Do You Hear what I Hear?

On this road to destiny it is imperative that we hear clearly! There are SO many occurrences that I have been through in my life that the ability of hearing God clearly allowed me to be successful in that endeavor. I can remember when I heard The Call to go to ORU...I had no money...all I had was FAITH...and God came through! When He told me to move back to Houston after graduating, it was Hearing Him Clearly that gave me the confidence that I was making the right decision. When I was called to move my family to California...Hearing God CRYSTAL Clear was VERY Vital...and He continues to prove Himself true! In all of our lives, whether you detect it or not, God is speaking, but the question is ARE YOU LISTENING?!?!

In all of these occurrences God taught me a vital lesson on experiencing His will for our lives. It was this lesson that I want to detail and we'll expound on it throughout the week. He taught me that if I wanted to experience HIS Success that He Predestined for me, it would be to the degree that I could:

1. Listen and Hear Clearly
2. Obey SWIFTLY
3. Submit Uncompromisingly

These Three abilities have carried me through some of the most uncertain, ridiculous, and "doesn't make sense" scenarios that I've experienced in my lifetime that turned out to be GREAT Victories. Today we will deal with #1: Listening and Hearing God.

The Summer Days of my pre-teenage years were filled with Fun in The Sun, the swimming pool, and video games!!! Every summer my siblings, cousins, and I would take turns in invading each other's homes for a week. One week it would be this aunt's house, then the next week it would be my house, then the next week it would be another aunt's house! It Seemed like we RULED the summer. But you see, when cousins get together its a lot of FUN...But there is also a tiny probability that someone is gonna get in trouble (just a little bit..lol...you Know its true!)

Well, one of us would ALWAYS get in trouble..and it was basically around the fact that we didn't LISTEN! Before Aunty or Mom left for work we would be given some expectations that they had of us called "chores"...We nodded our heads, said "yes ma'am, and acted like we understood...but deep down inside we would be thinking about the new video game that we rented from Blockbuster that we planned on playing ALL DAY! So much so that we missed specific instructions that she gave; we Heard but didn't listen!!!

SO they day goes on...and the clock strikes 4:30pm..and its ALMOST time for my mom or aunt to come home..So We RUSH to clean up everything in efforts to have the WHOLE HOUSE SPOTLESS by the time she walked through the door..and time and time again...We would pull it off! We were MIRACLE WORKERS!! (so we thought)

So she arrives home from work, but we're so focused on playing Street Fighter that ALL of our eyes were PLASTERED to the Screen and our thumbs flying at 150MPH that we don't hear that she arrived and had been calling us for 10 minutes STRAIGHT! We hear a faint sound at the door...and all of a sudden, the door BURSTS open and we hear "Ya'll didn't hear me calling you, Why didn't ya'll take out the trash?!" Taken by surprise, our hearts beat out of our chest and we scramble to make it right...but..We STILL..Got In TROUBLE...

In our lives as we go through our day, it is imperative that we take time to HEAR CLEARLY what God is instructing us to do! Many people don't hear it because their mind and heart are in a different place where they cannot hear CLEARLY and are quick to question God when trouble arises! So many of us are focused on our OWN desires that do not line up with His call that we MISS What He's saying. We have to take time to HEAR and LISTEN to God because His specific instructions are tailor made for your success in life!

SO How DO I hear? You have to get into a quiet place where you totally focus your mind on Him without any distractions (A closet, vacant room, your car, etc). Open up the Bible and read a couple verses or chapters of a Psalm or a Proverb out loud (This puts you in the mind frame to hear from Him)..Then start thanking Him for all of the things and abilities you have (a job, business, wife, children, clothes, home, apartment, car, health, eyesight, mobility in your limbs, etc)! Then Just start telling Him how Great He is to you, and how Grateful you are to be lent His Breath in this day (this may go on for sometime when you really start opening up and realizing How GOOD He's been). After that, begin to give your heart to Him again, tell Him that you only want to do His Will, tell Him that you want your heart filled with His purpose and plan for your life (confession of sin/wrongdoing is usually involved as you submit your will to His.) And finally ask Him to speak to you CLEARLY in a way that YOU WILL KNOW it's Him...then get quiet..and listen...as His voice begins to rise in your heart...and you begin Hearing His voice...write down what He tells you..you'll be amazed at what you hear!!!!!!!!!!!

