REALLY HEARING HIS VOICE: MY RECENT EXPERIENCE

The wife and I recently went down to our home town in Pensacola Florida to help out my brother in law get a van and equip it with a handicap ramp for mobility. He had polio as a child and is getting up in years. Also has other health issues thus preventing him from having the freedom to get around as well as he did in his earlier years.

The day before we were to leave, the Weather Channel reported a major storm with tornado watches, warnings, and thunder storms in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida heading right into our path back home to Cincinnati, Ohio. We were to take I-65 straight through Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. It didn't look good at all.

All I could think was "Dear Lord, how are we going to get through all that? I have to be back before Monday?" As I watched the weather radar images, I heard a still voice pointing out to me the path up in between the storms saying "You can make it, I will guide you."

The next morning we got up and packed the car and took one last review of the weather channel radar images and found a semi clear path right up the center of Alabama where I-65 is located but seemed to have storms on either side of the interstate. We took this as the path we were to follow. We had rain all the way but it was mostly light or moderately heavy except in 5 places. When we hit our first torrential down pour so bad you could barely see out the windshield and high winds, I heard a still quiet voice saying to pull over under an over pass and wait out the storm as cars whizzed by us doing 70 to 85 MPH. After the heavy rain and hail passed by us we started back on our journey only to see a major wreck involving several cars that lost control just a mile or two up the road. Each time we encountered a major torrential down pour, high winds, and hail I heard that voice again saying pull over or get off the interstate and I did. Getting back on our journey, we encountered several wrecks along the way. We experienced this all through Alabama and Tennessee. I would imagine had we continued with out pulling over, we might have been one of those wrecks.

After a harrowing day on the road, we decided to stay at a motel in Franklin Ky. that I made reservations for 4 days earlier as it was getting dark and the rain was becoming torrential again. After getting a room we turned on the weather channel and found out just how big and bad this storm was. Mississippi was hit with a 1/2 mile wide tornado that devastated a small town there. Several tornado sightings were noted in Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee right along or near the I-65 route we took. Franklin Ky. was under a tornado watch at the time. The next morning the skies was clear and not raining thus the last leg of our journey was smooth sailing all the way home.

Looking back over this experience, what led me to believe we could get through harms way unscathed? What prompted me to make reservations at this motel 4 days before we left Florida to go back home? What were those still silent voices I heard prompting me to pull over during the violent storms? Was it luck or divine guidance? I know what it was but I will let you be the judge.

PRIME TIME WITH GOD: HEARING HIS VOICE

"He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." - John 8:47

Jesus said that the key to being able to hear God's voice is first to be one of His children. One of the great mysteries of the universe to my logical mind is how God can communicate with six billion people on the earth at the same time. It is one of those mysteries I must let go of because my "hard drive" would crash if I had to explain and understand this before I believed and trusted in Him. It is as though God places a computer chip in each human being, and when we place our faith and trust in Him, it becomes activated. We begin to communicate with Him. Jesus says that if we are children of God, then we can hear God's voice.

He further explains this relationship in the following parable:
"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice (John 10:1-5)."

The Shepherd is always representative of Christ. Sheep are representative of God's children. This passage tells us that the Shepherd communicates with His children. We are called by name and we can listen to our Shepherd's voice. There is another comforting aspect to this relationship. The Shepherd goes before the sheep to prepare the way. Jesus has already gone before us today to prepare our way.

Knowing the Shepherd and His voice allows us to have the assurance that we will not be fooled by another shepherd's voice. The sheep know His voice. It is only when we are dull of hearing that we mistakenly hear another's voice and follow it. Sin can create a poor frequency in our communication with the Shepherd. Make sure your frequency is free of static (sin) today so that the Shepherd can lead you and go before you.

Finally, distractions can also keep us from hearing our Shepherd's voice. When the sheep get entangled in the fence or wander off, they get too far away to hear the Shepherd's voice. We must stay in close proximity to the Shepherd to hear His voice. Stay close to the Shepherd today. Listen and follow. He wants to lead you.

By O. Hillman.

