Hearing from God

When I was younger and heard people say ‘God spoke to me’, I always imagined it be something like God’s voice coming through a megaphone into your head and ending with something like “Message brought to you by the Lord your God.” It was a pretty, if naïve, picture, but rarely does anyone describe what that voice sounds like. As I grew out of pig tails and into adulthood, I realized that God’s voice isn’t always audible.

When people say they have never heard God speaking, sometimes it could just be because they aren’t listening. God’s voice isn’t going to be trumpeted into your mind from heaven while a light shines on your head. That’s a fable created by movies and television and aggravated by the media.

Sometimes, God’s voice is a feeling. Other times, it could be an image. For me, I often hear God’s voice in song.  K-Love, the Christian station that I listen to, is the conduit that brings His voice to my ear. There have been countless times that a song has truly impacted my state of mind, or even just reminded me that He loves me.

As I was driving to work one day, I expressed to the Lord just how deep my love was for Him in prayer.  I was jubilant in His love – and I told Him exactly that. As I turned on the radio station, a song started playing – God’s Not Dead by the Newsboys. I can’t express to you the wonder and the joy it made me feel. That song had been my righteous battle cry for the last several months (and now, will forever be) and personally, it was a reminder to me that my real home is heaven.

To fathom that the Lord my God had spun everything perfectly into place so that as soon as I turned on the radio after praying those words – “I love you, God” – and put on that song specifically for me was mind blowing. He is an awesome God.

God uses every tool He has at His disposal (which, if you think about it, is everything) to speak to us. There isn’t a set of rules to follow to hear His voice. That’s not the way this works. But I will tell you one thing – you have to be open to hearing from Him. If your heart is set against His advice, against His council, His words will be lost against the brick wall of your heart.

God’s megaphone isn’t always a megaphone. You have to be open to His words before you can finally begin to hear Him. For years, I didn’t see anything as ‘from God’. I could never hear Him. Only when my heart became soft did I eventually here His voice – and let me tell you – it’s like none other.

Once you’ve heard from God, and know it’s His voice, nothing else can compare.

“He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”

My Testimony: Part Two

After I started faithfully attending church, I felt the need to Serve Christ by greeting (when someone comes through the doors, the ‘greeters’ say hello!). The very first time I served Him, my human self-consciousness came through and the random thought of ‘I wish I had a better smile’ flippantly went through my mind. And then something amazing happened: God spoke to me. I saw the pastor who baptized me, and He walked over to say hello. We chatted for a moment, and as he was walking away, he smiled and said, ‘Well, you have a great smile for greeting’.

That was God, speaking through His servant, to remind me that I am made in His image, and that I am beautiful to Him. I can’t tell you how much it means to hear directly from God – your father – just because you had a random thought that you weren’t good enough to serve Him.

As I delighted in serving God through greeting, I joined a Small Group (bible study) with several other members at church. Dedicating time to God helped me to focus my priorities and seek fellowship with my Christian peers. Through my small group, I developed a godly circle of friends who understood the power of prayer and the meaning of the word Christianity.

As I grew in my faith, it ceased being a religion and started to become a relationship. Writing this, I can confidently tell you that my best friend is Jesus Christ. In all honesty, it’s hard for me to fathom a life without Him now. In fact, the thought of life without the constancy of His love would fill me with dread.

Greeting at church, serving my Lord, has been absolutely wonderful for my relationship with Him. In fact, it inspired me to also serve as an Usher at church, which has been such a blessing. You see, when you serve Him, it’s not a duty of drudgery, but of delight. I love welcoming people to my church, my second home, and being able to serve not only God, but the members of the body of Christ.

My faith has grown in leaps and bounds over the last four years since I graduated college. I love serving the Lord and I love seeing his works in my life.

Blogging my testimony has helped me to relive the joy and the happiness I felt when I gave my life to Him and as I’ve recalled everything He’s done in my life. From here on out, I’ll explore different topics (or whatever God has in store for me) each week.

I hope you’ll tune in for more! God Bless!

My Testimony: Part One

Testimony is typically a word that one uses to describe a verbal account or recollection of events in court. Fortunately, I won’t be delving into litigious doctrine in this blog, but rather, another definition of the word.

Anyone who’s attended church for any period of time is familiar with the definition of testimony: a public recounting of a religious conversion or experience (thanks Google!). My testimony isn’t black and white, it’s not all that spectacular, and it isn’t all that special – except for one thing: I was saved by the grace of God.

