In another camp, there are those who do believe that an outright contradiction exists in this view of the incarnation. These people believe that in order for the second person of the Trinity to become fully human as the Bible teaches he did, he had to relinquish the use of certain divine attributes that would had prohibited him from becoming fully human. In other words, a being who is fully human cannot be omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, since these are attributes which cannot accurately be used to describe a finite being. Christ did not have to relinquish all of his divine attributes (his divine holiness and love, for example) because these attributes can be granted to humans. Nothing about being fully human precludes us from perfect holiness and love (at least in theory) but it does preclude us from being all-knowing or all-powerful.

A question that I have been pondering lately is this: when Jesus performed miracles, was he performing them as a human or was he tapping into his divine nature to bend and break the laws of the universe that he himself created? The answer that seems most natural is that Jesus, being fully God, made use of his divine power or knowledge to work miracles, heal the sick, control the weather, raise the dead, and read people’s thoughts. However, I do not believe this to be the case. I believe that Jesus performed miracles as a finite, limited, dependant human being, who relied totally and completely on his Father as his source of power and knowledge. Jesus’ miracles are not proof of his divinity. On the contrary Jesus’ life and miracles give us the best example of what it means to be truly human.

Scripture is clear that Jesus depended on the Father and the Holy Spirit on a regular basis. (Luke 4:1 – Jesus was led around the wilderness by the Spirit; Matt. 12:28 – Jesus claims to cast out demons by the Spirit of God; John 5:19-30 – Jesus says that he can do nothing on his own initiative, but can only do what he sees the Father doing. ) Jesus’ supernatural abilities are almost always attributed to the Holy Spirit or the Father working through him.

Scripture is also clear that we are to follow the example of Christ (Phil. 2:5, 1Cor. 11:1) who was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). But if Christ had the advantage of omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence while here on earth, how can we possibly follow his example? If Christ possessed those attributes, it renders the exhortation to follow his example incoherent. Jesus also told his disciples, “He who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). I can imagine the disciples looking around at each other in disbelief, wondering how in the world they themselves would be able to perform greater works that Jesus. Just a few verses later, Jesus explains that He will ask the Father to send them another Helper, whose functions presumably include aiding them and all believers in accomplishing these “greater works”.

What I have been saying is that Jesus’ life was one of total and complete dependence on the Father and the Holy Spirit. This is the kind of life that all humans are called to. In fact, living a life of total surrender and dependence on God is the way that God designed humans to live. Living a life of selfishness and self-reliance is actually like living a less-than-human life. We are defined by our potential. To live a truly human life is to live in true submission to God. That is the way we were created to live. Jesus gives us the only perfect example of how to do this. His life was lived in total and utter surrender to the direction of the Father. He relied on the Spirit in everything. His life is a model of what it looks like to live up to our creaturely potential. And this is what excites me: the kind of surrendered life that Jesus lived (one of reliance on the Spirit and the Father, one of dependence on the Spirit for power, wisdom, and direction) is exactly the kind of life that we too are called to live. The sensitivity to the Spirit that Jesus demonstrated is not reserved for him alone – it is available to us! Jesus’ ability to surrender to God, to allow the Father to work miracles and healings through him – this is available to us! The intimacy and communion with the Father that Jesus enjoyed – this too is available to us!  To the extent that we follow his example of total dependence and submission to God, we will fulfill Jesus’ promise to us that we will do “even greater works” than even he himself did.

This is a very emotional and powerful moment and gives tingles to almost anyone watching. It is also the complete opposite of faith. Faith is not a leap. It is not mystical. It is not a spell or magic, and it is not a formula.

So what is faith? I think it can be summed up as an unshakable confidence in the character of God. It is something quite reasonable.

Romans 10:13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!” 16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” 17 So faith {comes} from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

If faith comes from hearing, then why is it that so many people hear the Gospel and don’t believe? It would be so simple to evangelize and disciple the world. We would only need the internet and some big speakers. But this isn’t so. There are a couple of different kinds of “hearing.” The first would be hearing the notes and sounds someone makes. It’s like the game “Telephone.” One person says a random phrase like, “the duck flies at midnight.” Then it passes through several people, and the last person relays the message as, “the black flies are in flight.” What happened was each person heard sounds but never understood the message. Confusion is very fun but not effective. The second kind of hearing could really be called “understanding.” It’s the kind where someone says, “I hear ya, man.” What he means is that he understood what the person was saying.

