Salt

Matthew 5:13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. (NIV)

In your daily life, the world swirls in the filth of dirty jokes, pornography, corruption, crime, hatred, bigotry, irreverence, and lawlessness. In the middle of this darkness there is you. In the middle of this darkness you are to be a tiny salt crystal, a tiny light to make the world more bearable, more kind, and a little more survivable. Salt is used both as a seasoning and as a preservative. You add taste in a tasteless world. You are the preservative that keeps the world from unraveling and falling apart. Be the salt by giving love, giving understanding, and shining the light of His truth into the hearts of all those you know.

Why Christianity is Not a Religion

Those who know me often ask, "Emma, why does it offend you so much when people call you religious?" The summary of my answer is, "Religion has no more to do with biblical Christianity than sitting in a church pew every Sunday does."

One difference between the two is that every religion is man made. Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, and liberal Christianity all involve man’s interpretation of faith. When you start worshiping with another man’s credo, you are dangerously close to religion, not biblical Christianity. Many of these religions have a manual (Koran, Book of Mormon, the writings of Buddha) to go along with the true word of God. As a knightly Christian, I refuse to worship with any man’s rules other than those of the God man, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God is explicit about not taking away or adding anything to His word found in the bible.

Furthermore, the false prophets of religion teach that the only way to benevolence (God of their choice) is by good works. They teach self-esteem, moral actions, and humanistic pride as the way to their God of choice. However, never doubt that religion does not have to be centered on a God for it can be centered on mankind itself. Jesus foretold them coming in Matthew 24:11 when he said, "And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."

Defining "Religion"

In the dictionary, "religion" is defined as a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by, or an object, practice, cause, or activity that somebody is completely devoted to or obsessed by. This can be anything that takes us away from the true living God—Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Religion can be alcohol, drugs, pornography, a career, sex; thus, anything that drives a wedge between us and the trinity of God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is a religion.

Religion teaches us to hide our sinful attitude behind a mask of goodness, righteousness, and secular humanism. How many self-help gurus have we heard claim to have the secret to our happiness by giving us self-esteem, pride, and true self worth? I tire of hearing pompous professors and teachers of "higher learning" telling young folks that the only way to fulfillment is through "enlightenment of the mind."

In his book, Hard to Believe--The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus, John MacArthur hit the nail on the head when he said, "Natural reason seeking God ends up ignorant, idolatrous, and demonic. Demons are behind all false religions. They are behind all philosophical and religious systems. They are behind every lofty thing lifted up against the knowledge of God. Any unbiblical, anti-God idea is demonic."

Don’t let anyone fool you--we all have masks. Biblical Christianity is taking that mask off, first before God, and then second, before man. Why the second, you ask? Because not doing so is denying Christ before man—denying his ability to free you from your bondage and denying his true kinship over you. If you hide what you are--a vile sinner--Satan wins. The Bible makes the point this way in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15: "For such men are false prophets, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."

Christ demands that we realize and admit our fallen state. He demands that we acknowledge before man that on our own we cannot reach benevolence. He demands that we become transparent with our sin, vile nature, and admit the dirty secrets and desires that permeate our minds. Religion requires us to hide our weakness because only the strong survive. Biblical Christianity demands that we admit our weakness to become strong so we may survive.

God's Grand Plan

God’s grand plan of the Bible first showed Jesus Christ as a lamb coming to earth as a man full of the blood God required for the forgiveness of our sin. It then talks about Christ coming back as the lion, conqueror of Satan’s world, "And every knee will bow." My point is that God required Christ to be a lamb before He could be a lion. He bowed before God and did His will, and not His own. We must become meek before God before we can be strong for Christ—a lamb before a lion. As biblical Christians we must forgo the sinful pride of our reputation and gain the pride of Christ’s reputation. Religion is about doing your own thing; Christianity is about doing Christ’s thing.

Are You a Leader, or a Follower?

Religion is about being a leader, strong and defiant. Christianity is about being a follower, meek and mild. Don’t get me wrong: Jesus Christ demands that we pick up our cross and follow Him with strength and loyalty, whereas religion requires that we do society’s thing with strength and loyalty. There in itself is a glaring hypocrisy of religion; i.e., "do your own thing with strength, loyalty, and pride as long as it’s what everyone else is doing." That further hypocrisy is being observed in our public forums. Today’s society is about understanding and respecting everyone’s faith and beliefs so long as it doesn’t threaten one's perception of pride, strength, and the American dream.

