GOD STILL SPEAKS TODAY (PART 3)

Throughout the Bible, God spoke through several vessels, including prophets, priests, apostles, and even an animal.

In John 5:30 Jesus said “ I can of mine own self do nothing as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me”. Jesus who is our standard also heard from God.

The Holy Spirit too hears. In John 16:13, we read “ … for he ( Spirit of God) shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear….”

The ear with which we hear is spiritual and not physical. Hearing from God depends on us and not only on God. But if we don’t stop doing some things that are against His word, we may not hear from Him. Some of these things were discussed in previous messages. Today we would like to tackle the rest. 

Living in sin can blur our vision and deaden our spiritual ears. So you see, we have spiritual vision and ears but those ears can become unresponsive to His voice when we decide to always grieve the Spirit of God. A Christian is not a sinner though he may err from time to time. His ability to recognize that what he did was wrong and becoming penitent and vows never to return to that old “ vomit” is indicative of the fact that He’s conscious of who he is and the presence of God’s Spirit in his heart. The believer does not have the sinful nature in him anymore because he’s born again and since he’s born again he has the nature of God. For this matter some words are used to describe him “ Saint, righteous, royal priesthood, chosen generation, peculiar person ” among others. For the believer to call himself sinner is the same as saying Christ’s death was useless and couldn’t bring him salvation but remember Jesus came to seek and save the lost which includes you and I – Luke 19:10.

Now, the unbeliever on the other hand doesn’t have the life of God in him so he still operates with the sinful nature. This means no matter how righteous he may seem, no matter how kind he maybe even to the poor and windows, until he accepts Christ Jesus as his personal Saviour and Lord, God still sees him as a sinner and he is a sinner and not you the born again believer. When an unbeliever lives in sin, he feels it’s normal and he believes everyone is like him just that Christians pretend. He may have a few examples to support his view and may forget that the very people he may be using as examples may not be the standard and such people may have reconciled with God. So if an unbeliever lives in fornication or adultery, he may feel ok and even hear a voice telling him the lady he is fornicating or committing adultery with is his wife. That voice is certainly not of God because it doesn’t tally with scriptures. Sometimes too when you live deeply in sin, it’d be so difficult to hear the Lord’s voice.

Finally, depression is another factor that impedes us from hearing from God. When you are always sad, you focus on your problem and rather than on God. When you are in this state, encourage yourself in the Lord like David did when he was depressed (  1 Samuel 30:6). Don’t give the devil any attention at all but rather look for scriptures that engender encouragement and faith. That’s the voice of the Lord. God can speak to you through them. Don’t pity yourself because if you do so you can be kept down and your ability to hear from the Lord would be blocked. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of joy and liberty. When you are depressed, the devil will use that condition to tell you who you are not in the Lord and physical signs may even confirm that but remember we are not moved by sight but rather by the word of God. The devil may say, you shall never buy land because you have been jobless for years and that may be true. Don’t accept it. Reject it with the word and tell him, you maybe unemployed now but the truth is that you are not only employed but are also an employer of labor. Go out there rejoicing and believing God and not your circumstances. Rejoice and praise the Lord.

I bind the spirit of depression and self pity from your life right now! Be gone in the name of Jesus! I curse you by the God of heaven. I command your power broken over the life of my sister now! Be freed!

Dr. David Tobi Ogoudou