Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God's Purpose for Your Life

Transcription

1 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God's Purpose for Your Life My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me, John 10:27 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails, Proverbs 19:21 * Second Edition * Eric Isaiah Gondwe JesusWorkMinistry.com (Jesus Work Ministry), Cambridge, MA, USA

2 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Second Edition, 30 th Revision/Update (September 21, 2008) Copyright 2008 by Eric Isaiah Gondwe No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owner, except for excerpts and quotations in articles, reviews and sermons. Copyright limitations apply also to ebook and download copies. For permission to use this material outside copyright limits contact us through the World Wide Web at: JesusWorkMinistry.com or SpiritualWarfareDeliverance.com (Both websites for Jesus Work Ministry). Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society. Published by JesusWorkMinistry.com (Jesus Work Ministry) Cambridge, MA, USA.

3 Table of Contents Introduction...1 Introduction - Hearing from God How God Speaks to Us...5 Different Ways God Speaks to us ) Through Prayer ) Through the Bible ) Through Inspired Books, other Literature and Multimedia ) Through Wise Counsel ) Through Circumstances and Opportunities ) Through Fellowship ) Through Prophesy ) Through Visionary Leadings (including Through Visions) ) Through Dreams ) Through Inner Peace ) Through Fasting ) Through Testimonies ) Through Inborn (Natural) Gifts and Personality Attributes ) Through Spiritual (Newbirth) Imparted Gifts ) Through the Authoritative Voice ) Through the Inner Voice and Affirmation Why the Different Ways God Speaks...53 The Unique Way God Made Each of Us The Unique Way God Wants to Relate with Each of Us The Challenge is in the Flesh Not in the Different Ways The Importance of Listening to God...61 It is the Only Way to Fulfill God s Will No Bench Warmers, No Spectators in the Body of Christ The Central Role of the Holy Spirit...65 The Holy Spirit Determines Our Walk with God Fellowship with the Father and the Son Through the Holy Spirit The Sin Breaking Role of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit: The Only Source of Power The Holy Spirit Enables the Mind of Christ to Reign in Us Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Disciple of Jesus...73 Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Christian A. Every Christian s work/responsibility in the Body of Christ B. Every Christian s work/responsibility in the Harvest Field /20 Principle: Everything Permissible is not all Beneficial...85 Everything Permissible is not all Beneficial -1 Corinthians 6: General areas and the 80/20 Principle Spiritual areas and the 80/20 Principle Social areas and the 80/20 Principle Material areas and the 80/20 Principle Physical health areas and the 80/20 Principle Living by the 80/20 Principle: More of less (20%), less of more (80%)... 88

4 How to determine your critical or 20% areas in your life How to apply the 80/20 principle in your life Time wasters versus essential matters outside your life s 20% areas Motivation and the Conditions for Fulfilling Your Calling Our inborn desire to succeed: spiritually, socially, materially, physically Christianity, the foundation for divine motivation and for true success Right & wrong motives for success in spiritual areas, social, material, etc. 97 Right perspective essential on required sacrifices in any area of pursuit Sacrifices are mere strategic prerequisites in any area of pursuit Minor Strategic Sacrifices Major Strategic Sacrifices Book References Book Index

5 Introduction Introduction - Hearing from God This book shows: The reality of God s voice in our lives, How we can be receptive enough to listen or to discern his voice among the many voices that our hearts hear, Why it is important to hear his voice in our lives in relation to: a) our level of fulfillment of his will for our lives, b) our level of protection from living a trial and error lifestyle, and c) our level of protection from deceptive doctrines. The Scriptures are packed with examples of people who had a close relationship with God. The Bible illustrates how God leads us on an individual level and on a corporate level. The people spoke to him and heard him speak to them in words and ways they understood it was him speaking. The presence of God was what characterized people that submitted their lives to him. For instance, Paul was full of God s presence through the Holy Spirit in his inner person. He was able to see the hand of God with him even in circumstances we would normally think God is absent. In one situation Paul said, Compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, (Acts 20:22). A prophet named Agubus told him what the Holy Spirit said would happen to him. The Holy Spirit says, In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt (Paul), (Acts 21:11). Having heard this, his colleagues pleaded that he should not go. He responded, I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus, (verse 13). Paul lived as a mere instrument under the use of God. He was totally possessed by the Holy Spirit and submitted to the authority of the Holy Spirit in his life. We too can be led by the Spirit of God to effectively live as his instruments. In fact, God has made the presence of the Holy Spirit in a greater measure in the end times we re living in. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, (Acts 2:17). All people refers to all believers as God s word testifies. Our Lord Jesus said that only his followers, that is, those born of the Spirit, can receive the Spirit of God. The rest cannot receive him: - 1 -

6 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you, (John 14: 16-17). All believers therefore, have a privilege to personally hear God through his Spirit and to be led by him in their lives. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, (Romans 8:14). As we increasingly learn to hear God s voice, we also become increasingly tuned to his program of our lives. Instead of trial and error, we are able to precisely know or be confident of where, why, who with and what God wants to do with us. We thus, are able to escape avoidable burdens and tragedies in our lives and the lives of those entrusted to us. It is a great mystery that God lives inside every one of us that are born again. Don t you know that you yourself are God s temple and that God s Spirit lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3: 16). Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19). Hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit and knowing it is him who has spoken is determined by our closeness to God. It is like any other relationship - the more time the partners spend with each other, the more they are able to know each other. The relationship grows on close acquaintance. God through his Spirit speaks to us in many ways. God does speak - now one way, now another - though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night... he may speak in the ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit... Oh a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones... (Job 33: 14-18). Our Lord frequently emphasized the importance of having ears to hear. He who has ears, let him hear, (Matthew 11: 15; 13: 9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; 7:16; Luke 8:8; 14:35). The same emphasis is made in the book of Revelation several times: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The issue therefore is not on trying to find out whether or not God is speaking to us through his Spirit. He is always saying something to each of us. The main issue is: do we have ears to hear what he is saying? Physical ears are not necessary for hearing from the spiritual realm. It is the spiritual ears that matter. If we cannot hear what his Spirit is saying to us on matters in our lives then we re labeled as spiritually deaf and blind: Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? You have seen many things, but have paid no attention This is a people plundered and looted they have become plunder with no one to rescue them, (Isaiah 42: 18-22). 2

7 Introduction We re admonished to enable our spiritual ears to be attentive to what God s Spirit is saying on matters in our lives and the people entrusted to us. 3

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9 1. How God Speaks to Us Different Ways God Speaks to us The following are among the major avenues God speaks to us: 1) Through prayer 2) Through the Bible 3) Through books, other types of literature, and multimedia 4) Through wise counsel (other people) 5) Through circumstances and opportunities 6) Through fellowship 7) Through prophecy 8) Through Visionary Leadings (including Through Visions) 9) Through dreams 10) Through inner peace 11) Through fasting 12) Through testimonies (past experiences - ours and others ) 13) Through inborn (natural) gifts and personality attributes 14) Through newbirth (spiritual) gifts or abilities 15) Through an authoritative voice 16) Through an inner voice and affirmation 1) Through Prayer Prayer is basically us talking to God, just as reading the bible is God talking to us. It is expressing our thoughts, desires, feelings, gratitude, praises, disappointments, concerns, burdens, our inadequacy without him, etc. Through prayer each of us believers has personal access to God. When we re praying we leave the earthly realm (spiritually, not physically) and we enter the heavenly realm of God s kingdom. Prayer is also an avenue God uses to enable us, believers, to establish our given authority on earth. Our given authority is in the area of fulfilling his will on earth and extending his kingdom to all people on earth. Through prayer we re able to ask God, according to his written will in the bible, to fulfill matters on earth he has burdened us with: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession, Psalm 2:

10 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete, John 16:24. Through prayer, God desires us to ask him for things that he world like to fulfill on earth and in our lives. Thus without asking God may result in him not bringing to pass many things he d planned to fulfill on earth and in our lives. This is a profound gesture from God. The almighty, all-powerful God has chosen not to impose his will on earth and opted to work with his children, us believers, on many critical matters. It could be that certain matters not yet fulfilled on earth and in our lives are due to not having asked and cooperated with God in fulfilling them. In his book titled, Understanding the Purpose and Power of Prayer: Earthly License for Heavenly Interference, Myles Munroe shows how through prayer God has placed us in such a central position in making a difference in this world. God has given us the keys to his kingdom. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 16:19. This means that there re certain places and matters that unbelievers and Satan s hosts cannot have access to in heaven. It s our Father s house that only his children have access to. It carries with it immense authority. The whole verse in the passage reads: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, Matthew 16:19. (On what binding and loosing means according to the bible, please read Chapter 2: Our Territory and Nature of Our Christian Authority in my book on spiritual warfare, titled Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do s and Don ts of Warfare. Some in the body of Christ recently began to assume it implied binding and loosing evil spirits in geographical territories, in the heavenly realms or the spirit world). What a priestly privilege we have to have access to God s heavenly kingdom and stand for unbelievers by going to heaven (through prayer). We re able to petition their case of salvation for them with our spiritual keys of access to his kingdom (that they don t have yet). The entire kingdom of God is on our side in bringing to pass in heaven matters that we ve appropriately agreed upon (bound) on earth. As we biblically pursue such matters we ll be able to see Satan s works destroyed in our lives and the lives of others we represent before God. We also have access to God s throne of grace for wisdom and every provision for fulfilling our purposed callings. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, Hebrews 4:16. As we take time in our daily prayer devotion, it s important to pause occasionally to hear what God has to say on some matters. Prayer on a higher level, is a two-way interaction, not just one party doing the talking and another listening. 6

11 1. How God Speaks to Us Listening to God is not easy. It is an art that is developed through practice and a closer walk with God. It comes through continuous submission and consideration of what the other party wants to say on particular matters. A lot of what he has to say is found in his word, the bible. Above all, prayer is any form of communion with God. It s more than kneeling down in our daily devotions. God wants us to constantly commune with Him on an hourly and minute by minute basis. That is why we re told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6, Luke 18:1). Since God lives in us (through his Spirit) we are to constantly commune with him in our hearts: Lord what is your decision over this matter? Please guide me for I m your child and a child can t make a sound decision on his own. So praying without ceasing is basically talking to Him in our hearts and allowing him to guide and use us. It enables us to constantly commune with God on a continuous basis. I believe listening must be given more emphasis in this inner heart prayer more than in the devotional prayers. In our devotions we mainly commit matters in our lives and those of others into his hands so that he brings his will to pass. We do more talking than God. On the other hand, throughout the day we re expected to be the listeners as he brings his will to pass. Listening in our hearts enables us to submit to him on the details of his plans. Anyone who is lord (boss) over others does more talking and commanding while the others do the listening and obeying. Our Lord is Lord of lords. Thus he s meant to have more lordship over us than any other lord (human lords, career, family, cares of this life, material possessions, etc). This submission enables us not to originate anything. We cease to be our own bosses and become God s possessions. Christ takes possession and reigns over our lives. He becomes Lord over our lives Our Lord Jesus said God regards a certain kind of believers as his true worshipers. Jesus said this when he was responding to a Samaritan who assumed God was worshiped at a particular physical location. Samaritans considered their highest form of worship of God to be at a particular mountain. The Jews on the other hand considered it to be in Jerusalem. Both had a physical location as a major factor. Jesus responded, Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth, John 4:21, The kind of believers God calls true worshipers are therefore those worship God in spirit and truth. Let s look at this scripture in detail. 7

12 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life What is to worship? In its widest sense it is to commune (communicate), honor, glorify, praise (including through music), exalt, connect with and please God. Worshiping God is therefore many things in our relationship with him. It is basically to love God. It doesn t demote the meaning yet still brings it down to earth to easily understand. Someone you love you re naturally driven to please them and express your love in so many ways. And it s from your heart that you value and express your love to the person. In loving God Jesus said God treasures those who love him in spirit and truth. It is not those who go to a particular mountain, to Jerusalem, and in our times, to a particular church or a particular denomination. And what is in spirit and in truth? We ll start with truth since it s much easier to address. It s more tangible than spirit and the scriptures have many references. Our clearest description can be found in John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. God s word is truth. Obeying and applying his word in our lives is in God s eyes is a form of worship because everything that comes out of walking in truth pleases him. There are religious rituals involved and certainly no ill motives involved while serving God in truth. And by walking in truth we find freedom because we end up knowing God s ways that bring true freedom. We escape the ways of this fallen world and of Satan that bring bondage. If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free, John 8: Worshiping God in spirit is where it s less plain. It s also an area where prayer is a major part. Why? Because prayer is one of the most spiritual aspects in our Christian lives. Like fasting, it s one of those unseen and hard to evaluate disciplines in our Christian lives. We can measure ourselves how often we attend church, how much our income we give the body of Christ, how many we ve evangelized in a period, how often we take communion, read the bible, other Christian books, the multimedia, and so on. And if we re doing well in any combination of areas we could pat ourselves on the back. Others may even use these seen areas to measure our crowns in heaven at the end of time. Not so on prayer. It s our most unseen Christian area. It s also measured in quality not quantity or volume of prayers. This is where the in spirit aspect comes in. The main verse we re examining says why we should worship in spirit. It says God is Spirit. The whole verse reads: God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth, John 4:24. God being a Spirit or more respectfully, the Spirit, desires believers whose worship of him connects with him in the spiritual realm, above the 8

13 1. How God Speaks to Us natural realm. He requires our worship of him to rise above the natural realm of religious duties and obligations. Instead of saying our prayers out of religious duty and obligation he desires that we rise above this natural realm. They must rise to a relationship level. All our service and worship unto him, be it prayer, fasting, praise, bible study, charitable service, and so on, are expected to rise above this natural realm of religious duties and obligations. They are expected to reach the spiritual realm of connecting with the spiritual God. It is a relationship with him. 9

14 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 2) Through the Bible The bible is God s word to us. Reading the bible is God talking to us, just as prayer is basically us talking to God. Reading the bible is listening to God in the most plausible way. However, we need God s help through his Holy Sprit to be able understand it from his perspective. Unlike other books, the Bible was not inspired by human beings. The Holy Spirit is its single author (2 Timothy 3: 16-17, 2 Peter 1: 21). The people that were used to write it were his secretaries as he dictated the matters to write. That same author who spoke through the hearts of great secretaries also lives inside each one of us believers. As we remain submissive to fulfilling God s will in our lives the Holy Spirit is able to work in our lives and guide us to all truth in God s word. He is called the Spirit of truth, the one that brings us the truth. But 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, John 16:13. What we ll hear and learn from his book will amaze us as the Holy Spirit is able to work in our lives. We ll not learn intellectual stuff for our memories to accumulate. We will learn spiritual stuff that will feed our spirits and those we proclaim the Gospel to. Our human spirits will then be having good food to grow stronger in faith. As we read God s word under the guidance of the Holly Spirit, the author of God s word will always highlight certain areas for us to hear and put into effect. Every other form of leading must have a Biblical backing, or at least, must not contradict it. God s word is a light into our feet to guide us (Psalm 119:105) in this dark world. It is profitable for every matter in our lives (2 Timothy 3: 16-17). Sometimes when studying the scripture a verse may seem to leap off the page at you relating to a particular matter. At other times, while praying, the Holy Spirit may drop scripture references in your heart. In both cases it is like the scripture is saying something particular to you. However, like in many spiritual matters it s important to have our minds of Christ switched on. It is helpful to avoid presumption by weighing the scripture in its context, factors being considered in reference to the scripture, prayer for God to have his final say, etc. 10

