« July 2005 | September 2005 »
Posted by David Carroll
God's word has the power to create life. He made the plants and plant life is able to respond in that realm to the soil, sunlight and rain. God created animal life and in that realm animals can do much more than plants. They can eat, hear, and mate with each other. Plants are oblivious to the animal realm and in that sense are dead to animal kind of life. Humans live in a yet higher realm in which we can understand abstract thought such as mathematics, poetry, art and all manner of communication. The animal is dead to this
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
Don't think that God's "still small voice" is weak because it is still or small. This same voice created everything, all matter, energy and time and organized it all into the magnificent universe and the marvelous living chemistry of cellular life. How else would he have done it? He is not matter but spirit.John 4:24 (NKJV)God is SpiritJohn 6:63 (NKJV)It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.Words are God's power and we have been made in His image and so when he gave us
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
The greater the faith, the easier it is to exercise it. Think about that. With great faith, there is no need to bother with worry; your great faith keeps you from having to. With great faith, it is easy to believe. I am not talking about great leaps of faith. No a great faith must be in something that is dependable and sure. Does this not describe God?Weak faith is hard. There is doubt and struggle. It seems as if you have to bolster it with determination and mustering. Who wants that?Willard reminds us of the story about the Centurion
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
Dreams and visions can be interpreted in many different ways and Willard concludes that for this reason that these forms of communication are inferior to the “voice” of the Lord. There has some scriptural evidence for this in the following passage:Numbers 12:6-8 (NKJV)Then He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream.Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
All this talk of hearing God could be dangerous. After all, it is possible to be mistaken yet convinced that God is telling you something. I have heard a number of "prophets" in Christian circles who had a message from God for the church. But the message somehow seemed out of character. Typically, this urgent message from an determined individual would emphasize one doctrine or particular phrase from scripture out of context and out of proportion from other balancing doctrines. Of course, this is exactly how cults get started.So on the subject of hearing God as it relates to individuals,
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
God speaks to us in many ways but Willard maintains that it is through our own thoughts and feelings that God speaks most. In this way, God utilizes our own faculties of understanding and emotions. The thoughts I think are my own thoughts but they might originate in the mind of God. I am trying to imagine how I can distinguish such thoughts from God. I think that I must first be a clean vessel, in tune with God's word, and ready to obey his will whatever it may be. Surely then God can quietly slip in to my mind
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
God may speak to me but I might not understand the message. I must understand more about Him before I understand what He might say. The wonderful news is that if I seek to understand him he has promised to enlighten me.Proverbs 2:3-5 (NKJV)Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.OK, so now that I know that God will cause me to understand as I
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
I would not expect to be able to just call up the President and ask to speak to him. There is no way because I am not an important person. This is not to say that he is a snob or anything like that, it's just that he does not have time to speak with just anybody who would like a word with him. Wait, I just said that the reason the President would not speak to me is that he does not have the time. That would not be true of God, would it? But surely he would not
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
Should I expect a continual conversation with God? I mean moment by moment, God directing my every action? I believe that is certainly possible but not necessarily ideal. I don't need God to tell me not to steal or not to lie. I already have standing principals from God's word that guide me in this way. Perhaps I need a nudge or even a push from God to do a good deed. But prayer, Bible reading, meditation, worship and even common courtesies ought to be second nature habits. Although there are wonderful tales of the person who needed a word
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
I like the idea that God speaks to us through other people. Sometimes it is a message we don't want to hear like when someone points out a sin we may have committed against another without even realizing it. I remember once I came down pretty hard on an employee in a public meeting. Although, I had interpreted it as teasing, the employee did not. Another believer who I work with asked me to have lunch with him that day and confronted me with my sin. He quoted:Ephesians 4:29 (NKJV)Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
Just arrived in San Francisco. I'll continue to blog my Hearing God commentary tomorrow morning...In the meantime, I heard from God today. I can't tell you how many times I have sat next to a stranger on an airplane and have felt the tug from God to witness to them. Well, today my family and I boarded a plane with widely separated seats. I figured that I would just do some reading and napping on the three hour flight to Phoenix. Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.All right, my plans were not
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
I know those of you in my Sunday School class have been waiting to get started in the Sermon on the Mount series I have been talking about doing for so long now. We'll here is a lesson (mp3 audio download) just to whet your appitite a little bit. It is not really part of the series but it is from Matthew chapter 4 leading up to Chapter 5 which is the start of the Sermon on the Mount. So this lesson will sort of set the stage for our long look into the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew says:Matthew
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
There are many different variations on the Good News and that is not good news. Why? Because there ought to be one version. Which one is that you ask? Well, that would be the one in the Bible of course. Here is an
audio (podcast) of the Sunday School Lesson I taught on this subject last week. I was inspired by a presentation I saw over at
9marks ministries.
