Testimony of Hearing from God

Why me? I use to ask God that question all of the time. Why? Why do you bother with me? Why is it that I experience these ‘coincidences’? He repeatedly responded, “Reveal them.”

It’s because He loves His creation, that’s why. He loves me, He loves you.. He loves all of us. Thank you God for this testimony about hearing from you. I pray it goes forth and edifies and encourages the body, in Jesus name. amen –

There have been many messages over the past week or 2 in my life pertaining to “hearing from God”. From a series at Church, devotions, discussions with other Godly men/women, etc. It’s obvious that the Lord wants me to learn this lesson of hearing from Him.

I typically pray and read the Word, but a message from my Pastor last week really hit home. I’m finding that my prayerful life and reading the Word is borderline of “works” versus having a heart for God. More so out of obedience because I know it is the right thing to do. It’s been a struggle that I have been discussing with God for around a week or so now (ever since the blog post – Betrayal of the Ages. Specifically, the sermon at the very end from Paris Reidhead. Again, I highly urge every believer to listen to this – Ten Shekels and a Shirt by Paris Reidhead).

I have been putting it off for a few days now, but I finally decided this afternoon to just get quiet before God in order to hear from Him. I quieted myself and meditated on emptying myself out. Thoughts kept rolling in from the world, and I had to speak in the name of Jesus against worry, anxiousness, depressing thoughts, and selfish desires. Every time I spoke against them in the name of Jesus, the thoughts just fell off. Praise the Lord. I was empty…

While being emptied out, I started to see a thought form, and I saw the thing inside of me that has been a lesson ever since I listened to Ten Shekels and a Shirt – humanism. The thought was based on self and works. This is how it went down – It started with a concern for a situation and someone’s well-being. Cool, no big deal. It then triggered an emotion, I felt for this person and their situation. Additional thoughts from self started to come in, and they pertained to how I could help this situation. The thought then concluded in an action that would be a good thing. Humanism. Not an ounce of God, it was all me instead of it being rooted and grounded in Him.

This is the betrayal of the ages. It is the religion of today. It’s based in selfish emotions, selfish thoughts, selfish ideas, selfish conclusions, and then I say “God led me.” Deception at its finest. Not once did I bring God into the situation and say, “God, you see this person’s situation. I need your guidance.” I didn’t get a Word! I didn’t get any guidance! Nothing! It’s all a sham! I led myself, and then would have taken an action (guided by selfish thoughts and emotions) and then said, “Thus saith the Lord!” *sigh* The lesson is that it isn’t about me, it isn’t about other people.. It’s about Him. I tend to think about other people and how they may need help. Not necessarily a bad thing, but to be a servant of God is to do His will, not mine. Also within those thoughts, I’m there with my own ideas of how I can help, as well as emotions. Then in the end, I say “All the glory to God!” and He says, “I appreciate that, but it wasn’t me.. it was you.”

This revelation was fine, it is part of the lesson of the past week or so. He is showing me a hidden wickedness. Praise God. When He speaks, I should know the difference between my thoughts, my emotions, my ideas, and my conclusions. I confess, I do not always see this clearly. That’s also part of the lesson, but now to the testimony.. haha.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

How would I have known if I heard from God? 1) If I asked Him about the situation first, and 2) The answer would have sounded very similar to something between Genesis 1:1 and Revelations 22:21. Is the root, the desire, the thought, etc. rooted in Christ or am I just having a flash of an emotion? Where is the first thought? Is my mind just running rampant and I’m hearing from myself and emotions or am I praying and hearing the true Word of God? I wonder how many times I have heard from myself, and called it God’s guidance because it lined up with God (works?). Anyways, I want to get this testimony out.. I’m rambling. haha. This is all relevant because of the turmoil that this revelation caused within me..

You see, some hidden wickedness is getting revealed in me. Great. This is good stuff. But, what happened next was a continuance of such.. I began to sink in emotions (a continuance of humanism). I didn’t like this revealed wickedness one bit. I began to feel bad. I was anxious, worrisome, sad, feelings of condemnation, etc.

Then I began to confess, “Forgive me Lord”, and I heard from Him, “You are already forgiven, do you not believe?” Remember, I’m confessing in a state of condemnation. I’m realizing how much I have been deceived and I’m very bothered at this point. How did I know I heard from God? I’m in a state of condemnation and emotional turmoil. Thoughts that continue down this path to bring me down further would be from me. “You are not worthy.. You have not been hearing from God.. You are not where you thought you were with the Lord”, etc. But the Word I heard was contrary to the self and it lined up with the Word of God. What He basically said was, “You are in-Christ. I’m teaching you. Don’t beat yourself up. You’re forgiven in-Christ Jesus.” <– That’s the Word speaking.

How else do I know I heard from God? I received a confirmation – my phone rings immediately as I’m hearing from God in the aforementioned. Ya see, I’m in a state of condemnation, feeling bad, etc. The Lord says, “You are forgiven. You are in Christ!” then the phone rings. As I reach for my phone, the words that came out of my mouth were, “I pray I hear from you Lord…”

It was a brother in the Lord. He’s starts the conversation off immediately with excitement. “Joseph! We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus! There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Be anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.”

God showed up and it became a 180! There was an initial thought based out of humanism, which then had a continuance feeding into more self-based thoughts and emotions. On the flip side, the Truth hit me, and there was a continuance in hearing from God as well. I have been so deceived… Thank you Lord for sticking with me in this. I pray this speaks to someone and I also pray for your continued lesson in this matter in order for me to be transformed. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

I urge you, please listen to that sermon by Paris Reidhead. Deeds can appear “good” and Christlike, but are they from God? It’s kinda like one time I heard from God, “Go rake some leaves!” Hmmm, ok. I’m not sure where though? Then I received a call from a friend out of the blue, “Hey, I think we should go rake some leaves.” Great! Sounds good to me. Confirmation!! Let’s roll! We drove around town and checked on 3 different homes. The 1st person raking leaves outside – “Sorry, I’m hired to do this. Thanks anyways.” The 2nd house of an elderly lady – “Sorry, we don’t have any city bags to bag them. Thanks anyways.” The 3rd, a man with dementia who my friend knew. Knock knock.. no one home. I prayed and asked, “God, why are all the doors closing? You told me to rake leaves and I got a confirmation?!” He said, “Yes, but you didn’t ask me where to go. You told yourself where to go.” I drove home and as I pulled into the driveway, I looked across the yard and heard, “Those leaves.”

Sure, “sounds” great to the Christian.. I went out to rake leaves for people. “Aww, how sweet of you! That’s so awesome!” Ya, but it wasn’t Christ. It was me… Boy, what a lesson that’s been going on for a while..

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