Bible Matters 461 God Speaks

When God speaks, you listen.  When you understand how God’ speaks, then you are on the path to understanding the truth in God’s word.  God’s word doesn’t mean anything, unless you want to know the truth.  Do not have a complacent attitude toward repetitive acts of religion and the endless repetition of religious verses.   Once you understand the truth in God’s word, then it is time for you to live unto good works, giving God the glory by living his gospel of Love.  Share God’s gospel to the lost of the world.  God is waiting!

James 5:20 – Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

In this life, you will choose either light or darkness.  God tells you this in the first four verses of the book of Genesis. Light is the things of God and is good.  Darkness is of the devil.

Genesis 1:1-4 – In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

God measures your attitude by the things that you love from the heart.  God requires you to make a decision to love of the things of the flesh or of the spirit.  God will challenge you and it is up to you to put your trust in him.  When you believe in the one true God, then God will seek to use your services.  God tested Abraham with a request to offer his son.  Abraham did as God directed and God saw that his heart was pure.  God then presented Abraham a ram for a burnt offering.  When God speaks, you listen.

Genesis 22:1-3,7-8,10-13,15-16,18 – And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.  And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? [8] And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.  And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

When you walk in the light, the devil will put temptation of sin in your way daily.  When you partake of this temptation, you enter into darkness.  You can’t live in the light, while walking in darkness.  When you understand God’s word, you know exactly what you are to do to please God.  Do not be deceived.  After God created Adam, he told Adam not to dwell in darkness by eating of the tree of knowledge.  God then created Eve and she ate of the tree of knowledge.  When Adam saw that Eve didn’t die, he too ate of the tree of knowledge.  The devil will tell you that this one beer won’t hurt!  When God gives you a command, then you listen.  Never doubt the power of God’s word.

Genesis 2:15-17,23 – And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

When God shows you his power, he is preparing you to do great things for him.  After God called out Moses from the burning bush, God made it clear that Moses was to deliver his people out of the hands of the Egyptians. 

Exodus 3:2-4,6,8 – And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.  And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.  And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.  Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.  And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites

God speaks to you when you least expect it.  The Lord God spoke to Mose in a cloud.  All Moses could do is to bow his head and worship.

Exodus 34:5-8 – And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.  And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

God no longer found pleasure in the sinful life of his people and sin sacrifice by burnt offerings.  He needed to turn them away from the sacrifice of animals for the remission of sins.  To love from the heart is more that the total sum of all burnt offerings and sacrifices.   Burnt offerings can never take away sin. 

Mark 12:33 – And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Hebrews 10:11 – And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

At thirty years old. Jesus had no clue as to what was about to happen in his life.  Jesus was sent by God.  John the Baptist was sent by God to baptize for the remission of sins.  God gave Jesus an introduction to the job at hand like no other.  God spoke from heaven, telling all that Jesus was his beloved Son in a monumental fashion.  (Matthew 3:16,17; Mark 1:8-11; Luke 3:22)

Luke 3:22 – And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

As a prophet, Jesus experienced little honor amongst his own. 

Mark 6:4-6 – But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

When God spoke, Jesus listened.  God knew that Jesus needed followers to carry God’s word to the ends of the earth.  God spoke from a cloud.  God told his disciples to hear Jesus.  (Matthew 17:1-5; Mark 9:2,7)

Mark 9:2,7 – And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

Jesus knew that his followers must do the will of God the Father. (Matthew 12:50; Mark 3:35)

Matthew 12:50 – For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

When God texted me “Ecclesiastes” and then “Romans 8:28”, I listened.  When God sent me the jail ministry, I listened.  When God sent me verses after verse and witness after witness to document the truth in his word, I listened.  When God sent me “Ecclesiastes 4:12-15”, I knew my witness to the fifty plus churches was completed.   God’s gospel of Love shown forth from the truth in God’s word out of the mouth of two or three witnesses.  So simple and so pure.  A doctrine for all of mankind to live by with lessons presented in the OneWorldChurch.net 

All that matters in this life is to be walking in the light and living God’s gospel of Love.  Refrain from sin and drunkenness.  Live a life unto righteousness by doing the will of God unto good works.  When God speaks, you listen.

To God be the glory in all you do, Amen.