This is what I think this verse means. So faith comes by hearing and the hearing comes by the word of God. Let’s change out the words. Faith comes through understanding-hearing and understanding-hearing by the word of God. Our faith should come about when we are presented with the truth of God, and we really get it. So faith is a reasonable thing, but how should it look? Is faith when we just really believe something is going to happen? I don’t think it is. That is part of it, but it should be a result of our faith and not the core of it.

Abraham showed what his faith was in. His name was originally Abram which meant “exalted father.” The problem was that he was very old and not a father. He had to go around being constantly reminded that he had no children. Hello, my name is Exalted Father, and I’m not a father. I imagine this would be painful. Then God came along and told him he was going to have children. Fast forward several years, and he sees this happen. The promise was fulfilled with the miraculous birth of his son Isaac.

Genesis 22:1 “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’” God told Abraham to take the very thing He promised him (the product of his faith) and sacrifice him. If Abraham’s faith was only believing really hard that he would have a son, he would have crumpled at this point, but he didn’t. He meant to follow through with this. Genesis 22:11-12 “But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ (12) He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’”

Abraham’s life was not caught up in Isaac but in God. His confidence was not that he would have a son. His confidence was in God. Abraham knew God. They had an interactive relationship. James 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”–and he was called a friend of God.

Daniel 3:12-17 “There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (13) Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. (14) Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? (15) Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” (16) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. (17) If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.”

If we let this story stop here, we would all still be very impressed. Those guys had faith just like Indiana Jones! But that is not the whole of their faith. The story continues.

Daniel 3:18-20 “But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (19) Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. (20) And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Let this be a call to faith for you, but not the mystical wimpy stuff. Don’t let faith stop at a formula or really strong hope in something impossible. Exercise the FAITH THAT WORKS, the reasonable faith. The faith based on understanding the truths of the Bible and the stories of our incredible God. Develop an unshakable confidence in the character of God!

The first words of the song are “Magnificent. Holy. Father.”

I am ordinary. He is not only inordinary and noteworthy, He’s magnificent. He is grandiose. He is unfathomable.

Apart from Him I am unrighteouss, unholy and destitute, but He is devastatingly holy. 

The song goes on to say, “Who am I that You should suffer?”

Indeed, I have no signifigance or merit except that He chose to love me. What is in me that deserves to have a God that would die to cover my filth?

“The only thing that I can give You is the life You gave to me.”

In the end, what do we really have to offer God? What do we own and have title to that is not already His? Our existence is a gift from Him, so the only think we can really give Him is our lives. How we live our lives is either an act of worship or an act of rebellion. There is no middle ground. There is no gray area. God’s standards are the highest. You are either bringing honor to your Father, or you are dishonoring Him.

Now, why would a missionary like myself become less excited when asked to speak specifically on the glory of God? The answer is that I’ve spent a lot of time in churches, shopping in Christian bookstores, reading Christian books, watching Christian TV, and listening to Christian radio. All of those things have helped me to become what I am today, and I am so grateful for them. However, they have also at times bored me to tears with vague and unexciting references to and explanations of incredible Biblical truths and concepts. The result is that some Christian phrases have lost their meaning to me. Ideas that should excite me do quite the opposite.

The happy part of this story is that I did not say, “never mind.” I decided to give it a shot. She gave me the verse I was supposed to focus on, and I went to study the glory of God.

King David in Psalm 26 verse 8 said, “O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.” I did some studying to see that there were several words within the range of meanings for glory. They usually meant something like honor or splendor. But after this studying I looked back at Psalm 26:8, and it clicked. David was not being vague or mystical. He said to God that he loved His house and where His glory dwells. He loved to be in the presence of God. For David, the place where God’s glory dwells (His presence) was the tabernacle, a physical place where he could go to be in the presence of God. It is very much like what the psalmist said in Psalm 84. “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord…How blessed are those who dwell in Your house…For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

This was a very simple and clear declaration of worship. God, it is really good to be in Your presence. It is better than not being in it. Of course it is more wonderful to be with God. I agree with the psalmist. I would choose one day with Him than three years anywhere else. I’d rather stand uncomfortably close to Him than to rest comfortably anywhere else.