Christianity is being watered down beyond being effective when it’s allowed to be mentioned at all, because, in our society, admitting weakness is a sin. Few parents want their children in school learning to be followers; instead, they want leaders like Trump and Turner—rude, prideful, rich, and successful. Religion requires that we have goodness through our own reputation and good works. Only the top of the class make it into the "club." If you aren’t healthy, wealthy and fat, you must not be living a complete benevolent life—you must do better. Christianity gives us the hard core truth about what we are--"not one of us is good, no not one, and we all fall short of the glory of God." Religion teaches that we must pull ourselves up by our boot straps to reach Utopia. Many of our rich and famous have fallen head long for this ideology. They think if they save enough people from HIV in Africa, feed enough of the homeless, and save enough babies, they will make it into heaven. Wrong. One of the bedrocks of biblical Christianity is that we do these things not in our name, but Christ’s.

Ted Turner was once quoted as saying that "Christianity is for losers." Man, did he hit the nail on the head. We are losers. That is to say that, to be a biblical Christian, we must be a loser in society’s eyes. To become a winner, we must lose all that society lives and strives for. We cannot chase the American dream of fame, fortune, and "stuff." We cannot pick our wives and husbands based on where they went to school, what they drive, wear, and make, but rather where their allegiance lies. We cannot feed the homeless or help the poor and sick with swelled chests and pride. We cannot become indulgent. We must lose our appetite for the fleshly desires that plaque this world. We must get up every morning, try with everything we are to be righteous, and swear our allegiance to our Lord, not because we can ever live up to His requirements, but rather because we know we can’t.

Worshiping in a million-dollar church with forty-thousand-dollar cars sitting in the parking lot is religion, not Christianity. Taking the words, hell, damnation, Jesus Christ, and the Old Testament out of our sermons is not biblical Christianity. Allowing homosexuals and lesbians to preach feel-good Christianity, and portraying Jesus Christ as a 60s hippie is liberal Christianity and, therefore, religion. Seeking fame and fortune with a microphone in your hand, singing about Christ and healing people in three-thousand-dollar suits is religion, not biblical Christianity. Putting the symbols of the Virgin Mary, Star of David, the prophet Muhammad, Buddha, the Masonic Lodge, and a God of erotica before Christ is not biblical Christianity but religion. Christianity is not looking at people and thinking, "They’re messed up; I’m glad I’m not messed up like that." Rather, it’s seeing the sin in their life and rebuking them with candor, truthfulness, and biblical teaching. Knowing in your heart you’ve been there, or if you trust in your own righteousness, you can fall just like they did.

Biblical Christianity is fire-and-brimstone teaching just as much as teaching the love of Christ. Feminism, liberalism, and the sexual revolution is religion from the depths of Satanic teaching, not biblical Christianity.

Making Hard Choices

Nobody said it was going to be easy. In fact, Jesus said that he did not come to "bring peace to the earth, but a sword." For many, the cost of becoming a winner in the afterlife is too great a loss on earth. Jesus underlines in the New Testament without a shadow of a doubt what must be done to gain the greatest prize—an eternity in His presence. We must turn against our family if need be, and we must acknowledge Him before man even if it means the greatest sacrifice of laying down our life. As Jesus says in Matthew 12:30, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."

As biblical Christians we must take a stand in our lives and that stand is turning our backs on the person we were before God called us. It even means turning our back on those who try to pull us back into that pagan lifestyle because, truthfully folks, if God had called them that would not be their aspiration. Remember, becoming a knightly Christian is not going back to the bars, having premarital sex, and basically thinking you have received the genie called Jesus Christ who is waiting to fill your every wish. It’s not watching Sex in the City, Desperate Housewives, and viewing Internet porn. As knightly Christians we must search the word of God and see its truth, not spin its truth to fit our desires.

Forgiveness

However, as knightly Christians we must not forget an important aspect of biblical Christianity—forgiveness. In Matthew 18:35, Jesus talks about forgiveness, saying "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." He used the word brother for a reason. This is to mean our brothers and sisters in Christ. The Bible is clear about not intertwining nonbelievers in our lives. The pagan lifestyle has no business in the biblical Christian lifestyle. However, if God leads pagans into your life and they truly accept Jesus Christ in a biblical way, they are now your brothers and sisters in Christ, and they must be forgiven and the old lifestyle forgotten.

What is Hell Like?

 Luke 16:19-31

We have come to a time when few people believe in a literal Hell. Yet it is still in the Bible, and it is still true because the Word of God is true. Men change their ideas but God's truth is always the same. The great Eternal God tells us that there is an eternal Hell for all those who reject Christ and live without God. Preaching on hell has diminished. We hear many light, fluffy sermons about peace, goodness, brotherhood, and the social gospel, but some congregations never hear hell even mentioned.


