group, and the authorities were trying to warn them of the danger.

Any time we tune out the messages God has sent us, we put at peril not only ourselves, but also those around us. How important it is that we never turn off God’s saving communication!

1 Co 11:20-27(NIV)--(20) When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, --(21) for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. --(22) Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not! --(23) For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, --(24) and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” --(25) In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” --(26) For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. --(27) Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

God Speaks Part 2 - 3-4-07