15 1. How God Speaks to Us 3) Through Inspired Books, other Literature and Multimedia Many true Christians have gifts from God to reveal some matters in the scripture in a more effective way than we would normally understand them on our own. The gifts they have are normally categorized as gifts of revelation. Gifts of revelation include the gift 1) of wisdom, 2) of knowledge, and 3) discerning of spirits (1 Corinthians 12: 8, 10). Believers called to front-line discipling ministry (evangelizing, pastoring, teaching (including through books, other literature and multimedia), etc) have at least of these revelation gifts. The gifts of revelation are usually given in combination thus usually function in combination rather than separately. It is a terrible matter when some called to such areas of ministry for some reason fail to sharpen their gifts. They end up mixing scripture with extra-biblical (outside the bible) teachings and out of context interpretations. Such are like the Pharisees whom Jesus called blind guides. He added, If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit, Matthew 15:14. Some blind guides even attain high levels of popularity and many followers. Some are even entire denominations that have teachings way outside the scriptures. So the same admonition is given here like ones stated on other matters that the Lord uses to speak to us. It s important to have our minds of Christ switched on. It is helpful to avoid presumption by weighing the books, other literature and multimedia in their scriptural analysis and other worthy factors. That said, blind guides are a minority in the body of Christ. They re outnumbered by God s servants who labor in ensuring their teachings are biblically reliable and not half truths mixed with half lies. God s servants maybe slip in a few teachings yet not in the major areas that affect our walk with God. Most are able to enable the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, to effectively allow him to work through them for without him we can do nothing. Our gifts of revelation may still flow in us yet would easily be vulnerable to false teachings. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing, John 15:5. The Lord uses such vessels effectively submitted to him to be able speak to us on various matters, in the same way he spoke to those who wrote the Bible. The branches that remain in him bear much good fruit. How many times have you felt empowered, inspired, challenged, or corrected after a church service or after learning from a topic covered by God s servants through the various media -books, literature, audio/visio publications, internet, television and so on? Probably many times. God uses such individuals 11

16 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life to speak to us in a clearer and more specific way- e.g. on prophecy, on family and relationships, on spiritual warfare, on deliverance and healing, etc. However, it is not wise to take everything authors write as Holy Spirit inspired. Only the Bible is totally Holy Spirit inspired, thus free from human error. The rest have some degree of a human element in them. The more they re mixed with personal beliefs, experiences without Biblical backing, the less Biblical they are. One who is sensitive to the Holy Spirit will be able to hear on the areas that are truth and worth learning. The Spirit also informs us on true doctrine. For example, there re many books written on money and wealth from a Biblical point of view. Some have wrong doctrine. A book that emphasizes on how one should be rich and enjoy earthly luxuries is teaching a wrong doctrine. No matter how many Scriptures its author uses he/she is out of tune with the central teachings of Christ on money and material things. The same teachings of Christ are echoed by the teachings of the early disciples. Their key words are dying to self, denying the lusts of this world, crucify the flesh, strangers in the world, be transformed, and so on. Even the lives of the early disciples speak to us on how to live our Christian lives. They were rich in good works, focused on doing good works while minding little about their earthly treasures. Poverty is not worth entertaining but the other extreme of great wealth can be equally infectious to our concentration on the gospel. There re of course some (very few) who re called to great wealth into the ministry of giving to the gospel. On the other hand one needs not deceive people that God wants us to be very rich so that the gospel can be preached. God does not need money to fulfill his commission. He may use it yet it s not a necessity, as in limiting him without it. He is limited by our willingness to submit to him, to be his vessels of touching lives, not by money. If he NEEDED money he d be busy saving the rich and worldly famous to witness the gospel. How many of the rich and worldly famous are you seeing lifting up God s word and serving him? Yet the gospel is being preached and the church is advancing. God in a way says to them keep your money, I don t need it. Others say having lots of money enables us to be esteemed by unbelievers. So unbelievers would be witnessed to by our riches. If unbelievers convert for the sake of money then it s out of wrong motives. It s not for the love of God, the love of doing good, and denying the sinful nature. Those who use this false doctrine imply that Christianity is Richianity, were success is measured by tangible things. This is materialism packaged with a Christian face by using selective bible verses that are itchy to our ears. We re in an era of increased deception that Christ foretold. The apostles followed up on the same warning. For the time will come when men will not 12

17 1. How God Speaks to Us 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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths, 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (emphasis added). We have nothing in common with this world as our Lord said. What the world is busy chasing in order to find happiness should not be our preoccupation. Well, let s move on before we start discussing another sub-topic. For detailed info on this topic please see chapter 7: Christian Deliverance and Healing in Financial Areas, in my book Major Christian Deliverance Principles: Keys for Self-deliverance and Ministry. It covers on this topic with an emphasis on sound doctrine. The same Bible we use the enemy also used in tempting Jesus. He ll also try to quote the Bible to try to give us false doctrine. Though quoting scripture is necessary the quantity an individual quotes ought not to be the standard of measure of truth. For every topic, the enemy tries to use people to bring in false doctrine - on prayer, spiritual warfare, deliverance ministry, money, career and ministry, family and marriage, health, and so on. Some authors are his agents. These are very easy to detect because we are Christ s sheep with God s Spirit dwelling in us. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me, John 10:27. The voice of a stranger is made clear by he that is in us. He reveals what he has not originated. Scripture says, We are not ignorant of his schemes, (2 Corinthians 2:11) For most servants that stray from the scripture it s out of their lack of submission to the Holy Spirit that other voices are able to come in. Other voices include our personal perceptions through upbringing, through education and areas of training, through our limited knowledge, etc. Our knowledge of truth is not perfect. It is colored by our own limitations which are voices from our own selves. That s why many church denominations exist. The voices also include voices from the enemy. There re two ways to confirm the tune of doctrine from a book or some portions of it. One is to continue reading as many books as possible on that area and other matters. The more one reads the more she is able to have various tones of understanding. The books are worth being read with prayerfulness so the Holy Spirit can be allowed to do his part. The Holy Spirit will use what the individual has deposited in him from the diverse teachings she has read to accept what is truth and reject what is error. Books and other literature are inevitable for one to know the truth. We all need to be set free from all that tries to weigh us down in our race. Personally, an individual who does not bother to read literature or search for truth through all other avenues God has given us is a risky person to work with. He s 13

18 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life an empty vessel the enemy will be very happy to fill with his teachings. We need to be vessels for the Lord to fill us, not the enemy. Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled, (Matthew 5:6). According to the scriptures therefore, no amount of deception and schemes of the devil can make a person hungering for righteousness not to be filled by it. He may temporarily fall into false teachings. Yet because of his continued hunger God will ensure that the right teaching comes to fill him. A sense of emptiness is a weapon against deception. The Holy Spirit takes over when one hungers for truth and begins to feed an individual with it. The believer s part is to hunger for truth. The Holy Spirit s part is to fill that hunger. Since the Holy Spirit lives inside us the interaction is an intimate relationship. It is hearing and learning directly from God s mouth. The second way of rescue from error is, of course, by the grace of God. The first method is also grace from God, but it is grace mixed with the individual doing his part. This second type of grace comes to rescue an individual without doing his part. All of us received this grace the time we were being born again. It also comes to us after we are born again. We serve a merciful, and loving God. That s why we re able to see people who look lazy, they don t do much to hunger for truth and yet they ve always followed central truths throughout their Christian lives. Some of us have been busy moving from church to church, doctrine to doctrine, from the north to the east, from the west to the south, busy looking for God. We ended up making N.E.W.S. (North, East, West, South). God also responded: My child, I m not in denominational buildings. I can t be boxed up. Neither am I in books. I m not a concept you can define. I m inside you. You are my building. Other buildings, books and other media are there to help you know and relate with the me in you better. Maximize the other areas, but don t let them take the central place of the inner relationship you have with me. I ll use them to point you to some truths but always consult the me in you and my written word as final authorities. I m in my written word (the Bible). Personally study my word and you ll hear me speak to you. The grace some of us received was the energy to continue searching for God. Others received the grace to stay put in the right area God put them in and not be moved by other teachings. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is therefore an indispensable responsibility for us to know and fulfill the will of God in our lives. We re to read any book that appeals to us without any fear of deception. Scripture says, We have the mind of Christ, (1 Corinthians 2:16). That mind will enable us to distinguish truth from error. And the truth we get from that literature will set us free. 14