Today we don’t have the tabernacle. So, where can I go to be in God’s presence? Where can I call the place where His glory dwells? I think the answer can be here sitting on my couch. I set out to remember times that I had been in the presence of God: a church where everyone was dancing and worshiping loudly, a Catholic mass in Florida, a Congregational church in New Hampshire, a plane over the Pacific ocean, my car as I left work, a bathroom in a McDonald’s in South Carolina. Then it hit me, and I said, “O LORD, I love the bathroom in McDonald’s in South Carolina, the place where Your glory dwells! I love to be in those churches, the place where Your glory dwells. I love to sit on this couch, the place where Your glory dwells!”

Where can we call the place where His glory dwells? The answer is anywhere that we are. So, what brings the change? I don’t think that God is constantly manifesting His presence to everyone who walks into that bathroom in South Carolina. I think we all believe that God is present everywhere in some fashion, but those who have experienced God’s presence will tell you that there are times that things are different. Sometimes God shows up, and it is very clear. It is almost as though the air gets thicker, and He will often speak to us in those times or bring greater understanding of His character and love for us.

A change occurs, but what brings the change? I think it is simple. God shows up when He is invited. Regardless of our theology on how it all happens, whether or not God planned our invitations or only knew they would come, the simple truth is that He manifests His presence when we invite Him.

I read some verses that mention this order. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you…” In Jeremiah 29:12-14 God says to the people of Judah, “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find {Me} when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you…”

When does God become near to us? When do we find Him? It’s when we draw near to Him – when we seek Him and search for Him with all our heart! And so, my challenge or encouragement to you who have read this far is to invite God to be near to you. Invite God into your life. Make a blanket sweep invitation like the prophets in the Old Testament. Make sure that God knows that you want Him near. Tell Him He can show up and take over ANY time He wants. He can speak ANY time. He can interrupt you at ANY time. Now, I don’t give blanket sweep invitations like this to anyone. But God can be trusted. He has shown Himself to be upright, loving and wise.

This time they are not David’s words. They are mine. God, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells! A day with You is better than a thousand anywhere else! Make these words yours.

A fourth area of the overall atoning work of Christ is reconciliation. The result of the expiation of guilt and the propitiation of God’s wrath is reconciliation of the relationship between God and those saved by Christ’s atonement. This aspect of the atonement of Christ is spoken of in Romans 5:10, For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. II Corinthians 5:18-19 also states, Now all these things are from God, Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

This area of the atonement of Christ accomplishes the change of relationship between God and sinners from one of a state of hostility to peace. Man was created to live in a loving personal relationship with God. Such a relationship is the essence of what the Bible calls “life.” Just as a tree has life by its vital union and relationship with its roots, so human beings were created to live in vital union and relationship with God. The severing of this relationship as a result of sin is “death” which is separation from God. Because of the fall of man into sin, the relationship between God and man was changed to one a state of hostilities toward each other. The Bible says that fallen human nature is hostile toward God (Romans 8: 7). And, as we have seen, God has wrath toward man because of sin. But through atoning death of Christ, this relationship is reconciled with all who trust in Christ. Instead of being under the wrath of God, the forgiven and cleansed sinner is has peace with God. As Romans 5:1 says, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

There are five important things about reconciliation for us to know. These are:

1. Reconciliation with God is based totally and only on what God has done for us in Christ – We had nothing to do making possible reconciliation with God.  It was totally His idea and His initiative. Human beings are by nature in rebellion against God and run away from God. Romans 3:11 states, No one seeks God.  Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him.” There is no such thing as a human being seeking God to find God based exclusively on his own initiative and desire. Left to ourselves, everyone would reject God. The person who finds himself seeking God is doing so only because God has first sought him and is drawing him. God is the One who initiates reconciliation. And the only basis on which a holy righteous God can come and personally seek us is the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  We have done nothing to make it possible and we can add nothing to make it possible.
2. It was a historical reality before it becomes a personal reality – Reconciliation is based on what Christ did for us in history in order to expiate our guilt and propitiate God’s wrath against us. The completed result of Christ’s death for us is then made personal applied to our lives by the gracious work of the Holy Spirit.  Whether one subjectively feel reconciled or not, the basis of our reconciliation is upon what Christ objectively did for us in history. This is a completed fact that then becomes a personal reality to us through saving faith in Christ.
3. It is God’s attitude that is changed first – Before we are reconciled with God, He is our enemy. Romans 5:10 says, While we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son (See also Isaiah 63:10).  On the basis of Christ’s death, God’s attitude toward the sinner who believes in Christ is changed because He is reconciled to the sinner through Christ.
4. Our reconciliation with God affects our relationships with all of God’s children – Because we have received grace, forgiveness and unconditional acceptance from God, we can and are to do the same to all God’s children. Romans 15:7 says, Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.  Ephesians 4:32 says, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  I John 5:19 says, We love because He first loved us.  Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Our experience of the reality of reconciliation with God will cause us to seek peace and reconciliation with all of God’s children whether in our marriages, our church, or different denominations.  The Bible is very clear when it says the person who does not love does not know God. I John 4:7-8 states, Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born o God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God for God is love
5. The reconciliation of Christ has a cosmic impact – Speaking of the effects of Christ’s death, Colossians 1:20 says God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross. The structures and relationships of all things that became alienated from God by the fall of Adam and take over of Satan will one day be completely become right with God.

I to have been remiss in my reading of scripture as of late. I took your lead and just read Psalm 50. I am humbled by my humanity. My life seems so busy and so crowded with tasks and responsibilities. 

Yet God is above all of that. He isn’t slowed down by the routine of the day. He sits upon His throne constantly and does all of His work without fail. 

Another thing that gripped me here is that God doesn’t need our sacrifices. In Israel’s case, they didn’t need to sacrifice bulls to feed God. God said that if He was hungry, He would get His own food. The point of this passage was that the heart in which sacrifice is given is of the utmost importance. 

Are you serving to satisfy God’s needs or are you serving with a heart of thanksgiving? Does God need you to teach Sunday School? Does God need you to be a greeter? Does God need you to preach? NO!

But He calls you to do it anyway. Why? To bring Him glory. To bring you, His child, into relationship with Him and to make you a part of His grandiose plan. We are privileged to be a small part of God’s work. Our attitude should be one of thankfulness and humility.

Does this matter? Of course! Salvation, and our very religion of Christianity is a relationship. Matthew 22:35-40 says, “One of them, a lawyer, asked Him {a question,} testing Him, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And He said to him, ‘”YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.” This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.’” There is also John 17:3 which I previously wrote an article on “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

If we throw out relationship with God we throw out salvation, purpose and Christianity. It is not just for the holy ones or the extra devoted ones. It’s all there is. Christianity is not just a belief. Christianity is simple, but it is more than a belief or an ability to say yes to something.

So what happens when people are separated from God? Who causes the separation? Historically it was the people. Adam and Eve were the first. They did it. God did not. They sinned and rejected God. God did not all of a sudden decide to distance Himself from them. The people at Noah’s time did it. God did not. It grieved God. “The LORD said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.’” (Genesis 6:7) The word “sorry” here is an out of breath grieving. That is not the action of a distant being or one who has given up on people. The relationship hurt. It’s the kind of grief we experience when relationships are torn apart – be it death or simply separations like divorce or fights.

The people of Israel did it. It was NOT God rejecting Israel. They rejected God and caused their separation. “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 31:31-32) God used the imagery of a marriage relationship to show His connection with Israel and to describe fully what it was like when they separated from Him – when they rejected Him.

“Now I will sing to my Beloved a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard: My Beloved has a vineyard in a fruitful horn. And He dug it, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in its midst, and also hewed out a wine vat in it. And He waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced rotten grapes. And now, O people of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I ask you, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Who knows? I waited for it to yield grapes, but it yielded rotten grapes. And now I will make known to you what I will do then to My vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be burned. I will breach its wall, and it will become a trampling ground. And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but briers and thorns shall come up. And I will command the clouds from raining rain on it. For the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is His delightful plant. And He waited for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry!” (Isaiah 5:1-7)

God said, “What more could be done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?” He expected good grapes because He had done everything He could to make that happen. He did His part and the people rejected Him.

