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| Teaching Christians how to live a "vivid" Christian life. | |
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How to Discern God's Guidance
Introduction
It's not the purpose of this article to examine all of the different ways in which God might communicate with us (e.g., dreams, visions, tongues and interpretation, or prophecies), but this article will give you practical information on how to discern God's usual ways of communicating with us. God Communicates with Every Christian
In a moment we'll see that the Bible commands us to be led by the Spirit of God, so in obedience to God, every Christian needs to learn how to discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit within them. He's the Teacher (John 14:26), and He will help us understand what the Bible says (1 Corinthians 2:14) and lead us on the individual path that God has in mind for each of us. As Christians, we are called servants of the Lord (e.g., Matthew 6:24, Romans 6:22, 2 Timothy 2:24, Hebrews 9:14, Revelation 1:1, 2:20). Therefore, imagine a new butler to the lord of the manor at an English estate. He has the instruction manual describing the butler's duties and can perform some of his duties after studying the instruction manual, but those are not his only duties. In order to properly function as a butler to the lord of the manor, it's not his place to do whatever he feels like doing all day, but instead, he must be available to the lord of the manor all day, every day. In exactly the same way, as servants of the Lord, we should think of ourselves as His butlers. We must obey everything that the instruction manual (the New Testament) tells us to do, but those are not our only duties. In order to properly function as butlers to the Lord, it's not our place to do whatever we feel like doing all day, but instead, we must be available to the Lord all day, every day. The New Testament never says that the Bible is God's completed revelation to us, or that it contains everything we need in order to know Him and serve Him, or that God rarely speaks to anyone today other than through the Bible. These views, held by many Protestants and Baptists and other denominations, are based on several misunderstandings (see my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today). The Bible is God's completed written revelation to us (until after the Second Coming as my article above explains), but in the passages below we're clearly told to continually listen to the Lord through the Holy Spirit within us. Jesus is the Head and each Christian is a part of His physical body on earth (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:15-16, 5:23-24, Colossians 1:18, 24). Just as your head constantly tells different parts of your body what to do, where to go, and what to say, our Head (Jesus) constantly tells different parts of His physical body what to do, where to go, and what to say. Each part of Christ's physical body (each Christian) needs to be listening to and obeying our Head because if we're not listening to Him then we're not fully obeying Him (think about it for a moment), and we'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven (see section #11, #12, and #13 in my article called Cheat Sheet). Imagine that a family moves into your neighborhood. Over time, you learn some things about them from other people, but that doesn't mean you know them. If you go to their door and talk to them through the door without discerning any response, no matter how often you do this you still don't know them. The only way to know them is through two-way communication with them. In exactly the same way, we learn things about God from the Bible and from other Christians, but that doesn't mean we know Him (just like with the new neighbors). No matter how often we talk to Him in prayer without discerning any response, that still doesn't mean we know Him (just like with the new neighbors). The only way to know Him is through two-way communication with Him (just like with the new neighbors). Think it through for a moment. One of the most important aspects of the Christian life is to continue growing in our relationship with the Lord. As the above illustration about new neighbors shows, we cannot and will not have the relationship with Him that we are meant to have unless we are experiencing two-way communication with Him. Keep in mind that Christianity is not actually a religion, it's all about our relationship with Christ. The only way to have a relationship with someone is by spending time with them and having two-way conversations with them. When my kids were little, I spent a lot of time with them (and still do as much as possible), talking with them, doing things with them, teaching them, guiding them, and so on. When I gave them chores and tasks to do, such as cleaning their room, cutting the grass when they were older, cleaning the bathroom, etc., they didn't particularly like those assignments but I had their best interests at heart because as a loving father I wanted them to be equipped to live successfully on their own when the time came. God is our Father, our Parent, and He wants to spend a lot of time with each of His children, talking with us, doing things with and through us, teaching us, guiding us, and so on. When He gives us tasks to do, we won't always like those assignments but He always has our best interests at heart because He is our loving Father. In the first chapter of the Bible, and in the last chapter of the Bible, and in every book in between (with very few exceptions), God spoke to people. That's what He does. He never stopped speaking to His people; His people stopped listening to Him. Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches that are meant to bear much fruit (John 15:5-8). The trunk of a grapevine communicates directly with every branch, providing what each branch needs for growing and producing fruit. In exactly the same way, Jesus communicates directly with every Christian, providing what each of us needs for growing and "producing fruit" (i.e., accomplishing the assignments that He needs us to do here on earth). We need to be listening to Him throughout the day, every day. In the passages below, notice that Jesus said that those who are of God hear God's words. He said that He will not leave us as orphans, but that He will come to us through the Holy Spirit inside us. He also said that His sheep listen to His voice, and that we should not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. We're told that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of wisdom and revelation who fills us with the knowledge of His will so that we may know God better. We're told to live by the Spirit and be led by the Spirit, and that spiritual truths can only be discerned through the Spirit, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. We're also told that the Lord gives us insight into His will, and that we must listen to everything He tells us: He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God. (John 8:47 NKJV)In the above passages we are clearly told numerous times that we need to continually listen to the Lord through the Holy Spirit within us. Otherwise we are violating and disobeying the spirit of every one of the above passages. In addition, notice what Jesus said to all of His disciples: "Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: "...I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."" (Luke 12:1, 8-12)In the above passage, the first sentence that Jesus spoke still applies today (Romans 10:9-10, 2 Timothy 2:12, 1 John 2:23), and His second sentence still applies today (Romans 10:9-10, 2 Timothy 2:12, 1 John 2:23), and His third sentence still applies today (e.g., 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-29), and therefore His fourth sentence still applies today. If we argue that His fourth sentence does not apply today then we're being inconsistent in how we're treating the above passage. In His fourth sentence, Jesus specifically said that the Holy Spirit within us will sometimes tell us what to say to people, which is another reason why we need to keep listening to Him on the inside. In fact, when God told the prophet Jeremiah that He will someday make a New Covenant with the Jews, He specifically said that He will put His law in their minds and write it on their hearts: ""The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."" (Jeremiah 31:31-34)The New Covenant was made between God and the Jews, but Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians are able to share in the spiritual blessings of the Jewish covenants (see my article called Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments - Part One). In the above passages, notice that the New Covenant specifically involves God communicating with us on the inside. If we're not listening to Him then we're not fully obeying Him (think about it for a moment), and we'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven (see section #11, #12, and #13 in my article called Cheat Sheet). Keep in mind that when we think we've discerned something from God, we need to make absolutely certain that it does not contradict the proper understanding of Scripture. Update on 02/21/2024: Here's a podcast (using a question-and-answer format) that I recently heard, and he has some interesting analogies or illustrations to help us understand the need for listening to God's guidance every day: Wanna Hear The Voice of God?  .
He mentions that
"there are millions of people all over the world that rely on God for constant daily instruction on all sorts of things"
and that
"people hear the God of the universe tell them stuff like what tie to wear and whether to turn left or right, what job to take, what to have for dinner, not just big stuff? Sure!"
God tells me things like that every single day as you'll see throughout this article, and He will guide you in that way if you're listening.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
In order to discern God's guidance within you, it's important to have a proper understanding of what the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is and then receive this baptism. Many Christians assume that receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation is the same as receiving the "baptism" of the Holy Spirit, but my series called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit explains in scriptural detail that these are always two separate and distinct events with two separate and distinct purposes. When people received the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, this enabled them to pray to God in tongues, which is referred to as "praying in the Spirit" in the Bible. If this is new to you, then please see my article called Praying in the Spirit Means Speaking in Tongues. That article examines every New Testament passage that refers to speaking in tongues, trying to be thorough, objective, and unbiased in order to see the full picture. As that article shows, it's clear that "praying in the Spirit" and "praying in tongues" are simply two ways of saying the same thing, which means that all Christians should be praying in tongues every day in obedience to God (no matter what denomination they're in). If you were taught that speaking in tongues ceased or died out during or shortly after the first century, see my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today, which shows that none of the gifts of the Spirit or activities of the Spirit (including tongues) have ever ceased or died out. All of the gifts of the Spirit still function today, and it's important to understand this so that we can be fully obedient to God, functioning in the gifts that He wants to give us. Here's a quick summary of the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit: When we speak in tongues, the words come from the Holy Spirit through our spirits and out of our mouths, bypassing our minds (1 Corinthians 14:14). Therefore, there needs to be communication between our spirits and the Holy Spirit within us.Receiving the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is also called being "anointed" in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who will "guide you into all the truth" (John 14:16-17, 15:26, 16:13-15, 1 John 5:6), so after we receive this anointing of the Holy Spirit then we have access to the truths that He will teach us: "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us - eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him." (1 John 2:20-27)All of this is documented in scriptural detail in my series called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and you'll need to receive this Spirit baptism in order to discern God's guidance within you because it's "his anointing [that] teaches you about all things" (1 John 2:20-27, above). How to Recognize God's Guidance
