Growth Obedience

[K2CHRIST]

Amen! And anyone that interprets the meaning of the Living Word is aq fool, the Word,l when indwelt with the Holy Spirit becomes self interpreting, and any message from any spirit that disagrees with the Book God left us, the Final Court of Arbitration, is a lie!

According to the Scriptures, Jesus Christ is the living Word. The Scriptures are not alive. Jesus Christ is alive!!!

And the Scriptures are not self interpreting, the Holy Spirit interprets them, and the Holy Spirit speaks words which can be heard and written down. The Spirits words do not disagree with the Scriptures, but they might and probably do disagree with what you think by leaning on your own understanding. That's because God's thoughts are not your thoughts.

It's written that they will all be taught of God. He is the Teacher. He can use other people, but even then He will talk to you about what those people He uses tell you. That is: He the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ and who does not speak on His own initiative but as He hears He speaks, brings the words from the living Word of God (Jesus Christ) to our spirit. We hear those words. And because we hear those words we can tell others things He personally tells us. And since God is awesome we are going to be telling others to listen to Him.

So while He (the Spirit) might use others to tell me things, I would never say:

I have been pushed to learn much about God by some great Preachers and Teachers.

I wouldn't say that because I am not pushed by people to learn about God, because I am lead by God not people!!! And because I am lead by Him and hear from Him, I know it is possible for others to be lead by and listen to Him also. So I preach Jesus Christ as the living Word of God. Those that don't hear from Him have to lean on their own understanding, or depend on their own understanding of the Scriptures, or perhaps they seek after teaching of other people, because they don't hear from our Lord who said His sheep hear His voice.

So they say the Scriptures are the living Word of God because they don't know that Jesus Christ lives. They say things like, "God left us a Book", missing the fact that Paul wrote "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND IN TO HEAVEN?" (that is, to bring Chris down)

Rm 10:7 "GOD HAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY."

People: Jesus Christ is alive. That is what the Bible tells us. The Bible explains that His sheep hear His voice. It explains that His words are spirit and are life. But it also explains that there are some that have ears but do not hear, and that is happening to this very day!!
It is also written that all those who seek find. So the problem is that they look to others but not to God. They read the Scriptures but don't realize they were written to get them to seek the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ. So they say the Scriptures are the living and active Word of God because they don't know Jesus Christ who is alive and active and talks to His sheep who hear His voice.

Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Jn 1:14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God
Jn 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory

Gal 3:22 But the Scripture had shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

It is not faith in the Scriptures, it is not faith in "some great Preachers and Teachers", it is faith in Jesus Christ the Word of God!!! and He is called the Word of God because His sheep hear His voice. They have ears to hear the words His spirit, the Holy Spirit speaks to us!!!

 

[Jim Parker]

"If" someone gets a word from the Lord?????

Right. I said, "If someone gets a "word from the Lord" then we are supposed to make sure it matches with scripture."
If no one gets a word from the Lord then there is nothing that needs to be compared to scripture.

His sheep hear His voice, so what is with the "If"??

I didn't say people didn't.

The point was, when someone "gets a word from the Lord" that "word from the Lord" needs to be compared with scripture to make sure it really IS from the Lord and not from the person's imagination.

That's all.

 

[K2CHRIST]

Is 30:9 For this is a rebellious people, "false sons", Sons who refuse to listen to the instructions of the Lord
Is 1: 2 -3 Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth For the Lord speaks.....An ox knows its owner.... But Israel does not know

The Lord our God is always with us... And He speaks!!! Yet there has been and still is a problem with His people. They don't listen! Some flat our refuse to listen, and they are 'false sons', but they were still consider part of "Israel". Christian are grafted into the Jewish root, and the problem is still there.

To be "OBEDIENT", you have to listen to the Lord our God! And He speaks! It's not a question of "if" He might speak to us, so that we can say "If He speaks". He does speak!!

But we don't set about hearing the Lord with our spiritual ears! We will say "If" the Lord speaks. And because we say that in our hearts, we are not living a life by faith in a God that is called "The Great I AM"! My friends, the Lord speaks! And He is always with you!

Now if the Lord speaks, and He does, He is right!!!!

