8.13.11 "Knowing the Voice of God"

"Knowing the Voice of God"

Nehemiah 5:14-7:60
I Corinthians 8:1-13
Psalm 33:1-11
Proverbs 21:8-10

Ok, so you will carry the vision. (see DEVO 8.11.5) Now more than ever, you need to know the voice of God.

In Nehemiah 6, Sanballat, Tobiah & Geshem are out to get Nehemiah. The great vision of rebuilding the wall is near completion, so the enemies are stepping it up. They send a message to Nehemiah to meet them in a village. "But I realized they were plotting to kill me..." (6:2) The bad guys then begin to attack his character, his motives, and make a pretty good case for him meeting with them. Still he stands firm.

In Nehemiah 6:10-11, "A few days later I went to visit Shemaiah... for he said he was receiving a message from God. 'Let us hide in the Temple and bolt the door,' he exclaimed, 'for they are coming tonight to kill you.'"

What would you do in this instance? This "message from God" makes sense. It seems to fit in with the way things have gone. What does Nehemiah do?

6:11-13 "But I replied, 'Should I, the governor, run away from danger? And if I go into the Temple, not being a priest, I would forfeit my life. No, I won't do it!' Then I realized that God had not spoken to him, but Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him to scare me and make me sin by fleeing to the Temple; and then they would be able to accuse me." What discernment!

As we walk along the journey of carrying the vision God has placed on us, we have to grow past the point of knowing someone who knows the voice of God. We HAVE TO KNOW THE VOICE OF GOD. It's our natural reaction to go to others for advice, and Proverbs speaks of the value of many counselors, but as you carry vision, you have to KNOW GOD!

How do we get to know the voice of God? By walking in obedience. To be honest, you will learn his voice by stepping out, and finding out, "oops, that wasn't God, that was me". The next time you will know the difference. We have to be Empowered Through Biblical Training. You have to be in the word. Reading devotionals is great, but you have to get into the word and let God speak his word into your life. Nehemiah knew God's commands well enough to know that Shemaiah's "message" did not line up with God's commands.

Can you imagine the strength that comes from knowing God's voice? The wind and the waves become so small in comparison to knowing that no matter what storms arise, you are walking in obedience to the voice of God!

This next concept may be difficult for me to communicate, but here goes: The larger the vision, the greater the constraint to know the voice of God. As we mature in Christ, and he births greater vision and direction, the enemy will step up the attacks and attempts to confuse the communication lines. There will be more distractions. You may have heard the phrase, "Good is the enemy of Great". As you walk in greater intensity of obedience, you begin to realize the great danger of small compromise. The message Nehemiah received from Shemaiah appealed to his flesh. In a moment of weakness he could have done the wrong thing because it "made sense". But knowing the great call of God constrained him to avoid any level of compromise. Earlier his response to Sanballat & company was "I am doing a great work! Why should I stop to come and visit with you?" (6:3) His passion for the vision and constraint to follow God's direction kept compromise far from him.

God has a vision for you that is larger than you realize. His plans are incredible. The plan begins to be revealed to you as you walk in obedience (Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship). As you seek to intensify your focus on walking with God, you can see the increasing value of it. You then begin to understand that the things around that feed the flesh are not worth the cost of compromise. You begin to understand that watching something full of impurity on television begins to cloud your recognition of the voice of God. Then, when conflicting messages come, you don't know which way to turn.

Guarding the voices you allow into your life will greatly aid your recognition of God's voice. If you're willing to carry the vision, you must be willing to commit yourself to his voice. All of the elements of DREAM are necessary in this maturing process. Each element needs to grow in your life. Go through the checklist of DREAM today. How are you doing? Do you recognize what God is telling you right now? What "noise" in life is clouding his voice? How badly do you want to hear his voice?



Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

Pastor Greg Lathe

Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship
Relationships Devoted to Unity
Empowered Through Biblical Training
Active Ministry Involvement
Mission to Reach our World for Christ