Listening to God’s voice depends on your heart attitude

“Therefore just as the Holy Spirit says, today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where you fathers tried Me by testing Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways;’ as I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” Hebrews 3:7-11

This quote from Hebrews is based on Psalm 95:8-11

Psalm 95 is commenting on Exodus 17 1-7

“Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarrelled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water that we may drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, ‘Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.’ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.’ And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.“He named the place Massah (test) and Meribah (quarrel) because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us, or not?’”

What was the problem here? The people were thirsty they were asking for a drink, is that wrong? Obviously not! But the way they went about solving the problem was wrong. Hebrews 3:12 goes on to comment about these verses saying:

“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you and evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Encouraging here is an example of a believing, soft heart. The exact opposite of how the Israelites were behaving by quarrelling. If the people had come to God/Moses in faith saying “God has done great things in the past – He delivered us from the Egyptians when we crossed over the Red Sea, He turned the bitter waters sweet at Marah, He is providing the manna everyday to feed us so He can easily give us water in this dry place.” I believe that this would have been an example of how to “Encourage one another day after day” and how to “Draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Think of a way that you can either encourage another or change the way that you are reacting in a situation, so that a positive faith reaction can make way for God to move.

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Next
1. Introduction.
2. God's nature as creator and communicator.
3. The role of the Bible.
4. Turn aside when you notice something.
5. Be careful what you worship.
6. The Holy Spirit quickens things.
7. Hide and seek using parables.
8. Ask the Holy Spirit.
9. The inner room is where we meet with God.
10. The importance of peace and stillness.
11. Don't hurry God will speak.
12. Waiting and longing takes us higher to a place where God acts.
13. What price do we have to pay?
14. Holding a word for a time and part of the whole picture.
15. How do we know it's from God/Act in faith?
16. Jesus is open to persuasion!
17. The Language God uses to communicate.
18. God communicates through our sensory organs.
19. God communicates primarily to the heart.
20. God offends our mind to change our heart.
21. Listening depends on your heart attitude.
22. Circumcision is the cure to a hard heart!
23. Listen to your heart
24. Eyes.
25. Lift up your eyes.
26. Make sure your vision is clear.
27. Ears/hearing the voice of the Lord.
28. Reach for higher levels.
29. How God communicates - impressions.
30. Seeing with the eyes of your heart.
31. Visions.
32. Open visions.
33. Trances.
34. Signs.
35. Dreams.
36. Conclusion.
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