"IF" we choose to listen with our spiritual ears to our "Lord", who said He stands at the door and knock and if any one hears His voice (Rev 3:20), we do need to make sure we test the spirit. But the test recorded in the Bible is: 1 Jn 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every sprit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

So if we listen, and that is the "If" that is the problem, then we should test the spirits to make sure that spirit (not person) will confess the Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. But are we applying what is written in the Bible? Or are we just leaning on our understanding?

So are we obedient to the instructions in the Bible when we say "If the Lord speaks"? The answer is "No"! People we should know the Lord is with us and speaks to us! It is never of question of if He will speak to us but rather if we will believe in Him and seek His voice!

If we are going to be obedient like the Bible tells us we have to listen to our God who does speak to us, just like the Bible tells us. But many people have read and studied the Scripture and still say "If, the Lord will speak". They lean on their own understanding of the Bible and don't see they don't match up with the Bible. They don't hear from the great I AM. They are men of little faith, because faith comes from hearing from the great I AM who does speak. My friends, we need to match up with the Bible!! We need to listen to the Lord! That is the problem!!

Yeah, we think we are matching up with the Bible when we say "If the Lord speaks", But no! It is not "If the Lord speak" but rather "The Lord Speak"! The question in the Bible is "If anyone hears HIs voice"!

You have to hear His voice to get the instructions He has for you, and He does have them for you!

And my friends, His instructions, if we do listen to them and follow them, will cause us to act righteously and help people out!!

This last week was a nice and interesting week which was full of testimonies about the Lord. Quickly I will give you the extremely short version of two of them.

In the healing ministry the Lord asked me to be in, we (three of us) prayed for a man that came in because He was having troubles keeping his walk with the Lord. We prayed for Him and each of us got different instructions from the Lord for the man, which is normal in that ministry. The Lord told me the man had back troubles and allergies. The man did not mention either of them, but because I listen to the Lord (as did the other two with me) I asked the man about that word, He did indeed have both those problems. So we prayed for those problems also and it seemed that God gave the man relief.

Another day I was with a group of friends. After eating and enjoying each others fellowship we decided to pray and seek the Lord. One by one we prayed for each other, and the Lord spoke to each of us and we all listened. It was not a question of if any of us were going to get a word from the Lord. We all got words and instructions! And for one person in our group I heard the Lord tell me there was a problem with their knees. I asked about it and it was confirmed (though it had not been mentioned ahead of time) and again prayer was made by us and the persons knees were better. Later I found out that she had no pain in them the next day either.

So I have been with groups of Christian who do hear from the Lord. And it was never a question of "IF" we will get a word, we all got words every time!

In the healing ministry our group of three, we prayed for two people that night and both times everyone in the group got words from the Lord both times. (And we had about 10 groups in that ministry and they all hear like that) And in the group of seven when we prayed for each of the seven. I believe that all seven got some instructions all seven times.

So I can't not see how it is ever a question of "If we hear from the Lord"

But what I do see, both in the Bible and sometimes in the church, that "if" is often a question of "If we will listen" to the instructions of the Lord. That is the main problem, and always has been between God and man. If Adam and Eve had listened to the instruction personal gotten from the Lord and not those of the snake (and they knew it was a snake) then they would have been just fine. But are we going to listen to the instructions and do what is told us???

Listen, O heavens, and hear O earth, For the Lord speaks.

It doesn't say "if" in those instructions!!!

 

[th1b.taylor]

And you are certain it is God, how? When I hear from God I use my knowledge from study and often turning to the page to make certain it is not a Demon, pretending to be the Christ, just as we are warned to do.(1Thes 5:20-22, 1Jon. 4:1,2, iThes 5:21) If you do not test what you are taught you are not wise and God desires wise people.

 

[K2CHRIST]

And you are certain it is God, how?

I love this question!!! It's a great a fabulous question!!!! WE FIRST NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE DEPTHS OF THIS QUESTION!

I could write a book and still not complete explain all the ways I know it is God. But the reason the question is so awesome is that it is that question we should always be seeking out!!

You see, that if we are trying to find out that question we are essentially trying to find God!! Thus the problem with have is not trying to find out!! That leads us to dismissing the thought that God could be there for us.