In order to discern God's guidance for your daily life, there's one key point that you need to be aware of: Don't expect God to speak to you in a sensational, spectacular, supernatural way. We have a natural tendency to want God to speak to us in a clear and obvious way so that we know without doubt that it was Him. God does occasionally speak to people in "the audible voice of God" or in some other sensational way, but those are not His usual ways of communicating with us. The reason is because God is into faith, and without faith it's impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). The thing is, faith requires that we don't have all of our questions answered. For example, if God always spoke to us in a clear and obvious way then we wouldn't need much faith to hear Him. On the other hand, if God communicates so softly with us that we're not sure it was Him, then there's a lot of faith involved. It's faith that pleases Him (Hebrews 11:1-40), even when we make mistakes and get things wrong. The yes/no signals
One way that the Lord guides us is by giving us an inner "yes" or "no" signal. These are specific physical sensations that you'll feel in your gut if you've received the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as described above. I first learned about this back in the late 1990s, and I decided to give it a try. I wanted to see a movie, and I had narrowed the choices down to two that I thought might be good. I mentally asked the Lord if I should go see the first movie, and a faint sensation rose up in my gut as if something was bothering my conscience (someone else might describe it as a slight feeling of nausea). I thanked the Lord, and immediately that sensation went away. I asked the Lord about the second movie, and a pleasant, peaceful sensation rose up in my belly. I thanked the Lord, and immediately that sensation went away. I ended up enjoying the second movie, but when I rented the first movie years later out of curiosity, I didn't like it. Ever since then, I ask the Lord all throughout the day what He wants me to do, and how He wants me to do it, and whether I'm allowed to do this or that, and so on. In this way, He sets my schedule every day and keeps me on the right path. Sometimes I'm surprised at what He allows me to do, or doesn't allow me to do. They're not always what I might have expected or hoped for or wanted. An important point is that the yes/no sensations immediately rose up within me when I asked the questions, and they immediately went away when I acknowledged the answers. These signals will usually be quite faint and easy to miss, especially when you're tired or distracted. Here are some ways to develop a sensitivity to these signals:
I've learned from experience that His answers sometimes involve symbolism. When the Lord tells me something about my future, I find that any assumptions or expectations I have usually turn out to be wrong in some way. What seems to work best is if I first ask Him if I'm allowed to know anything specific at this time about the future event. If I get the yes signal, then I'll ask Him for clarification about the future event. For example, when He was prompting me to move to Seattle in 2018, I looked online and asked where He wanted me to live. By asking yes/no questions about different parts of Seattle in Google Maps, He led me to a specific apartment complex that was facing a beautiful lake. But months later when I was ready to look at apartments in Seattle, the apartment complex that He told me to live in (based on my yes/no questions) was in the same spot, facing the same lake, but further down the street. The first apartment location that He led me to (online) was symbolic or representative of the actual place where He wanted me to live, because it was not yet time for me to know where He wanted me to live. This has happened numerous times over the years. The Bible contains many, many prophecies, and notice that most of them are filled with symbolism. In the same way, personal prophecies that God gives us might contain symbolism (my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today explains that none of the gifts of the Spirit have ever ceased or died out). Therefore, when He tells me to do something right now (such as work on a specific article, or work on my current book, or go run an errand, etc.) then I go ahead and do it. But if He tells me something about my future, then I take it as being symbolic or representative, and I mentally put it up on a shelf. It appears that He often prefers not to give us exact knowledge of our future, but instead He gives us just an idea of what's in our future. What I find is that as an event in my life gets closer (which He had earlier told me about such as moving to another city), then at some point He gives me further clarification about it so that I'll know what to do. Sometimes I receive signals that are different from the yes/no signals. One signal I sometimes receive is what I think of as a "partial yes." The Lord gives me this signal when the answer is "Yes, but there's more to it than that." With time and experience you'll learn to recognize and interpret the various signals that you receive. Simply ask Him what those other signals mean, such as, "Lord, was that a partial yes signal?" Another issue that I've learned from experience is that if I ask the Lord a yes/no question or ask Him for an outward confirmation (as described later in this article), and my request contains some kind of time frame, what usually happens is that my time frame is ignored in His answer. For example, at my last job the Lord told me that it was time for me to leave that job and not to look for another job. I couldn't afford to retire, so I asked the Lord for an outward sign that He was going to send me the money that I needed for retirement before I leave that job. He gave me the sign that I had asked for, but I didn't receive any money before I left that job. In other words, He confirmed for me that He was going to send me the money I need, but He essentially ignored the part about "before I leave that job." This type of thing happened a number of times until I learned not to include any time frame in my requests because they usually get ignored. Follow your conscience