19 1. How God Speaks to Us For instance, David Servant, Jeff Harshbarger and I are gifted in areas on spiritual warfare and deliverance. A reader may not agree with all that we have published. But if most of what we have published sets people free in many areas then there is value in it. To avoid reading our publications just because of certain portions which one's innerperson does not agree with may cost him/her the truth that God wanted to impart to her through our work. Florence Littauer is gifted in the area of relationships. Her books would be the first on the list I d recommend to any couple, parent, leader (servant) or any individual who wants to know matters on relationships. Some areas bring doubts on the relevance of some teachings in her books. However, that does not cancel the many truths God has used her to impart to people. There books are frankly life transforming. Moreover, the fact that an individual s innerperson has no peace on certain matters does not necessarily mean that those matters are false. God s revelations are progressive. The entire Bible is an account of God s revelation of the salvation of man in a progressive pattern. God's first salvation was Abraham, then Isaac, next was Jacob and his family, then the nation of Israel (descendants of Jacob), and finally the whole human race through Christ. He was not in a hurry to save the entire human race. He moved from one degree to another in a progressive way. The same goes for each one of us. Each one of us born again is a nation. We're, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that we may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, (1 Peter 2:9-10). God has saved us as individual nations from darkness (deception) into his marvelous light (truth). He has a salvation program to accomplish in us and through us. That program is progressive. It is based on the progressive revelation of truth in all areas spiritual, social, material, physical, etc. Our Lord said, You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. Outside knowledge of truth is bondage. His salvation program is that we know the entire truth that is beneficial to our purpose in life. The revelation of that truth is progressive depending on our spiritual growth and submission to him. There are therefore many things that constitute truth but have not yet been revealed to us. They are either not compatible with our spiritual maturity or not compatible with our individual callings in life. When we read about these matters we assume they are false or irrelevant. There are also truths that are not compatible with our individual callings in life. No matter how much our minds are bombarded with these truths our spirits will not embrace them. They will fall on dry ground because the Holy Spirit has not fertilized our hearts for them to flourish in our lives. For instance, a believer who has been given a greater responsibility of the intercessory assignment than we ordinarily have may be given certain truths 15

20 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life about intercession which are not relevant to those given greater evangelism responsibilities. Those in evangelism have to be on the move while the intercessor has to be more indoors preoccupied with prayer and related business. The deep truths the intercessor needs to know to be effective in setting others free may be different to the deep truths the evangelist requires. Both ministries need each other but their mode of operation is different. Each therefore needs certain deep truths related to its modus operandi (mode of operation). It may be inappropriate for an intercessor to be emphasizing certain truths to an evangelist that are in the area of deep intercession. What we regard as truth and what God has apportioned to reveal to us is therefore a function of our spiritual growth and our given purpose in life. As we grow more will be revealed to us. And in the area of our purpose more will be revealed to us than those with other callings. And as our purpose in life becomes more focused he ll make us teachers in our line of duty by revealing to us more than is ordinary. Some truths in God s word may be revealed to us just for our consumption. Paul received such extraordinary revelations from God that it was not proper for him to reveal them to ordinary minds. God told him to keep his mouth shut concerning those matters. He died without having uttered a word about them. 16

21 4) Through Wise Counsel 1. How God Speaks to Us God may lead us through the council of somebody particularly through godly people; For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure, Proverbs 11:14. The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice, Proverbs 12:15. Paul was inspired by God to write two long letters to guide and council Timothy on his calling (1 Timothy and 2 Timothy). God led Timothy through the wise counsel of Paul. 17

22 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 5) Through Circumstances and Opportunities God does manipulate natural circumstances to show what he is saying to one or a group of people. He makes all things including circumstances to work to the good of his children (Romans 8:28). He ensures that everything works to conform with his will. In him we are also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, (Ephesians 1:11). God opens doors for us on matters in our lives at his right time, with his right people for us, in his right environment for us, and for his right purpose for our lives. He has a program already set up for every matter in our lives. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven, (Ecclesiastes 3:1). When we are submissive to the leading of the Holy Spirit we become very sensitive to the program God has for us to follow. We re able to see in circumstances when he opens a door and wants us to go ahead on an issue. For example, Paul was fully submitted to God that he understood his leading very well. At one point God opened a door for him to proclaim the gospel in Ephesus. He was able to understand what God was saying. He said, A great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me, 1 Corinthians 16:9. Circumstances, whether good or bad always have something to show us on what God is saying on certain matters. In conjunction with one or more other avenues that God speaks particularly prayer and the word, we ll be able to be amazed at how God works both good and bad circumstances to our good. Sometimes he says no through circumstances. Sometimes he says yes through them. However, as already emphasized, we must not draw conclusions from circumstances alone. They must be in conjunction with one or more other avenues particularly prayer and the word. Otherwise we will be behaving like the rest of the world. In fact, the language of circumstances is the most understood and at the same time the most misunderstood by both believers and unbelievers. On their own circumstances can be very deceptive. For instance, during our disobedient days some of us got into relationships through circumstances. And we praised God for having circumstantially met the person we were convinced was the perfect partner. Intensive prayer to find out whether God was saying we should be partners with that individual was not necessary. 18

23 1. How God Speaks to Us There re people we ll meet and we ll like them at first sight. However that on itself doesn t imply we should join our hearts together. So eventually we realized God had nothing to do with our convictions and moving together. But thanks be to our merciful God who works all things to our good. Whether we ended up realizing our mistake after committing ourselves into marriage or realized it before marriage and thus terminated it, God doesn t care. His mission is to work all things to our good. A couple married outside God s perfect will can have a fulfilling marriage to the same level as those married in his perfect will. His only desire is that we be submissive and obedient to him all the remaining days of our lives. Then he ll proceed to work all things (good and evil, past and present, successes and failures, strengths and weaknesses, abilities and disabilities, etc.) to our good. We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose, (Romans 8:28). Hallelu-jah (praise the Lord)!! That means, as God s children, nothing negative from our past has any negative influence over our lives. God is able to change all past negative circumstances and experiences to have a positive effect on our lives. As we submit to God and allow him to fulfill his unchanging plans for our lives he is able use all matters in our lives to our advantage. Instead mourning over the past the Lord works things out to the point where we can say like Joseph, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, Genesis 50:20. My book other covers in detail on how God is able to fulfill his "Plan B" if we cooperate with him in bringing good out of whatever matters in our lives. The book is titled, Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit: Dealing with Root Causes. With this understanding, that God works all things to our good, unfavorable circumstances ought not to intimidate us when they confront us. We re called to walk by faith and not by the sight of circumstances. Our Lord Jesus is aware of our lack of strength and helplessness against circumstances and has promised to open doors for us where everything seems to be shut. These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no-one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no-one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name, (Revelation 3:7-8). As long as our deeds are blameless before him, he ll always place open doors before us. In his time and way he makes all things beautiful for us. God will ensure that we pursue the careers (callings) he has purposed for us at every point in time, place and with the right people. He ll ensure that we re favored in the midst of unfavorable circumstances. 19

24 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life When God opens a career door the career becomes a ministry since it has been given to work to his glory. The individual will be ministering to God in his career regardless of the profession. Each of us must present our case before God. For instance one may say, Heavenly Father, please cause that open door concerning the ministry and marital plans you have for me to remain open. Thank you that no one will be able to shut it. Please also, close every open door that comes my way and has not been opened by you. Enable me to hear from you on every matter that seems like it s from you. Help me not to lead a life of trial and error. By the saving name of Jesus, help me to always be in your perfect will for my life per time and matter. I am aware that your main purpose for giving me the privilege to fulfill your ordained career and ministry in my life is not to satisfy my needs of the flesh. Rather it is so that you can use me to satisfy the needs of other people and the advancement of the gospel. In doing so, I will be serving you. Our Lord Jesus said: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me, Matthew 25:40. It is such a blessing to depend on the Lord in our lives. Our abilities, intellect, qualifications and other attributes lose their high seats. The more dependent we are on God the more we live to his glory. The more dependent we on ourselves the more we live to our own glory. Our carnal nature is more vocal when we have things under control by our own strength. So we end up engaging in many things that have nothing to do with God s plan for our lives. When our strength is crushed our carnal nature has no voice. We re helpless. And God only works with the helpless. Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar, Psalms 138:6. As we remain in a state of helplessness, God our helper will always go out of his way to ensure all things work to our good. He also opens doors for us so we re not victims of circumstances. 20