So why? Why do people reject God? Why do they separate themselves from Him? Why did I when I was younger?

I think the first answer is stupidity. The next obvious thing is sin or selfishness. And finally I think it is a misunderstanding of God’s character. I am sure we could come up with several other reasons, but I want to focus on the fear and anger that results from misunderstanding God’s ways and actions.

“My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; My voice rises to God, and He will hear me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; in the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted. When I remember God, then I am disturbed; when I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of long ago. I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, and my spirit ponders: Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His loving kindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?” (Psalms 77:1-9)

I think this is often what causes people to be distant from God. They assess their situation. Horrible things have happened. People have died. Houses have burned. Cities have been flooded. Children rebelled against their parents and God. Diseases. Cancer. War. They ask why did it happen? But that is not where it ends. Nor is it the most important question. It does not get to the heart of things. I can talk “why” for hours with people. I can give smart answers as to how things work. I can even give some catchy answers and even some cliches. It will do close to nothing. People want a place to put the blame. They ask a lot of questions – all legitimate, some important:

God, why did you let this happen? God, where were you? Why me? God, did you do this?

Intelligent problems are not what separate relationships. My understanding of time or God’s omnipotence does not separate me from Him any more than the concepts of math or science do. The issue is relationship. I cannot be close to someone that I hate. I cannot be close to someone who I think is a murderer or a liar or an emotionless jerk.

The real question is not one we ask:

God, what are you like? Are you a God who does evil? Just like the psalmist said, “Have you forgotten to be gracious?”

We assume an answer and our actions and lives follow. We don’t care why it happened. What we say is that God caused it. If we assume He brought the evil upon us then we cannot logically maintain a love relationship with Him. Intelligence and survival says stay away from the things that hurt us.

God, is your character evil? God, do you kill? God, are you selfish? THESE ARE REAL QUESTIONS. They sound horrible, but if we want to really know the answer we can ask God. “Righteous are You, O LORD, that I would plead {my} case with You; Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? {Why} are all those who deal in treachery at ease?” (Jeremiah 12:1) God even invites us to reason with Him. “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.’” (Isaiah 1:18)

God is righteous. We can discuss matters of justice with Him. We can ask the hard questions of God. He does not reject us for asking. He does not ever answer, “because I said so” like we are used to hearing from people in authority over us. A close friend of mine knew a woman whose child had died. She was afraid to ask God why it happened because she thought He would take her other children away. It was because people had told her not to question God. But God is not like that. He answers our hard questions.

God, are you the reason my child is lost? Are you the reason my friend died so young? God, did you bring the famine in Africa? Ask these questions, but be willing to hear the answer. God’s answer will never be, “I can do what I want to. If I did it, it’s right.”

What makes God righteous? What makes God’s actions right? God’s actions are not right because He is God. His actions are right, because they are right. He is righteous, because He does what is right.

Ask Him the questions. He has done no wrong. He did not do evil. Don’t shove those questions under the rug because you are afraid of questioning Him. Discuss matters of justice with Him. He has done justly. In Genesis 18:25 Abraham asked, “Will not the judge of the earth do right?” The answer is yes! A big YES!!! God will deal justly. He deserves His role as judge because He deals justly. He has done no wrong. So think about those things that have driven you crazy for years. Think about the pain and the wrongs that have happened to you. Don’t just let yourself be distanced from God. He was not the one who did wrong.

Are you separated from God? It is not His fault. He has not wronged you. Deal with it. Deal with it quickly. Ask Him the hard questions. Come back to Him. James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Do not let your misunderstandings separate you from God. Ask the hard questions. I guarantee that it was not His fault. Take the questions to God. Discuss matters of justice with Him. He will answer. He did not do evil.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” (Matthew 23:37)

This is God’s heart for people. He so longs to draw us close to Him.

The more I study God and the Bible the more I become convinced that it is all about relationship. Everything is about relationship. Each of the ten commandments were details on how to properly relate to either God or man. Eternal life according to John 17:3 is relationship with God. Jesus summed up the Old Testament by saying, “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.” Properly relate to God and properly relate to people. Relationship with God and relationship with people is all that matters. I would suggest that it is our purpose in life and the reason we were created, but that is another article. I want to focus on relationship with God and specifically hearing from Him.