If Jesus was concerned about people knowing what hell is like enough to teach about it, then we should to. Jesus teaches us that Hell is a real literal place of torment.

Does that thought ever bother you? Do you ever get burdened for the souls of men?

I want to look at 7 characteristics that Jesus teaches us about Hell from this passage.

1 Hell is immediate after death.
A No purgatory
B No second chance

2 Hell is a place of torment.
A literal fire
B No water. No relief
C no mercy

3 Your status in life will not keep you out of Hell, and his money did not keep him out of Hell.

4 In Hell you are aware of your surroundings
A He could see.
B he recognized Lazarus
C he could feel the flames
D he felt the thirst
E He still had his memory

5 In Hell there is No way out
A A great gulf fixed
B no second chance

6 In Hell you will be concerned with Soul Winning.
A He wanted to his family to be saved.
B He wanted them to send someone else to witness to his family.

7 The only way to not go to Hell is to hear the Word of God and be persuaded.
A It will not be done thru watching great things.
B Romans Road

Hell is real. The teaching of Jesus is clear. We should not want anyone to go there.

Heart Surgery

Would you prefer the heart of heaven to the heart in humans?

Do you ache for a heart of:
• faithfulness and not lust,
• honor and not shame,
• service and not indulgence,
• generosity and not greed,
• grace and not judgement,
• mercy and not punishment,
• peace and not restlessness,
• righteousness and not evil,
• purity and not sin,
• satisfaction and not coveting with
• repair and not fracture?

It is even a divine favor to just long for these. So many traverse the cobblestones of life, meandering through the mountaintops and weeping in the valleys without even appreciating such distinctions.

God seeks to birth a new heart in each of us. He wants each of us to see heaven from earth - this comes through heart surgery.

For spiritual re-birth I need to sow to the spirit.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

For a heart from heaven I need to sow to the Heart of Heaven.

Unlike any other surgery this heart-surgery can only be conducted in humility and on the knees.

(PS ... of course if you don't want a new heart - remain vertical.)

"Paying It Forword"

"When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight. When we love the Lord, we seek less for things that benefit us and turn our hearts toward things that will bless and uplift others."

I thank you so much for your generous donations!

MY MISSION: To provide housing assistance, support, stability and nurturing for homeless children and their families as they prepare to acquire and maintain permanent housing.

MY GOAL: Is to help families stay together despite the traumatic events that lead to homelessness, to help them take the steps necessary to empower their independence and to assist them in securing permanent housing.

When a family becomes homeless they are often confused, depressed, and overwhelmed. They may not be able to stay with relatives or friends and the homeless system becomes the only refuge for this family in need.

My Christain friends you make me proud! God bless everyone of you!

"Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act." - Proverbs 3:27-28

"The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need…he gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths for the honor of his name. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid. You are with me" (Psalm 23).

Are you one of the few?

MOST people are Lukewarm & Unsaved— and FEW EVER enter through what Jesus calls the Narrow Gate; FEW EVER walk what Jesus calls the Difficult Path (Matt 7:13-14) that leads to life.

Jesus died for the sins of the World, but Jesus tells us that the "World at Large" will not receive Him (John 14:22-24; John 14:17, John 1:10-12).
God's Word is powerful to Save us, and Change lives. Trust in God's Word only, it will protect you from being led astray, and from becoming a LUKEWARM & APOSTATE (a departure or falling away from Faith in God's Word).

So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.   Revelation 3:16

The LORD Jesus is our:

LOVE
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love." (1John 4:8)


"The LORD did not set His Love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people... Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth Covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His Commandments to a thousand generations." (Deuteronomy 7:7,9)


JOY
"The LORD had made them joyful." (Ezra 6:22)


"The joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)


PEACE
"Now The God of Peace be with you all." (Romans 15:33)


"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our LORD." (2Peter 1:2)


HOPE
"Now The God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." (Romans 15:13)


"That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His Commandments." (Psalm 78:7)


WISDOM
"For after that in the Wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." (1Corinthians 1:21)


"Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God." (1Corinthians 1:24)


UNITY
"Endeavouring to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:3)


"Till we all come in the Unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:13)


SAFETY
"Safety is of the LORD." (Proverbs 21:31)


"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:8)


"The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders." (Deuteronomy 33:12)


