Having trouble hearing from God?

                                             
                           
                      

                                         (courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
                                                    Don't get discouraged. Help is on the way!
                                                     

   My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me                                         (John 10:27)

                Having trouble hearing from God? You are not alone. Many are frustrated and angry at failing to hear from God. Others have put a "fleece" only to find out that they have been deceived. In order to hear from God, you must ask yourself---What is my relationship with Jesus? Are you spending quantity time with him? 
             I, recently, celebrated my 36th year of marriage. I have spent a lot of time with my wife knowing what gets her uncomfortable and what she likes. When she calls me on the phone, I recognize her voice. Why? Because I have spent some time knowing her and have trained my ear to know her voice. 
             The same in the world of the Spirit. God knows that, most of us, have busy schedules. Some of us, just, pray for 15 minutes and have a minute devotional. Beloved, God understands that we have things to do, decisions to make and earn a living. Here is some food for thought---Have you ever set aside an hour to pray and hear from God? Jesus told his disciples to tarry an hour, yet, they fell asleep. (Mark 14:34-38) 
                         My friends, there is a lot to prayer that you and I have, yet, to understand. Let me illustrate a personal example. My prayer routine is for the first 30 minutes to praise and worship, intercede and then talk to God. Afterwards, I dedicate the last 30 minutes to Bible study and hear what God has to say. There may be some days in which I, just, praise and worship without asking him for a thing. Prayer does not have to be a dull routine. In fact, when you praise and worship, you release the spirit of prophecy over yourself. (Rev 19:10)
                         Brethren, there are many ways in which to hear from God. The main thing to know is that God speaks through his word. We live in a "feeling" world. Remember the popular phrase--If it feels good, do it? Many carry that thought in making important decisions and then when things don't go right, they blame God. Don't blame God. Check your feelings. Be careful with your feelings. Always make sure you have a direct confirmation from God. 
                 To better understand this, let's look at the following----

 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Gen 2:7) 

Pay special attention to the word soul. Many times we confuse soul with the spirit but they are different. The word says that man was created in the image of God. (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) Man is a tri-part being--Spirit, soul and body ( I Thess 5:23) Just as God has different personalities manifested so the same is with man. Adam was not mentioned as a living spirit (Which he was), but the word makes special mention of soul. Why?
                      To understand this, the soul is the mind, will, desires and emotions. Adam had his mind tuned into God. He could trust his feelings and emotions but something happened. The moment Adam and Eve sinned, their soulish part got separated from God and they became carnal. Jesus solved that dilemma. When a person becomes born-again, they get the mind of Christ. The same mind that was operating just like Adam in the garden. 
                   When you have the mind of Christ, you have wisdom at your fingertips. (I Cor 1:30) The solution to all of your problems. Scientist have discovered that man, only, uses less than 10% of their minds. I believe during Adam's time, his mind was super advanced. Who knows what kind of inventions existed during his time in the garden of Eden? 
            History confirms this, too. Many caves have writings and images of people traveling through the skies with advanced spaceships. Here is some food for thought, even though Adam was kicked out of the garden, his mind was still advanced. While others in his family lines went into sin and depravity, God preserved a remnant that became a holy priesthood. (Gen 4:26)
                  In fact, Adam was so advanced that he live more than 900 years! Man started to get his years shortened because of sin and nature. When the rains came during Noah's time, some scientists believe that a protective shield was penetrated which allowed harmful ingredients to shorten man's life. Also, notice that when man started eating meats, his life span got affected. (Gen 9:3) 
                  Now in spite of all this, why do Christians get filled with anxiety and do not make use of the mind of Christ? Part of this is ignorance of their identification with Christ. In my next study, I will elaborate more on hearing the voice of God. God bless. (More to come.)

Bible verses courtesy of www.biblegateway.com
                             
                    
                  

                    

                               


                 

Are you kingdom-minded?

                                            

                                  

                                  Picture courtesy of  freedigitalphotos.net


                                                       ARE YOU KINGDOM MINDED?

                      "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." (Matt 6:10)

                Greetings. In this devotional, that is the question we must ask ourselves---Are we kingdom-minded? The word tells us that we are kings and priests unto God. God has delegated his power unto us to be Kings/Queens over our circumstances and affairs of life. In fact, the word says that we are seated in heavenly places. We are destined to rule.

                In order to comprehend our position in Christ, we must be familiar with his will. First, let's remember that his word is his will. He speaks to us through the word. It amazes me how I hear many Christians saying-- I need a word. They go to church and say--- I need a word. They go to prophet so and so and say--- I need a word. If you have a Bible, God has a word for you. God is speaking to you 24/7. His word is a sure word of prophecy.Now having said that, let's start with the following verse below in order to learn how to become kingdom-minded. This gives us a glimpse of God's will....

 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he  heareth us" (I John 5:14)

                 Many will use this to justify the fact that God did not answer their prayer because it was not according to God's will, but if you read the next verse carefully, it brings it to a different light...

And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that

we desired of him. (John 5:15)

           If you read this carefully, pay attention to the words heareth and hear. Now we know that God hears prayers when we pray according to his will. We can all agreed to that, but in verse 15, it says --and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions....That is expressing confidence. How do you know he heard you? First, we need to know his will. (Col 1:9)  You cannot express confidence if you don't know his will when you pray. 

           It is a shame that we play the game of chance with God. A que sera, sera. The word, clearly, states that we walk by faith and not by sight. We need to realize that even though the circumstances may say the contrary, they will have to bow down to the word of God. Let's use another verse to better understand God's will ( Matt 6:10) It says...Thy kingdom come, thy will be done!  God wants to bring his kingdom down to earth so that his will can be done. Is sickness in the kingdom of God? No. Is poverty in the kingdom of God? No. When we see the blessings of God on earth, we are having a taste of his kingdom. There were instances when Jesus told his disciples to say the kingdom has come unto you when performing the miracles of healing.(Luke 10:9) 

                     Another way to better understand this is through another verse. As we read this, one thing that stands out is that this was written in the Old testament. Lets take a careful look at the following....

 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. (Deut 11:21)

                 In the Old testament, God wanted to give his people days of heaven upon the earth. His covenant included long life and blessings. We, as covenant children, are no different. The word says that we have a covenant based on better promises. Yes, we are going to go through problems and testings, that is a given. The good thing about this is that we can turn our misery into our ministry. We can turn our tests into a testimony. Don't look at your trials and testings as a final end. NO! Look at it as a stepping stone! Your greatest victory lies ahead. God bless.