Men
shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth
of God.
Yeshua
said that His sheep know His voice and He knows His sheep by name.
"Listen
to my voice and learn it well, my son for it is I who has created you and not
you yourself. If a man has not my
understanding, how can he claim to be teaching my words with my
understanding? Likewise, if a man is
not listening to my voice how can he proclaim my will to another? He cannot.?"
"How
then do you being an earthly son of your earthly father know your earthly
father's voice if you refuse to listen to for his voice. From your birth, you have learned the sound
of your earthly fathers voice and are able to recognize it. If you have learned how to recognize his
voice, how is it that you fail to recognize my voice when I speak to you?"
Yes,
both our Father God and our Brother, Yeshua, talk to us in an audible
voice. Some times, they have come to me
while I was listening to a preacher and some times they have come to me while I
was busy studying the Bible or doing work around the house. I have had them talk to me while I was
walking down a busy street and again while I was eating a meal. I have had long heart to heart discussion
with them and I have also just sat down and listened.
Yes,
this has caused some problems for me.
Well not exactly for me but rather for those around me. I have been accused of listening to strange
spirits and having delusional episodes.
After all one of the sure signs of insanity is to be able to carry on a
complete conversation with God. I say
something and then I listen to the response upon which I then respond. To some this is a sure sign that I have lost
total sense of reality and I need to be protected from myself. To be perfect honest I too felt that way the
first time God talked to me. I mean I
have to face a few facts here. I am a
Vietnam Combat Vet and we have been known to loose it at times. However, the more God and Yeshua spoke to me
the more I became aware of their continual presence in my life.
At
first, I was not prepared and I was unable to find any way out. It all started like this. Just after I gave my life over to the Lord,
I began carrying my Bible with me everywhere I went. I was a college student at the time and I would carry my Bible
with me to classes looking for an opportunity to witness. Only as soon as people saw the Bible tucked
under my arm they would go out of their way to avoid me. Then one day I was running later and I
inadvertently left my Bible at home. As
I was sitting on the bus going down town to school I began to get afraid that
someone would ask me a question and I would not be able to minister to them. After all, I was taught how to witness using
the Bible to prove every word I said. I
had every passage well marked and I had paper clips to help me find the pages
fast. Just then a young lady began
talking to me and the topic of discussion quickly lead to the Lord. Not knowing what else to do I went into my
prayer closet and yelled out in a very bold voice, "Lord HELP!" Then I opened my mouth and I began to
speak. Only it wasn't me doing the
talking it was the Lord talking to her through me. All I could do was sit there, listen and learn. As I got off of the bus to go to class I ran
into another person and the Lord began ministering to him through me. Needless to say I didn't make any of my
classes that day as the Lord lead me from one person to another as He
ministered to their needs.
That
evening when I arrived home the first thing I did was grab my Bible and I began
reading to make sure that what I had been telling people was actually in the
Bible. I was raised Presbyterian and we
seldom actually read the Bible so I had no prior knowledge of a lot of what I
had been telling people throughout the day.
The following morning I made sure to have my Bible with me and yes, I
made every class on time and after my last class was over I went home. This went on for about a month. Every time I took my Bible with me I was not
able to witness to a single person and when I left my Bible at home I spent the
entire day witnessing to people.
Then
one night while I was deep in study with my three Bibles, my Strong's and my
Hebrew books spread out on the table infront of me the Lord came to me. "What
are you doing?" He inquired.
"Studying
your word Lord," I responded, "so I
will better know what to say to people."
Just
then the Lord flipped the pages of one of my Bibles to the Book of John and He
told me to read where it says that he must leave but He would not leave us
comfortless. After reading the passage
He then turned the pages to where it is written that we are not to live on
bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
He
told me that I was not to seek the teachings of men and he told me that when I
needed something explained to simply ask Him for the definition or translation.
He put it like this. Why go to a
man for a man's reasoning or a man's understanding when you can go directly to
God. After all what is better? To get man's misunderstandings or to get
God's understanding directly for Him.
Now that got me questioning my own sanity. Then a few days later while I was listening to a Preacher on the
radio expounding on how God works in strange and mysterious ways the Lord
bellowed out, "It is not me who works in strange and mysterious way. I am the same yesterday, today and
forever." He shouted. "My ways are perfect." "If anyone works in strange and mysterious
way it is you." The Lord began to explian. "I tell you to be patient
and to wait and what do you do? You get
up and run in this direction and in that.
I tell you to go and what do you do?
You go seeking confirmation from this pastor and that brother."
Shortly
there after I went to see a psychologist and on my way, I was side tracked by
some of the people I had been ministering to over the past few weeks. They began telling me about the great things
that had happened in their lives and how the word I had told them had
made a big difference in their lives.
One person told me how they had been scheduled to have an operation and
how after I had ministered to them they were totally healed and didn't need the
operation. As more and more people
began telling me what the Lord was doing I could feel Him standing beside me
grinning from ear to ear.
That
was the last time I questioned my sanity.
I know that He knows His sheep by name and His sheep know and recognize
His voice. Then He was able to open up
my understanding. He showed me that
most of us go into our prayer closets and we spend 15 minutes to several hours
talking to him in intercession for a brother or a sister or to place our needs
before Him then we leave. Meanwhile He
is standing right there waiting for a chance to say something. It is almost as if we are either too afraid
or we are too busy to wait a few minutes to hear His voice and to carry on a
complete conversation with Him. I have
gotten to the point where when I have not heard Him talking to me that I start
up a conversation with Him just to get His reassurance that He is there with
me. If I am out side and I happen to
look up at the clouds and I see different shapes in the clouds I will thank Him
for such magnificent art work.
Likewise, at dusk as the sun is setting in the sky I will thank Him for
such a beautiful sunset. Only God can
form a cloud into the shape of a man or an animal or a car. Only God is able to turn the morning sky or
night sky into bright colors while bathing the clouds in all kinds of
pastels. Likewise only God is able to
tell us exactly what He demands of us only we must be willing to listen and be
willing to learn to recognize His voice.
Yeshua
knows His sheep by name and His sheep know His voice. If you do not recognize His voice then you need to get into your
prayer closet and seek His face and then wait and listen for Him to talk to
you. You may have to go into prayer and
fasting. When you do say Here I am
Lord. Teach me, minister to me and send
me out. Then listen for His voice it
will come to you as you wait and listen for His voice to come to you. Do not be afraid that the voices you hear
are not from the Lord. While you are in
a period of prayer and fasting the Lord will block out all other voices and the
only voices you can hear are his. Just
remember He wants to talk directly to you, you need to hear His voice to build
you own faith in Him and together you will come to know each other. As Father and Child and like Brother and
Brother and like Brother and Sister.
Shalom Please Back
