Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Yea,Hath God Said?

I want to give you an encouragement today.  I want to be transparent for your sake, that you may gain Christ in a deeper way.  You may think that because I flow with His Words, that makes it easy for me.  Or you may want to flow, but you are afraid you'll miss it, or mess up, or won't say it right, or can't do it "as good" as I do, or as someone else may do it... 

I have talked to Apostles and Prophets, Pastors and Teachers and Evangelists alike and heard their hearts, and 1 thread we all have in common is - everyday is a Faith Walk for each of us!  We choose to walk out our giftings and callings day by day, in obedience to the ONE who gave them to us. 

Does that shock you?  Good!  I don't mean to disillusion you at all, but rather to encourage you.  And if you have all of us on some platform or pedestal, then there is a disparity taking place.  Yes we have a call, and yes it is to be respected and honor given where honor is due. But ALL honor goes to the LORD, who is Master over all.  God wants you to come to HIM. To hear from HIM His heart for you!  He welcomes you and desires that you would flow in a deeper relationship with Him.  So, don't look at your favorite minister and say, "Oh if I could only be like...."  You be YOU and we will all be blessed and happy!

Let me give you some insight to help you here.  Every time we open our mouths, whether to speak, teach, sing, prophecy, Blow the Shofar- or whatever it is that we are being prompted to do; it is a leap of Faith!  And it is not always easy for us to do.  Apostle Paul wrote: " 2Co 4:13  We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;"  I have to believe, exercise MY Faith, 1. that God is speaking , 2. that I am hearing Him  3. and hearing Him CORRECTLY, 4. and then OPEN my mouth and speak out what HE gave me to say (or write!)  It is no different than what Paul said!

And besides that, the enemy of our souls, still uses his age old ammunition to try and throw  each of us off course.  Do you know what that is?  (There are many, but I am speaking specifically to hearing and saying...) 

Let's go way back to the Garden of Eden and let me show you something that will be very illuminating!  Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, "Yea, hath God said...?"  And then he went on to question: 1. Are you sure YOU heard correctly.  2. Was that REALLY God speaking?  3. IF it was GOD, did he REALLY mean what YOU think he said? 4. He (God, really isn't looking out for YOU, he's thinking about himself...

Do you see all that is wrapped up in those words, "Yea, Hath God said?"  And he comes today with that same question, to try to talk you out of hearing God for yourself. To smear your confidence in hearing and your confidence in God Himself!

Sunday, the pastor was speaking and he made this statement: "Is your "check faith" light on?"  Like when your check engine light comes on telling you something isn't quite right, you need to "check your engine!"

Well, the “light bulb” went on in my spirit and all these pieces to this posting began to fall into place!  Faith works by Love. (Galatians 5:6) So, the big question here is, "Do you believe He loves you?"  Because if you believe He loves you, then you will trust that He has YOUR best interest at heart in HIS plans for you!  And if you believe all this, then when He asks you to say or to do something, that seems out of your comfort zone, will you say like Paul “Because I believed therefore I spoke.” (I did, I obeyed, etc.)

Recently, a dear friend of mine, was out running errands.  She related this story to me, and I may not have it all correct but to the best of my recollection this is what she told me:  “I saw an older woman in the store and the Lord spoke to me, “Go tell her that I love her very much.”  She felt very unsure... "Is this me or is this YOU Lord?"  She hesitated, and the Lord urged her again, “Go tell her I LOVE her!”  Then HE ASKED her one of the most powerful and freeing statements, “What have you got to lose?”  She said, she had to answer, “Nothing Lord, I have nothing to lose.”  She went immediately and told the lady, and the lady just beamed.

That was just the beginning!  He has had her on a “steps ordered of the Lord” mission for days now.  And, every time she feels out of her comfort zone, she is reminded, “what have you got to lose?”

See the more we "practice" or exercise walking in Faith, listening, hearing, journaling, speaking, the more adept we become!  The more time we spend WITH HIM, the more familiar we become with HOW He speaks to us.  Because I can guarantee you, He speaks to each of us differently, with special nuances, tones and vocabulary that is special and unique to who we are. To WHO HE MADE US TO BE! 