For example: If is think it is always going to be demons, evil spirits, and Satan then we will not seek to find God! And if we don't seek for Him we will not find Him!

This by the way is a problem the Pharisees had. Jesus was right in front of them and they thought He had a demon!! Why? Why did they think Jesus had a demon. It certainly wasn't what He was doing. It certainly wasn't what He was saying. It was simply because they couldn't consider the possibility that God could be with them! And that is strange because they said they believed in God.

Yet it is us, not the other guy, who needs to find God for ourselves!!!!! So the question is really a personal question!

So how do I believe that the One I personally know and hear talking to me is the Lord Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit?

That personal relationship started with a voice telling me "READ YOUR BIBLE", and it felt like someone hit me over the head with a 2 by 4. It shook me up so bad that I broke out in a cold sweet! I could write a chapter just on that event. I instantly got a vision of my Bible behind my time clock. I don't know how it got there because I hardly remembered having it. It must have supernaturally been put there. I thought I should go tell someone and then thought I should go back to sleep because it was all a nightmare. The second thought didn't make sense. I was awake at the time, and the vision, the impact, and the Bible were not a dream. I had never been double minded before. What I didn't know then was that God has just given me ears to hear. That became more apparent later.

Actually though, I can be a skeptic. I'm more like Thomas than I want to admit. But like Thomas saw the holes in His hands I have seen the miracles. God made all things and it's written that He holds them together with His hands. So what are the miracles if not things that are not as they normally wound be? Miracles are the holes in His hands, spiritually speaking. They are the things that happen which don't happen according to what we call the laws of nature.

That first voice came to me in the summer of 1999. Since then I have come to know the One that told me "Read Your Bible". We talk about lots of things. He tells me wisdom like "The best listeners make the best teachers". He tells me "Karl, I love you." At times He tells me things that are going to happen before they do. Mostly they are just for me, but sometimes He had me give prophecy and I have seen it come to pass. Like the time He told me He was closing down a book store that was selling things like crystal balls in the front. I told them like He told me to, and a month or two later He had me drive by and it was gone and vacant. I have so so many testimonies of what God does around me, that I could not possibly tell you all the things I personally have seen Him do. Somewhere on this site I just wrote about a man with back pain and allergies, and also a lady with bad knees. The Lord told me they had the problem. It turned out they did. They got prayer (which both time I had the person with me and not myself actually do the praying, because God does heal and people need to know that), and from all accounts I got, both people were healed. That was this last week. I don't have time to tell about all the healings I have seen the Lord do around me. It's at least hundreds that I know of, and I can include some time for me also. He personally instantly (miraculously) healed me of a growth behind my ear, a knee that I had hurt while surfing when I was younger, and a small list of other things.

But that is my testimony about my personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So you do you know Him, and I don't just mean th1b.taylor?

We should be hearing His voice, because faith comes by hearing. So we should be getting wisdom from His voice. We should be hearing Him tell us He loves us, because a husband tells her bride He loves her, and the church is His bride. We should be getting prophecy, because it is written the if you believe in a prophet you get a prophets reward, and Jesus Christ is the Word of God and really the only true prophet. You say you believe in Him, so do you? We should be getting teachings from Him, because He also the Teacher, and it is written that we should call nobody "teacher" because we have only one teacher. So we would never write " I have been pushed to learn much about God by some great Preachers and Teachers" because we have only one Teacher. And you should see the power of God around your life, because He our Lord is King of kings and it is a Kingdom of power.

So maybe some can not believe it is God that I hear from. But I don't feel bad about that because some believed Jesus had a demon also. But as for me, I have a wonderful Lord that does and tells me wonderful things! And He does it often!!

Jn 8:49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

Everyone needs to seek the Lord and find out for themselves if indeed God is really there for them. You will find He is there for you. It is written that all those who seek find. So the question about how do I know it's God is a great question for all of us to ask, but we need to ask it for ourselves!

