Recognizing the Sweet, Majestic Voice of God - JAMES W. GOLL CHARISMA NEWS

The voice of God is like the sound of rushing waters. (Flickr )

Recognizing the Sweet, Majestic Voice of God

12/25/2016 JAMES W. GOLL  CHARISMA NEWS

"I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks was one like a Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and with a golden sash wrapped around the chest. The hair on His head was white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters" (Rev. 1:12-15).

God not only wants us to know the historical Jesus, who came in human form and walked among men. He yearns for us also to know the living, resurrected Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father wants to enable us to hear, know and obey the risen Lord.

But often we don't realize He is speaking to us. And no wonder we miss His cues—His voice is like the sound of many rushing waters. Revelation 1:15 says, "His voice [was like] the sound of many waters." Notice the use of the word "many." When it comes to many waters, there is the sound of a gentle, trickling stream; the sound of a thunderstorm, with rain pouring down; the sound of waves crashing in upon the shore and the overwhelming sound of a river at flood stage, clearing away everything in its path. God's voice today is like the sound of these many rushing waters.

A Revealing Phone Call

Once, the voice of God came to me in the middle of the night, but I didn't recognize it at first. The ringing of my telephone woke me up. I got up out of bed, went to our kitchen and picked up the phone, only to find there was no one on the other end—just a dial tone. I stumbled back into bed and fell asleep, only to hear the phone ringing a second time. I rolled out of bed, groped in the dark and picked up the phone, only to find again that there was no voice on the other end.

Wearily, I walked back once more to my bedroom and crawled back into bed, only to be awakened a third time by hearing our telephone ringing. Determined to figure this thing out, I went to the kitchen, picked up the receiver and listened longer. I still didn't hear anything. But this time, a still, small voice in my heart whispered, Jeremiah 33:3.

I hung up the receiver, found a Bible and looked up the verse: "Call to Me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know." I was stunned by God's invitation, and I spent the next couple of hours just sitting in the quietness of our living room in the presence of the Almighty, communing with Him and listening to His sweet, sweet voice.

The Impact of His Voice

Let's read Psalm 29:3-9 to get a better idea of the variety of ways we might be able to hear the voice of God:

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord sounds with strength; the voice of the Lord—with majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a wild ox. The voice of the Lord flashes like flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer to give birth, and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everyone says, "Glory!"

Yes, when the powerful and glorious voice of the Lord comes into our lives, it rolls around in our spirits and "thunders" for a while (v. 3). It grabs our attention. We can't get away from it, and we can't get away from Him. At times, God will manifest Himself as a glorious intruder, as He did with Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. If and when this occurs, we will never be the same. His voice will rock our world.

Majestic and penetrating, the voice of the Lord "breaks the cedars" (v. 5). Cedars are a very dense, hard wood. (Have you ever felt someone was "too dense" for the Lord to reach?) When cedars are broken open, they release an irresistible fragrance. God's voice is capable of coming into and mowing down any situation that looms in front of us like an intimidating giant. Out of that once-foreboding giant, the aroma of Christ can come forth.

Psalm 29 continues, "The voice of the Lord flashes like flames of fire" (v. 7). Have you ever been scorched by the hot words of God? Sometimes thundering, sometimes quiet and sweet, God's voice can bring intense conviction into our lives. When His authentic fire comes, we may feel like running away from the fire rather than into it. But this fiery word and resulting experience has come to purify us for a useful purpose. Let the fire fall, and let His word purify, cleanse and burn out all of the dross and impurities within your heart.

It is never too late for fresh life to emerge. Dormant dreams become activated in a moment by the voice of God. May His word come upon you and cause you to see yourself as a fruitful vine.

"And [the voice of the Lord] strips the forests bare" (v. 9a). How do you like that one? God's voice comes, and it removes all the false armor we rely on. All of our vanities, self-reliance, false images and pretenses are stripped away, and we are left naked before the Creator of the universe. The voice of God brings humility into our lives. According to John 15, it is the tree that has borne fruit that He prunes. So let's be encouraged, looking at the end result and remembering how good He is. If He strips us or asks us to lay something down, He always has a great reason.