The Amplified Version of the Bible (AMP) uses parentheses and square brackets to provide nuances and shades of meaning from the original Hebrew and Greek to help us better understand the intended meaning of Scripture passages. Notice what the apostle Paul said in this verse in the AMP: "And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from the Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts - deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds - [in that peaceful state] to which [as members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful - appreciative, giving praise to God always." (Colossians 3:15 AMP)According to Greek dictionaries and Bible commentaries, the Greek word for "rule" in the above verse means "to act as umpire." In the American game of baseball, for example, an umpire will signal that the runner is "safe" or "out." In Colossians 3:15 (above), Paul said to let peace act as an umpire in our hearts, deciding and settling all questions that arise in our minds. When you hear Christians say that they have "peace" about something, this means that they're sensing the yes signal. When Christians say that they don't have "peace" about something, this means that they're sensing the no signal. We receive the yes/no signals in our consciences, so take a look at what Paul said about our consciences: "So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." (Acts 24:16)Learn to recognize and obey every twinge of your conscience. Just as an umpire signals that the runner is "safe" or "out" in the game of baseball, your inner peace or lack of peace are the yes/no signals from God. In Romans 2:14-15 (above), Paul said that even unsaved people are sometimes guided or convicted by God in their consciences (i.e., having a "gut feeling") (also see John 8:7-9 NKJV and John 16:8 NKJV), just as Christians are. The difference is that after we receive salvation and after we choose to receive the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in obedience to God, then we can ask God yes/no questions and immediately receive the answers in our consciences. Our consciences act as an umpire, giving us non-verbal signals to answer our questions. If you watch any sports event and pay attention to the hand signals given by the umpires or referees, you won't know what they're trying to communicate until you learn how to discern what those signals mean. When it comes to discerning the Lord's guidance, we need to practice noticing how His signals feel inside of us so that we can learn to discern what He's communicating to us. Sometimes His signals are so faint inside me that I'm not sure what He's telling me, so I wait patiently for a few moments to see whether the sensation will resolve itself into a sensation of peace or a lack of peace. Then, just to be sure, sometimes I'll ask the opposite question to verify that I receive the opposite signal. It takes a lot of patience sometimes, especially while you're learning. Throughout the Bible we're told that discerning the Lord's guidance requires diligence and a willingness to obey whatever He tells us (because if we're not willing to do what He says then we might not discern His promptings accurately): "and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you."" (Exodus 15:26 NKJV)Even though the Lord always gives us an immediate answer in our consciences when we ask Him yes/no questions (if we've received the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit), it requires diligence on our part to learn to recognize and trust those signals. Keep at it, and then you'll find that He's giving you guidance throughout the day, every day. He's not "out there somewhere" and uninvolved in our day-to-day lives, but instead He wants to be very involved in our day-to-day lives because we are His body on earth: "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body - whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"" (1 Corinthians 12:12-21)When we're not diligent in listening to the Lord through the Holy Spirit within us, our hearts and consciences can become calloused or dull of hearing: "For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them." (Acts 28:27)Jesus is the Head and each Christian is a part of His physical body on earth. Just as your head constantly tells different parts of your body what to do, where to go, and what to say, our Head (Jesus) constantly tells different parts of His physical body what to do, where to go, and what to say. Each part of Christ's physical body (each Christian) needs to be listening to and obeying our Head because if we're not listening to Him then we're not fully obeying Him (think about it for a moment), and we'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven (see section #11, #12, and #13 in my article called Cheat Sheet). God communicates through Scripture