Any relationship must be two-sided. I can talk to a table or I can talk to my wife. The table sits. Beth sits, listens and responds. This talk and response is essential to relationship. It is essential to friendship. We all talk to God. Even non-Christians talk to God, but if we stop there we have an equivalent to the table-relationship. I want to take the time to help those who don’t hear from God to begin the process. Maybe no one reading this is in that position. If so, then I hope to encourage listening to God on a greater level and frequency. Why not pursue the living and interactive God?

John 10:1-5 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (2) But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (4) When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (5) A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

John 10:25-28 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, (26) but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. (27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (28) I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

I understand that Jesus was talking to specific people in a specific place almost 2000 years ago. I don’t claim that this passage was written to me. I do think that it applies to us today. The sheep or flock is referring to those who are His, those who know Him. For the sake of this article it is us. We believers are His sheep. We follow Him, for we know His voice. We hear His voice, and He knows us (intimate relational knowledge), and we follow Him. To these He says He gives eternal life. I love our God. He is so personal, so vast yet so simple.

So how do we hear God? How does God speak? In no particular order of frequency or importance I will lay out a few of the ways God spoke to people in the Bible.

The Bible

Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

I think this is very commonly understood. God gave us the Bible. It is His word for us, His direction for our life. If I wonder what God’s will is for me, I look in the Bible. I read directives and follow them.

An inner voice

Acts 8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

The Holy Spirit spoke to Philip, and Philip obeyed. It was God speaking directly to the thoughts of a person. There was no angel, no voice from the clouds (at least none of that is written). When I hear from God, it is usually in this manner. It is almost a thought that is louder or clearer than my own. I recognize it when I hear it because I’ve practiced and have become familiar with the voice of the Shepherd.

Godly people

Acts 8:34-36 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” (35) Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. (36) And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

God spoke to the eunuch through a Godly person (Philip). God does this today. God uses individuals to give us specific direction and wisdom. God did this with Moses, and God does this today with our pastors, counselors and even our friends.

Circumstances

1 Corinthians 16:8-9 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, (9) for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

This is interesting to me. How did Paul get direction for his next step? A wide door was opened. As far as we can tell God didn’t speak directly to him. He didn’t search his Torah or a letter from Peter. It was simply that the circumstances opened for him to minister. Sometimes God just gives us good circumstances or situations.

Supernatural events: angels, visions, dreams, signs

Numbers 22:28,31 Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” (31) Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face.

Acts 9:3-4 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. (4) And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

This is less common. If not it wouldn’t be supernatural. It would be natural. Nevertheless it happened, and I think it does today. God is infinitely creative, and He is interactive. He sometimes does really cool things like these simply to speak to an individual, not without cause or reason, however.

Inner peace

2 Corinthians 2:12-13 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, (13) my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

Here Paul receives direction through a lack of peace. There are times when God speaks to us by giving us peace or the opposite of peace. This is not an excuse to be led by our emotions.

When hearing from God by some of these methods it would be very easy to go wrong. We hear of extreme cases where people kill their children because “God told them to.” Some people start new religions based on “hearing God.” People come up with new doctrines that “God revealed to them.” So how do we proceed? How do we know when God is really speaking to us? How do we come to know the voice of our Shepherd?

When God speaks to us it will line up with the Bible. The word of the Lord to us will never contradict scripture. Godly people will affirm it. If I hear from God, I can take that to my pastor and ask for wisdom and confirmation. The Holy Spirit will give us peace about it. God’s directions for our lives will never violate our conscience.

Finally, I think we come to know His voice by coming to know Him. Spend time with God. Give Him the chance to speak. Practice speaking to Him, and at the same time practice hearing Him. The more I hear a voice the easier it is to recognize it in the future.

About six years ago I was walking at a ranch spending time with God. Suddenly, I heard God say, “Run!” I began to run. “Run faster!” So I ran faster. “Turn right!” I did. “Turn left! Keep running.” Then I came into a clearing and saw the most beautiful sunset. If I had kept walking I never would have seen it. God was interacting with me, speaking to me simply because He loved me and wanted to share in a relationship.

God is personal and interactive. He loves relationship. He desires our friendship. Give Him a chance. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.