Since I became a follower of Jesus at a young adult age, I began hearing from the Lord early on in my walk with Him. I am now much older and am very familiar with His Voice, as Jesus said regarding the Holy Spirit during His ministry on earth, “When He, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall Hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.” John 16:13. And in Acts chapter one, the Resurrected Jesus spoke to His followers, commanding them to “stay in Jerusalem” and “wait for the Promise” the Promise of the Holy Spirit as He had spoken to them, and in Acts 2, the day of Pentecost, as we know that God sent the Holy Spirit in the upper room, and how in verses 17 and 18, Peter stood up, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke of the promise as written in Joel chapter 2, God said, “In the Last Days I will pour out my Spirit upon All people, your sons AND you Daughters shall Prophesy.”
This is the Voice I am referring to, this is the Voice of the Lord that has spoken to me many times, leading me along “the path of Righteousness for His names sake”, this is Voice that Jesus was referring to in John 16:13. This is what it means when the Lord said, “Today when YOU HEAR His Voice, “Remember what it says, “Today when you Hear His Voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.” Hebrews 3:15.
As I have said I have heard the Lord’s Voice, His calling MANY times in my walk with Him, even in my marriage, (now in our 38th year!) there have been many times I have heard the Voice of Jesus speak to me what I was to do, and many times when I have shared with my husband (both my husband and I are Pastors) what the Lord had spoken to me, and because he had not yet heard the Lord, it would often cause friction.
Anyone who knows what I’m talking about, understands what I mean. The Good News about this, is most of those times I have Heard the Lord FIRST, God would eventually confirm it with him. For instance, there was a time when we were not in ministry and my husband was successful in business, we had two small children, so I chose to stay at home to raise our children, and one evening as I was praying in the Spirit, the Lord spoke to me and said, “I am calling Rick back into Full-time ministry.” I was truly excited and welcomed this news, I then said to the Lord, “You’re going to have to tell him, because he will not receive it from me.” And when I did share it with him (I am always excited when I have heard the Lord and cannot keep quiet!) he responded and said, “That’s not going to happen.” It was approximately a week or so later, that my husband DID hear the Lord, confirming it in a dream! When he finally heard the Lord tell him, I was ecstatic began packing for our move!
When we arrived back in our home town, the Lord spoke to both me and my husband, while visiting friends in Florida, who had been in Full-time ministry, while on this trip, the Lord spoke to us to move where our friends lived. When we traveled back to our home town, the Lord spoke to me again and said, we would have a church in Florida. Allow me to explain, when the Lord spoke to me early on regarding Him calling my husband back into Full-time ministry, he had been a Pastor, who had founded a church, and had trained many other ministers. I had not yet been in Full-time ministry, and because I have always known I was a preacher and an evangelist, (as I would always minister whenever and wherever, even on the streets of Detroit, Michigan with our Evangelist team) I knew both my husband and I would be pastors, together, in the church the Lord had spoken to me about. But, as I said, I had heard the Lord that we would have a church in Florida, this news was not yet confirmed with my husband by the Lord. He had not yet heard, and did not “see” it at the time, in fact he assumed we would help our friends in their ministry, but I knew that was not the purpose for moving from our home town to Florida.
It was approximately 3 months or so after moving, that while my husband was walking on the beach, the Lord spoke to him and said, “There is not a church in this town, I want you to start one,” and we did. All Glory to God!
Let me help encourage you, especially those of you called into ministry in any capacity, when the Lord tells YOU to do something, there will be external afflictions and persecutions, God does not do evil, he does not bring evil into our lives in any form or fashion, BUT we Do have an enemy, Jesus spoke of him many times during his ministry on earth, as he said, in John 10:10, “The thief (the devil) comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and life more abundantly.” And in 1 Peter 5:8, the Lord tells us through Peter, “Be sober, be alert, because YOUR adversary the devil, roams as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the Faith, knowing the SAME AFFLICTIONS ARE ACCOMPLISHED IN THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS.” We are encourage by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 to Be STRONG IN THE LORD, and in the Power of HIS MIGHT:
Ephesians 6:10-18,
“10Finally, my brothers and sisters, be Strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
We as the body of Christ are warned of this enemy, Satan the devil, who is the “god of this world” 2 Corinthians 4:4, and God has given us HIS armor to Resist this enemy. Jesus tells us in Luke 10:17-19, that this enemy is Satan, and in verse 19 He says, “Behold I have given you power (Greek for power is Authority) to tread on serpents and scorpions and over ALL the power of the enemy, and Nothing shall by any means hurt you.” We have been given His Name and His Word to overcome this enemy. 1 John 5:4 says, Whosoever is born of God OVERCOMES the World (Satan is the God of this World) and this is the VICTORY that Overcomes the World, Our Faith.” Also read Ephesians chapter 1.
