God Told Me...

You're crazy

We've all heard it. Someone comes up to you and says, "God told me___________", fill in the blank with some crazy, off the wall schizophrenic statement.
"You don't say"? "That's interesting"? "Have you been sleeping well"? "So what do you think it means"?

Does God still speak today? I mean, really speak?


Put 'em up!

In some parts of the church these are fighting words. You bring up the subject of hearing from God and all kinds of emotions rage. Defensive---excited---doubtful--fearful--I have no idea what you are talking about and yeah, duh.

Let me ask you. Does God speak to you?

Simple right?

This question is very easy and yet extremely difficult to answer. I am not going to make an effort to bring any of the answers you theologians might be hoping for--you'll have to read some deep theological books for that. My purpose here is not answers, but encouragement.
I'm here to say that I think every child of God will answer that, yes, God speaks to us.
It's the "what do you mean by 'speak'", that incites all the debates.

Daddy can you hear me?

Twelve year old Billy comes to his dad and starts a conversation.

"Dad, will you watch a movie with me"?
Silence.
"Dad, will you take me for a walk"?
Silence.
"Dad, do you love me"?
Silence.
"Dad, are you listening to me"?
Silence.

After all these questions, Billy is wondering why Dad won't respond to him. While standing in a confused daze, Billy's brother Clay comes in and reminds Billy that Dad had written a letter to them and he can find all his answers in there.
Billy, excitedly remembering, runs to grab the letter. Billy is so thankful for the letter, but he finds that some of his questions still are not answered and Dad seems so distant in the written form.

Praying 

We are always encouraged to pray, right?  I think that's a given. But what exactly is prayer?
Is prayer a monologue? Of course not! So why would anyone say that God doesn't speak to us?
Why is it that when we speak to God, we are said to be praying, but if God speaks to us, we are called crazy?
Some would say that God 'only' speaks to us when we read His Word. This is based on a statement in Hebrews 1. And let me affirm that I definitely believe that God speaks to us through His written Word.
When I sit down to read the bible I consider it prayer time. I ask God to speak to me and change me through His Word--by His Spirit--Who dwells within me. It's my time to shut up and listen to my Father talk!
But what if you go somewhere and you forget your bible at home? Is your conversation with your Father severed? Does it become a monologue? Does God go mute?
These are important considerations.

In Spirit and in Truth

Jesus said this, "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

and this: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you".

and this: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". 

As believers, we know that the Spirit of God dwells within us, but what is He there to do? Is He just there to tell the devil that we belong to God? Or is He there to speak to us? Can He speak to us if we are not holding a bible?

Some have told me that when they read my writing they hear my voice. Do you hear your Father's voice? If you are His child, you should be able to tell when He is talking.
His voice is different than men,
different than demons,
different than angels and different than yours.
Do you hear Him?

Our relationship with our Father

Our Father loves us and is in constant communion with us.
We don't have to be in 'church'--we don't have to have a bible--and we don't even have to be walking in perfect sinlessness.
He's still there. Always.
But just like when we sin against someone here and now, when we sin against God--our relationship gets weird--tense. When our relationship with God gets tense, it is never Him who is at fault--it's us.
We need to confess and ask for forgiveness.
Forgiveness--the most beautiful gift on earth--is so wonderful that it ALWAYS restores the conversation. It brings reconciliation.

Okay, but I have a question

"Yeah, but Marc, we can't expect God to come to our every beck and call. He's not a genie in a bottle".
Of course not. Just a cursory trip through the bible will demonstrate that He allows his children to go through all kinds of tribulations without any special intervention.
He's there, but He doesn't give us special instructions at every step.
Just read Job.
Do our earthly fathers give us everything we want and tell us every step to take? Of course not. God knows what is best for us and He is not going to tell us every little detail of everything we must do. Just like with our earthly fathers, as we grow and mature with wisdom, we will hear less and less 'special' instructions, because our mind is being renewed, and we are more frequently walking in His steps without special instruction. We are growing up.
As a matter of fact, some days all we want to hear from our Father is, "I love you".

Shut 'er down

Okay, that's it, I'm going to leave you to wrestle with all the 'buts' about all the issues I left untouched, but please go away with this.
Your Father is there--listen to Him. He is not mute.
Is it possible that one thing Paul means by "do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God", is when we stop listening? I don't know. Could be. Probably.
Don't grieve the Holy Spirit.

Zip it!

We are restless people who don't like to sit, be quiet and listen. God speaks--but we don't listen.

And don't be thrown off by the schizo. Tell the schizo to be careful with what words they put in God's mouth. God is not schizo--he won't tell you schizophrenic stuff.
He loves you.

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear..."

Song link here:  Walk in it.