If
you missed the first part of this two-part series, you can read Demystifying
the Lord’s Voice: Part 1.
As promised, I’m going to share a few
practical handles I’ve discovered that will help you to recognize the Lord’s
voice in your own life. There are many more that I cover elsewhere, but here
are five:
* The Lord’s voice most always comes
through your own thoughts, desires, and impressions. This is because Christ
dwells in you by the Holy Spirit and He is completely united to your own spirit
(1 Cor. 6:17). Therefore, give attention to your thoughts, desires, feelings,
and impressions. Under the New Covenant, every bush is burning. So pay
attention.
* If it’s the Lord speaking, the
thought/desire/impression will stay with you. If it’s not the Lord, it will
leave rather quickly.
* If it’s the Lord speaking, it will be
marked by love — the very nature of Jesus. Specifically, the
thought/desire/impression will benefit others at the expense of yourself. The
Lord will also empower you to carry out what He says, which will often involve
the denial of your flesh.
* If you fail to respond to the Lord’s
leading, it will be difficult to recognize His voice in the future. So if you
are having trouble “hearing,” go back and respond to the last thing He revealed
to you. “If any one shall do my will, He will know . . .”
* On the other hand, we often don’t “hear”
because we already know the answer. The Lord’s will is also discerned through
wisdom. Jesus is Wisdom incarnate, so wisdom is one of the ways in which He
speaks to us.
And of course, as I stated in Part 1, the
Lord will never contradict what He’s previously said (i.e., through the
Scriptures).
Again, there are many more practicals, and
one of them is that the Lord speaks to us mostly through spiritual instincts.
- Frank Viola
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