1Pe 3:15

[gdemoss]

Please indulge me and allow me to captivate your attention to my request. I understand the context wherein which this verse falls and I am not really concerned with keeping the verse in context but using it to provoke you, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, unto a meaningful discussion that edifies all who participate in it.

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

As many of you know, I have come to the board and over the past couple years have struggled in understanding prophecy and prophesying as it concerns future events. At first I thought that everything that I was receiving was the God's honest truth until time had passed and I was shown that I needed to question or prove all things, especially those things which came through my heart speaking as if they are directly from God.

I want to focus on this: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.

Here is my problem. I have asked God to help me to do this so I will not be in error when speaking on his behalf. This past week he has given me an exercise to help me hear his voice.

A week ago when I got off work, I sat in my truck and received instruction to call my friend and instruct him not to speak if it could be avoided for one week for the purpose of practicing listening to others who are speaking without formulating a response to correct them while they are yet speaking.

I did not obey the command.

Right after the command came, I had other 'additional' things that came that added confusion to the command such as suggestions that if a week is good a month would be better. The initial command was clear but with the added stuff it became cloudy.

Today, my friend called me to let me know that he had just recovered his voice. He lost it a week ago and was just able to clearly talk again and get back to normal today. He said he felt like John the Baptists father when he was in disbelief.

Our God is truly amazing in all he does in my life to help me understand how to be one of his children. He is incredibly patient and kind with me, even in the chastening I have received. Like David, I would choose to put myself in the hands of God rather than men any day.

Jesus said, "my sheep hear my voice and follow me, they will not follow another".

Please share with me what you are led to share of your experiences with 'hearing' his voice and sanctifying or separating him out in your heart so that you can always obey him and not follow another. I am only a five year old Christian, yet a babe for sure, a mere kinder-gardener so to speak. I can use all the encouragement through hearing your experience, strength and hope that I can get.

With love in Christ as peace is only in HIm.

[missmuffet]

As believers,we may be asked to explain not only what we believe,but why.If Christ is Lord then we should not have trouble believing His word and obeying it to the best of our ability.

We share this hope,not by grabbing folks by the collar and yelling "Sinner!" but by a gentle,kind answer from the Scriptures.Others will see how we live so they will believe by our actions what we say we believe.

[Sevenseas]

Simply:

There was a time when I too was deceived. I did not know a Christian could be deceived and that God sometimes allows such things. I was ignorant of much of what the Word

teaches. Post deception and reeling and in pain, I cried out many times 'how could you let this happen to me? I trusted you.'

God delivered me from all my destructions and gave me this verse: He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Psalm 107:20

I don't hear an audible voice, but the Holy Spirit spoke the reference plainly and clearly into my heart and it was the most appropriate and satisfying thing I could have heard at that moment.

In other words, it was perfect and still is to this day.

I was deceived, not because I wanted to be something or somebody, but very simply because I wanted to 'serve' God with all my heart. Years later, after studying, reading and prayer and fasting,

I understand what happened and I know my Bible better than the average Christian. I will not allow anything by me that does not line up with the Word, no matter how good it sounds or how

pleasing to the eye it may be.

One more thing...don't look for people who agree with a vision or a special revelation. Look for people who, no matter what you say, shove the Bible at you and ask if what you have experienced

is biblical. Does it line up with the word? Does it pass the test of others who are mature Christians agreeing? The Bible says to test all things...and people often do not and then wonder

why they are deceived or mixed up.

The devil prowls around seeking for someone to devour...and he loves to munch on Christians. There is no magic word formula and ignorance is no protection from deception either.

Psalm 119 is always good to read when in doubt...by the time you get to the end of it, if it is not of God, you will either be questioning it or it will have left.

ps: When you 'hear' nothing....when you just don't know what to do...do nothing, other than pray. By the way, we don't have to be always 'doing' something and looking for a word.

The best precaution is to know the word we already have.

[Guest man]

The best precaution is to know the word we already have.

So very true. Itching ears will only bring you pain. God gave us His Word and that should be good enough. If you can't trust the source, how can you trust someone elses interpretation of the source?

Fear of the Lord is the beginning.

[gdemoss]

Well said sister L. I have grown to appreciate you over the past year.

