When God speaks, He wants us to be sure. He wants to give us confirmations, so that we can discern more easily what is of Him. I've found that so many things God speaks are true on two levels. So many of His quickened, personalized messages point at two different things.
"One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: 'Power belongs to you, God..." Psalm 62:11
"For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it." Job 33:14
"In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true." John 8:17
In other words, God is faithful to interpret any of His words for us. There is a fullness in any word, any direction, any conviction, that He gives! These things are from God, and every gift He gives is perfect (James 1:17). I think He enjoys speaking in double entendres. Jesus spoke in parables!
I'll give a real-life example. When God relays a theme to me, it may have both practical and spiritual messages. Or it might describe both the present time and some specific moment in the future. Or it might apply to myself, and to Vanessa. The list goes on, but God seems to nearly always gives me messages in twos. After all, the Word cuts both ways (Hebrews 4:12). Praise Jesus for speaking to us!
But there is another voice out there. The voice of doubt, fear, lies, confusion--call it what you want, I'll call it the voice of the enemy. Anything that isn't for His purposes is against Him (Matthew 12:30). This voice usually isn't a voice at all, but rather a dark web of half-truths that goes directly against the Love of God. This is the third voice--if the first two are of God, then this is the voice of doubt and darkness that asks us, "Did God really say?"
If Satan had his way, we would fall into doubt to the extent that we no longer believed in God's goodness. If the enemy convinced us of this lie, we would give up and be tempted to stop following God.
As an aside, "hearing" things other than the voice of our Lord doesn't mean you're crazy. Jesus never said we wouldn't hear other voices (John 10:5), though He promised we wouldn't know or follow them. We need to be close enough to our great Shepherd to identify His heart among all the chaos that the enemy would try to throw at us.
Anyways, my point is that satan has an agenda too. he too wants to give us messages, and convince us of his beliefs. he is also capable of planting ideas and impressing on us different things. satan can work through much of the same things that God can, including God's word (just look at how Jesus was tempted in the desert). The enemy, too, can give signs and leadings. How do we know the difference between what he gives us and what is actually from God? Praise God that there are a few clear distinctions:
1) Any message from God will be established by confirmations, and will often have more than one meaning in itself
2) Any message from God will be grounded in the Spirit of the Bible (God's Word)
3) Most of all, any message from God will be full of Love. God is Love (1 John 4:8). Now, within that Love might by exhortation or a warning to stay away from sin. But God is full of love and redemption, and it is not His will to condemn anyone.
Messages from the enemy are often not confirmed, neither by signs nor by other Christians. You usually have to be deep into fear in order to have Satan's lies perpetuated. More on this in a future post.
In the meantime, know that God is the One that has created every good thing. He is the one who has promised to guide us. With discernment, we can have confidence that we're in position to receive from the Lord every message and parable that He'd have us receive. Glory to God!
"Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." Isaiah 7:11
"One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: 'Power belongs to you, God..." Psalm 62:11
"For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it." Job 33:14
"In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true." John 8:17
In other words, God is faithful to interpret any of His words for us. There is a fullness in any word, any direction, any conviction, that He gives! These things are from God, and every gift He gives is perfect (James 1:17). I think He enjoys speaking in double entendres. Jesus spoke in parables!
I'll give a real-life example. When God relays a theme to me, it may have both practical and spiritual messages. Or it might describe both the present time and some specific moment in the future. Or it might apply to myself, and to Vanessa. The list goes on, but God seems to nearly always gives me messages in twos. After all, the Word cuts both ways (Hebrews 4:12). Praise Jesus for speaking to us!
But there is another voice out there. The voice of doubt, fear, lies, confusion--call it what you want, I'll call it the voice of the enemy. Anything that isn't for His purposes is against Him (Matthew 12:30). This voice usually isn't a voice at all, but rather a dark web of half-truths that goes directly against the Love of God. This is the third voice--if the first two are of God, then this is the voice of doubt and darkness that asks us, "Did God really say?"
If Satan had his way, we would fall into doubt to the extent that we no longer believed in God's goodness. If the enemy convinced us of this lie, we would give up and be tempted to stop following God.
As an aside, "hearing" things other than the voice of our Lord doesn't mean you're crazy. Jesus never said we wouldn't hear other voices (John 10:5), though He promised we wouldn't know or follow them. We need to be close enough to our great Shepherd to identify His heart among all the chaos that the enemy would try to throw at us.
Anyways, my point is that satan has an agenda too. he too wants to give us messages, and convince us of his beliefs. he is also capable of planting ideas and impressing on us different things. satan can work through much of the same things that God can, including God's word (just look at how Jesus was tempted in the desert). The enemy, too, can give signs and leadings. How do we know the difference between what he gives us and what is actually from God? Praise God that there are a few clear distinctions:
1) Any message from God will be established by confirmations, and will often have more than one meaning in itself
2) Any message from God will be grounded in the Spirit of the Bible (God's Word)
3) Most of all, any message from God will be full of Love. God is Love (1 John 4:8). Now, within that Love might by exhortation or a warning to stay away from sin. But God is full of love and redemption, and it is not His will to condemn anyone.
Messages from the enemy are often not confirmed, neither by signs nor by other Christians. You usually have to be deep into fear in order to have Satan's lies perpetuated. More on this in a future post.
In the meantime, know that God is the One that has created every good thing. He is the one who has promised to guide us. With discernment, we can have confidence that we're in position to receive from the Lord every message and parable that He'd have us receive. Glory to God!
"Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." Isaiah 7:11
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