Have you ever had a vibrant experience with God but didn’t know what others would think if you shared it with them? In Exodus 4, Moses shares with God that he is worried the people will not believe that the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob actually appeared to him.
God responds to Moses’ concern by giving him the ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. These miraculous signs pointed to the real miracle that God actually sent and sanctioned him. Perhaps the people would believe.
How do we process encounters with God today? How do others help and sometimes hurt us the process? What signs does God give us today to help us and others believe?
September 3, 2008 at 11:01 am |
When Christians began praying for me to be delivered from an eastern cult, I awoke one morning to a vision of the face of Jesus Christ and felt as if He had downloaded understanding into me. I knew things that I didn’t know before such as the Scripture being inerrant. I knew Christ had paid for all my sins on the cross and that nothing remained for me to do to earn entry into heaven!
“No wonder those born-again Christians are so adamant!” I thought, since it was my assumption that this was a common experience. After talking openly about this vision, I soon found that it was a little unusual and that many had their reservations about my experience. Some thought I had gone off the deep end. A relative waited to see if this was for real, and I guess the proof is that I had changed. I repented of my former ways. My whole way of thinking had changed and it changed even more as I read and studied the Scriptures. I found out that those things that had been downloaded to me were actually “in there” – in God’s Word! So it was not new revelation, but it was new to me!
I still talk openly about this experience because I know, though some may think it a little strange, it will encourage many and leave food for thought. Many Christians have had supernatural experiences but are reticent to share them.
Sometimes the Lord still uses dreams and visions to get my attention and to direct me. However, I know that everything supernatural is NOT from the Lord and that everything must be tested and authenticated by Scripture. Knowing the Scriptures builds in us discernment to know what is holy and what is profane – and there are a lot of unholy things being passed off as good only because they are supernatural.
September 3, 2008 at 11:29 am |
Carolyn -
WOW! Thanks for having the willingness to share this story. It surely is astounding the way that God worked in your life. I am sure it was sometimes difficult to tell others in spite of what they might think.
I also appreciate you offering the caution that we not all assume every “experience” is from God. How do you think that we can test and discern what is from God? I know that some things are obviously against God’s commands, but so many things are not specifically addressed in the Bible. How do you think we can determine what is God’s voice and what is not in situations such as a career decision or discerning where God would like us to use our limited time to serve Him? Any thoughts from others?
September 3, 2008 at 12:45 pm |
Several months ago, I was researching cults, primarily Christian cults. There are many false teachings out there. I became distressed about this and asked the Lord how in the world we could discern what is true and what is false. Immediately, I was impressed with the words ‘Abide in Me’. So simple, yet so stunningly true. We NEED to get into the word daily, studying it, memorizing it and praying to our Lord. Like any relationship, we need to actively nurture our relationship with our creator. The more I do this, the easier it is to discern truth from falsehood. I am living in a Muslim country right now. They are going through Ramadan, their holy month of fasting. From outward appearances, they appear to do many of the right things we associate with religion but the one thing, the central thing that keeps them from the knowledge of the truth is their denial of the the deity of Christ – our Lord, the Anchor of our eternity and the Lover of our souls. I know from the relationship that I have with Christ that He is the truth. Please pray for the Muslims that God will use us and other Christians to be salt and light as He works through us to bring them to a knowledge of the one true God.
September 3, 2008 at 1:34 pm |
Thanks Joyce. Living in a country where Christianity is not the norm might actually help us grow spiritually. I think the strongest times in the history of the church are always the times when Christians were persecuted. It makes us question whether we really believe what we say we believe when we have to risk our reputation, our family’s status or even our lives for the sake of Christ.
The religion God desires is centered around a relationship with our creator God through His Son Jesus Christ and our relationship with others, especially the vulnerable. I’ve know Muslims who have become followers of Christ. They found that following Jesus actually completed their pursuit of God in a way that no other religion ever could, because Christ reconnected them in relationship to God and others. I think that is what “Reaching Beyond Yourself” attempts to do, reconnect us in relationship with God and one another by emulating Christ and His pattern of service. If we want to be salt and light, we need to get out of the salt shaker and into the world…as author Rebecca Pippert puts it. (see that book here: http://tinyurl.com/59yxtz)
Thanks again for your thoughts.
John 15:11-13 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
September 3, 2008 at 11:11 pm |
In response to the question of how we can discern the voice of God, first we have to make sure that our response to what we have heard would not be violating principles of God’s Word, as Carolyn, Ray, and Joyce were saying. In addition, since as Christians the Holy Spirit lives in us, and “bears witness that we are children ‘of God’”(Rom. 8:16), then we can listen to the Holy Spirit’s witness within us as to whether something would be “of God” or not “of God.” for our lives. Since we are spirit, soul, and body, we must make sure our soul and body, which are still “in progress” and still being sanctified, are in subjection to our spirit, which has already been made new in Christ and is able to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice. Sometimes it is hard to keep our soul (mind, will and emotions) and body from drowning out the voice of the Spirit of Christ, who is already Lord of our spirit but also wants to be Lord of our soul and body. We also need to remember to tell the voice of the enemy to be silent in the name of Jesus and to bind any spirit of confusion that might be coming against us in the name of Jesus.
If we are honestly desiring God’s will above ours, abiding in Him as Joyce was saying and being open to listen to His voice, then the Holy Spirit will guide us “into all truth” (Jn. 16:13), including God’s true will for our lives. Also, our God is very creative, powerful, and even humorous and does not want to be limited as to how He speaks. He can also speak through people, circumstances, dreams, visions, etc., but we should always check to see if what we are hearing bears witness with His Word and with His Spirit.
September 4, 2008 at 7:27 am |
Well put Laura. I agree that letting Christ reign in all of our lives is what salvation calls us to. Sometimes we limit salvation to God’s work on the cross to save us from the consequence of sin. But, Jesus resurrection also saves us from the power of sin when we wholly submit to Him. This, of course, will ultimately help us to follow His call on our lives. Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
September 9, 2008 at 10:25 am |
As my mother was preparing for a trip to New Zealand, she had been very sick, for quite some time. She had gotten well enough that her doctor let her go, even though she was not completely “well.” She went against the urging of MOST of her friends and family. When she called me, immediately before her trip, I was touched by a voice of peace that told me to “say what I had to say before she left, because I would not speak with her again…BUT THAT IT IS OKAY, YOUR MOM IS AT PEACE.”
I said everything I had to say that day.
She passed to the Father 4 days later. I have been at peace, knowing that she was at peace. I have not cried about her passing – ever – even though she died over 12 years ago…until today, typing this. May God bless the reader of this note as I have been blessed.