Posted by David Carroll
There is a presentation about One Verse Evangelism over at the Navigators site I was intrigued with. This mp3 file is part of a Sunday School Lesson I did on this technique for sharing your faith. Basically you just have to know one verse, Romans 6:23 and the entire message is contained in outline form within this short verse.
Posted by David Carroll
Willard speaks of three forms of God’s presence with us or three ways in which we recognize this presence. First there is simply a faith that God promises it therefore it must be true. This is accepted without any evidence or sense that God is actually with us. It is blind faith which is not necessarily bad but not very satisfying either.
Secondly there is a sense that God is there in some way much like we might be aware of someone watching us. This can vary from a slight to a strong impression.Thirdly there is the obvious knowing that
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
When you think of companionship you think of a friend, a lover, a spouse or even a dog. But even with all of these, we are alone in this world with our hurts, disappointments, and illnesses. Oh, it's nice to have someone to talk to, to sit with you, hold your hand, or even to defend you, but they cannot be really at one with us no matter how close they are. So ultimately we are alone. The proof is death. No one can take that journey with you, you go by yourself.Willard says that this would be true, but
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
From John Ortberg’s The Life You’ve Always Wanted (via Jared)"The most serious sign of hurry sickness is a diminished capacity to love. Love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. Love always takes time, and time is one thing hurried people don’t have."I heard Ravi Zacharias talk about something similar in describing what love is not. Basically it was being asked to take out the garbage by your wife when you are on your way out the door and frustratingly grabbing the bag while stomping out to stuff the bag hurriedly down the garbage can. What would love do? Love would not
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
When I hear from God, it is not a confirmation that I am worthy or righteous. There must be no boasting that "I have a word from the Lord." How do I know I have understood the message? Was I really listening? Am I muddying the picture by imposing my own desire on top of the content? This is why humility is so important when hearing from God. If there is any self-righteousness, no doubt, it will be put in its proper place by God. In other words, the humility will come whether we start with it or not so
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
Is it possible to concentrate on being meek? I think not. Meekness is a result of focusing on something else other than self. There is no thought of the majesty of God speaking to ME! No pride or thought of self, just listening, ready, aware of His presence. If my mind is not busy with my own preoccupations God can sway my thoughts. Willard quotes from George Mueller:Meekness is a real preference for God's will. Where this holy habit of mind exists, the whole being becomes so open to impression that, without any outward sign or token, there is an
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
Am I a servant simply following orders of a great and terrible taskmaster or am I a friend who desires to freely cooperate out of genuine love and delight? If all God wanted was a creature to do his bidding I believe He could have created, for all intents and purposes, a living robot. No fuss, no muss. From my puny viewpoint, I know I am not a robot. The question is am I a friend of God? Do I love God? The end effect is the same whether I am a programmed beast or a loving obedient follower—the work
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
The thing that makes us different from all God’s other creatures is our ability to communicate through abstract language. God created us in his image and since God is a God who communicates and desires fellowship with us, it makes sense that part of the image we would have is the ability to both speak to and hear from God. This is what makes relationship.I have to think back, when and how have I heard God speak? Never have I heard an audible word but then again I can attest to clearly understanding a prompting or thought or idea that
Read more
Posted by David Carroll
I know it has been a long time since I've posted here. The last two lessons on the book of Hebrews have been ready to post for a long time but I have had some health problems that have robbed me of the extra energy it takes to keep this site up. But praise God, I am feeling much better after some corrective surgery and hope to be more dilligent about updating this blog. Thanks to everyone who has emailed me and encouraged me to keep it going!
« July 2005 | September 2005 »