How God speaks to us today. Part 2

Last time I wrote about how God seems to speak in questions. I got a few responses and even a couple phone calls about this both confirming an denying this form of communication, but God moves in crazy ways and spoke to me in a new way just days after posting.

God has a sense of humor.

There is no doubt about it.

Heck, maybe He is even sarcastic at times.

He speaks to everyone, all the time. If you've ever been told differently, hear me now, God is alive and speaks to us today in very real ways.

I have Pandora. I know I know "but you can't choose the song you want to listen to like Spotify!"
Well, I wasn't concerned about that and its only $34 a year instead of $10 a month, and I use it all day everyday. Worth every penny.

So I was stuck in a season of unknown. I'm sure most of you know what that's like.
Not knowing the future.
Not knowing the plan.
Not knowing what to read in His word.
Not knowing where to go from here.
Not knowing where God is.
Not knowing how to grow my ministry.

So I was sitting in my office one early morning before a Youth event with the "Bethel" worship station playing on my computer just as the sun was showing its warm face. I listen to this station the most, and it has always been worship from Bethel, with some Hillsong thrown in and every once in a while you get a treat of Kari Jobe.
I was praying for the upcoming day asking God what I can do in order to bring Glory to his name while taking 40+ students to a local water park in order to go down slides and spend a day in the sun. Randomly an old Goo Goo Dolls song came on. This has never happened before as its not a Christian band, so I quickly went to "Thumbs down" it so it wouldn't come on again, until I got a little flutter in my spirit, a little tap to my foot, and decided to quickly search for the lyrics on Google.

I truly believe God spoke to me through this song. In the most simple of ways. It wasn't the entire song, as its really quite a depressing jingle, but the song ends with "And I just want you to know who I am" over and over.

Isn't this the truth. God, our Father, our Creator, the Great I Am has a simple request, and I felt him with me whispering through John Rzeznik (lead singer): 'Son, I just want you to know who I am'.

If we truly know Him, we truly know His heart. If we truly know His heart, the "unknown" and "not knowing" disappears. Even when we don't know whats next, for we know that God is good, all the time, so I don't need to know.

Its Ironic really, whenever I lead Youth Events or Camps or Retreats I only make 1 run: No future questions. I proceed to tell the kids this same speech that I've given a hundred times now; "Don't worry about what is coming up next, or when you get to eat, or when you get to sleep, or how much time is left. Let us (the leaders) worry about those things, you just enjoy where you are now. Be engaged with what is going on now instead of what happens next."

If we know God, we would get that same speech and same sense of peace.

Its simple really God just wants us to know Him, and not worry about the unknown. 


Chained to him,
Jeremy

Why does God speak in questions?

Before I jump into the question at hand, let me make one thing clear. The Holy Spirit is alive and with us today and speaks to us in very real ways.

Through my Christian life, I have always grown up in the church. Seems like I was one of those kids who was at church just about every day of the week, being that both my parents worked in full-time ministry. I thought I knew the stories, and what it meant to follow Christ, but it wasn't until the summer of my 21st birthday that I experienced God in a very real way, and came to see how He speaks to us. That's a story for another time though, just know, that the Lord speaks to us today. It might look a little bit different for each person, as God is a creative God and will meet people where they are, but He speaks.

Now this comes back to my question, why does God speak in questions? I mean, in prayer, I'll often be praying about something very casually, and the Lord will throw a thought into my head that comes in a question form. Simple things like 'Did I say that?' or 'Why don't you follow me?' or 'Will you bring Glory to My name?'

So, I started to investigate a little bit by just talking to friends and fellow believers, and they often have the same response. So this again brings me back to... Why does God speak in questions? Have you ever noticed this? Is it possible that the Holy Spirit speaks to us in question?

Couple random theories.
Maybe its because we often already know the answer.
Maybe because He wants us to find the answer.
Maybe because its our conscious keeping us in check.
Maybe God doesn't want to give us all the answers.
Maybe He wants us to spot and think.
Maybe we have to ask him the right question.

This is what I land on, just about every time I think about it.

Ever seen that movie iRobot with Will Smith? He's a detective, and a Doctor commits suicide in order to get attention. Well, the Doctor sets up a hologram and the hologram calls specifically for Will Smith to come question him. As Smith is beginning to question the hologram, this is the answer he gets...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB6S1-A4Hk4

"My responses are limited, you must ask the right question."

Is it possible that God answers our questions and concerns with a question, simply because that is his limited response for us humans that have little understanding?

The movie goes on where Smith has to dig deeper and deeper in order to solve the "crime" each time all he can do is ask the right question and look for the answer himself.

So, to sum up, I would think the Lord response in questions simply so we seek after Him. Above all else.

We shall go to the gates of Hell.

What's your number one goal in life? Do you have one? Or like a phrase or sentence that you live by? This is probably not something we all think about often, but if you had to break it down, could you put into one sentence your ultimate goal in life?
I've heard things like; 'To have the most fun', or 'to enjoy every moment', or 'try everything once'. We know, these aren't good enough to use as a life goal, but often its a good starting point.

Let me tell you mine, "To proclaim the name of Jesus Christ in everything I say and do, even when its awkward or hard."
Now, this might seem like a slightly immature sentence, and it really is, mostly because this is something that has been on my heart since High School (which is why I needed to have the "awkward" part in there), but its a nice reminder to be able to look back on daily.

Well, all that to say, if my goal is to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ above all else, it stands to reason that I should want to bring glory and honor to his name and make His name known. That's the key today that I'm realizing, make His name known.

We, as Christ followers, need to go after people. After their hearts, and souls, and minds. Look an essential part of being a Christian is to constantly care for and love God's people. So, together, We shall go down into the gates of Hell in order to save a lost soul who needs to hear about Jesus, will you join me?

My best bud Matt and I use to talk about these things a lot a few years back. I remember just turning 21 and sitting in my Jeep at a park late at night with him (sounds like a awkward first date), and we came up with the metaphor used from the movie 300.

If you remember, in that movie, its a group of 300 well trained men who go against thousands and thousands in the Persian army. Each soldier was required to be able to hold a heavy shield in such a way that if would cover the left half of their own body, but also, the right half of the person next to you. This was how they were able to be so strong. The shield wasn't simply used to save themselves, but the person next to them. The shield wasn't a selfish piece of equipment, but used to help a fellow brother.

Will you come on this journey with me? As we head into spiritual warfare, can we stand together and protect each other? Let us stand together in order to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ in everything we say and do, no matter if it is awkward or hard.


Jeremy