GOD'S PASSIONATELY, PURSUING NATURE

God's love reaches side-by-side with His justice as He gives us the choice to live this life and the next with or without His presence in our lives. Because of the belief in a lie, humanity disobeyed God and ever since, our relationship with Father God has been torn asunder. Then Christ Jesus was sent and has restored ALL of humanity's relationship with Father God. No matter the degree - past, present and future sins have been forgiven through our faith in His sacrifice. 

Yes, from birth we are the walking condemned. However, since Christ's sacrifice the same walking condemned are walking saved individuals. These people just have to accept His free gift of love. What will you activate and live out of - a disobedient, rebellious nature OR acceptance of a Christlike lifestyle.

The degree of God's love is unfathomable, but I still set my mind, heart and imagination on it. The degree He gave up, the degree He suffered and the degree He will still go to love on us is mind and heart blowing! Christ's sacrifice satisfied every human's sin in history - past, present and future. There is no word, thought or deed that Jesus did not miraculously pay for on The Cross. The phrase "It is finished" that Christ declared on The Cross means Paid In Full.

God woos or courts our hearts, minds and lives. Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them," (John 6:44). If Hitler would have truthfully and sincerely repented, God would have restored Adolf's relationship with Himself through Christ's blood and victorious resurrection. But Hitler chose to hate God and His people, the Jews, so he receives the hand with Justice in it. There are no constraints on God's compassion and saving grace, but there is an equal scale of justice awaiting those who refuse this ultimate gift.

Yes, God woo's or courts the hearts of those that do not know Him but once the decision is made to have a relationship with Him, Paul is convinced that nothing can separate us from His love again.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

In the parable of The Lost Sheep in Luke 15:3-7, the lost sheep is not an individual animal outside the fold needing to be added to the family of sheep. The sheep spoken of in this parable is one that was already part of the fold - "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them." The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine he has, goes, finds, tends to the sheep's needs and brings it back into the fold - rejoicing! 

Notice the Lord did not mention another sheep going after the lost one, nor a servant of the shepherd, but The Shepherd himself went after the lost sheep. What a passionate love, a compassionate heart, a personal Master and Savior that Jesus has pictured for His own. 

There is a song called Reckless Love by Cory Asbury whose lyrics are perfect at this point. The chorus goes -

"And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.
Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine.
And I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away.
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah.

Bridge goes - 

There's no shadow You won't light up
Mountain You won't climb up
Coming after me

There's no wall You won't kick down
Lie You won't tear down
Coming after me"

_____________________

God's Passionately, Pursuing Nature

THE VOICE OF GOD

In 1 Kings 19:11-13 the voice of the Lord is described as "a still small voice" or "a whisper". However, most of the encounters with God's voice leave the recipient and the reader of God's Word quite awestruck.

When a thunderstorm arrives in my area, I will often step out on my front porch, not only to assess the severity, but to listen to the thunder and watch the lightening. I stop and imagine it as God's voice speaking to me. You might think I'm crazy or at least unsafe but observe what God said to David in Psalm 81:7  - 

"In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah."

Then in John 12:29, Jesus speaks to God the Father and Father God audibly replies -

"The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him."

Other verses that speak to God's voice as thunderous are...

Job 37:4
"After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back."

Job 37:5
"God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding."

Job 40:9
"Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?"

Psalm 18:13
"The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded."

Psalm 68:33
"...to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice."

Have you ever heard loud, powerful, window-rattling thunder? Imagine hearing the wings of an army of eagles fly overhead. Have you ever heard the crackle and sizzle of lightening as bolts attempt to find their mark? Have you ever been in the presence of a strong trumpet blast or volley of notes? Imagine yourself standing beside Niagara Falls and hearing that constant deafening roar. Have you ever been in a large crowd and just stopped and listened to the murmur of the mob? Ever wonder what the voice of God sounds like? The previous descriptive questions are Biblically based depictions of God's voice.

In addition, God's voice has been linked in Scripture to the breaking of Cedars, the shaking of the desert, the twisting of the oak, the shattering of Assyria, speaking from a cloud, and even His voice reaching the dead and they hear Him. 

The following are the locations and more of the descriptions of the voice of God that were alluded to above.

"Speaking to him from between the two cherubim..." - Nu. 7:89

"spoke to you out of the fire." - Dt. 4:12

Discipline related - Dt. 4:36

"a loud voice" - Dt. 5:22

"resounded" - 2 Sam. 22:14

"roar of His voice" - Job 37:2

"majestic" - Job 37:4

"thunders in marvelous ways" - Job 37:5

"is powerful" - Psalm 29:4

"breaks the cedars" - Psalm 29:5

"strikes with flashes of lightning" - Psalm 29:7

"shakes the desert" - Psalm 29:8

"twists the oak" - Psalm 29:9

"mighty" - Ps. 68:33

"will shatter Assyria" - Isa. 30:31

"sound of their wings was like the voice of the Almighty" - Eze. 1:24

"was like the roar of rushing waters" - Eze. 43:2

"was like the sound of a multitude" - Dan. 10:6

"a voice from the cloud" - Matt. 17:5

"the bridegroom's voice" - John 3:29

"all who are in their graves will hear His voice" - John 5:28 (Wow!)