We must always be in close contact with the Lord to hear His voice. We can always do this by prayer and even conversations with Him on a daily basis. It doesn't have to be a long winded prayer or oracle but just a simple "Hello Lord, I am thinking of you." can do if you are strapped for time. Talking to the Lord is a lot like a Ham radio operator dialing in a frequency on his radio for communication with others. We just have to keep our frequency open for communication with the Lord in the same way. Not using that frequency on a regular basis may cause you to loose it thus the trial and error of searching for the right frequency again and again. Stay connected and His voice is never far off.

PRIME TIME WITH GOD: 23RD PSALM

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me." - Psalm 23:4a KJV

In the battles of the workplace or home, your peace is actually a weapon. The workplace creates many opportunities to rob us of our peace. Cash flow concerns, deadlines, relationships - all create stress on us. Your confidence in the God of peace declares that you are not falling for the lies of the devil. You see the first step toward having spiritual authority over the adversary is having peace in spite of our circumstances. When Jesus confronted the devil, he did not confront satan with His emotions or in fear. Knowing that the devil was a liar, He simply refused to be influenced by any voice other than God's. His peace overwhelmed satan; His authority then shattered the lie, which sent demons fleeing.

There is a place of walking with God where you simply fear no evil. David faced a lion, a bear, and a giant. In this Psalm he stood in the "shadow of death" itself, yet he "feared no evil." David's trust was in the Lord. He said, "...for Thou art with me." Because God is with you, every adversity you face will unfold in victory as you maintain your faith in God!

David continued, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies" (Ps. 23:5a). The battle you are in will soon become a meal for you, an experience that will nourish and build you up spiritually. Only God's peace will quell your fleshly reactions in battle. The source of God's peace is God Himself. If fear has been knocking at your door, begin to face that fear with God's peace. It is God's secret weapon to destroy fear. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me." - Psalm 23:4a KJV

By O. Hillman.

When I am faced with serious or threatening issues, I find this psalm to be a comforter for my worries. I am not one to be prone to flying on a commercial jet or any air craft. The thought terrifies me but it was part of my job years ago. I had no fear racing an 800 H.P. car at up to 200 M.P.H. but the thought of flying was another matter. Naturally the 23rd psalm always seemed to come to mind and it became a habit when ever I flew to recite it and it comforted me. However if we hit turbulent air while flying, I would recite the Lords prayer and the 23rd psalms like some say Hail Mary's. It made me feel safer. Even today after I don't fly any more, that simple psalm makes rough going much easier in a time of crisis.

PRIME TIME WITH GOD: FAITH EXPERIENCES

"These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." - 1 Peter 1:7

This article pretty well sums up what we should be doing in our walk with the Lord.

One of the great tragedies of the Christian life is that if we fail to enter into a relationship with God that is born of the Holy Spirit, we are left with a religion, not a relationship. Many a person today lives with an intellectual belief in God, but without a relationship that is based on two-way communication. This is the greatest tragedy of all. It's like having a brand-new car but never having the gas to run it. It can't move you anywhere. It only looks pretty, but one cannot enjoy the ride or smell the newness inside.

Peter tells us that until our faith is proved genuine, we will never be able to give praise, glory, and honor to Jesus, because until such testing He will not be revealed in our lives. Peter describes this in the verse before: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials" (1 Pet. 1:6).

Trials are designed to bring us to a level of trust and experience with God that we would never know otherwise. These "faith experiences" with God allow us to know firsthand the faithfulness of God, the love of God, and the personal nature of God. If you cannot recount several instances when God has met you personally, then chances are your faith has not been born of the Holy Spirit into a living relationship with God. It is easy to fall prey to a relationship to God that never experiences His real presence; rather, it is based on knowledge only. This is a tragic place to be.

If this is where you have been in your Christian experience, ask God today to make Himself real to you. Ask Him to show you His personal nature and love. He desires to do this. Those whom He has called know His voice. He will show Himself to those who are His. "He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him" (Jn. 14:21b).

by O. Hillman

YOU WANT TO PRAY FOR ME?

