Gospel Balloon LANDED

You may remember that in the summer, we released helium balloons with gospel messages into the air. 

You can read about it here http://cottonwoodwomen.blogspot.com/2013/07/gospel-balloons.html

from my post on July 19. Here is a picture 

It was a great day, so much fun, and we were so excited to see where they would go. Well, today, we got this note in the mail. 

The note says, 

"Blessings and Hello! 

We wanted you to never doubt your messages are heard. 

We received this Word in one of our pastures in Cross Roads, south of Athens, Tx. 

We'll take a raincheck on the coffee... 

It is dated 2/29/14. SIX months later, and they found it in a pasture, 160 miles away!! 

The note also had the original card from the balloon. 

Wow, so exciting. The reference to the coffee... 

On one side of the note, we put verses about God's love, the other side has an invitation to Cottonwood, and a note, "Bring this card with you when you come, for a free drink at the coffee shop." 

I know that this note is from the July balloon release because I didn't include the free coffee offer the recent release.  

Just knowing that this ended up in someones hand is so encouraging. Yippeee 

Knowing God's Language

Many years ago. I mean MANY years ago, when I was a very young woman, I longed to hear from God. I told God, I want to hear you speak. And, I did. God said, "Then you need to know my language."
I knew that he meant I needed to know what the Bible said. To really hear from God, we need to know the Bible. How else can I know if the words I hear line up with the character and nature of God? God reveals Himself through the Bible.
Many times, when I hear from God, the words that He uses are from the Bible.
I may be worried and the words come to mind, "Be anxious in nothing." Yes, that is scripture, but, when the right words pop into my mind at just the right time, I know that it is God speaking those words to my heart at that moment.
When I am stressing and I hear, "Be still", I KNOW that God is telling me to slow down and trust Him.
I hear "be quick listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry", and I know that I am to slow down my emotions, don't respond quickly, listen, and choose to not become angry.
If I am hurt, sad, or feeling bad about myself, the words, "you are the apple of my eye" will make me smile.
When guilt and shame overtake me, I know that, "there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus".
These are just some of the ways that God speaks to me, in words that I understand because I know the Bible, at least a bit.

Is that You, God?

How do you know if the words that come to your mind are words from God?

For me, the first question I ask is, "Would God say that?" Do those words line up with what I know of the character and nature of God. 

If the words are condemning, shaming, or quilt producing, they are not from God. God convicts, He doesn't shame. God disciplines but He does not condemn. 

God will say, "What you said is not true. That is a lie. You need to confess and apologize."

God does NOT say, "You are a dirty rotten liar. You can never be trusted." 

God is compassionate, full of mercy and grace. He loves me. He likes me. He favors me. He will not speak in ways that make me feel unloved, disliked, or rejected. 

If the voice says words like;

            Not good enough

            Disappointment 

            Don't measure up 

            Failure

            Stupid 

            

You can know that the voice is not God. That voice is the enemy, Satan. Or that voice is your own. Or, that voice is the voice from a teacher, coach, parent, sibling, friend, bully, employer...a voice that is in your memory that comes to mind sometimes. 

For me, the first question to ask is, "Is that a voice of love that brings hope and encouragement?" 

That is the voice I long to hear. 

Hearing God

Last night, we started a new small group study on the topic of hearing God. We are watching and discussing DVD's from Bill Hybels; The Power of a Whisper, Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond.
When I try to hear God speak, I usually wonder if the words I hear in my head or heart are really from God. Is that God, or something I just made up in my mind, or is it the voice of my mother from my memory???
In the first session, Hybels shared 5 "filters", questions to ask to help us know if the words we hear are truly
words from God.
1. "God, is the prompting truly from you?"
2. "Is the whisper scriptural?"
3. "Is it wise?"
4. "Is it in tune with my own character or wiring?"
5. "What do the people I most trust think about it?"

Our discussion mostly centered around those questions.
One thing we discussed is whether we are too quick to try to "filter" what we hear and believe is God speaking. Most of us have something in our background that warned us about being too emotional or we have heard other people toss around the "God said" trump card and have become very guarded. We too often have dismissed God's whisper because we decided it probably was not God speaking.
Regardless, I believe that some kind of filter is necessary. I automatically use filters when I hear anyone speak. Even last night during the discussion, my mind was continually asking, "Is that right? Do I agree with that statement? Is what he is saying scriptural? Was what she said something that God is speaking?
So, some filtering is needed, but we need for our default to be that what we heard is probably really God's whisper.

I considered the next filter a lot. Of course, God never says anything that contradicts the Bible. The problem is that sometimes He will contradict what we THINK that Bible says, so we shouldn't be too quick to disregard a prompting that seems unscriptural. For example, Les and I spent years in a church that believed it was against Biblical teaching to use any musical instruments in worship. So, if Les had heard a whisper that he should take his guitar into the Sunday morning service, he would have immediately rejected that whisper as not being scriptural. In Acts 10, Peter had a vision of a sheet descending  from heaven full of all kinds of unclean animals. A voice told him to kill and eat, but Peter refused because that would be against God's law. God repeated the command three times, telling Peter, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." The vision was preparing Peter to be ready to take the gospel to the home of Cornelius, a gentile.

And, sometimes...sometimes, God tells us to do something that is unwise by any logical reasoning, sometimes outside of our wiring and natural character. Sometimes He speaks so clearly that we know we have heard form Him, no matter what anyone says.

One key word that Hybels used in discussing these filters was "yellow flag". If the whisper we hear does not seem to agree with what we think the Bible teaches, seems to be not wise, is something that is not in line with our natural make-up, or our close friends advise against it; then we need to pray some more to be really clear.

One thing is certain, I want to hear God speak. I want to have ears to hear what the Spirit is speaking. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and they know me and they follow me."