God is Speaking...But are We Listening?

God has been hitting me with the baseball bat of revelation about hearing his voice and such lately, so if you start to see a pattern with my devotions.... that’s why...

Have you ever noticed that God doesn’t like a medium? It’s the wide road, or the narrow road. You're either bearing fruit, or you're not... And if you're not hot or cold, he'll vomit you out of his mouth. In God's eyes, there is no "middle road", "half-bearing fruit", and he hates "lukewarm". Same thing goes with listening. At no time is someone or something not speaking into you, over you, or directly to you. And, if its not God who is speaking, that means that it is the devil who is. It's just one of those things, if it's not God, then it’s the devil. There will never be a time when God and the devil are quiet, they are both speaking at the same time... but who are you listening too? Are you listening to God, or..... the devil. No middle. Do you understand what I'm trying to get across? So, to help turn off the devil, and turn up God, we must understand HOW the devil speaks to us.

Three ways the Devil Speaks to Us:
1) Through a thing:
-This could not necessarily doesn't have to be a bad thing, sometimes the devil speaks and controls our lives with "good" things, but those "good" things take the 
place of "GOD" things
- Music
-TV shows
- Daily works/ Distractions

2) Through his actual voice
- This usually is the voice in the back of your head telling you that you will fail
- Fears/ Doubts
- Pride 
- Jealously

3) Through a Person:
- This happens a lot and most of the time, we don’t recognize it’s the devil trying 
speak to you.
- A boyfriend, telling you that you’re stupid
- A teacher, telling you that you FAIL
- A parent, telling you that you’re not special enough

Now, in Romans 8:7, it sys that “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. This got me thinking that if the devil speaks to us, and fills our head with the flesh, then our mind is literally hostile to God, and rebukes him. 

As you can see, the majority of the time, we find ourselves listening to the devil: not on purpose, of course, but most of us don’t realize that it’s the devil talking to us. But, because God is so good, and so mighty, and wonderful, and fantastic, and holy… AND ETC. he counterbalances this with the three ways HE talks to us!

Three ways God speaks to Us:
1) Through a thing:
-Something like a crazy revelation that just screams GOD!
- Music
- A Dream
- A thought

2) Through his actual voice:
- This is the still small voice that speaks to us through the quiet, the noise, the pain, and the joy
- Conviction of a sin 
- Love/Joy
- A word, or a thought that reveals to you
(1 Kings 19: 12- … and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice)

3) Through a Person:
- When something someone has said slams through you, and you realize 
- A preacher
- A spiritual authority
- A friend

We have to learn how to first distinguish between things of God and things of the devil, sometimes it’s confusing because of the way the devil uses “good” things. The first step in hearing God is to remove the things that are speaking to you that aren’t God. Especially the obvious, the music, TV shows, and etc. Second, refuse to listen to things the devil is telling you! And, third… Ask God for guidance. He says, “We have not because we ask not” ( James 4:2 ) so, ask him to help you remove anything but his voice. Other than that? I’m still working on it myself!

With lots of love:

-Emma