HEARING GOD'S VOICE

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And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. (1 Samuel 3:6-10)

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

Do you know the voice of God? Does God speak to you?  When was the last time the Lord spoke to you? When was the last time He gave you direction for your life?

It is very important as Christians we come to a level where we can hear from God speaking to us and giving us directions for our lives. God speaks! This is not a strange phenomenon: If you are a christian, it is your right to hear God speak to you.

• And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left (Isaiah 30:21)

The voice of God is not a special thing reserved for a few, it is the right of every child to hear from God.  God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then “forwards” God’s voice to us in various ways.

• The Word: ”Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105)

• Our Spirit (Inner Witness): ”The Spirit beareth witness with our Spirit…” Romans 8:16, “…there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them
  understanding.” (Job 32:8)

• Spiritual Leaders ”Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”(Hebrews 13:17), ” And the LORD sent Nathan unto David…” (2 Samuel 12:1)

• Other Christians “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”(Proverbs 27:17)

• Visions/Dreams and Prophecies. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy , your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28)

These are just the most common ways by which the Holy Spirit communicates to us. The list is really tall. Sometimes he even uses animals. Remember Balam and the donkey.

GOD'S TEAM

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For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

Having been in the corporate world for sometime now, it's very evident that one of the most important elements of corporate success is the place of hiring the best. The rule is: show us what you can offer or what new thing you bring on board and we will hire you. This is the realities of the corporate world. 

On the flip side of the corporate world however, there's a massive recruitment that goes on in everyday life which overlooks all the things the corporate world looks out for. On God‘s team, qualification, experience, technical know how and competence does not matter. God takes “unqualified“ people and make them qualified for an assignment.

Want to be on God‘s team? COME JUST AS YOU ARE: YOU QUALIFY FOR THE ASSIGNMENT.
 

THE TWO PHASES OF A VISION

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And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly (Mark 8:22-25)

I was engaged in a conversation with a friend about having a life vision. I asked her: “ what do you want to do with your life?“. She replied: “ I don't know but I know I want to do something with my life“. I rebuked her, telling her that is too vague. 

Suddenly, I got this strong conviction that my rebuke was wrong. I apologized and the conversation continued. Out of that conversation, two truths emerged about The Phases of a vision: (1) Lack of Clarity (2) State of Clarity

1. Lack of Clarity
This is the first phase of a vision where you know deep within that you want to do something with your life; but you don't know exactly what. You can't put your finger to it. Everything around you looks blurred. This phase of a vision is very necessary. It makes you “sick“ about ur comfort zones and your normalcy about life. Don't get discouraged about the lack of clarity of your vision--it is needed to force you to seek out clarity. For your information, all successful people once walked this phase of life before they eventually found clarity about what they wanted to do.

2. State of Clarity
This is the phase of a vision where the fog is cleared and everything becomes clearer. You come out of the tunnel with light lighting your path with a clean, clear sense of purpose. At this phase you start putting structures in place to see your vision taking form and substance.

There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Things might not be clear now, but keep moving, don't stop and most importantly don't allow anybody to stop you.

A WRITING MINISTRY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psalms 68:11

• The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

The word has to go forth, the word has to spread. I want to personally call on any Christian who can write and have a passion to write to take it seriously and work at it. If you got passion to write, digest these.

1. Writing is a Ministry

In biblical days, there were scribes whose main duty was to pen down the words of God and the words of the prophet. I personally view writing as an extension of the ministry of the teacher, a ministry that has greatly been sidelined. Don't you love it when you hear a great bible teacher? The word is sweet when rightly divided. Word upon word, precerpt upon precerpt. There is a great need in our days for teachers. Teachers of the word, and I personally believe writing can bridge that gap.

2. You should have a message

Every messenger carries a message. The Christian message of salvation has many facets and every individual based on their experiences can relate with a particular message more than others. What is the message you carry? You might not appeal to all, but if God gave you that message, you have to communicate it.

3. Writing is a gift.

Everyone has been positioned in a place in the body of Christ where they can most function. Some can sing, some can play instruments, some exalt,encourage and edify. Now, I believe some can also write. In my experience,I say this to the glory of God, I write “freely“, I hardly “think“. I just need the basic understanding of a scripture and I take off. If writing comes to you freely, consider using it to spread the gospel of Christ

4. Writing is not a quick money making scheme.

With our modern day craze about money and the much heightened infoprenuership concept, you might be tempted to see writing as a quick money scheme. Unfortunately, there are pitfalls in writing. You might say God gave you the message so it will sell. Sorry, unless you have a publisher who can market your books, or you got a large congregation. But if you self finance your publishing and are a “not known“ name, then patience,time and hardwork is needed to get back your investment and make profit. Obviously, you need to make profit to continue writing.

Watch out for tit-bits to be a good Christian Author

WHAT ARE YOU PASSING ON?

     

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Genesis 45:5

• Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life .

Life is not only about you. There are destinies tied up to your life(beyond blood relatives). Mess up, and you have messed up the destinies of all the lives connected to you.

Read the scripture again and note “for God did send me before(ahead) of you to preserve life“. In other words, whatever evil was done Joseph was part of God‘s agenda to save lives.The nations Israel & Egypt would have been destroyed by famine if Joseph had jumped into bed with Potiphar(taken a shortcut route to his destiny).

Life is that simple: every action has ramifications for other people. By one man‘s sin, the whole human race was declared guilty of sin. And by another man‘s obedience many were made rigtheous.( see Romans 5:19).

For the sake of all the lives intertwined with your destiny, please look beyond yourself and don't mess up. Your pains, temptations and challenges(I still love the old word problems) are part of God‘s grand design to change other lives. All things indeed work together for good for those who love God.

Look beyond the now, its not all about you.