25 6) Through Fellowship 1. How God Speaks to Us While the early disciples assembled together in fellowship, God spoke to them through the Holy Spirit. While they were worshipping 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) God can speak to us for our individual benefit or our corporate benefit as we assemble together. It does not have to be a church fellowship. Jesus said, Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them, (Matthew 18:20). Jesus comes in our midst and begins to speak through any one or more of us wherever we come together. He may speak through the person speaking in our gathering or from within us from the inside. Jesus is also able to heal people physically and spiritually since his power is also present when two or more assemble in his name. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus the power of our Lord Jesus is present, (1 Corinthians 5:4) 21

26 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 7) Through Prophesy The Holy Spirit can speak through a godly person or people on a matter concerning an individual. But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort, 1 Corinthians 14:3. Agabus prophesied about Paul (Acts 21:10-11). Paul and other elders prophesied to Timothy. Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith, 1 Timothy 1: Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you, 1 Timothy 4:14. Prophecies like circumstances and wise council are worth being sent back to God to back it up with other confirmations. Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world, 1 John 4:1. The most important way of testing the spirits behind a prophesy is by using God s word as the standard of evaluation. Nothing is meant to run contrary to it. The bible is in fact called God s most important and reliable word of prophecy: We have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 2 Peter 1:19. Prophecies are very common in our last days. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, Acts 2:17, Joel 2:28. More on this verse in the next chapter. 22

27 1. How God Speaks to Us 8) Through Visionary Leadings (including Through Visions) A vision is a message from God that the recipient sees clearly with the mind and many times accompanied by voices. Steven saw Jesus before dying,(acts 7:55). Paul saw Jesus standing near him and encouraging him over his difficult assignments (Acts 23:11). God spoke to Ananias in a vision about Paul (Acts 9: 10-11). Visions were very common in the New Testament era and will remain very common in our last days. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, Acts 2:17, Joel 2:28. Being led in a visionary way includes many other avenues besides being led through a vision. It includes being led: i) through inner convictions, ii) through a burden, iii) through a deep passion, iv) through a deep understanding, and v) through a clear sense of direction in a particular area. Thus a visionary leading could be through any one or a combination of these avenues, including being led through a vision. Divine leadings in a visionary way that do not include visions are God s most used avenues in speaking to us than through visions. Most of us can relate to at least one of God s visionary related leadings except for visions. Think of all the millions of God s servants he s used to spread the gospel throughout the centuries. Where they all led by visions in their callings? Absolutely no. Only a tiny percent ever even experienced a single vision in their lifetimes. Yet God effectively led them through visionary leadings outside visions in touching nearly every corner of this world with the gospel. Today Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world primarily through evangelism, says the U.S. Center for World Mission. The second fastest growing religion is Islam. Islam s growth is primarily through higher than average birth-rates and consequent higher population growth in Muslim regions. Thus we re seeing a lot of ministries and Christ centered activities growing today because so many of God s children are being led by the Holy Spirit through various visionary ways. There are people voluntarily living less comfortable lives, in less comfortable careers, or in less comfortable regions with no complaints about their decisions. They could run back to their materially comfort zones but they feel more at home and in God s will where they are. The common denominator of areas and matters we feel at home is that we understand them to be part of God s will for us. We re able to relate to 23

28 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life God s leading through any one or a combination of the avenues of his visionary leadings. These visionary leadings outside visions constitute God s gentle whisper to us (1 Kings 19:12 (called still small voice in KJV)). They are not as glamorous with a lot of pomp like visions yet he prefers to use these avenues than visions. The bible says, Where there is no vision, the people perish, Proverbs 29:18 (KJV). This verse is a little clearer in NIV: Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. The vision aspect encompasses God s revelation aspects to us. It does not refer to a vision in its narrow definition. It therefore encompasses the other visionary leadings outside visions that are also God s revelation avenues. Having a revelation is so important that the bible says, Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, or are the people perish, in KJV. Do you have a revelation in your life? Not specifically a majestic encounter with God but his gentle whisper in your life in? Or have you ignored these gentle whispers in preference for a vision encounter that still hasn t surfaced? Have you searched for God s leading in your life through the visionary avenues mentioned in this section? It s so important to be aware of such leadings since it s through them that you ll find your sense of purpose in your life. A sense of purpose is your compass of knowing what you re here for, what the Lord has purposed to use you for in the body of Christ per time and place. Without a sense of purpose heading into any direction seams right. It is such a directionless state that leads some of God s people to perish. They may not perish in a physical sense but in a spiritual sense where their lives remain fruitless. Some believers may actually have received vision encounters. Few of God s children have vision encounters and among them some receive false visions. It is also possible to receive false visions even among totally surrendered believers. The main matter is that a believer must be able to determine what s truly from God and what s not. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me, John 10:27 Vision encounters therefore ought to be balanced with other avenues God speaks to us, particularly his word. For instance God speaks to us through circumstances and opportunities. When these run contrary to an experience of a voice or vision from God year after year we ought to seek God for more confirmation. Some who stay on for many years to their vision encounters even when their encounters are contradicted by circumstances end up wasting much of their time. It is also important to note that people who receive visions are not necessarily any closer to God than any of us that do not. They seem to appear as if 24

29 1. How God Speaks to Us they are but that is not true. For further info on this matter please see chapter 2. Why the Different Ways God Speaks. While studying in Nairobi, Kenya I met a backslidden Christian through a friend. On one occasion she told me about what God revealed to her concerning me. I knew she was not a committed Christian but what she said was consistent with what I heard from committed believers. This is just one example to show that having visions does not necessarily measure one s close walk with God. Some people have a natural or acquired inclination of tapping into the spirit realm - for good and bad (good as God s children, bad as vessels of Satan such as witches, occult members, spirit mediums, etc). My other book covers on how and why some people have a natural and others an acquired inclination of tapping into the spirit realm. The book is tilted, Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit: Dealing with Root Causes. People with such an inclination are thus able to tap into the spirit realm quite easily. It is just a gift when it s from God. Gifts have nothing to do with showing how close we re walking with God. They re for effectively doing God s work on earth. It s the fruits that are the true measure. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing, 1 Corinthians 13:

30 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 9) Through Dreams Nearly all that s been said in the previous section on visionary leadings applies to this section. It may not be worth repeating. And having been warned in a dream, they (Joseph and Mary) returned to their country by another route, (Matthew 2:12). Dreams that are from God will be very memorable. They seize our attention to figure out what God is saying. Such outstanding dreams are worth taking to God in prayer, asking him to reveal to us what he means. Some outstanding dreams thought to have divine origins may turn out to be mere dreams. Other dreams may be from Satan trying to deceive us to believe they re from God. The main matter is that a believer must be able to determine what s truly from God and what s not. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me, John 10:27. Jesus said his sheep reject the voice of stranger once the stranger speaks in an earlier passage to the above verse. They will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice, John 10:5. Thus the stranger, who is Satan and his fellow fallen angels (demons), does speak to us. Being born again does not give us immunity from Satan speaking to us. It d be nice if he didn t have verbal access since there d be no temptation and any possibility of falling. Since we re still in this fallen world where he was cast down he s able to try to influence us. What he doesn t have access to us our eternal destiny. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand, John 10:28. Distinguishing between God s voice and that of the stranger is easier than we imagine it is. Some may assume only the spiritual elite can separate the two voices. The fact is that it s the work of the Holy Spirit in us. His work is enhanced as we grow in God s word and walk closer with God in submission to his will. It does not take one to be a pastor or have a ministry title to have a closer walk with God. Every believer has equal opportunity to walk closely with God, abiding in him and his word. There are no favorites. Those of us with ministry titles (like myself) have the inclination to behave as if we re spiritually above the rest. It is tempting to act this way because it gives us more authority and influence over those we lead. And it s a sin to mislead others by acting as if we re spiritually above them. It is manipulation. Manipulation is not true leadership. It s a control tool used in the secular world (politics, business, etc) and in the occult. True leadership is empowering others to maximize their input. 26

