RESPONDING TO GOD’S VOICE
INTRODUCTION
- While hearing from God is truly a privilege, it also brings great responsibility and accountability.
- God is speaking to us, but what we do with what He says to us means everything.
- God does speak to us for many reasons, but very often what He will say demands a response.
- One of the most important sermons Jesus ever preached ends with a very important point;
Matthew 7:24-27 - "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall."
STORY – First time I heard a missionary – I was challenged – as a young Christian I thought “that’s what obeying God looks like.” But I later realized that it’s not about where you live but how you live – in response to God’s word/voice in your life. He was just a guy who was responding.
- While we know that we must respond to God, what does that mean and what does it look like?
- We respond to God with FAITH / OBEDIENCE and PERSERVERANCE….
WE RESPOND TO GOD WITH FAITH
- Our first response to God’s voice in our life is faith. Faith is assurance, trust belief, conviction.
- Faith is our ability to believe and trust something is true beyond what we know and see.
- Faith comes from God, in Romans 12:3 that each person has been given a measure of faith.
- Biblically, our faith (trust, belief) is to be applied toward what God says. This is how we respond.
- Throughout the Bible, God speaks to people and expects them to believe Him regardless.
- In Hebrews 11, the writer presents a long list of people who heard God in their generation, believed God and obeyed Him to see an impact in their generation…. Noah, Abe, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, etc
Hebrews 11:1-3 – “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
- This chapter is meant to encourage people in difficult times to believe God as those in the past did.
- Following this verse, we read of many who believed what God said and changed the world.
- This passage shows us the importance of our response to Gods voice, especially verse 3.
- The word for worlds is not “universe” or “earth” it actually refers to a period of time, like generation.
- This verse could read: “By faith we understand that the worlds (ages, periods of time, generations) were prepared (framed, arranged, altered, changed) by the word (rhema, living voice, sayings) of God.”
- This verse is not saying it takes faith to understand God made the universes, but rather the faith of Gods people in the past toward what God said caused each generation to be framed by Gods design.
- God speaks and reveals what He desires and calls us to believe Him, when we do, the world changes.
STORY (picture) – One of the reasons I started writing books is that God gave me a vision of a bookcase that was filled with a bunch of books that I wrote. I saw my children/grandchildren reading my books and commenting on what I thought and believed about Scripture, and the Lord said "I want you to leave a legacy!" About a month ago I walked into my daughter’s room to tuck her in and she was reading my book "Hearing God." She didn't even stop reading when I walked in so I took a picture which she didn't notice at all. She pointed to a paragraph and said "I really like this part!” In that moment the vision I had some time ago came back to me. I was inspired to obey God for my kids, that they would build on what I left them because I am certain what I do with what God says affects generations!
WE RESPOND TO GOD WITH OBEDIENCE
- Obedience is the response that God asks from us in all that He will ever tell us to do.
- God knows what is best for us, therefore, the best life is the obedient life.
- When it comes to obeying what God said, you simply cannot overlook the story of Abraham;
Genesis 12:1-4 – “Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.”
- God told Abram to go and he would bless him, but he wouldn’t be blessed until he went. Obedience.
- Obey God and you will be what God wants you to be and you will have what God wants you to have!
- Obeying is the extension of faith, that we will do what He said because we believe what He says.
- For clarity sake, we must understand that there are two kinds of obedience;
1. IMMEDIATE OBEIDENCE – go pray for that person, call John, I want you to give that person Money
STORY – When I went to the festival and preached, the HS told me “turn around and go talk to them”
2. LONG TERM OBEDIENCE – plant a church, start a ministry, build a boat
STORY – The Lord spoke to Phil and Emily to plant a church in Atlanta – ongoing obedience.
- On the night of Jesus’ betrayal he shared some very important things with His disciples, then said this;
John 14:15 - "If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
WE RESPOND TO GOD WITH PERSERVERANCE
- To persevere means to persist in something despite any difficulties or obstacles….
- The writer of Hebrews was encouraging believers in a very difficult, persecuted time with examples of people who heard, believed and obeyed God. It’s worth it. We too must consider our examples;
Hebrews 12:1-2 – “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
- God speaks to us (Author)
- We hear God’s voice (hear)
- We believe what God says (faith)
- We obey what God says (obey)
- We persevere with what God says (persevere)
- God fulfills His word (Finisher)
CONCLUSION
- What has God called you to do? What is he speaking to you about? What is your contribution?
- Are we responsive to the voice of God? Have we believed Him? Are we obeying Him?
- I sense a great need for repentance in many of our lives. He longs to finish what He began!