When the Lord calls us to do something, we must not harden our hearts, even if our loved one or even our spouse have not “yet” heard the Lord, we are to “Please God and not Human beings” Galatians 1:10.
I recently read an article that encouraged me, that when I DO hear the the Lord and my spouse does NOT hear Him on the matter yet, that I am not alone. Many times the enemy will tell you that you’re the only one going through this, which with the enemies tricks also tries to STOP us, by tempting us to think, “Did I really hear the Lord?” and I’m reminded of how Satan the serpent deceived the woman (Eve) by saying, “You will not surely die…” This is how the enemy works, and you need to understand he works around the clock, trying to get God’s people to Question if they “really” heard from God, His tricks are to get us to “doubt” and doubt is a thief! It will Rob us of our Faith, if we give into it, that is why it is imperative to do what the Lord has called us to do BY FAITH, Believing in what the Lord tells us no matter what comes to try and Steal that word from our heart (see Mark chapte 4, sower sows the word) as our enemy the devil is after the Word sown in our hearts (whether it is the written Word or the Words Jesus is speaking directly to us, (also see Proverbs 4:20-22).
I will close with this: We are going to take a look at the Faith of Mary when she Heard the Lord speak to her through the Angel, and when reading this context, I pray you will take note that the Angel spoke FIRST to Mary, without Joseph being present: Luke 1:26-38:
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings,a]”>[a]”>aa]”>] favored woman! The Lord is with you!b]”>[b]”>bb]”>]”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israelc]”>[c]”>cc]”>] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.d]”>[d]”>dd]”>]”
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
The LORD spoke to Mary through an Angel; He chose to speak Directly to Mary, alone, Why? Because it involved HER Faith, and when she accepted what the Lord said (This is a woman of Great Faith) the Holy Spirit came over her and she became Pregnant, because SHE believed what the Lord said to Her, we know she Believed by her response, (Faith Believes and Speaks, 2 Corinthians 4:13, Mark 11:20-26 and more) for she said, “I am the Lord’s servant, be it unto me even as you have said,” She heard, received it, Believed it and spoke her Faith, and that is when the Lord performed what He had spoken to her, and she became pregnant, right then, by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Another reason why she was a woman of Great Faith, is she trusted God to tell Joseph, because as the scriptures say, when he heard what the Lord has spoken to her by the Angel, He did NOT believe! I would venture to say that this news, based on his initial reaction, caused an issue in their relationship, as he was planning to not marry her, BUT, thank the Lord, He finally DID hear from the Lord as the Angel spoke to him in a dream, Matthew 1:18-24 NLT:
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagementh]”>[h]”>hh]”>] quietly.
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,i]”>[i]”>ii]”>] for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,j]”>[j]”>jj]”>]
which means ‘God is with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
When I read the article mentioned earlier, I then realized, I was not alone, that this is just as common today as it was two thousand years ago, with Mary and Jospeh, and what the Lord has reminded me is He knows exactly what He is doing, “I know the plans I have for you says the Lord…” Jeremiah 29:11, and as Sarah said, regarding she and Abraham having a child who was also promised to them, Hebrews 11:11,
“It was by Faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believeda]”>[ that God would keep his promise.”
There are many true stories in the Bible where the People of God, both men and women have heard the Lord, received what He spoke to them, and in their immovable Faith Overcame ALL opposition! For it is “By FAITH and Patience we inherit the Promises.” Hebrews 6:12
I encourage you to read the entire chapter of Hebrews 11, as it provides Many inspiring stories and will help increase Your Faith! True accounts of How the People of God accomplished what He had spoken to them, BY FAITH!