I was raised in a Christian home (thanks be to the Lord) with amazing parents, two brothers, and a younger sister. We moved around quite a bit when I was young: Davenport, IA; Hazel Green, WI; Princeton, IL; LaCrosse, WI; and finally, back down to Blue Grass, IA. Every time we moved to another ‘home’, I lost relationships and friends.

I had always known the name Jesus; who doesn’t in our culture? It seems that every two minutes, someone uses His name in vain. He’s on billboards and banners, He’s in coffee shops and Walmart, He’s in the media and on TV. So yes, I’d always known His name. The difference is that knowing His name and knowing HIM are two completely different things.

When I was thirteen, I was sitting in a parking lot with my younger siblings waiting for my mother to come out of the store. It dawned on me that if I were to die right then and there, I’d have no idea where I was going. In spite of my youth, I realized that I needed something else. I was missing something. When my mom came back to the car, I stared at the dashboard and told her that I had no idea whether or not I was going to heaven.

When we returned to my room, we sat down on my bed. My mother explained to me what salvation was and how I could be assured on the grace of God. With tears running down my face, I can remember that my mother told me this: ‘When Jesus died on the cross, He didn’t die for everyone but you.’ Jesus died for everyone – including you.

The truth of the matter is that Jesus died for everyone – He is the sacrifice, He is the Way. Even if you were the only person on Earth, Jesus still would have died for you. That’s the beauty of His sacrifice – it’s for you, even if you may never know Him.

Tears running down my face, I accepted Jesus as my personal savior and redeemer. I repented of my sins and asked Him to guide me on my journey to be more like Him. I can’t explain to you the depth of my joy on that day. There are no words for that kind of happiness!

Now, it’s not all hearts and rainbows (clovers and blue moons) from here. No one’s testimony ends with …and they lived happily ever after. That’s the problem with living in a fallen world. The Life of a Christian has its ups and downs, its tragedies and its joys.

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.’ –Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

When I went away to college, I stopped going to church. I never prayed. In fact, I lived my life apart from Christ. But through all of that, I never ceased feeling his tugging at my heart; I never ceased hearing Him call my name. The day I graduated, I cried the entire 5 hour journey home. I cried because I was leaving my college home, where I had made such steadfast friendships, made discoveries about myself, and grew wonderful memories.

My iPod on shuffle, it randomly played Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns. And when I heard the lyrics, it hit me that I needed Him. That He was always with me, even though I had turned my back on Him. And I praised His name, even though I was leaving everything I knew and loved, because He’s the God who gives and takes away.

That was the turning point in my life. That moment, when I realized I needed Him and that He would always be with me, no matter where I was or what I did. After that drive, I renewed my faith. I started attending Harvest Bible Chapel – Davenport and my life changed. No, I take that back. Not just my life – ME.

After I started attending church, everything changed. God changed me.

To hear more about how He changed me, check back soon. Part Two of my testimony will be up shortly!

The Contemporary Christian

I drink sparkling grape juice. I’ve never been one for wine, or beer, or … really any type of alcohol. I’ve never quite enjoyed the taste. It’s a good thing communion is grape juice.

But ‘Grape Juice’ isn’t the title of this blog (and hopefully, it never will be). It’s titled ‘The Contemporary Christian’ for a reason.

I am a born again Christian. To some people, that means I’m a conservative nutjob bent on crying foul anytime ‘under God’ is threatened to be removed from the pledge. To others, that means that I might attend church every other month and say thirty ‘Hail Mary’s’ for recount for my sins. Or, it could mean that my parents attended church once upon a time and I count myself as one of their faith.

But none of those are the true definition of Christianity. In a nutshell, a Christian is one who follows Christ Jesus. The end.

The point of this blog isn’t to change your mind about Christians. It’s not about enticing you to become one with pretty language and rosy pictures. And it’s certainly not about me.

It’s about Him. Our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

The point of this blog is to outline His goodness and His life. I’m just here to put it on paper (read: the internet).

For a long time, I’ve been meaning to write this blog. I’ve heard that voice more times than I can count. Have I resisted? Yes. Did I put it off? Yes. I won’t deny it. Life gets in the way of life sometimes. Good thing is – it’s here now. I’m writing.

Shall I start with the obligatory testimony? Not tonight – but it’ll be here soon. For now, I’ll leave you with this, my favorite verse:

‘The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies display His craftsmanship.’ – Psalms 19.1 NLT