God's Voice Today

God wants us to hear His voice not just yesterday but also today and in a vibrant relationship, with all of its manifestations, so we can bear much fruit—fruit that will remain.

So let His voice thunder. Let the fire fall. Let His word be magnified. Let the waterfall of His refreshing sound replenish each and every thing. Let all creation echo His sound. Let His still, small voice and His tumultuous voice continue to proceed from the throne of God into our lives.

The voice of the Lord is indeed diverse and majestic. Yes, everything in His temple shouts "Glory!" Come on, now. Do it with me. Give Him some praise, and watch what the Lord will do. 

For the original article, visit encountersnetwork.com.

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!

Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.

Mountains - Majestic Power, Majestic Glory, Majestic God

The Glory of God

is revealed 

in His creation.

 

 Colorado - May 2014

Angels on Assignment - Jim Croft

Angels on Assignment

Jim Croft

Hebrews 1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?"

Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels."

Mankind and angels are beings of separate, distinct species. Angels were created in heaven in an age before the world was formed. They have celestial bodies that are superior in strength to humans. (1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Pet. 2:11) The only angels that have wings are the cherubim and seraphim. The cherubs will have two or four and seraphim have six. (1 Kings 6:27; Ezek. 1:6; 10:14; Isa. 6:1-3)

Angels, cherubim, and seraphim are all majestic in appearance and are often frightening. When angels appeared to biblical characters, it was not uncommon for them to encourage them not to be fearful. (Luke 1:13, 30) Angels have a number of functions on behalf of the Kingdom of God and for the good of mankind.

Some continually minister to members of the Godhead with adulations of praise. Others serve as emissaries to deliver specific messages from God to individuals. The majority of the time they minister aspects of God’s mercy to saints and sinners alike.

A common function for angels is to orchestrate situations to coincide the paths of the unconverted with Christians who can direct them to the Cross. When they assist in these matters, they either remain invisible or take on the appearance of mere mortals. My parents and sister, Prudence and I, and our four daughters have encountered angels on numerous occasions.

Angel Balances Car

When I was age 9 and my sister was 5, our family took a trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway of the Smokey Mountains. The weather turned bad and the roads became icy. As we rounded a sharp bend, our 1951 Chrysler skidded off of the road and crashed through its stone guard rail.

We were all dazed. When my father came to his senses, he realized that two-thirds of the car was hanging over a three hundred foot precipice.

He commanded all of us to remain perfectly still until help came. My little sister, Candace, said, “Daddy, I see a big man sitting on the back of our car.”

My father slowly turned around and said, “I don’t see anyone. Are you sure?” Her response was that he was still there. My mother and father spoke at the same time. “It must be the angel of the Lord.”

My parents climbed into the backseat and opened the door that was closest to flat ground. My father got out first and then lifted us all to safety. Shortly afterward, a farmer came along in his truck and pulled the car back onto the road with a chain. Then my sister exclaimed, “The man just jumped off the back of the car!” The kind farmer towed our car to the next village for repairs, and my parents led us all in thanksgiving to God for sending His angel to help us.

The Extra Button

While my parents were living in Atlanta, GA, they had a beautiful home in the Club Drive area. It had a sewing room that was set apart for my mother’s passion for sewing. One of my father’s favorite sport jackets was purchased in Europe. It had leather patches on the sleeves and intricately woven leather buttons.

My father had lost one of the buttons. Mom and Dad searched the house and car and could not find it. My mother uttered a prayer, “Lord, send one of your angels to help me find that button”. Several days later as she passed through the sewing room and saw the button sitting on top of her sewing machine.

She thanked the Lord and then sewed the button back onto the jacket. Later she rationalized that she must have forgotten about putting the button on the sewing machine. Apparently, she was having second thoughts about presuming that God would send an angel to locate anything as insignificant as a button.

