Bible Studies

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When does He direct our path?
When we trust Him absolutely, wholeheartedly like Joshua and Caleb when they came back from spying the Promised Land. They saw the giants like the other ten but they also knew and confessed that if the Lord delighted in them those giant would be bread to them.

They had to rely on the One who gave the word:” Fear not…the battle is not yours but the Lord’s.”
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.Prov.3:5-6 NKJV
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.Jer.29:13NIV

God wants us to seek him early
Divine direction comes when we seek him early – not as an after thought. He should be the first Port of Call not when other avenues have failed. Jehosephat face a monumental, formidable task-cornered on all fronts by his enemies. He did not call his generals to consult with them as to how many soldiers they had or ammunition in the armoury. He knew that unless the Lord was on His side, he was finished, history and bread to tripartite alliance of Ammon, moab and Mount Seir.

He called a fast and sought God’s face with his people. He was not disappointed God gave a prophetic word which was not only comforting but was a blue print, a strategy for their victory. And as they obey the word of God, their enemies fought against themselves leaving the king and his people to gather the spoils they left behind.
We are told that it took three days to gather the goodies. It was just too much. That is what happens if we put God first and enquire of Him.

We also need to notice that they were told to go up against the enemy. This does not sound encouraging. When you face an enemy that out numbers you over ten time, you wouldn’t want to approach them but the word of the Lord was that they should. They had to win the war of logic within their minds and do what God wanted them to do, otherwise victory would not have come.

So be prepared to the ridiculous, the illogical, so long as you have heard from God. He brings about the miraculous from the ridiculous. Obedience is the oil that lubricates the engine of divine direction. We can also see trust in their action.
How did he speak and how does He speak? What are God’s methods or tools of divine direction?

God speaks through:
His word
The His Word is His Voice and His will is His Word
God main broadcast channels are the 66 books of the Bible.
The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD
God will not tell you anything contrary to His word.
19 And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward.Isa8:19-21
19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfil?
Prophetic word must address the wounds of the people. God cares enough to rebuke us to straighten us. He wants us to repent and be saved from destruction. Unfortunately often times we only want to hear a suiting message. Develop itching ears. That is a dangerous road to travel.
“They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.” Jer.6:14
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear”2Tim 4:3
Prophecy:
God uses prophecy to direct us as an anointed minister preaches the word with power prophetically or singles one out and gives a word of prophecy to that person. The prophetic word can be for a group of people. Usually such word is to confirm what they already know or should know. It however must be in line with the Word of God.

Discernment of Spirit
Discernment of spirit is a revelation gift that Gods can use to know what type of spirit is operating in a person’s life with a view to delivering them or curbing their activities. (Acts 8:18-24, -16:16-21, Luke 8: 30-32)

Your Spirit.
Inward Voice
We hear God through the inward voice an inward urge that you know lines up with His word. you have no peace until you obey the voice, leading or direction. And when you do, you have a peace that transcends all understanding.

You must prepare your spirit to hear from God. we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God is in us and we are in God . Our lives are hidden in Christ in God. Meditate on the word and quieten your spirit to hear God speak.
The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.Prov.20:27KJV


On the other hand if you have check in your spirit as you are about to do something and you know or are not sure it is in line with God’s word then heed the warning of the red light.


We don’t always get it right but the more we practise at hearing god the better our ears will be fine -tuned to hear him clearer.
Prayer is vital to hear God properly. We must enquire like David; “Lord, shall I?”
When we pray we speak to God and when we read the Bible, He speaks to us. In prayer we communicate with God And for communication to be effective, it has to be two ways.

The Rhema word
There is a difference between the written word of God (logos) and the Rhema word. All scripture is inspired of God but there times when a passage of scripture does not address my circumstance and at other times the same scripture could be gold, hot cake from the throne of Grace. The Holy Spirit can make it come alive specifically for a particular situation. If I am sensitive in the spirit I will know and acknowledge that God has spoken. That is a Rhema word.- what God is saying to me from what I have heard. Otherwise it would pass me by.

The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is our counsellor, our Guide into all truth. He unveils the deep things of God. He wrote the scriptures and we cannot hear him if we do not acknowledge Him. (Isa 11:1-2)
13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.John16:13-15

. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, acts28:5

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”Acts13:2

Vision and dreams
God directs through visions and dreams
Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Daniel heard God through aVision of the Four Beasts

1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts
Other visions are Cornelius (Acts 10:1-6) Saul and Ananias (Acts9 :1-19)_Peter (Acts 10:9-20-) John on the Ilse of Patmos
He used dreams to speak to Joseph (Gen 37), Pharaoh (Gen41) and others

Signs
King BelShazzar Dan5 saw a hand that wrote on the wall, spelling his doom for taking God fore granted Daniel interpreted the sign.
Moses’ had an encounter with God as he heard a voice in a burning bush that was not consumed.

Word of wisdom supernatural utterance that foretells relates to the future.

Word of knowledge relates to the present, what is going on or what has been and how to deal with complex issues.

Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues 1Cor 12:10
Tongues and interpretation of tongues this is an area that can be abused, misused or misinterpreted. But it does not mean we should throw the baby away with the bathwater. It is part of the gifts of the Spirit given for our benefit. The yardstick is the word of God. and whatever we do should be done to the glory of God. We need to test the spirit and hold fast to that which is of God. We must be like the wise old cow that separates the sticks from the hay as they graze.

Circumstances.
God can use any circumstance to speak to us if we are sensitive. We just need to be open, prayerful and flexible as to what channel He uses to direct us.
God can also use friends, relatives, enemies or anything He so desires. He used a donkey to speak to Balaam.
God can use songs you listen to speak to you. As you have quiet time before on a regular basis. Pray before you start ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. The psalmist prayed “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” Psalm 119:18

Waiting in expectation
We should avoid praying and rushing off without hearing from God.
Jehosephat prayed and then waited to hear God and God spoke.
David said in Psalm 5
Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my sighing.
2 Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation

1 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isa40:31
As the King and his people waited before God after praying, God came with the answer.
“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."
13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.
14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. “


Fasting and Worshipping
Fasting and Worshipping opens heavens fro divine direction as we see in Jehosephat, the disciples, Cornelius, Peter and Saul.
2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Acts 13:2

What should we do when we hear?
Obedience paves the way for further direction.
Obeying what we have heard before opens the door for further instruction or direction. Why should we expect to hear from God when we have not obeyed the last instruction? Unless we are not sure that what we heard was from Him, we need to go back to Him and ask for confirmation. God can use other people to confirm what He has already said to us.
“By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” 2Cor.13:1

8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. josh.1:8
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. “Jam.1:22KJV

19 “If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land; Isa1:19NIV

Let us pray;
The entrance of your word brings light, illumination, direction, instruction, wisdom, understanding and insight.
Speak to me O Lord.
I lay bare my spirit- your candle. Move upon me.
Come, Holy Wind. Blow all the cobwebs away from my mind. Bind my mind to your Mind. Keep me from chasing the wind. Help me to find your truth and walk in your truth.
O that I may know Your Voice progressively more and more.
Not my will but your will be done, in Jesus name. Amen.

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