 

[th1b.taylor]

Ireally hope you did not ecpect me to read all that fluff, I scanned until I found your answer, somewhere near or in the middle, I do not and did not ask for your life history. The one thing I saw that was right was read your Bible. And Paul, taught 1 on 1 for about three years taught the Christ Follower to check every word we receive from what ever sourch it is received from and we find in the Bible that the Demons can appear as an Angel of Light (Jesus).

 

[K2CHRIST]

Ireally hope you did not ecpect me to read all that fluff, I scanned until I found your answer, somewhere near or in the middle, I do not and did not ask for your life history. The one thing I saw that was right was read your Bible. And Paul, taught 1 on 1 for about three years taught the Christ Follower to check every word we receive from what ever sourch it is received from and we find in the Bible that the Demons can appear as an Angel of Light (Jesus).

What I have not come to expect, but try to change, is that Christian are often not actually followers of Jesus Christ, They pretend Obedience to Jesus Christ, but so many don't actually seek to get instruction from Him as their Lord. They become Bible thumpers instead of leading people the Jesus Christ. So they make a did deal about reading their Bible but scoff and anyone claiming to actually hear from Him. That is exactly what the Pharisees did when Jesus came. They thought He had a demon when He was the Word of God. They thought that because they didn't hear from God!!!

So I was asked why I believe and gave testimonies about hearing from Him and about miracles I have seen Him do. But they can't accept that any more that the Pharisees. They think they have "Great Teachers', but they don't know The Great Teacher. They are not even willing to listen. So they seek approval from men instead of God.

Why do you believe? Is it because your hear from Him? Faith comes from hearing? Is it because of the teachings He personally gives your? Is it because of the hundreds of miracles you have seen when you prayed according to what He tells you? Is it because you often hear Him tell you He loves you? Is it because all the incredible things that happen when you are obedient to what He personally tells you? You tell me.

Jn 5:44 How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?

 

[JLB]

What is the role of obedience in a Christian's life?

Everything!

Obedience is the common foundation of Faith, Righteousness and Love.

We are translated out of the dominion of darkness, into God's kingdom, by obeying the Gospel, and continue our life of faith, by being led by the Spirit of God.

• Faith must have obedience to be functional or active; ie alive or able to function to manifest a divine result.

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? James 2:17-22

Key Verse: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

Paul calls it the obedience of faith.

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: Romans 16:26

• Righteousness is realized by obeying, doing what God say's is right.

Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 1 John 3:7

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe... Romans 3:21-22

Believe is synonymous with obey.

Unbelief is disobedience.

• Love is also realized, or demonstrated through obedience.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

We demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commandment to love our neighbor.
When we love our neighbor, we are loving God.

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 1 John 4:20

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18



JLB

 

[K2CHRIST]

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Jesus said He was the Truth. This is what I often see getting missed in the above verse. That is to say we go about doing good works but not according to the what the Truth (Jesus Christ) tells us. We often think we are doing the right thing, but are not. It happens with me also.

I hear from the Lord about a dozen times a day, but still often forget to hear from the Lord. "In deed and in truth" , means that we are not just doing what we think is right but we are turning to the Lord and following His personal instructions to us! That is OBEDIENCE.

 

[th1b.taylor]

What I have not come to expect, but try to change, is that Christian are often not actually followers of Jesus Christ, They pretend Obedience to Jesus Christ, but so many don't actually seek to get instruction from Him as their Lord. They become Bible thumpers instead of leading people the Jesus Christ. So they make a did deal about reading their Bible but scoff and anyone claiming to actually hear from Him. That is exactly what the Pharisees did when Jesus came. They thought He had a demon when He was the Word of God. They thought that because they didn't hear from God!!!

So I was asked why I believe and gave testimonies about hearing from Him and about miracles I have seen Him do. But they can't accept that any more that the Pharisees. They think they have "Great Teachers', but they don't know The Great Teacher. They are not even willing to listen. So they seek approval from men instead of God.

Why do you believe? Is it because your hear from Him? Faith comes from hearing? Is it because of the teachings He personally gives your? Is it because of the hundreds of miracles you have seen when you prayed according to what He tells you? Is it because you often hear Him tell you He loves you? Is it because all the incredible things that happen when you are obedient to what He personally tells you? You tell me.

Jn 5:44 How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?