Later that day she had to run some errands. As she got into her car, she saw a button on the armrest of her Cadillac. It was identical to the one she had just sewn onto my father’s sports jacket. Apparently, our God who keeps track of the number of hairs on our heads is also interested in the mundane matters of our lives.

Glue stick

Prudence frequently helps people with her interior decorating skills. She designed and constructed a built-in couch for one of her clients. When adding the piping around the edges of the couch she saw that she didn’t have enough glue sticks for her glue gun. As usual she prayed about the matter. She asked the Lord to either stretch her supply of glue within the gun or to send an angel to fetch more glue sticks for her.

Three-quarters through the piping the gun ran out of glue. She checked her tool bag and looked for one that she might have missed and found none. She was preparing to leave to purchase some more sticks and laid the piping down at the end of the couch.

When she did so, she saw a glue stick sitting on the floor. She knew that an angel had put it there, as she had not previously done anything on that end of the couch. She giggled with delight, “Thank you, Mr. Angel.”

You have an Appointment

My father served under General George S. Patton in World War II. As his company was advancing, they routed the Germans from a village in Luxembourg. My Dad’s company took some much-needed R & R after liberating the town. The only person who spoke English was a 14-year-old girl by the name Andrea. She became his interpreter and my father appointed her as the honorary mayor of the city.

Fifty years later my parents made one of their frequent trips to Europe. Their purpose this time was to make a trek through the various cities that my father had liberated. At about 2:00 PM one afternoon they arrived in Andrea’s city. Dad located the family restaurant that Andrea’s parents had owned.

He knocked on the front door and there was no answer. He then went to the back door and knocked. Still there was no response. As he started to walk down the path back to his car, he heard a voice saying, “Captain”.

When he turned around, he saw a 64-year-old woman that he recognized as Mayor Andrea. She said that she had recognized him by his distinct walking gait. It was more-less like a John Wayne swagger

Andrea took my parents to her home and introduced them to her husband. They shared a meal and spent the afternoon in reminiscent small talk. As evening came my Dad led the conversation into spiritual matters. Andrea accepted Jesus as her Savior and Lord.

When it came time for the two couples to part, Andrea’s husband fell into my father’s arms and wept deeply. Then they related the following story. Earlier that day they had been visiting the home of friends who lived about fifty kilometers away in a remote farm area. Andrea and her husband were childless, so no one was informed about their plans of the day’s excursion.

Curiously, a man came to the farm house door and asked to speak with Andrea and her husband. Neither of them knew the man.

He said to them, “You have an appointment at your restaurant today at 2:00 PM. You cannot afford to miss it.” A peculiarity was that there were no cars parked along the road which inferred that he had not come by car.

After delivering the message, he turned and walked away and disappeared from sight. There is no doubt that he was an angel of God that had been sent by the Father to see to it that Andrea would be in the right place at the right time to hear the message of salvation.

A Bible for Narumi

Our third daughter, Holly, was married in August of 1997. One of the wedding guests was a young Japanese woman from Tokyo, Japan. Her name is Narumi Kanazawa. At Christmas time of that year, Narumi requested that we extend an invitation for her to travel from Japan to spend the holidays in our home.

We were delighted to have her, and she began to call us her American Mommy and Daddy. She attended a New Year’s Eve party with Holly and her husband, Chris. During the party, she began to ask questions about Prudence and me.

She expressed that we had something special that she would like to have. Holly told her that we were Christians and that Jesus had brought great peace and many blessings to our lives. Her response was, “I want that to.”

Holly telephoned our oldest daughter, Kari who led Narumi through repentance from sin and a confession that Jesus was God’s Son that He raised from the dead. Prudence and I wept for joy when the girls called us and told us of Narumi’s salvation.

The following morning I awoke with the plan of locating a store to buy Narumi a Japanese Bible. When I went into my office, I picked up a magazine from my shelf and there was a Bible under it. What a wonder, a brand new Bible in the Japanese language. I had never seen it before. Surely one of God’s majestic angels put it there just for her.

Later on, Narumi’s employment as a high fashion photographer led her to relocate to NYC in the following December. She dated a young man there and expressed disappointment that he had not invited her to his family’s home for Christmas.