There are numerous articles online about the importance of reading the Bible every day so that we are continually learning about God and about the Christian life. This helps keep our hearts and minds focused on God on a more consistent basis, rather than completely forgetting about Him for long periods of time as we tend to do. However, another purpose of reading the Bible frequently is that sometimes the Holy Spirit will suddenly illuminate a passage, even one that you've read numerous times before, because He wants you to see that it's relevant to your current situation. Somehow you will "notice" a passage as you're reading in the Bible, as if it has been highlighted with a marker. It will stand out to you, as if God is nudging you to look at it more closely. This can also happen when you see a Scripture passage in some artwork on someone's wall, or a Scripture passage on someone's bumper sticker on their car, and so on. While I'm driving around running errands, I usually see numerous churches. Occasionally a church that I've passed by many times will suddenly stand out in a subtle way, so I ask the Lord if He wants me to go there. Usually He tells me to go to a specific service there, or to visit their website, and there's always something that jumps out at me that He wanted me to see or hear. Sometimes it's a Scripture passage, and sometimes it's a comment that the pastor makes during the sermon, and once it was a line in a song that the children's choir sang at the end of the service. When a Scripture passage seems to jump off the page like that, don't ignore it. God is trying to tell you something through that passage. The "prickly" sensation
Several times over the years I've heard pastors or Bible teachers tell the story of how a mother eagle gets her young eaglets to leave the nest. When the mother eagle first makes the nest, it's fluffy and comfy for the babies. But when it's time for them to leave the nest and fly on their own, the mother removes the fluffy, comfy bits and causes the nest to become prickly and uncomfortable. The lesson in this, according to the pastors and Bible teachers, is that sometimes when God is ready to move us into something new then He might start causing our current situation to feel "prickly." After working as a software developer at a major corporation for 25 years and enjoying my job, I began to notice a "prickly" sensation in my gut, as if I couldn't wait to leave that job. Nothing in my job had changed to cause this feeling, so I suspected it was God letting me know that I would be leaving that job at some point. It was over a year after I started having the "prickly" sensation before God told me to leave that job. At the next job I had, I worked for about four and a half years and then that "prickly" sensation happened again. This time it lasted for approximately nine months before it was time for me to leave. At the next job I had, the "prickly" sensation began after seven or eight months, and lasted about six months before God said it was time for me to leave. Then He moved me to Seattle, and every morning when I opened my curtains and looked out at the beautiful view I thought to myself, "I love it here!" But after six months, one morning I opened my curtains and thought, "I hate it here!" I didn't really hate it there, but suddenly I realized that the "prickly" sensation was starting up again. Within a month God had prompted me to accept a job offer from my former boss, and I was back in Houston again. So if you become aware that your current situation is causing you to feel "prickly," as if you can't wait to get out of there, especially when there's no apparent reason for it, then it might be God letting you know that He's planning to move you into something new one of these days. When you seem to be feeling that sensation, try asking "Lord, are You giving me the prickly sensation?" Watch for coincidences
God has occasionally gotten my attention by causing something to happen over and over, to the point where it goes beyond mere coincidence. Throughout 2016 and 2017, I kept seeing the word "Seattle" in all kinds of unexpected places. There are plenty of other words that I see over and over, but each time I saw "Seattle" there was an inner "nudging," as if God was prompting me to notice that word (just like I mentioned a moment ago when God highlights a Scripture passage). When we're not sure if God is prompting us to do something, one thing to try is to take a step in that direction and see if God is smoothing the way or blocking our path. Therefore, I took my adult kids on a trip to Seattle to see if God was leading me there. As we drove around Seattle, I just wasn't feeling it, so to speak. But when we drove around the Green Lake area, I knew that this was the place God was sending me to. It felt right, somehow. When I moved to Seattle, it was amazing how easily and smoothly everything fell into place. There have been numerous other times when I've heard about something over and over, where it feels like it's beyond mere coincidence, and usually it turns out that God was doing that to get my attention. God's discipline
Another way that God might get our attention is by disciplining us (perhaps severely): "And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens [literally "whips"] everyone he accepts as his son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined - and everyone undergoes discipline - then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:5-11)So if you're going through something difficult or frustrating or painful, it's a good idea to ask the Lord if you're being disciplined. For example, recently I was frustrated by having insomnia every night. It turned out that I was being disciplined because God had told me to do something and I wasn't doing it correctly. When I asked how to do it correctly and was obedient, the insomnia immediately went away. This is one reason why it's important to learn how to discern God's guidance, because if we don't correct our disobedience then we're likely to be disciplined even more severely. Godly desires