You are way to far into this nonsens. God has left a record to check any message from any spirit àgainst, the Bible! That same manifeasto is our guide to a godlike life and our road map to worship God and you speak so lightly of the work of God!

 

[JLB]

Jesus said He was the Truth. This is what I often see getting missed in the above verse. That is to say we go about doing good works but not according to the what the Truth (Jesus Christ) tells us. We often think we are doing the right thing, but are not. It happens with me also.

I hear from the Lord about a dozen times a day, but still often forget to hear from the Lord. "In deed and in truth" , means that we are not just doing what we think is right but we are turning to the Lord and following His personal instructions to us! That is OBEDIENCE.

No mention of "good works".

Practicing righteousness is obeying the Spirit of Christ within.


JLB

 

[K2CHRIST]

You are way to far into this nonsens. God has left a record to check any message from any spirit àgainst, the Bible! That same manifeasto is our guide to a godlike life and our road map to worship God and you speak so lightly of the work of God!

I'm not against the Bible, As I have mention, the first words the Lord told me were "Read Your Bible". The problem is that if I tell people about hearing from the Lord the first think they think is that I don't read and study the Bible. Which is a really strange thought because the Bible tells us that we should all hear from the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah goes so far as to mention that we will hear from Him everything we turn to the right or to the left.

So is this a question of me being against the bible or a question of others doing what Jesus told the Jews they were doing.

:"Your search the Scriptures thinking in them you have eternal life, it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

Those Jews could not and were not obedient to Jesus Christ because they were busy searching the Scriptures instead of seeking the voice of the Lord. So they didn't even recognize Him when He was right in front of them. So it is that many, not just a few, but many on that day will tell the Lord how they cast out demons, prophesied, healed the sick and did many other things in His name but He is going to tell them "I never knew you."

I know Him. We talk, everyday. He often tells me He loves me. He calls me His friend. He gives me teachings. He gives me counsel. And I have seen Him heal people around me. At least two last week, and I believe that a third was also going to be heal. It wasn't possible to evaluate it at the time. I have seen Him heal hundreds of people around me. So I testify about Him, and can respond to a question about why I believe. And it is not just because I read the bible. It is because I do that things I hear Him actually speaking to me via His small voice, which I pick up as words.

Jn 6:63 Is is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh prophets nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

The words in the Bible are ink on pages. Many of them were spiritual words spoken by the Lord to those who wrote the Bible. Some were even words by sound waves spoken by Jesus when He was in the flesh talking to His disciples. But none of those words are spiritual words spoken to you personally! You have to listen to the Lord for yourself for those. And if you do, you will have something to tell others!

He once told me:

"KARL, YOU DIDN’T MAKE ME AN AWESOME GOD, BUT YOU CAN MAKE ME AN AWESOME GOD."

Are you trying to tell people about an Awesome God that they can get to know? Or are you trying to show that you read the Bible?

 

[th1b.taylor]

But I dist8ncly recàii you telling you do ñot check the words you receive against the scriptures and I adnoñished you to do so and you went off on me.

 

[K2CHRIST]

But I dist8ncly recàii you telling you do ñot check the words you receive against the scriptures and I adnoñished you to do so and you went off on me.

I am not trying to go off on you, but there is something that you are coming up with which I do have an issue with. Let me see if I can show you a different way. I am going to cover several problem I see in the church today. They are the exact same problems covered in the Bible.

1: The first problem is that Christians look to the Bible instead of Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Jews they search the Scriptures instead of coming to Him. Jn 5:39

2: Another problem is that people look to other people instead of looking to Jesus Christ. Jesus also covered that problem also. Jn 12:43

3: Another problem is that we don't seek Him and try to listen to His voice. Isaiah wrote: "Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for the Lord speaks. Is 1:2

4: Then if we do listen for His voice we also run into the problem of knowing when it is Him. We find out that because God is spirit His words are spiritual words which come across as thoughts from inside us. We find it might just be our thoughts or it could be demons coming at us.

Now it is written that His sheep hear His voice, so it should be expected Christians hear His voice. Yet usually when I just mention hearing from the Lord (which the Bible says we all should be doing) and not even something He told me, someone tells me I need to read my Bible. Why do they do that?