Gives intructions - Acts 10 and 11

"the voice of the archangel" - 1 Thess. 4:16

"trumpet blast" - Hebrews 12:19

Heaven and earth will be shaken by His voice - Hebrews 12:29

From heaven while on a mountain - 2 Peter 1:18

Trumpet like - Rev. 1:10

Rushing Waters - Rev. 1:15

Zephaniah 3:17 says, "...he will rejoice over you with singing."

When I was growing up, I could tell you without looking, who was walking from one room to the other and who was literally talking behind my back. All the times I have been on a team, in a job or part of a church family for an extended period of time - I knew them.

Because I shared so much time in my relationships, I could distinguish voices out from the opponents on the court as I played against another team. Because I saw them everyday at work, I knew the cadence of my coworkers from afar in the parking lot. Because I sang, worshiped, traveled and learned with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I knew their voice, cadence, heart and presence when they were around me - seen or not.

Has your name ever been called from where you cannot see the caller for the moment, but just by the voice you recognize the person? That is familiarity. That is time spent with that person. That is recognition of a bond that is close enough to have developed to that level. That is relationship.
Many of us have associated The Voice of God with a good baritone or smooth bass voice, compliments of the movies and t.v. (i.e. James Earl Jones and the like). However, if you were one of the individuals who lived during the time of Christ you actually got to hear the voice of God in human form. They heard the Word of God, the Logos, made flesh, speak. That which Father God uttered as words before creation, now was flesh and speaking. Wow! Get your mind around that!

John speaks about Christ's voice when Jesus, picturing Himself as The Great Shepherd and us as His sheep says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me." (John 10:27). For the Christian today, God's Word and His Holy Spirit within the believer are how Christ mainly speaks to us. Jesus stated - "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)

The original word used for "know" in John 10:27-28 - "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me." - is ginosko, meaning to know absolutely; be sure; to understand in a great variety of applications and with many implications. The word implies an intimate, developing relationship that God knows everything about. Jesus adds to this wonderful relationship that these same people who listen to my voice will not only have everlasting life, but the quality and/or spunk of life will be upgraded forever.

God has a magnificent voice and has used it many times to acquire the attention and obedience of nature and humanity. Where God's voice was unmistakable in the past, His voice is a matter of faith, diligence in His Word and Godly Discernment today. Especially since Christ's visitation, God's voice is built on a relationship with Jesus by accepting His sacrifice for our redemption.

When God speaks to me via His Holy Spirit now-a-days, my mind's ear hears the recall of God's Word in my own voice in a peaceful tone. However, God's voice will one day be undeniably unmistakable to all. As Jesus steps down from His throne in Heaven and pierces the thin cloak of invisibility, He will descend with "a loud command" (1 Thess. 4:16). This shout, this resounding utterance, this Voice of Thunder will be enough for all Christians to be transformed or glorified and the dead in Christ to rise first, then the remaining believers will meet them and Christ in the air to go Home.

Meanwhile, God says, if you are part of the fold, you will want to and need to stay tuned into God's frequency for discernment of all things. To help in this effort, remain a man or woman of integrity. Also, continue to pray to Him, allowing for some listening time. Permit the Holy Spirit and Word of God, when you read it, to guide you in all truth because this is His Voice. His still small voice continues to speak today even though I look forward to hearing the thunder in The Voice of God. 

THE SOURCE OF POWER

When I think of the word Power, my mind goes to concepts such as might and creative resources. God has unlimited supply of each. He is The Source of all Power and should be recognized as such.

The selfish "I will" command of Lucifer in the beginning (Isaiah 14:13-14) and continued attempt by Satan to mold humanity into this type of self-reliant creature is what takes Power out of our lives.

People who claim to be self-made in anything are deluding themselves. Anyone who is a do-it-yourself type individual is relying on the knowledge of somebody else. They may do the research to propel themselves forward on their own, but they are still using others and their wisdom as stepping stones to their goal. 

I believe it is important to recognize The Source of one's Power. Rarely do we think about the plug in the wall that provides power or electricity for whatever device, yet the plug is not The Source. Even less seldom do we think of switch boxes, the electrical boxes at the street, transformers on poles and power stations - yet all these are still not The Source of Power. The Power Plant is The Source of Power and how many times do we think or recognize this source every time we plug up our devices?

Jesus recognized where His Power resided. Christ gave credit where credit is due - to Father God. In John 12:49-50, Jesus said, 

"For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

Wow! What if Christians were that dialed in, that connected to The Holy Spirit of God? As believers in Christ we would have an incredible relationship with God and an incredible relationship with others. Our personal fellowship time with God would be that much sweeter. Then the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20), our personal Calling (Ephesians 4:11-13), and Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) would be highly impactful. 

These are three huge areas of the Christian walk, but God desires our entire lives. This is what wholehearted devotion means - to seek Him first in everything. One way I recognize God's Power in my life is claiming Him as My Counselor. I listen to His voice and try my best to convey the encouraging words I hear in my spirit via the many blogs I write.

What are you doing to recognize to yourself and others that your gifts, talents, skill, calling and Power come from God? They say that recognition is the first step. So, whether verbally, written, publicly, or privately - Christ deserves to be recognized in the Christian's life as The Source of Power.