Another way that the Lord guides us is by putting strong desires into our hearts. For example, many years ago God moved me from a Baptist church to a non-denominational charismatic church. At the time I thought that charismatics were in error, so I couldn't imagine why He would do such a thing! At this new church I began hearing about people being healed by the laying on of hands in modern times. I had been taught against such things in my previous church background, but these reports sounded authentic. This ignited within me a desire to be able to heal the sick. While I was on my way to a Bible study one evening, I asked God to give the Bible study leader some kind of a word of confirmation for me concerning healing. About halfway through the evening, the leader of the Bible study interrupted himself in mid-sentence, turned toward me and pointed his finger straight at me and said, "That desire in your heart was put there by God," then he turned back and resumed his conversation with someone else. I had never told anyone about this desire that I was feeling, and I didn't tell anyone that I had asked God for an outward confirmation just a couple of hours earlier. Talk about a confirmation! God had placed the desire in my heart, and I had asked Him for an outward confirmation (more on this later), and I recognized the confirmation when it came, and then I asked God to teach me about healing. It wasn't long before God led me to a book called, appropriately enough, "How to Heal the Sick," by Charles and Frances Hunter. Now I'm writing my own book on healing called "Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today." Remember, we're talking about godly desires, because obviously not every desire in our hearts comes from God. Our own desires can fool us, so in order to discern God's guidance it's very important to put our own desires and reasonings and feelings completely into neutral, wanting God's desires above all else. When I'm about to ask God a question, and I'm really hoping for a specific answer, then I'll tell myself a few times, "I don't care one way or the other what the answer is." When I reach the point where I'm really not concerned what the answer might be, that's when I'll ask God the question. I don't want my feelings to deceive me, so first I try to get my feelings into neutral. As another example, when people say that they were "called" into ministry, they often mean that they had a godly desire to go into that ministry, and God gave them outward confirmations that it was the right choice. God sometimes communicates with us through other people
Sometimes the Lord communicates with us through other people, even when they're not aware of it. For example, after the Lord began teaching me about healing many years ago, one day (in 1998) I was at a friend's house and I saw that their daughter had a cold. I debated within myself whether or not I should offer to heal her because I didn't know how well the idea would be received, and I wasn't confident that I knew how to do it, and I missed the opportunity. When I got home, my three-year-old son wanted to show me something in his room, but he walked past the light switch without turning on the light. Normally he was proud that he was big enough to turn on the light, but that day he began saying that he couldn't do it. There was a momentary "flash" or "nudging" within me that made me realize that the Lord was telling me something. While my son was saying, "I can't do it, I don't know how to do it," God was showing me how I was behaving when I debated within myself about healing my friend's daughter. I could easily have done it and she might have been healed, but I allowed my mind to talk me out of it. In this case, God was communicating with me through my son, and I picked up on it because my son's behavior was out of character. God was not chastising me, but instead He was showing me that one day I'll be confident in healing people, I just needed to grow more in spiritual maturity and learn more about how healing works. (God didn't force my son to do anything that day, but instead He gave my son just enough of a prompting so that he made the choice not to turn on the light switch and to say those things.) There might also be times when people tell you that they believe they have a word from the Lord for you, and this is perfectly scriptural (Acts 9:10-17, 21:10-15). But no matter who gives you the word from the Lord, you should thank them but set it aside until God confirms it for you somehow. Don't run your life based on what someone else says that God says you should do. A word from the Lord that's delivered by someone else should always confirm what God has already shown you in some way, or what He will show you sometime in the future. Interpret it as being one form of confirmation from the Lord, not as a command from the Lord. Follow the "Flow"
As you gain experience and become more sensitized to the Lord's guidance within you, you'll sometimes become aware of a "flow" in the way that He's leading you. When you're following that flow, things seem to become smooth and easy, and everything falls into place almost without any effort. When you're outside of that flow, whatever you're trying to do might become a struggle. Struggles will always be a part of life, so when you're experiencing difficulties it doesn't mean that you're outside the flow of the Spirit of God. But in those times, it's worth asking the Lord if there's something else that He wants you to do instead of doing whatever you're struggling with. Examples of following the flow of the Spirit of God
Here's an example of being in the flow of what the Spirit of God wants to do. At the moment (in 1998) there are two articles that I believe the Lord wants me to write. This morning I began adding more information to one of those articles, but it was a struggle trying to pick up my train of thought and find the right words to say. I've learned from experience that when I'm not flowing in the Spirit of God as I write these articles then they become a struggle, so I suspected that the Lord didn't want me to work on that article next. I asked Him if He wanted me to work on this article instead (on discerning God's guidance within us), and all of a sudden it was like a dam had broken open and there was such a flow of ideas that I had a hard time keeping up with it. This is one way I know that I'm in the flow of the Spirit of God as I write these articles. On another occasion there was an article that I knew I was being led to write, but I was struggling with how to begin the article. I basically had writer's block, so I asked the Lord what was wrong, and almost immediately a new title popped into my head. As soon as I changed the title of the article there was a flow of ideas again. I'm not trying to imply that what I'm writing is on the level of inspired Scripture, and if you look at the "Modification History" section at the bottom of all of my articles then you'll see that they have all been modified many times. They're all "living documents," so they're never fully accurate and complete. However, if a pastor or Bible teacher is not preaching or teaching in the flow of the Spirit of God then it probably means that they're preaching or teaching from the flesh and not from the Spirit. So one way to be led by the Spirit is to follow the flow that you sense on the inside, and to stop and ask the Lord for guidance when you're not sensing the flow of the Spirit. Outward Confirmations