God's voice will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS line up with His Word(The Bible) and will bring glory to HIM! SO always be cognizant of everything God will say to you audibly...It will ALWAYS line up with what He's written!

Tomorrow we will talk about OBEYING SWIFTLY! You don't want to miss that!

So Keep Running...you're ALMOST THERE!

TS

John 10:4

Psalms 63:1

Psalm 27:8 This is a REALLY REALLY Good One!

The Missing Ingredients to Your Success

One of the things in my life that I wouldn't trade FOR ANYTHING is hearing The Voice of God.

Most people cannot live without their Blackberries, their Iphones, their coffee, their boo, or favorite pass time...but I can honestly say that the ability of hearing the voice of God is one of the single most valuable asset I own. Ive been preaching The Word for about 9 years now..and I can tell you that Hearing His voice is what makes the difference in EVERY one of my messages...but not only in the pulpit..in Business deals, in relationship choices, in major life choices..His voice is the determining factor of my peace in every situation.

But along with hearing the voice of God comes GREAT responsibility because just as clear as I have heard Him... I MUST obey Him just as rapidly. One of the most valuable lessons He taught me years ago is that a person has to have 3 vital ingredients in order to fulfill His call for their lives. These ingredients are to:

1. Listen and Hear Clearly
2. To OBEY Swiftly
3. Submit Uncompromisingly

We talked about Hearing God yesterday, so we'll deal with # 2 & 3 today because they go hand in hand.

While some people recognize and can hear the voice of God...Many don't OBEY The Voice for various reasons. One of the highest reasons is that normally what God tells us to do is contrary to what we WANT to do, or FEEL Like Doing because it challenges our comfort zone for example... Forgiveness....

If we ALL be BRUTALLY honest with ourselves, forgiveness doesn't really feel good. We want the offender to PAY the FULL penalty for their wrong doing, we want them to suffer the same way we did, and get the revenge that is do to them, and WE want to do it...or sit in eye's view while they get their "payback"...but this is NOT forgiveness...

Forgiveness deals with YOU releasing that person both physically, emotionally, and MENTALLY from the "payback" you feel is due to them. It deals with you not having ill feelings towards them when you see them, hear their name, hear their voice, or see their feed on Facebook or Twitter!!! Forgiveness is HARD...but its something that we must extend if we ourselves will be forgiven by God! SO obeying God doesn't always FEEL GOOD...But it's NECESSARY to succeed in your life, and we have to obey SWIFTLY in this!

When we obey swiftly we position ourselves for the blessing far earlier than if we would wait, and postpone, and delay, and procrastinate, etc! I love it when I get fast service at the auto shop and the restaurant because it frees me to get along with my day. Same thing with obedience..the Faster we obey..The closer we get to the realization of our destiny!

When you obey Swiftly, you have the responsibility to submit uncompromisingly!! So, after I have heard God, Obeyed Him, I have to submit to His directives no matter what challenge, struggle, or opposition comes. His instructions to you may be to focus on being a better husband, father, mother, employee, boss, business owner, or leader. It sounds GREAT at first, and you are willing to obey...but are you STILL committed when the challenges come? THAT'S What Submitting Uncompromisingly encompasses..having the "stick-to-it-iveness" to see the end result of you hearing, and obeying God.

SO today I want to challenge you that after you have heard clearly to obey swiftly, and submit uncompromisingly so that you can get to your destination...Faster!

Until tomorrow...Run HARDER!

TS

J0b 36:11

Deuteronomy 11:13-14

Matthew 6:14