Therefore, I ask you, “What have you got to lose, In obeying the Lord?  In surrendering? In TRUSTING and taking that Leap of Faith and opening YOUR mouth?  In ancient Greek there is a word: Nike! It means success, triumph and victory.  Triumph over your doubts and fears.  Nike! Just do it!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! This was very encouraging. I am by nature a timid person and do not like to stick out in the crowd. I have been drawing closer to the Lord this past year and He has been teaching me who I am in Christ and it has been freeing me in a way I have not known till now.

He has shown me a glimpse of His love and it has radically changed me and I have a growing longing for my church to know Him more.

My church is Spirit-filled, but due to something distressing that happened 3 years ago, we have been in a state of spititual dullness. When I woke up from spiritual slumber earlier this year and began to seek the Lord in earnest, He began to give me a renewed compassion for my church. I began to tell Him that if He wanted me to speak out for Him to encourage His sons and daughters that I would be obedient to Him. He took me up on it and one Sunday in July we were praying for different people who were having struggles. As we were praying for one man, others were praying out and speaking scripture over him. I was just quietly praying and I suddenly heard a still, small voice say "tell him he is a beloved son". At first I thought I was making that up so I didn't do anything. I heard the same thing several more times and my heart was pounding so hard. When I finally obeyed and got out of my seat, the words just flowed out for this man: "the Lord would say to you that you are a beloved son and that He is pleased with you. He doesn't look at the mistakes you've made, He looks at you and sees His Son Jesus. You have the Spirit of Christ living in you and the Father sees Christ in you."

I was bombarded with doubt for the whole week that followed, because I kept hearing "did God really say that? Maybe you were just speaking your own words and God had nothing to do with it and you shamed yourself in front of the whole church and God" I found myself apologizing to the Lord if I missed His voice and spoke my own words.

The very next Sunday we had a special speaker. As he was preaching the Word he stopped in the middle of what he was saying and leaned on the pulpit and said "and do you know, to the Lord, we are a beloved son? And He is well pleased with us. He looks at us and sees His Son in us. He doesn't look at the mistakes we've made. He loves us." My faith grew more that day. The Father is so good to His children.

There have been a few more times I have heard that still, small voice and have spoken it out. The voice of doubt is always right behind it bombarding me. My prayer lately has been that I will hear the voice of the Lord more clearly. I want to know Him more. I understand more how we really are to walk by faith.

I still struggle with timidity, but above that I seek to be obedient to Him even if it means I am exposed.

Thank you for the encouraging posts. Many of them have spoken directly to my heart and given me a deeper sense of the Father's love.

Sincerely,
Terri

Anonymous said...

God Spoke this to me yesterday, thought I'd share it...

Have not I said, “open wide your mouth and I will fill it?” You are not to assume implications or definitions of that which I send you to speak forth. You are simply to speak the Word I give in truth, purity, devotion, tenderness and love. Do not yield to the temptation, which will surely come, to expound or clarify. For each heart must receive on the aspect of that Word ordained for them. Ps 81:10; I Cor 14:3; Eph 4:29

~A

Anonymous said...

Wow! This was soooo good. You are on a mighty roll, huh? You are Busting loose with the simple inclusive truths of God.

My heart is bursting at the seams with His love and glory. I am so eagerly expectant of God’s Glory shining forth through all who are on one-accord with His plans and purposes, and moving in HIS divine timing. Thanks so much for simply being available and instant!

Heart n Hands Inc. said...

Dear Terri,

God Bless you dear heart! Thank you for your post. I appreciate you posting your heartfelt comments and letting me know you are reading and being blessed!

Keep trusting, keep leaning and keep speaking what HE gives you to speak! How precious indeed to Him is your heart!

If you haven't visited Brenda Craig's Journals of the Heart, I encourage you to do so. You will also be blessed and strengthened by her Words from Abba. Her link is posted at the bottom of my blog page.

With His Love and mine,
Nancy

Heart n Hands Inc. said...

To All:
Thanks for sharing your heart and comments with us. Blessings to you!