It never fails when the wife and I go to this particular church, some one comes up and wants to pray for us quite a few times over the last year. 99% of the time we have never seen these people before. Do we have down trodden signs posted on our backs?

Here are a few examples:

Several months ago the wife had a knee injury and was on crutches. We were in the atrium before the service eating some snacks when some one ( later found out she was a director of ministries) walked up to our table and said she wanted to pray for my wife's injury. We thought that was a nice gesture but in front of the whole atrium assembly who had been ignoring us any way? After her prayer, she spoke up and asked if the knee was healed. The wife, trying to be polite said it felt better. The prayer gal then got up with out a word and walked away before we could even find out who she was. I think the wife ticked her off.

At one encounter ( mini revival ) at this church, I was quite engrossed in a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit praying during the worship and a leader of the encounter walked up to me and started to pray over me by laying of the hands. This startled me but I decided to ignore her and continue with my own personal encounter. She did tell me I was not retired but re fired up. That was nice but whoa, I was not up front at the altar asking for prayer.

Over time the wife has met a person that is on a prayer group and she went up to say hello before we left for the day. I stood off towards the side and wouldn't you know it a guy whom I have never met comes up to me and asked if he could pray for me. I politely said no thanks and walked away.

At another encounter ( mini revival), after the service the same leader was with the worship leader by the altar. This one worship leader is very passionate in his music and we wanted to say how much we loved and appreciated his music and passion. The leader of the encounter turned to me as we were walking away and wanted to pray for me. I said thanks but I was OK and did not need prayer. She seemed shocked that I refused prayer but I tried to explain politely that it was not time for me to do that yet and I had a close relationship with our Lord through my own prayers.

Just recently after the service, the wife went up to the prayer group to say hello to her friend again as they don't get to see each other much. I did my usual standing off to the side and away from the prayer groups waiting for her and this new person whom I have never seen before walks up and says he wants to pray for me. I said no thanks, but that did not deter him. He wanted to know why and I told him as politely as I could. "That he did not know me and I did not know him. I have been in this church for over a year and no one has ever walked up to me and said hello or even made an attempt to get to know me even though I went to classes and study groups to get connected. No one was friendly in those situations so why is it that you want to pray for me now? Will you remember me at the next service and say hello, how are you doing?" He couldn't answer and walked away.

After wards, I felt bad but I imagined he was new and wanted to get in some prayer experience. I should have let him do it but considering the brick walls I have run into trying to make friends in this church and get connected for over a year, I guess I have built up a defensive wall to protect my self from any more hurt. It seems this church loves to pray for people but they don't want to have fellowship with any one out of their click groups. Had the wife not found a friend (she thinks) and likes this church, I would have never went back a long time ago.

If you have read any of my earlier post you might get an understanding of where I am coming from. Have any of you experienced this in your churches? Loving to pray for you but no connections with in the church?

PRIME TIME WITH GOD: SPIRITUAL EYES

I want to take this opportunity to wish all a Happy Easter and glorify our Risen Saviour Jesus.

"And Elisha prayed, 'O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." - 2 Kings 6:17p

Elisha was counseling the nation of Israel against the impending attack of the king of Aram. The Lord supernaturally gave Elisha the plans that the king was implementing, and in turn, Elisha warned Israel of each intended attack. The king could not understand why his plans were continually foiled. It seemed there was a secret informer in his midst. He was furious when he was told it was the God of Israel who was to blame for this inside information. The king decided the only way to resolve the situation was to get rid of the problem - kill Elisha.

The king's forces arrived and surrounded Elisha and his servant. Elisha's servant became upset and fearful when Elisha was not upset. Elisha immediately prayed that his servant's eyes might be opened to see that there was no need to be afraid, because the angels were protecting them.

And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, "Strike these people with blindness." So He struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked (2 Kings 6:17-18).

Who is the Elisha in your life? Do you have a mentor friend who can see the activity of God in your life when you cannot see it? We all need to have somebody we can trust to help us see the activity of God. It is often difficult for us to see what God is really doing because we are so consumed by the circumstances of the moment. Ask God today to help open your spiritual eyes that you might see Him in your circumstances.

By O. Hillman.