HEALTH
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise Him, Who is The Health Of My Countenance, and my God." (Psalm 43:5)


"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones." (Proverbs 3:7-8)


"My son, attend to My Words; incline thine ear unto My Sayings. Let Them not depart from thine eyes; keep Them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find Them, and health to all their flesh." (Proverbs 4:20-22)


STRENGTH
"I will love Thee, O LORD, my Strength. The LORD is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my Strength, in Whom I will trust." (Psalm 18:1-2)


"Now know I that the LORD saveth His anointed; He will hear him from His Holy Heaven with the Saving Strength of His Right Hand." (Psalm 20:6)


"The LORD is my Strength and my Shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him." (Psalm 28:7)


PROSPERITY
"Save now, I beseech Thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity." (Psalm 118:25)


"They shall prosper that love Thee." (Psalm 122:6)


SALVATION
"The LORD is my Strength and Song, and He is become my Salvation." (Exodus 15:2)


"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my Strength, and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)


RIGHTEOUSNESS
"Their righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 54:17)


"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD... He hath covered me with The Robe Of Righteousness, as a Bridegroom decketh Himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." (Isaiah 61:10)


"This is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Jeremiah 23:6)


SANCTIFICATION
"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our LORD Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory for ever and ever." (Hebrews 13:20-21)


"Who are kept by the Power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1Peter 1:5)


"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning." (2Peter 2:20)


LIFE
"According as His Divine Power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto Life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." (2Peter 1:3)


"And this is Life Eternal, that they might know Thee the Only True God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent." (John 17:3)


"Yet the LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life." (Psalm 42:8)


BROTHER
"For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother." (Mark 3:35)


"Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren." (Hebrews 2:17)


"For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of One: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren." (Hebrews 2:11)


"A friend loveth at all times, and a Brother is born for adversity." (Proverbs 17:17)


FRIEND
"13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you." (John 15:13-15)


"And I say unto you My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do." (Luke 12:4)


INTERCESSOR
"It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8:34)


"For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." (1Timothy 2:5)


"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:25)


"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." (Hebrews 9:24)


"If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." (1John 2:1)


HIGH PRIEST
"We have such an High Priest, Who is set on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens." (Hebrews 8:1)


"10 We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this Man, after He had offered One Sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:10-14)


LORD & KING
"He is LORD of lords, and KING of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." (Revelation 17:14)


"Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances..." (Psalm 44:4)


"For God is my King of old, working Salvation in the midst of the earth." (Psalm 74:12)


"For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us." (Isaiah 33:22)


BRIDEGROOM
"The bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." (Isaiah 62:5)


"He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom." (John 3:29)


"The Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him." (Matthew 25:6)


"The Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the Marriage: and the door was shut." (Matthew 25:10)

Emma's Testimony

Ever since I can remember I have always believed that there was a God. I called myself a Christian but I never practiced it. I was “Lukewarm” a little in a little out, a token prayer now and then, went church on Easter like all good Christians do.


However, my life changed forever back in the fall of 2007….

I met the man of my dreams! His name was Bryan, he was larger than life. 6’2 dark brown hair, green eyes, perfect white teeth and the body of an athlete. He swept me off my feet; we loved all the same things. We spent 3 months together having a blast! Vegas weekends, dinner dates, baseball games, weekend trips to the beach. I was falling in love fast!

We were invited to a 2008 New Year’s party by one of his friends. I was so excited, a party! I haven’t been to a real party for years. I bought a new dress, had my hair and nails done. I wanted to look my best. Bryan wore all black; he looked like a rock star. By the time we got to the party it was already in full swing. People were dancing and drinking and having fun.

Bryan headed straight for the bar and started drinking Jack Daniel shots, I had a diet coke, I would be the designated driver for the evening. There were over 50 people there. Bryan and I keep losing ourselves in the crowd. After a couple of hours Bryan was pretty drunk.

I was talking to a man I met there, he was telling me about a ski trip he took to Utah.

That was the last thing I remembered of that evening until I woke up in a hospital 10 days later.

This is what I’ve been told……
Bryan became so jealous to see me talking with this guy that he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me out the front door. Everyone at the party followed to watch as Bryan beat me unconscious on the front lawn. Not one of them tried to stop him. He left me there as he sped off in his truck.

I was rushed straight into emergency surgery to stop a bleed on my brain. The doctor told my brother that 30 minutes into the surgery my heart stopped for 6 minutes. I was put on an induced coma for 10 days.

Like a dream the only thing I remember is what I conceived to be an Angel, the most beautiful being. Surrounded by light. No words were spoken, just a warm love embrace.