31 1. How God Speaks to Us So I m here saying that no matter who you are you have equal opportunity to walk closely with God, abiding in him and his word. You ll therefore be able to clearly hear from him, be able to walk with him and be able to bear much fruit. It does not take a vision or dream to do that. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, John 15:5,8 (NKJV). No one therefore ought to manipulate you that because he or she had a vision or dream makes him closer to God. This is being stated because some people are capable of using their experiences to manipulate others that their agenda prevails, regardless of how it applies to you. They re not many who do this but their effect is repressive to those under them. They are spiritual tyrants that choke the true spiritual growth of those they lead. The outcome is narrow minded clones that are incapable of thinking for themselves. They are thus hindered from a personal walk with God. This is not empowerment. That was some caution concerning some in positions of spiritual leadership. Some caution is also worthwhile with other believers. There are some believers who assume because they had a vision or dream concerning a matter it was undoubtedly from God. They conclude without seeking God to confirm through other avenues. They also try to impose their agenda on others in a manipulative way. Such are worth taking heed of. For instance, it is not worth agreeing with someone who says God told him or her to marry another person. That other person also needs to hear from God. If he/she does hear the entire process needs diplomacy (respecting each other s understanding) and free from manipulation. Scripture also indicates that dreams from God will be mainly received by old people: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people....your old men will dream dreams, (Acts 2:17, Joel 2:28). This is partly because most of us in our younger days spend less time sleeping and thus hardly ever remembering our dreams. Our elders probably need to be talked to through dreams since they spend more time sleeping than we do. 27

32 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 10) Through Inner Peace One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is peace. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law, Galatians 5:22). Once the peace of Christ is ruling our hearts over a certain matter it is one of the signs that we can go ahead. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace, Colossians 3:15. Peace suggests that the issue has the Holy Spirit s approval. When there is some restraint in our hearts like Paul felt (Acts 16:6-7) the Holy Spirit is not allowing us to go ahead on a matter. Lack of peace is like a signal that the Holy Spirit is sending to warn us. Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to, Acts 16:6-7. No peace, no moving, regardless of the urgency of desiring something in our own time and way. God, unlike us, is never in a hurry. This is a lesson we keep learning and experiencing throughout our lives. Prayer and other avenues are worth being sought to firmly confirm the matter. The more important the matters the more confirmation one may ask from God. For instance, Gideon had to ask God to confirm two times whether or not God would give victory to his tiny army against a vast Medianite army (Judges 6). 28

33 11) Through Fasting 1. How God Speaks to Us PRAYER AND FASTING - SUB-TOPICS: - Prayer and Fasting -Sowing to the Spirit - Nature, Role and Purpose of Fasting - How to Fast - The Power of Fasting - Occasional Food Fasts and Permanent Worldly Fast - Seed time and Harvest time -No neutral ground - Carrying Cross of Self-denial on Desires of the Flesh - Major Prayer and Fasting Scriptures Prayer and Fasting -Sowing to the Spirit Fasting is probably the greatest avenue for enabling us to be sensitive and responsive to the Spirit of God. God is always speaking to us in one way or another. However, only those who are sensitive and responsive enough to him can effectively hear him. Our Lord Jesus said fasting would be necessary for his disciples after he ascended. The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast, (Matthew 9:15) The early disciples remembered the words of their master and thus they made fasting vital. The outstanding work God accomplished through them speaks for itself. They could easily hear God speak to them in their moments of fasting. While they were worshipping and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set a part for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them, (Acts 13:2). Thus the ministry of Paul started after a period of fasting and praying. So after they fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off, (Verse 3). Just not to be misunderstood, it is not a must to fast as in making it a sin if one does not. Jesus said When you fast... implying that it s an essential Christian discipline. People are not obligated to fast but they could be limited in experiencing matters that can be realized in their Christian lives only through both prayer and fasting. For those with health limitations it s not wise to fast at all depending on the severity of the illness that can be worsened through fasting. 29

34 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Nature, Role and Purpose of Fasting Fasting, that of abstaining from food, can become legalistic and ritual oriented when taken out of context. It can become a religious activity performed in order to influence God. Fasting is not a tool to win God s audience. God is always ready to speak to us and to help us. It is for our sake to tune ourselves to his wavelength in order to hear from him and effectively walk with him. In his audio sermon on fasting, Ron Gartner makes an important point. He says fasting is not giving up meals and making a sacrifice so that God can speak to us or bless us. It is not an exchange of a sacrifice in order to obtain blessings. He says it is moving into a spiritual realm of faith and power by putting down (denying) our flesh desires. The Holy Spirit and the spirit part of us then take dominance in moving in an area of prayer (communion with God) that we cannot get into through any other way. It is moving into the spirit and walking in the spirit. This does not mean being foolish and turning our reasoning off. It is being wise with the mind of Christ while being submissive to the Holy Spirit. Fasting may be unpleasant since our bodies are conditioned to be our masters. When they cry for food we quickly feed them. When they re denied food they scream louder and louder at us. Common body reactions include extreme thirst and hunger (of course), weakness, fatigue, headaches, and occasional dizziness. In the early stages of attempting to fast these reactions are more intense. They fade and fasting becomes easier as the body becomes more conditioned. With more regular fasting our bodies become less unruly. God also helps us in our natural weakness of finding it difficult to fast. He always makes his grace abundant on his children that are sincerely willing to obey his word. God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work, (2 Corinthians 9:8). Regular fasting cannot kill the body. We may lose weight and strength during prolonged fasts but the spiritual breakthroughs in moving closer to God are too precious compared to anything we can lose. How to Fast There re no rules on fasting periods. One can set apart a day every week without food and water. Or she can set three days aside every month to recondition her sensitivity to God. Water can be taken in a three day fast though it s possible to do without it up to three days. Beyond three days water is essential for your body. There is a story of one believer who fasted for 40 days without drinking water. He died on the fortieth day. He s no doubt heaven-destined and probably 30

35 1. How God Speaks to Us had victories over matters he fasted for. However he went too soon for lack of knowledge on appropriate fasting principles. A prolonged fast from 4 days to 40 days needs water and probably a slice or two of bread (or three) per day. Fasting beyond 40 days is not biblical. It s not a sin to fast over 40 days but it s a health risk. There is no scriptural record of anyone fasting beyond 40 days. This should be a medical health alarm because beyond 40 days physical health is likely to start deteriorating. It can bring health complications that may be hard to reverse. On the other hand fasting within biblical limits has lasting health benefits though it s the spiritual benefits that are more important. After ending a 40 day fast I weighed 130 pounds (58.9 Kg) at 6 foot (1.83m). It was like coming out of a concentration camp with a chest showing all the bones of the ribcage. Only the Lord enabled this fast since I had a six-day full time job at the same time. Two to three slices of bread where taken every midnight. On two or three occasions a small portion of beans was taken after feeling completely weak. Headaches can come once in while but this ought to be endured during the fast. Headaches only signal the cries of the body. They re to be ignored for as long as they don t worsen. The victories from the fast cannot be quantified to this day. If there is any mountain for the Lord to move allow fasting to facilitate the work. Seek him to enable you rather than making all kinds of excuses. After all it s you that stands to gain over all the matters you re burdened with. It s such a privilege to give birth to these matters after much travail through fasting. And God s work goes beyond the matters of concern thus making the victories through fasting hard to quantify. Prayer and fasting is like sowing in tears. It s a sacrifice yet a more than worthwhile one. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves (bundles of crop harvest) with him, Psalm 126:5-6. I believe a 40 day fast ought to be once in a lifetime if one has the grace to even do it. It ought not to be done more than once if you are enabled to fast up to 40 days. Only Moses is said to have taken two 40 day fasts in the bible. If you want to be like Moses it s no sin. However note the health precautions. Our bodies have been designed to work in certain ways. Fasting helps them when it s done within limits that our bodies have been framed. Outside these limits fasting becomes detrimental. Victories come but at health costs that were not even necessary. After one 40 day long fast it is advisable to stick to 2 to 3 day fasts afterwards. Besides 3 day fasts without food or water can be as overcoming as a 40 day fast. How often one needs to take such fasts depends on the grace one has. Allow the Lord to equip you and enable you rather than use your own limitations as yardsticks. At one point he may enable you to take 3 day fasts three times in one month, at a later period once, and so on. His enabling rather than 31