Having come to God through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, I did not originally have a bible to go by. What I relied upon was prayer followed by God acting upon my cries of desperation. Many times I would receive signs that would blow my mind. I never asked for the signs but they were given and I understood them to be teaching me that God is sovereign over all things. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in Gods world by mistake.

God led me to the bible 5 years after he, through his goodness, led me to cry out unto him for help. A few years after beginning to read I was led to ask a man about verses that I was seeing where the Holy Spirit was talking to people and also that people were signifying through the Spirit things unto one another. I was hearing nothing as far as I knew. The man said to me, "Gary, didn't you know that prayer is two way communication?". I immediately felt about two inches tall and unsaved (of course I am sensitive and take everything to extremes). I sought God out in prayer asking if this were true. Two weeks later I was led to speak into the air as I was trying to solidify certain doctrinal positions for myself and I had something from within offer me a scripture that destroyed my new found doctrine by showing me my error.

That day began a whole new adventure of walking with that which 'spoke' to me from within. I was led to various scriptures at various times and shown various things such as Elijah hearing the still small voice long after coming to know God or John speaking about us having the anointing and not needing a man to teach us.

What I never imagined would happen is what sevenseas shared above but truly it is consistent with Gods character as found throughout scripture to allow things for the purpose of testing and molding. Even David was led by Satan to number the people and that direction did not come from without but within. So this whole thing has caused me to develop a deeper trust with the Lord seeking to understand his purpose in all of it as his purpose is not to destroy me but to sharpen and build me up.

So here we are, May 12th, 2013, and the date I was given of May 14th as the last possible time for the abandonment and destruction to begin of the unbelieving and disobedient church is only two days away. It is going to be a serious turning point in my relationship with God and my seeking to understand what I am being shown. The question becomes 'what can I truly trust as truth that comes from within?'.

So far no one has truly identified a way of identifying his voice amongst the others with any real certainty for sure. Sevenseas did an excellent job of pointing out that there are others and the others mislead. She also has a very valid point about things having to be in the scriptures but the voice that led me was a voice that used scripture for everything it taught that I believed. As we know Satan uses scripture often as he tested Jesus by misusing scripture. What I have done is cry out even louder and with more tears unto the one who is able to save me from confusion and death. Scriptures come to mind when I do this. All of them surrounding the idea of obedience leading to clarity and blessing while disobedience leads to confusion of face and destruction.

When asking God what to do with all the things that I was led to believe about the end times being imminent and major destruction being brought down on the heads of the disobedient, stiff necked and gainsaying peoples of the church who live in hypocrisy everyday, the Spirit within me said:

Hbr 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)

Hbr 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Hbr 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Whatever happens, I know he has said that my job doesn't change. I am to go out and love people.

Peace is only in Christ.

[Sevenseas]

but the voice that led me was a voice that used scripture for everything it taught that I believed

I don't want to say too much here...I really do not...that is what is deception...angel of light...if the voice we hear or think we hear is not God's, then it is deceptive and the proverbial 'angel of light'

you simply would not believe what all I had to go by....yet, it was not God...it deterred my entire life, so I do not take these things in jest...they are actually life threatening

God bless you...you are not alone...I believe if we see the error, it is more difficult for us to fall into it in the future...but don't take things for granted

Well said sister L. I have grown to appreciate you over the past year.

I'm an acquired taste ....wounds of a friend...but I really don't want to hurt anyone...hugs

[Jayyycuuup]

Well said sister L. I have grown to appreciate you over the past year.

Having come to God through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, I did not originally have a bible to go by. What I relied upon was prayer followed by God acting upon my cries of desperation. Many times I would receive signs that would blow my mind. I never asked for the signs but they were given and I understood them to be teaching me that God is sovereign over all things. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in Gods world by mistake.

God led me to the bible 5 years after he, through his goodness, led me to cry out unto him for help. A few years after beginning to read I was led to ask a man about verses that I was seeing where the Holy Spirit was talking to people and also that people were signifying through the Spirit things unto one another. I was hearing nothing as far as I knew. The man said to me, "Gary, didn't you know that prayer is two way communication?". I immediately felt about two inches tall and unsaved (of course I am sensitive and take everything to extremes). I sought God out in prayer asking if this were true. Two weeks later I was led to speak into the air as I was trying to solidify certain doctrinal positions for myself and I had something from within offer me a scripture that destroyed my new found doctrine by showing me my error.