It's important to develop our spiritual sensitivity and obedience to the point that we quickly obey every prompting and nudging that the Lord gives us. However, we also need to stay in balance with this because not everything that we discern or feel is from God. Be instantly obedient in small things
So what should we do? Here's a general guideline that might be helpful. There are many small, everyday things that God might prompt you to do or not to do, and as you develop the habit of instantly obeying these things then you'll find that your sensitivity and discernment will begin to increase. For example, in a public restroom I tossed my paper towel into the trashcan, but I missed. When I reached down to pick it up, I felt a "nudge" from the Spirit of God to pick up another paper towel that was on the ground. There are employees whose job is to clean up the bathrooms, but it certainly felt like a nudge from God so I went ahead and threw away that other paper towel. It didn't cost me anything and there was no downside to doing it, although I washed my hands again. Perhaps it was simply a test of obedience (e.g., 2 Corinthians 2:9, 1 Thessalonians 2:4), or perhaps it wasn't really a nudge from God. Keep in mind that God always has your best interests at heart, so He will never tell you to do something or to quit doing something unless it's for your benefit and helps you to grow in the things of God. Begin obeying the little, subtle signals that the Lord gives you, and your sensitivity will begin to increase. You'll be wrong sometimes, but don't be afraid to make mistakes because God often prefers to teach us through the school of life rather than giving us instantaneous supernatural knowledge. Don't hesitate to admit it when you thought you had discerned something from God but it turned out that you were wrong. Be honest with yourself, be humble and transparent with others, be faithful with God. Ask for confirmations in the larger issues
Sometimes we'll sense a prompting to make a major change in our lives, and we should be cautious about jumping into these things too quickly. For instance, if you feel that the Lord is prompting you to quit your job then it would be a good idea to ask Him for an outward confirmation. When I ask the Lord to give me an outward confirmation of something that I believe He told me inwardly, He usually causes me to see Jeremiah 29:11 in an unexpected place within a week's time. This is our "thing," and I never see this passage anywhere unless He is giving me an outward confirmation of something. There have also been times when I asked Him to cause a specific thing to happen as an outward confirmation. Sometimes He gives me the sign that I asked for, and sometimes not. Many years ago I used to get a lot of these signs as the Lord was teaching me how to recognize and trust His guidance within me, but now I rarely ask for outward confirmations because He rarely gives them to me. He wants me to "live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7), trusting in the inward guidance that He gives me. He wants the same from you. God's ways are higher than our ways
Remember that when God communicates with you, it won't always make sense to your brain. For example, Jesus once told Peter to take his boat out into the deep and let down his nets for a haul of fish. Peter replied, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets" (Luke 5:5). Even though it didn't make sense to Peter's brain, he obeyed the Lord and proceeded to get a miracle. Your mind and your feelings will want to cast their votes on what you should do, but it's important to squelch all of that voting from your mind and your feelings in order to discern God's promptings. There's a computer game that I used to enjoy playing, basically an enhanced version of the Asteroids arcade game. One day I noticed a no signal inside of me as I was playing the game, so I finally (okay, not immediately) obeyed, and ever since then whenever I think of playing that game I get the no signal. I don't see anything wrong with the game, and He might not have a problem with you or anyone else playing that game. So why won't He let me play it? I don't know, and in fact I don't get the no signal if I play any other versions of the Asteroids game. The point is, He might tell you to give up golf or coffee or football games on TV or some other thing that you like, but it doesn't have to make sense to you and it doesn't mean that you need to crusade against that thing and tell all Christians to quit doing it. Your job is to be obedient to what God tells you to do, both in His written instructions (the New Testament) and His spoken instructions. God might even tell you to quit the church choir, or quit working on the evangelism team, or quit working in whatever form of ministry work you're involved in, even though what you're doing is a good and godly thing. Being obedient to God also means being obedient to His timing, and He might be finished with your services in that activity. It might take awhile, but eventually He'll show you the next activity that He has in mind for you. Or, He might show you the next activity that He has in mind for you, but it might be years before He places you there (for more on how God uses these long waiting periods in our lives, see my article called Why Do Christians Experience Hard Times and Suffering?). Conclusion