36 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life yours should win the day. But do your part in allowing him to work through you. Plan ahead when you sense his leading. When that day comes make no excuses. Commit yourself rather than flip flopping. A fasting program ought to include prayer, intercession, reading of God s word (i.e. one way of listening to God), allowing God to speak from within. It can also include worshipping him with songs of praise on multimedia or personally. Listening to or watching sermons focusing on areas you are burdened with is also edifying. Allowing God to speak from within is not waiting to hear a strange voice. It is God speaking from within. His Spirit dwells in you so he speaks from within. You will be able to grasp matters in your life and the lives of others in ways you never perceived them before. That is God speaking to you and revealing his ways to you. What he says is always supported by scripture. If it s something contradicting scripture then it s the voice of a stranger, Satan. Satan also speaks to our hearts with his temptations and appeal to the flesh. His voice can be recognized by its appeal to the flesh, the fallen nature and contradiction of what God has told us in his word. Scripture also tells us to move out of our comfort zones and stretch our hands to those who don t have whatever basic needs we have. We share whatever resources we have with them and with extended family members that may be underprivileged. Many forget that charity is part of our Christian pillars and has its level of blessings or curses, depending on how we carry ourselves. See Isaiah 58:6-9 outlined below for the fast that God desires. Without engaging in most of these areas, fasting only becomes a form of dieting or hunger strike. Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I, Isaiah 58:6-9 In our New Testament (Covenant) era Jesus said we should make fasting a secret. It should not be like the Pharisees who blew the horn and covered their heads with oil to show everyone how holy they were. No one needs to know unless one has health ailments that fasting may affect. Particularly short fasts, fasting ought to be between you and God. Anointing ones head may be necessary since Jesus said so. When (not, if or in case) you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; 32

37 1. How God Speaks to Us and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you, Matthew 6: Notice after saying put oil on your head, he also said wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting. So you can anoint yourself and then wipe the oil out. It will not be a problem if you don t apply any oil. Application of oil when fasting was the Jewish custom. Jesus did not want to discredit the oil so he included its relevance but attacked the wrong motives for its application. Some anointed themselves to show everyone they were fasting instead. One may be asking on how to use the anointing oil if one decides to use it. It s any oil that you have, even basic cooking oil. It does not have to be some special oil straight from Jerusalem. God is more interested in our faith than in what kind of oil is being used. It can even be petroleum jelly like Vaseline if you cannot afford any oil. Jerusalem oil, Olive oil, cooking oil or Vaseline oil will all have the same effect if applied in faith. You can pour some oil in a smaller bottle for future use. Take some oil and apply it on your forehead and pray that God uses it as a point of faith in anointing you and consecrating you. Your consecration enables you to be under his agenda of fasting. Anointing oil is for consecration, being set apart as holy vessels for the Holy Spirit to work through. He (Moses) poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him, Leviticus 8:12 The oil is meant to be an act of faith in receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The anointing of the Holy Spirit enables us to fast for the right reasons and to flow under the power and influence of God. He is also the one who moves into our lives to break yokes and overcome spiritual strongholds spiritually, physically, materially, socially and so on. The Power of Fasting Richard LaFountain gives a good summary on the power of fasting. Detailed people like me would have written another book just to say the following: What Is Fasting? Fasting is going without food to pursue and/or focus on something more important. 1. Fasting helps subject our bodies to our spirits. (I Cor 9:27) 2. Fasting is disciplining the body, mind, and spirit. (Prov. 25:28) 3. Fasting is subordinating our flesh-desires to our spirit-desires. (Gal 5:17) 4. Fasting helps set the priorities in our lives. (Mt 6:33) 5. Fasting is longing after God. (Ps 63:1-2) 33

38 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Why Should We Fast? 1. Honor God - Mt 6:16-18, Luke 2:37, Acts 13:2, Mt 5:6 2. Humble Yourself - 2 Chron 7: Discerning Healing - I Cor 11:30, James 5:13-18, Isaiah 59: Deliverance from Bondage - Mt 17:21, Is 58:6-9 (loose bands of wickedness) 5. Revelation - God s vision and will - Dan 9:3, 20-21, Dan 10:2-10, Revival - personal and corporate - Acts 1:4, 14 / 2:16-21, Joel 2: Repentance - personal failures - Psalm 51: Jer. 29:11-14, James 4:8-10 LaFountain s summary above shows that fasting is so critical in our Christian lives. Unfortunately few Christians take fasting seriously. If we all did there would be great revivals world over, breaking of bondages (yokes) in our lives and other people s physical lives, spiritual areas, and loosing the bonds of Satan s wickedness in people s lives in their physical health, spiritual blindness and deafness to the gospel, marital, family, financial, mental and career bondages. We would also be able to hear from God over most of our repetitive prayers. Is not this the fast that I Choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the things of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share you bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house...then shall you call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, here I am, (Isaiah 58:6-7, 9) Few believers ever dream or attempt to fast for 40 days. Breakthroughs that would come after the 40 days can take an entire lifetime to realize, if at all. But let s focus on at least three days of fasting. It s good to start on an incremental level to reduce the cries of the body after starting a fast. The first time can last a day. Next can be two days. Then three days. Anyone who reaches three days can easily prolong the fast to even 40 days since the body stops crying and kicking after two to three days. This is our one major discipline that moves mountains. Unfortunately it s a rarely practiced discipline in the body of Christ. Some have even assumed that breakthroughs come when we go after demon spirits in thin air and command them let go of our blessings as if they have any. They bombard these spirits, calling it spiritual warfare prayer or deliverance prayer only to come under more attacks. God said when we humble ourselves through prayer and fasting he, himself takes care of these spirits that have gained legal access into our lives. Our consecration to him closes their legal access and enables him to rebuke all the devourers and weeds around our lives. He rebukes them, not us. Our only role is to focus on him over what he requires of us, and not to focus on whatever demon spirits are up to. 34

39 1. How God Speaks to Us Prayer and fasting constitute our true spiritual warfare prayers and deliverance prayers. We bring matters before God in humble submission and seek him to deal with them in his power and might. The outcome is twofold: first is victory and deliverance over matters being submitted to him. Second, we draw closer to God, experiencing his grace, love and power. Going after demonic spirits in thin air and calling it spiritual warfare prayer or deliverance prayer is our invention that the bible does not support. No wonder it leads to more bondage instead of deliverance. Occasional Food Fasts and Permanent Worldly Fast Most people God greatly used began their calling in intense prayer accompanied with one type of fasting or another. Although fasting is basically abstaining from food, self-denial from other things of the flesh is also fasting. For instance, couples are advised to mutually deprive each other of intercourse whenever necessary for more effective prayer. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, (1 Corinthians 7:5). There are many things of the flesh (of worldly value) that hinder sensitivity to the spirit of God. Some require occasional fasts like intercourse for couples, interaction with certain people. Some require frequent fasts like certain foods and quantities, certain books and multimedia, etc. Others require permanent fasting. These constitute things that are either directly sinful or indirectly sinful. Anything that does not add to our closer walk with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is a seed of the flesh. It therefore requires a permanent fast. Otherwise, by partaking of it quenches the God s Spirit whom we desperately need in our daily walk with God. Each seed sown to please the flesh and sinful nature eventually adds up for its due level of harvest. Seed time and Harvest time -No neutral ground The law of sowing and reaping applies to whatever we think of, say or do. No neutral ground. A man reaps whatever he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit will reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8). Every thought, word, or act is a seed either to the flesh or to the Spirit. Seed sown to please the sinful nature therefore eventually bring some level of destruction in our lives. Anything that brings destruction upon an individual is sinful. Thus a Christian who s serious about desiring to always grow in her walk with God, hearing from him and fulfilling his will is expected 35

