Can You Hear Me Now?: Getting Reception
#30 in the Series: Daddy, It's Me--Conversations of an Ordinary Person with an Extraordinary Heavenly Father
Did you miss me? I know this post is a little late. I have been praying and waiting for the leading of the Spirit as to how to present this subject. This is probably the most important post I will ever make. I want to make sure I’m accurately conveying the message.
I hope you have been enjoying this time learning about how to communicate in an intimate, personal relationship with God, your Heavenly Father, through Jesus by his Holy Spirit. I know some of you are saying, “I don’t hear or sense anything when I follow your directions.” There are quite a number of things that can block the flow of communication much like a downed telephone line or an area of poor or nonexistent cell service.
The first and most important is that you may not actually be a follower of Christ.
“Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.””
John 8:47 NIV
“but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:26-27 NIV
If you are not hearing from God, you have a problem at the very heart of your relationship with God. The good news is, if you are desiring to hear from God, He is already working in your life to create that desire and that result.
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”
Philippians 2:13 NLT
If you do not sense you are hearing from God, first—sincerely and honestly—evaluate your salvation experience. The gospel is simple but profound…and costly.
- In the beginning God created a perfect world and walked in intimate fellowship with man (Genesis 1-2)
- Man chose to disobey God’s only command and broke that fellowship and has been doing the same ever since (Genesis 2:16-17, Genesis 3, All the rest of the Old Testament!)
- God shed blood to cover man’s original sin and instituted the shedding of blood to atone for man’s sin, but this had to be done on an ongoing basis. (Genesis 3:21, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy)
- When the proper time came, God sent the ultimate sacrifice of his own Son, Jesus, to pay for all of mankind’s sins…past, present, and future…once for all (Galatians 4:4, Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 26)
- Jesus came to earth as a man…was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was persecuted and killed unjustly, was resurrected on the third day, then ascended to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, where he is ever interceding for us. (All of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 12:25)
- Those who believe and accept this message will have their relationship to God restored and will have eternal life (John 3:16)
- Those who believe will experience troubles, trials, and tribulations because of their belief but Jesus by the Holy Spirit will be with them enabling them to be victorious (Romans 8)
- Those who refused to believe and accept this message will be destined to eternal punishment (Mark 16:16)
When you believe this and accept this and confess this with all your heart you will be saved…the evidence will be a changed life.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 NIV
The decision to accept Christ’s invitation to believe in Him includes following him. We accept him by faith and we follow him by what we do after that. If you have never made the decision to believe and accept the gospel—The Good News—outlined above, I urge you to consider your life and make that decision today. Believe it in your heart…with your whole heart and say it—out loud: “Jesus Christ came in the flesh, died and rose again to pay the death penalty that should have been mine! I believe he is who he said he is—the Son of the Living God. Jesus, I accept you and your sacrifice for me. I make you Lord of my life. I renounce every other thing I have allowed to fill your place in my life and I ask you to fill me with you. I declare here and now that you are my Lord, my Savior and my God. Thank you Father for sending Jesus. Thank you Jesus for coming and showing me how I can live and be restored to relationship with God. Thank you Holy Spirit for drawing me to this relationship and now help me to grow deep and bear fruit. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
If you have prayed that today, or something similar in the past your next step is to follow. If you have never followed, you must ask yourself, why. Were you not sincere? Did you not know there was more? The “more” is where “abundant life” lives. Following Jesus by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit is the most challenging and rewarding life one can live.
“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23 NIV
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.”
Proverbs 8:17 NIV
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Matthew 6:33 NIV
““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7 NIV
“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Deuteronomy 4:29 NIV
What are you seeking? How are you seeking? Is your walk with God nonchalant? Or is it the very breath you breathe? God loves everyone and does not want any to perish… he wants everyone to come to repentance and accept the gift of salvation through Jesus…But you have to take action by faith to receive this gift…to open this gift. Just saying the prayer is like taking the gift. But if you never open it, you never receive the benefit of taking it. There is no evidence that you even took it. If there is no evidence that you took it…did you? Following Christ—allowing God to change you and direct your life even though it means going through trials—that is opening the gift! And what a wonderful gift it is, both here and now and in the ages to come.
““Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”
Mark 10:29-30 NIV
“You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”
Hebrews 10:34 NIV
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10 NIV
So, what is your decision? Will you both receive and open the gift? Open the gift that leads to an intimate, personal, real relationship with the God of the universe? What freedom awaits for your mustang heart? It is up to you!
If you have made this decision today or made it again with a commitment to follow or if you have questions, please email me at joyfullcoyote@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you and celebrate with you or answer your questions. If I can’t answer them (I am just an ordinary person in love with God), I will do my best to find out.
P.S. If you are blessed by this blog, don’t forget to leave me a comment or send me an email. Feel free to share it on your social media. If you receive this in your email, you may need to visit the webpage (link is in the footer) to find the share buttons. If you don’t receive it in your email, sign up for auto delivery at the top right hand column of the webpage. Be blessed today!
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Teri