We've looked at some ways to discern God's guidance within us, and there are plenty of other ways in which He might communicate with us. The New Testament describes people hearing from God through dreams, visions, tongues and interpretation, prophecies, and so on, but for most people those are not His usual methods for guiding us. Every once in awhile I wake up in the morning and realize that I had some vivid dreams during the night. Then I ask the Lord if any of the dreams were from Him, and if I get the yes signal then I'll ask yes/no questions to find out what He was showing me in the dreams. We are repeatedly told to obey the Lord's commands (e.g., Luke 6:46-49, John 14:15, 21, 15:10, 1 John 2:4, 5:2-3, 2 John 1:6), and Paul used the analogy of Christians as soldiers and Jesus as our commanding officer (2 Timothy 2:3-4). As Christians, we are called servants of the Lord (e.g., Matthew 6:24, Romans 6:22, 2 Timothy 2:24, Hebrews 9:14, Revelation 1:1, 2:20). So basically, Jesus is our boss, and He gives out assignments to each of His people as all bosses do. As His servants, our job is to carry out the assignments that He gives us, which means that we need to hear our assignments. Start listening for the Lord's guidance throughout the day, every day, so that you can stay on the individual path that He has in mind for you, because that path will always work out far better than any path you might choose for yourself. When you're making plans for the day, such as what errands to run, keep listening to your conscience in case the Lord gives you the no signal. For example, recently I was mentally planning out the best order in which to run four errands. I got the no signal, so I asked the Lord some yes/no questions to find out what He wanted me to do. He told me to do two of the errands that day, and what time to go out and do them and in what order to do them, and to do the other two errands the next day. After I did those two errands the way He said, it turned out that I got home just in time for something that I needed to do but didn't know about in advance. God knew about it, and He was able to schedule my time just right because I'm always listening for His guidance. As you diligently work on discerning His signals, you'll be amazed at how involved He wants to be in the details of your everyday life. To give you some more examples, He tells me what time to get up in the morning, when to eat breakfast or to have an afternoon snack, when to take a nap and when to get up, when to shave (or not to shave) and when to take a shower, when to work out, when to go run some errands, when to make a payment to my credit card (and how much to pay), and so on. These and other activities take time away from doing the work that He wants me to do, so it makes sense that He would want to schedule my day down to that level of detail so that His work gets done at the right time. Around 4:30pm every day, He prompts me that I'm done for the day, and He doesn't allow me to do any more Christian work for the rest of the day (even though I usually want to continue working). We all need leisure time for our mental and physical health, so He makes sure that I get the right amount each day. When He prompts me that it's time to go grocery shopping, I make a list and then He tells me which items to buy or not to buy on this trip. At the store, sometimes I'll grab an item on the list and then receive the no signal, so I'll grab a second or even third of that item until He gives me the yes signal. When I'm shopping online and trying to decide between several similar items, He gives me the yes/no signals to tell me which one to choose. When I had no electricity in my apartment for 40 hours one winter, after it came back on I assumed that I should throw out all of the food in my refrigerator, but He gave me the yes/no signals to let me know which foods I could safely eat even after all that time with no refrigeration, and I never got sick. No matter how well we know the Bible, it's not always clear whether or not it's acceptable to watch certain TV shows or movies, or read certain books, or listen to certain songs, etc., so I'm always listening for the yes/no signals to discern when He tells me not to do something. I never send an email or a text message, even a short personal one, without checking with Him because sometimes He doesn't want me to say certain things, or sometimes He prompts me to add something. Lately my adult kids and I have all had things go wrong with our cars, and He tells me whether each issue should be fixed right away or whether it's safe to continue driving the car. All of those confusing and uncertain questions of life (whether or not to take the car to the mechanic, whether or not to go to the hospital, whether or not it's safe to do this or that, etc.) are all easily answered when you're listening for discernment from God. Also ask God about Christian doctrines, or the meaning of Scripture passages, so He can lead you to a deeper understanding of His truths. However, don't assume that what He teaches you is the final word on that subject. For example, when a pregnant mother says to her young son, "Mommy has a baby in her tummy," she's conveying a truth to her young child without giving him the accurate facts and details (because the baby is not actually in her stomach). Her son needs to grow and mature more, and learn more, before he's ready to hear the accurate facts and details. This is how God will teach you. He teaches us progressively, a little bit at a time at our current level of understanding and spiritual maturity, so be patient and trust in His timing and His teaching methods. For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification. Dave Root home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com "Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3) "Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23) "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15) "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3) "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7) "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25) |
| Modification History |
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| All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R). NIV (R). Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. (Emphasis added.) |