This Will Always Accompany God's Voice...

"And let the peace (soul harmony which comes from) Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds..."
Colossians 3:15
(Amplified)

So many people claim to hear God. Lots of certifiably crazy people who choose to do very wicked things claim they hear God. Cults are born from charismatic leaders who claim to hear God. Spiritually abusive pastors persuade sincere followers to give exorbitant amounts of money by claiming they've heard God. Husbands leave wives and children to connect with beautiful young "soul mates" because they said they heard God.

Personally, I've had thoughts flood my mind in the midst of desperately trying to hear God...and I wonder, "God, how do I know if this is You?"

This is a great time to stress how absolutely vital it is for you to know and recognize the voice of God for yourself. If you don't, you have an Enemy who will be certain to lead you far, far away from what God is really saying to you. And since your Enemy is a liar and a deceiver, you may be sincerely deceived into thinking you are hearing God.

Scary, but true.

But as we've already established, you were created to hear God's voice. He desperately wants you to know Him and to hear Him. Therefore, He has given us many "safe harbors" to protect us and instruct us to discern which voice is His.

And as we've further established, we must always compare what we are hearing to what the Bible says about the situation. (Hint: that eliminates a good portion of God-said-to-me-claims-- things like poisoning people with kool-aid and committing adultery become painfully obvious).

But what about the church leader who actually uses Scripture to persuade you to be at the church serving every single night at the expense of your marriage? Or the "prophetic word" you receive telling you to take a certain career path? Or how about the pressure you feel to put your kids in a certain school, even when you don't have the funds to pay for said school? Or the call you receive to take on the committment? Buy the new house? Get the surgery? Where is the scripture for that? How in the world can you tell when to accept the thought, the voice, the prophetic word as "safe" or to toss it "out" and run the other way?




The answer is peace.





God has given us a built-in umpire. It is the peace of God.

It's job is to rule with finality all the questions that arise in our minds.

It is an attribute of the Almighty, because God is the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

It is the fruit of His Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22)

God promises to guard your heart and your mind with His peace: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6)

He promises to lead us by His peace: "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace." (Isaiah 55:12)


So, does that mean that every time we get the warm fuzzies, it is God speaking to us? Does lack of conflict or trials indicate God's direction?


Unfortunately, no.


This is why we must continue this discussion...




Happy Easter, everyone!

Sandy

p.s. sorry about the funky formatting, guys. I can't get it to look the way I want it to look no matter how hard I try. :(