If I had told them something the Lord told me, there might be a concern that I hear it wrong, but if I am just mentioning hearing from Him is should be expected, according to the Scriptures. Obviously they are not hearing from Him like they should, otherwise they would have understood that we hear from Him. And since they instantly have assumed incorrectly that I need to read my Bible, they also are obviously searching the Scriptures instead of coming to Him.

There are some other indications that people have the above problems. If they talk about setting at someone feet who is not Jesus, or if they make a big deal about some great Teacher or Preacher, they are looking for approval of men and not God. It's not that the Lord doesn't use other people to teach and preach, and it's not that He doesn't have us go to a church, but if we are listening to Him like we should He goes over the teachings other have with us. So it is never about sitting at their feet but at His feet, and it is never about them being "Great" teachers or preachers but about Him (The Great I AM) being our teacher and counselor. He told Martha that truly only one thing was needed, and it was sitting at His feet like Mary was doing. Luke 10:42

Now if we do listen, then we come to a forth problem, and that is knowing if it is the Lord or not. Some people think the solution to that must be to compare what we hear with the Bible. They don't know it, but that solution show they don't hear from Him much, if at all. Let me give an example: I used to surf a lot. Sometimes people would come up to me and talk to me about surfing. It didn't take but a moment to know if they really were an experienced surfer or not. By surfing a lot you come to know the problems you encounter in the ocean. An inexperienced surf often show great fear of sharks or ripped tides. It's not that you don't need to be aware of those problems, but because you surf a lot are aware of them and more. Shark attacks are very rare and especially in some locations and rip tides can be used to get you out in the line up faster.

So a kook (a beginner surfer) has certain fears as opposed to understanding. Sharks and rip-tides are a concern, but they are rarely an excuse not to go into the water. In the same way, the devil and the uncertainly of whether it is your thoughts or God's thoughts is rarely an excuse not to seek the voice of the Lord!!!

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Heb 5:11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.

The Hebrews should have been the teachers, because they were brought up with the Bible, but since they didn't practice hearing with their spiritual ears they couldn't hear the oracles of God and couldn't discern between good and evil. So was the author of the book of Hebrews right to reprove them? Was Jesus right to reprove the Jews who were searching the Scriptures instead of seeking His voice? Was Isaiah right to reprove Israel for not listening?

I try to point people to Jesus Christ and seek His voice. Those who wrote the Bible were trying to do the same thing, and God inspired those writings! We are talking about elementary principles of the oracles of God. If you are practicing hearing from Jesus Christ our Lord, you should understand what I am talking about. I am simply saying seek the Lord and His voice. You can not be obedient to Him unless you know His personal instructions to you. Don't worry, He will tell you to "Read your Bible", but since He is the Teacher, don't you think He will also tell you what chapters He wants to cover with you and when? We need to listen!

 

[th1b.taylor]

Now it is written that His sheep hear His voice, so it should be expected Christians hear His voice. Yet usually when I just mention hearing from the Lord (which the Bible says we all should be doing) and not even something He told me, someone tells me I need to read my Bible. Why do they do that?

You have a very disconcerting form of religion. Yes, any Christ follower listens to and lives to hear, spiritually, from Jesus/God. Jesus left us with all the instructions we need to live a successful life for God and yes, God speaks to us but so does Satan, who appears as an angel of light. (2Cor 11:14) Therefore we are instructed by the man that spent about three years seated under the instruction of Jesus to test all spirits against the scriptures. (1Jon 4:1) That is not worshiping the Bible, it is instead, learning to verify the spirit you hear against the known truth, the scriptures. That is following Jesus.

 

[Winnie]

Hi.

Not only obedience to the written word, but from my experience, and others, obedience to if God tells you to do outside of His written word, like go to this church, talk to that person, etc. No matter what it appears to you.
A few years ago I was led ( unquestionably) to a bible by a famous pastor who had only his comments, and it so much of it was where I was at in life so God knew that is what I needed to hear. He spoke a lot about obedience. One of his own quotes was often ' Obedience always brings blessing.' No matter how illogical something appears on the outside, God in His infinite knowledge really sees the whole picture and that is where trust come in. (My words). Something I used to struggle with.
I think we would live much fuller and blessed lives in obedience.

