Is God Speaking to You?
Happy New Year! 2005
I pray that this new year will be a time in your life that you will receive the favor of God and the blessings that go along with His favor.
It has been a year now that this web ministry has been established. If you look down at the hit counter on the home page, you'll see the date of my first web published lesson. The neat thing about the hit counter is the number listed beside it. This number is a true testimony of how God will take an active role in our lives if we truly ask Him and obey Him. This number is the number of readers that have viewed this ministry since it was established.
You see, I couldn't have created a web site on my own and said, "OK guys, I have a web site now. Ya'll come visit." It was a year ago (January 4, 2004) that I was sitting in church, minding my own business, listening to the sermon. For a few weeks earlier I had been dwelling on the thought of, "How can I use my web building talent to make more money for Robby?" I wanted to re-invent something like a pet rock where people across the country would send me $1.00 for something small and cheap. Well, sitting in that service a year ago I felt the presence of The Lord (The Holy Spirit) move on me like I've never felt before. I've often heard folks say, "God spoke to me." I didn't really know what that meant. I wondered, do you hear Him audibly? Do you know for sure that it's God? How do you know it's God?
In the middle of the sermon, (I don't know or remember what the sermon was about), I felt His presence, and in my mind, as clear as a bell, I heard, "Stop dwelling on a web site to make you more money. Build a site for My glory." I looked around at the folks sitting near to me to see if they heard anything. This was the first time that a thought to build anything having to do with God came across my mind. My actual thoughts about building a web site were miles away from doing anything for God's glory. It had NEVER crossed my mind.
I was so overwhelmed by the feeling of His presence, tears came to my eyes. (I tear up now just remembering the feeling.) After church I told my wife, Julie, that I felt that God spoke to me during the service. I was actually embarrassed to tell her something like this. (I never said this before to anyone.) Without a second thought she asked, "What did He say?" I told her that God told me to build a web site for his glory. She asked, "What are you going to do?" I said, "I have no clue."
Night after night I sat at my computer trying to think of a web site to build. I would pray, but no further answers would come. I would say, "OK Lord, here I am to build a website for You." At the time, I was teaching a very small college Sunday school class. There were only about seven students in the class. Most of them went to a university away from home. The Sunday class grew smaller because of the students being away from home, and not coming home as often. I was driving home from work one day and at the same time I was burdened by the thought about how to reach my students while they were away from home. Then the thought came to my mind like a loud bell ringing! This is what my web site for His glory is suppose to be! Build a site to send the Sunday school lesson to where the students are by Internet. (I believe God answered my prayers of what to build for Him.)
Often times now when I give this testimony to the different college groups I visit, a student will come up to me and ask, "How do you know when God is speaking to you?" The Bible has many verses that speak about the fact that God will answer you. In the book of Jeremiah 33: 3, God is speaking and says,"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." In Psalm 92 the Bible gives a clear indication of the conditions needed to hear from The Lord. The Bible says, " 'Because he loves me,' says the Lord, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him..."
I believe that God speaks to us through The Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke about The Holy Spirit in the Book of John 14: 25-26. Jesus was instructing His disciples when he said, "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." Do you ever hear that inner voice that says that you shouldn't be doing something? Perhaps it is the prompting of the Holy Spirit reminding you of what you have learned from the Gospel.
Jesus speaks more about the Holy Spirit in John 16: 5-15. In John 16: 14 Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit when he says, "He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you." I truly believe this is the reason I felt the presence of God in the church service a year ago. A Good Word Ministry is ALL about bringing glory to God. I have a strong conviction enabled by the Holy Spirit to share with you what is being made known to me.
Have any of these lessons ever hit home with you? Did you ever feel a special tug on your heart when you read through one of the lessons? This is God, through the Holy Spirit reaching out to you. God speaks to us often in many ways; through His Word (The Bible), through other people like the pastors and Sunday school teachers of our churches, through gifted writers filled with The Spirit, and through our thoughts.
Today, in this new year, I want to encourage you to begin to listen more closely to God speaking to you through the Holy Spirit. He has a plan especially designed just for you. Start by asking Him to guide you in seeking His will. Begin to obey Him in every way of your life. As you begin to obey Him more and submit your life more to Him, His voice will become more clear to you.
When you hear His voice, do as Jesus asked in Matthew 10: 27, "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs."
Look at the hit counter on the home page (it started at zero), you just added a new hit that I am proclaiming from my roof!
Robby
