“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht   

“Homily Grits Devotional”   http://www.homilygrits.com/

John 10:27… “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and theyfollow Me.” (NKJV)  God’s children are filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment God graces them with salvation…John 14:26…  There should be absolutely no doubt one is a “born again” Christian, as a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), because the Holy Spirit will speak to the spirit of the Christian…

Romans 8:15-16… For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The SpiritHimself bears witness with our spirit that wearechildren of God, (NKJV)

I spent a day a few weeks ago, writing about how people believing they are Christians, who are not filled with the Holy Spirit, will not be able to hear God speaking to them through the Holy Spirit…John 8:47… “He who is of Godhears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, becauseyou are not of God.”  (NKJV)     It was titled…“Positive Response to the Holy Spirit”; and can be re-visited by going to www.Godsmanforever.wordpress.com and typing in 6/03/2013 into the search window…

All of God’s redeemed children will be able to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to them…  But to almost always be able to identify the voice of God speaking to you, does require (in my humble opinion)…a level of spiritual maturity that takes both time and regular feeding upon God’s Word to develop…Matthew 4:4…  

The following scripture, illustrates the point of today’s writing…Hebrews 5:14… But solid food belongs tothose who are offullage, that is, those who byreason of use have their sensesexercised to discern both good and evil. (NKJV)

All humans will have to distinguish between the voices of Satan, their own flesh, and the Holy Spirit (if they are indeed a true child of God), when they receive a voice giving them direction for their lives…  My inspiration for today’s writing comes from a 20 minute audio sermon by Dr. Charles Stanley, that is titled…“Identifying the Voice of God”, dated 6/21/2013, that can be found by going to the following link… http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/audio-archives

Dr. Stanley gives us 9 or 10 things to help us discern if the instructional voice we hear speaking to us, when we have need to make a yes or no decision about something…is from God, or not…  These instructions will be of most benefit to the Christian who has not developed a keen sense of knowing that the answers to a prayer or help in making a decision during the day, are definitely from God…

First and foremost…is the voice you are hearing giving you an answer for direction, consistent with what God tells us in the Bible ??  This is where spending time in God’s Word day in and day out, over a period of years…will allow a believer to “have their sensesexercised to discern both good and evil”…

Another distinguishing feature of the voices answer, would be…does the response gratify the lusts of the flesh…or does it glorify God ??  God would never give a response that would lead a Christian to do doing anything that God would object to… The Apostle John gives us scripture advising the Christian not going back to the lustful sins of the world, in…1 John 2:15-16…

Does the answer we hear only concern ourselves ??  Or does it suggest we think of how our decision will affect the lives of those around us ??  God tells us to always think of others, before we make a decision for ourselves, which may be detrimental to those around us…  Satan will just tell us to “Go for It !!”

Does the answer consider any long term effects of future consequences ??  God will give us answers we may not want to hear right now…   But God always gives us answers that will be best for our future…  Satan tells us not to worry about the future consequences of our actions… 

Does the answer we are given test our faith ??  Will it cause persecution or suffering, because our decision will glorify God ??  Living for the Lord with godly decisions is never easy…  The Apostle Paul pens this, in…

2 Corinthians 4:7-10… But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. ⁸ We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we areperplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— ¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  (NKJV)

These distinguishing factors between God’s voice, and any other detrimental voice we may be hearing, are only half of the suggestions Dr. Stanley gives us in his audio sermon, on how to determine if it is God speaking to you when you are seeking answers that will affect your life…  Listen to his entire sermon when you get the chance…

Heavenly Father, I am ever so thankful for the perfect direction of the Holy Spirit You have given to me for my guidance and protection…  Help all of Your children to see the truth of Your Word today…  Help us Lord, to always obey the Holy Spirit You have given to all of Your children, so that they can stand firmly on their best path in life…  I pray for this fullness of Christ in all of our lives, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen… 

Blessings in Christ,  bruce r mills