 

[K2CHRIST]

God wants us to respect authority. Not respecting authority is rebellion. Yet Jesus is called the King of kings. And He said He would never leave us!! Yet we act like He did leave us!!!! And we can't even see that is how we are.

Matt 28:20... and lo, I am with you always

We need to get that!! We need to believe in a Lord that is always with us!! But do we?

We tend to be men and women of little faith. That is, we hardly believe the God is with us. If we did believe God is actually with us we would ask Him and listen to what He says to us. But we hardly believe so most of the time we don't seek Him and what He has to say.

We will go to church and take not of the fact that the presence of God was there. But my friends, since He was there why did you get a few questions answered? Why did you get some counsel from Him? What words did you get? Wouldn't it be a good idea to talk to Him and I mean listen to what He has to tell you?

Yeah, we have the Bible and He gave instructions through those that wrote it. They heard Him, and wrote down what He said. He said love us to love our neighbor, but He also said things like:

Matt 15: 7,8 "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'THIS PEOPLE HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINE THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

Yeah, God uses people to make a point and bring a teaching. He puts people in positions of authority and we need to respect that and keep the laws of the land. And He used people to write the Scriptures in which He had the Law written. But the Law is for the lawless, we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, and in that way we fulfill the Law.

So those who wrote the Scriptures wrote things like "do what se command". But what did they command if not listen and get direction from the Lord?

2 Thess 3:4,5 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

Are we going to listen to the Lord directions in our heart of not?

Jer 3:25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

It's no use saying we have obeyed, because clearly we have not obeyed. Not like we should. We need to understand that about ourselves!!! We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So a sacrifice was made at the cross. He died because of you and me, and that because we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. And note; the obedience mention has nothing to do we the voice of men or the writing from God, but the voice of the Lord our God! He speaks. We don't listen! He gives us instructions, and we don't listen. We enjoy His presence, but don't take the time to seek His voice.

Is 30:9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen.

If we do come to realize that indeed the Bible was written to people (US) to get a message to us, then perhaps we will turn from our ways and from seeking the precepts of men back to the voice of our Lord who is always with us.

Is 30:21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

People, that is how it is. I don't listen to Him as much as I should, but I have literally heard Him tell me turn left, now turn right. I get into a line and if someone cuts in I usually hear Him telling me some thing like, "Just back up Karl. I'll take care of it latter". Sometime I hear Him telling me to back off right before a car cuts me off on the road. If you don't listen to Him you couldn't believe the little things He talks to you about, and you won't believe me telling you it is so either. I tell people, Christian people, about this but many can accept my testimony about hearing from Him.

The Lord told me it would be like that. One day He took me to Ezekiel 3 and asked me to read. And as I read He started talking to me so that I could hear Him talking as I read. I read where He was sending our Ezekiel and I also hear Him tell me in similar but not the same words. I read "But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you since they are not willing to listen to Me." (Ez 3:6,7)

I heard Him tell me, "Karl, I am sending you to a people that should listen to you, but they will not listen to you because they will not listen to Me."

Of course that is the case. He has me tell people to seek His voice and listen to Him. But if they are not willing to listen to me telling them to listen to Him, it is because they are not willing to listen to Him. But the message still goes out, just in case someone changes their ways and decided to turn to Him. He will talk to you!



Isaiah wrote 30:9 For this is a rebellious people

 

[JLB]

Jesus said He was the Truth. This is what I often see getting missed in the above verse. That is to say we go about doing good works but not according to the what the Truth (Jesus Christ) tells us. We often think we are doing the right thing, but are not. It happens with me also.

I hear from the Lord about a dozen times a day, but still often forget to hear from the Lord. "In deed and in truth" , means that we are not just doing what we think is right but we are turning to the Lord and following His personal instructions to us! That is OBEDIENCE.

No mention of "good works".

Practicing righteousness is obeying the Spirit of Christ within.

• Obedience is the common foundation of Faith, Righteousness and Love.

We are translated out of the dominion of darkness, into God's kingdom, by obeying the Gospel, and continue our life of faith, by being led by the Spirit of God.