The fellow defended himself by saying that he thought that as Japanese that she would be Buddhist with no interests in Christian celebrations. Narumi’s response makes me smile to this day.

"I’ll have you know that I’m not Buddhist. I am a born-again Christian and a holy angel of God delivered a Japanese Bible for me to my America Daddy. So there, Mr. Smarty Pants." Narumi parted company with the rude guy and is now happily married with children.

God, do what Holly said

Our daughter Holly’s husband is Chris Van Buren. My father led him to the Lord shortly after they were married. Before coming to Christ, he was a decent man, but had little understanding of spiritual matters. He is continually amazed by the things God does.

He is a cabinetmaker by trade. Recently, he was building a cabinet from driftwood for a client. He had purchased some antique hinges for it at a flea market. He found that after installing one of the hinges that the other was missing. He looked all over the shop and could not find it.

He called Holly and she came and helped him clear everything from the garage in hopes of finding the hinge. The baby began to fuss, so Holly had to abandon the search. As she walked into the house, she said, “Lord, send one of your angels to help Chris find that hinge.”

Chris made another thorough inspection of the entire garage, including the cabinet that needed the hinge. The search yielded no results. In exasperation he said, “God, do what Holly said.” When he turned around, his gaze fell on the cabinet shelf that needed the hinge. The missing hinge was sitting on the shelf that was directly in line with the place on the cabinet’s door where it was to be installed.

Help’s on the Way

Debbie has dated Prudence’s brother, Tim for the past 20 years. Their relationship is not platonic. On a cold snowy day, she went down the basement stairs of her parent’s house to fetch something. There was not anyone else at home. She stumbled early in the descent. She was knocked out when her cheek slammed onto the concrete pavement of the basement.

She came to and found that she was seriously injured and could hardly move. Debbie had numerous broken bones including her jaw and was bleeding profusely. She painfully crawled up the stairs and knocked the phone of its hook with a foot. She had two broken arms and could not dial the phone or speak. She hit 911 with her tongue and then passed out.

Later she gained consciousness and decided to crawl out the front door onto the walk, so that the ambulance would be sure to see her. She laid there for a long while. It was bitter cold and she feared freezing to death, so she made the decision to crawl back into the enclosed porch.

Out of nowhere, a man of about 80-years-of-age appeared right beside her. He knelt and whispered in her ear not to be fearful as help was on the way and then he disappeared.

Debbie spent months recuperating in the hospital. During that time she made inquiries by phone and newspaper notices to locate the old man who had spoken to her. She lives in a small rural town and nobody came forth who had a clue about the man’s identity.

When Debbie told us this story, it proved an undisputable fact: Our God is the Father of Mercies. Every day, all over the world, he sends his holy angles to minister comfort to people who are living less than godly Christian lives.

You Too

I encourage you to imitate my family’s practice of calling on the Lord to send his angels to assist you in your daily life. The situation does not have to be a monumental emergency. Whatever is helpful to you is of importance to God.

Jim Croft  jcm888@comcast.net


Love For His People Editor's Note: Angel photo below added by me.  We have this statue in our home. I like the looks of it.

Steve Martin

Lion of the Tribe of Judah

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah 

upholds His eternal Word.

Yeshua HaMashiach

(Jesus)

Photo by Steve Martin. Pictured are treasured Bibles in our home. 

The largest Bible on one of our bookcases, on the left, was Laurie's father Otto Unzicker's - 
one of the most godly men I have ever known. A good man who loved the Lord, his family, people, painting, gardening, and the Lord's Word above all. He made it to Jerusalem - one of his dreams.

The Bible on the far right has an olive wood cover. It is from Jerusalem. The two Bibles just to the left of the olive wood-covered Bible are both over a 100 years old. Their covers are made of leather.

The Lion of Judah (Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach) upholds His Word always. His promises, contained in His Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) Written Word, are trustworthy and everlasting. No other one can claim that!

We treasure the Lord's Word.

Painting by Alex Levin - Israeli from Tel Aviv.