It took me several months to fully recover.

Bryan was caught. He was given 6 years and was just denied parole earlier this year.

The only visible scar I carry is a small mark above my right eyebrow; however I carry deep emotional scars of fear and trust. I believe there is a reason God hasn’t healed me from my fear, I believe he will though in his time.

My life has been changed forever! I now have a close relationship with the Lord.

"Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." Psalm 107:8-9


"Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise?" Psalm 106:1-2


Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

God Wants Us to Listen to Him

God is bigger than any problem we will ever face and He can guide us through all of our trials and sorrows, but first we must listen to Him. We can talk to God any time and about anything – in fact, that’s sometimes the easy part. The challenge is in knowing how to listen to God. Whether you are a teenager facing peer pressure or an adult facing chemical dependency, a life threatening disease, unemployment or loneliness, we can talk to God and reveal the burdens of our heart. And God will listen to those sorrows and give us comfort!

But beyond simply confessing our sorrows and praying for comfort, the Lord wants us to ask Him questions. When we ask for guidance or God’s direction, we are letting Him know that we seek the answers He is so anxious to give us. What should I do? How do I carry on? What is Your will for my life? These are all questions that God will answer if you are willing to truly open a listening heart! God has all of the answers we need if we will only listen to Him.

Sometimes the answers we seek reveal themselves immediately, while at other times they come at a time and in a manner that’s unexpected and disconcerting. We may struggle against what the answer is, but God’s love for us is patient – He will keep offering His answers and wait for us to listen. He won’t abandon us if we refuse to hear the first time or even the tenth time! You see, God loves us so much that He is willing to give us the answers over and over until we are ready to receive them.

But how do we learn to truly listen and accept God’s answers for our lives? First, we must realize that listening so that we truly hear God’s call is the most important thing in our lives. If we are too busy with the hustle and hurry of our everyday lives, we may not hear because God’s voice is drowned out by the world’s confusion. You must set aside time to listen and hear.


“Be Still and Know that I am God.”
- Psalm 46:10


We need to tune out the noise and distraction of this world and allow God’s voice to reach us within our hearts and souls. It isn’t always easy to do this – we have to take the time to focus on God within this busy, noisy world. But no matter what time of day or night we turn to Him with a listening heart, He will be waiting for you.

These simple steps will help you open up to what God wants to say:

1. Train yourself to hear the Lord by reading your Bible, which is the Word of God. His Word will open your heart and your ears to the sound of His voice and His desire for you.

2. Look for and listen to God’s words in the world around you. As you open your heart, you will be amazed by the many signs of God’s love for you that surround you even in the gravest of circumstances.

3. Give yourself over to God’s will. You may hear the word of God and be afraid of what He has planned for you and you may want to turn away – but ignoring God’s plan when you have heard it is worse than never having heard it at all. The most important part of hearing is truly listening to God! And listening requires a heart and soul that are ready to receive God wholeheartedly.


How do you know God is speaking to you? - The Tests


The following tests will help you determine if God is speaking to you. These methods should be accompanied by continual prayer and in some cases fasting.

The first test is the confirmation of God's written Word - the Bible. Everything that God says will agree with His written Word. He will never tell you to sin or go against a teaching in His Word. This simple test can clarify many "messages." We must, however, be careful not to read the written Word with any preconceived ideas of what it is saying.

The second test is the confirmation of godly counsel. God has placed people in our lives to help us to hear His voice. These people may include pastors, teachers, parents, and godly friends. In most cases, they will confirm the voice of God to you and help you to see His plan. This is not to say that you should rely on them solely. These people are human and can have their own feelings and fears distort their objectivity. However, they can be a very valuable source of confirmation when you are uncertain of God's voice.

The third test is the confirmation through circumstances. Christians can carefully studying their situation for indications of God's will. Some Christians have called this the Gideon method or "putting out the fleece." When God told Gideon that he was to lead Israel into battle against their enemies, Gideon put a fleece out on the ground in order to receive a sign that God was really speaking to him. If you feel led to use this test, come to God with a humble attitude and not a spirit of testing Him. Pray for God to reveal His will and carefully watch the circumstances that relate to that decision.

Finally, remember that prayer is a conversation. When you ask God to talk to you, be still and listen for His voice. If you expect Him to speak and you are listening for it, He will speak to you regularly.


Are you ready to listen to God? Then talk to Him and open your heart so that it is ready when God speaks to you!


“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom for the future.
- Proverbs 19:20