• Faith must have obedience to be functional or active; ie alive or able to function to manifest a divine result.

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? James 2:17-22


Key Verse: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

Paul calls it the obedience of faith.

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: Romans 16:26

• Righteousness is realized by obeying, doing what God say's is right.

Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 1 John 3:7

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe... Romans 3:21-22

Believe is synonymous with obey.

Unbelief is disobedience.

• Love is also realized, or demonstrated through obedience.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

We demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commandment to love our neighbor.
When we love our neighbor, we are loving God.

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 1 John 4:20

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18



JLB

 

[K2CHRIST]

You have a very disconcerting form of religion. Yes, any Christ follower listens to and lives to hear, spiritually, from Jesus/God. Jesus left us with all the instructions we need to live a successful life for God and yes, God speaks to us but so does Satan, who appears as an angel of light. (2Cor 11:14) Therefore we are instructed by the man that spent about three years seated under the instruction of Jesus to test all spirits against the scriptures. (1Jon 4:1) That is not worshiping the Bible, it is instead, learning to verify the spirit you hear against the known truth, the scriptures. That is following Jesus.

Ok, Jesus said He was the truth. And that because we get the truth from His mouth.

Mal 2:6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

Please don't think I am trying to beat you up, but leaning on our understanding of the Scriptures doesn't get it done. We must know Him and that means listening to Him.

Gal 3:22 But the Scriptures has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those that believe.
Gal 3:2 ... did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by hearing with faith?

So Jesus abides in us and can be heard from via the Holy Spirit, who does not speak on His own initiative Jesus is the Truth. Jesus talks to us. We see that clearly written in the Scriptures. So the Scriptures have value and need to be studied, and they are good for reproof. We also have ways to test the spirits which are written in the Scriptures.

1 Jn 4:1-3... do not believe every spirit but test the spirits... By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

We need to follow the instructions in the Scriptures. But is that what you mean? When you hear a spiritual voice talking to you do you ask it to confess Jesus Christ came in the flesh like the Scriptures tell us to do, or do you try to analyze whether it lines up with your understanding of the Scriptures?

Most Christians that I have discussed this with don't apply the test like the Scriptures say to do, they tend to lean on their understanding and knowledge of the Scriptures. That didn't work. That is going back to depending on you and not on God, but they don't understand that.

From my practicing hearing and testing what I am hearing like is written, I have at time heard a spiritual voice sudden start talking to me, had it confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and been told, "I can not tell you that." which amazes me. More often it just suddenly disappears and is gone. At least that is what I would think would happen. Sometimes suddenly that spirit has gotten instantly angry and not at me but it is angry with our Lord Jesus Christ and will start to speak against Him. And lots of other things happen when we listen and apply what is written.

But what doesn't work is thinking you are going to out smart them (evil spirits). Those little snakes have been dealing with people for ages. Are we going to be able to match wits with them? So use the tests. Take all thoughts captive to Jesus Christ. And for heaven's sake, people let's open up our spiritual ears and seek the Lord. All those who seek with find Him.

And with practice you will get better at discerning good and evil. Heb 5:14 ... because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

By practice listening, I find out what's happening in the spirit realm. It turns out that if I ask God for a word I hear from Him. I might hear another word from an evil spirit soon after, but the verse about if you ask someone for bread or and egg they are not going to give you a rock or scorpion applies. So by experience I find out that I can go "Jesus Christ how do you feel about...? and get and answer which is from Him. Now confusion may soon follow, but the first thing I get is from Him. You find that out with practice.

But I am not trying to get people to believe me, I am trying to get them to seek Him and His voice so they we find this out for themselves!

So I have been asked how I know it is Him? From a lot of practice and from applying the Bible, but certainly not by leaning on my understanding of it. When I listen, He, My Lord Jesus Christ, gives me understanding.

He once explained to me:

WE DON’T HAVE UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE WE DON’T READ THE BIBLE WITH UNDERSTANDING, BUT OUR UNDERSTANDING…. UNDERSTAND???

Prov 5:1 My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding.

 

[K2CHRIST]

Practicing righteousness is obeying the Spirit of Christ within.

It really is that simple