That day began a whole new adventure of walking with that which 'spoke' to me from within. I was led to various scriptures at various times and shown various things such as Elijah hearing the still small voice long after coming to know God or John speaking about us having the anointing and not needing a man to teach us.

What I never imagined would happen is what sevenseas shared above but truly it is consistent with Gods character as found throughout scripture to allow things for the purpose of testing and molding. Even David was led by Satan to number the people and that direction did not come from without but within. So this whole thing has caused me to develop a deeper trust with the Lord seeking to understand his purpose in all of it as his purpose is not to destroy me but to sharpen and build me up.

So here we are, May 12th, 2013, and the date I was given of May 14th as the last possible time for the abandonment and destruction to begin of the unbelieving and disobedient church is only two days away. It is going to be a serious turning point in my relationship with God and my seeking to understand what I am being shown. The question becomes 'what can I truly trust as truth that comes from within?'.

So far no one has truly identified a way of identifying his voice amongst the others with any real certainty for sure. Sevenseas did an excellent job of pointing out that there are others and the others mislead. She also has a very valid point about things having to be in the scriptures but the voice that led me was a voice that used scripture for everything it taught that I believed. As we know Satan uses scripture often as he tested Jesus by misusing scripture. What I have done is cry out even louder and with more tears unto the one who is able to save me from confusion and death. Scriptures come to mind when I do this. All of them surrounding the idea of obedience leading to clarity and blessing while disobedience leads to confusion of face and destruction.

When asking God what to do with all the things that I was led to believe about the end times being imminent and major destruction being brought down on the heads of the disobedient, stiff necked and gainsaying peoples of the church who live in hypocrisy everyday, the Spirit within me said:

Hbr 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)

Hbr 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Hbr 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Whatever happens, I know he has said that my job doesn't change. I am to go out and love people.

Peace is only in Christ.

Amen and Amen.

I stand in agreement concerning what Sevenseas has already said. The things already spoken are to be brought into remembrance by the Spirit of the Lord according to John 14. This is how we inevitably "test the spirits. to see if they are of God."

One thing I would add, is that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth for a reason. The Holy Spirit is a truth telling Teacher, that teaches us and leads us- not into calamity- but in peace.

A scripture was brought to mind Gary, not sure what it means or will mean to you. . . .but here it is.

Philippians 1:6

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

~Keep your head up brother, there is much work to be done!~

God bless and much love to you in our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Guest]

Trust

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1:20-21

[desi2007]

Sometimes with me in my quiet times with the Lord. I will find a command I need to obey, it never fails, before the end of the day, the Lord has prepared me for that day through a scripture. God will open my heart in such a way that sometimes I get so busy that I miss things if not careful. Really every day is worship, either in reading bible or listening to worship music, I always start my mornings with reading and praying..

I have my days I struggle, with limiting Him and try to do things on my own. Especially with big decisions or problems that come up. Then I see Him all around me, suddenly the severity of my problems shrink. Praise God. Many times one of the ways God leads me is by what is not said. If I am heading in the right direction that I am suppose to be going. He doesn't need to tell me anything. It is an inward knowing. And He never leads you by fear. Fear isnt from God. Always exercise faith in God. It opens the doors for blessings, its a process. And fear works the same, you start talking bad it opens the door. Fear not.

In my prayers I am always asking for wisdom and creativity. I just have to filter my views in how I see the world. How I see the issues through biblical perspective, some are complex.

We all a work in progress. I have been a christian all my life. When things start to go wrong in my life, and i get discouraged, oh wow do I ever get discouraged, but its in those moments I just start thanking God for what I do have and I just pray alot. God says we can learn even from a bird if your open. He wants to cause His Fruit of the Spirit to be evident in our Life. Living Godly values.

I pray that Our Dear Lord will help you to follow His word, to give you hope, strength and love. May God Bless you so much.

amen.

desi

[His Ambassador]

A couple of decades ago God began to allow me to hear from Him in words. Not audibly but like a thought. It has allowed me to help others when they come to me and ask for advise from the Lord. I feel totally unworthy to be used by Him in this way. But I am at the same time thrilled that He would use me.