40 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life to guard against things that look innocent on the outside. Otherwise they ll bring destruction in one area or another in her walk with God. We usually think of destruction as physical death. In that case all of us end our lives in destruction. In scripture, it is the isolation of the spirit part of us from God. It is alienation from the Spirit of God. A person engaging in thoughts or activities of the flesh is thus alienating himself/herself from God. The greater the intensity of involvement in activities of the flesh the wider the distance he/she separates herself from God. It therefore, becomes more difficult for her to hear from God. That is a challenge to those of us who desire to walk with God and effectively hear from him. We re called to permanently fast over things of the flesh things of worldly value. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father but from the world, (1 John 2:15-16). Carrying Cross of Self-denial on Desires of the Flesh Our Lord said we must carry our cross of self-denial from all worldly things if we desire to follow him (Luke 14:27). Paul, like the other early disciples did just that. He said, May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world was crucified to me, and I to the world, (Galatians 6:14). He said he was crucified and died to worldly desires, though like Christ, he also died to save the world. This too is our calling: Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God, (Colossians 3: 2-3) Setting our minds on things above demands forsaking things below. These include most secular programs, music, magazines, books, certain places, certain forms of entertainment and activities, and so on. One cannot partake of things below and expect to effectively hear from God and fulfill his will. For instance, watching secular films only contributes to increased spiritual deafness. It only opens the individual s spirit to the many voices and ways of the world which easily crowd out God s voice. Whatever we give our attention to takes charge of our hearts. Not only do our hearts become increasingly impure to hear from God, we also partake of other people s sins in these programs. We share their sins. For instance, on sexual sins, our Lord said, Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart, (Matthew 5:28). The sin therefore does not have to be physically committed for the individual to account for it. That sounds harder than the Old Covenant law under Moses. But 36

41 1. How God Speaks to Us thank God we have the Holy Spirit and the grace of God to help us in the New Covenant under Christ. And an avenue like fasting has been given to us to connect with the Holy Spirit who enables us to live lives worthy of our Christian calling. Try fasting over some sins and you ll see how easily they will drop off. No binding and loosing of demons and so called spiritual warfare prayers needed. My book on spiritual warfare, titled Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do s and Don ts of Warfare, deals with major spiritual warfare principles in detail. If the sinful tendencies return get back into fasting, for longer periods if necessary. And continue the fight for as long as you re here on earth. Fasting breaks demonic strongholds, demonic attacks and helps us to walk in the spirit, not the flesh, to sow to the Spirit, not to the sinful nature. It s a mystery how fasting works in bringing such outcomes. Or shall we say it s a mystery how God works through fasting in bringing such outcomes. Why we re so keen to guard our flesh interests is also another mystery -a mystery of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:7 (KJV)). May God enable us to overcome appetites that have nothing to do with our walk with him and take hold of the glorious promises lying ahead of us. The issue of sowing to earthly verses spiritual things can be a long and controversial one. It s tempting to justify certain things of the flesh we re not willing to give up. In a nutshell, self-denial is a prerequisite to a closer walk with God. Many types of non-food fasts are required to silence the flesh and exalt the spirit. Major Prayer and Fasting Scriptures When (not, if or in case) you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you, Matthew 6:17-18 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I, Isaiah 58:6-9 His disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it (the demon) out" And he said to them, This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting, Mark 9:28-29, Matthew 17: 21, (in KJV, ISV bibles) 37

42 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name. Daniel 9:3, 19 Faced with great invasion king Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast and prayed: O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?... But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir.O our God, will you not judge them? 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, 2 Chronicles 20:6-7,10,12 Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity, Joel 2:12-13 While they were worshipping 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 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust, Acts 14:23. 38

43 12) Through Testimonies 1. How God Speaks to Us God also speaks to us through our past personal experiences and experiences of other people. Paul said, Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you, (Philippians 4:9). Scripture also says, Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised, (Hebrews 6:12) We can therefore learn the will of God from both the good and bad personal experiences and those of other people. The good experiences show us how the good fruits were inherited. The bad experiences show us how bad fruits came and warn us not to repeat it. Many of us grow up quite deaf in this area. That s why history tends to repeat itself. The temptation to repeat what made others fall is quite high. We usually think, well it s not going to happen to me. Fortunately, the grace of God is abundantly available to empower us not to repeat what God has warned us about. We can always pray for his grace whenever need arises - when it s very tempting to repeat the sin others or we committed in the past. Lord I have heard what you have said concerning this matter By your grace, enable me not to repeat the sin. I ask in the saving name of Jesus, Amen. Otherwise, we ll be counted as fools if we repeat it. As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly, (Proverbs 26: 11). 39

44 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 13) Through Inborn (Natural) Gifts and Personality Attributes Our Unique Makeup from a Biblical Perspective Before we were born God already had a purpose for each of us. He predestined each of us to come on this earth. Scripture says we have been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (Ephesians 1:11). So he made us in a particular way to suit the purpose he had for each of us. The parents we were born to was his design, our sex, physical and personality attributes, and so on, are not an accident. Each one of us is therefore in God s design. Inside that design God has all the details about his plans for us - the right career (ministry), workmates, the right spouse (or singleness), friends, areas of residence per period, number of children and so on. He works out his agenda in his unseen ways. He does it to even a greater extent for us Christians since we re specifically his children. A wise parent is committed to nurturing his children in the best possible way. God as our heavenly father has the best plans for us his children. Sometimes we can be anxious or restless about what s ahead of us. This happens when our focus turns away from him and we start focusing on ourselves as determinants of our destiny. The best way to determine our destiny is to entrust our lives into his hands and continue doing our best in areas that we re responsible for. He s responsible for more than our share. God says to every one of us, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, and plans to give you hope and a future, (Jeremiah 29:11). There s therefore, only one reason for every individual s existence to fulfill God s plan for his life. Outside that, life is meaningless, a mere struggle and wilderness of trials and temptations. No amount of fame, social status, money and power can bring a sense of fulfillment outside God s plans. In that design God gives us certain abilities or talents. Each one of us is therefore gifted in one area or another whether we know it or not. There s something we find easy to excel in. We also enjoy committing ourselves in that area. We can even volunteer to assist without any reward or work for endless hours without any stress. These gifts suggest a lot about our calling in life. Many times they re easy to identify by tracing what an individual has usually been preoccupied with. Some enjoy talking with people, others enjoy working with tools and tangible objects, and others enjoy working with abstracts like numbers, words or images. Some enjoy helping people, others using their bodies in sports, theatre or their voices in music. 40

45 1. How God Speaks to Us Our Unique Makeup using Secular Principles: The Four Temperament Personality Theory Our natural gifts are also traceable from our personality attributes. Each of us has inborn personality traits of particular nature. We each have a unique combination of strengths and weaknesses. Strengths promote the realization of our natural abilities. Weaknesses hinder their realization. Correctly identifying one s personality traits is crucial in understanding and maximizing one s natural abilities. An important point to note is that there is no personality combination that is better or worse than another. For instance, any combination of traits can make a good leader (servant). There are leaders who re loud like Paul. Some are quiet like Abraham, others funny like Peter, some severe and tough like Solomon, some gentle like Moses, others outgoing like Paul, while others shy like Timothy. There is therefore, no universal set of traits that make up the profile of the most ideal person. In addition, different traits are needed in different assignments. Florence Littauer is gifted in this area of helping people to understand their inborn and learnt personality attributes. She has written extensively on this subject. Her most popular book is, Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself. She uses the four temperament personality theory. It is an ancient personality analysis that categorizes people into four types. Some Christian authors like Tim Lahaye have claimed to trace the theory from the Bible in the book of Proverbs. However, this only served to put Lahaye in a lot of criticism from many in the body of Christ. Tim Lahaye was actually the earliest Christian advocate to resurrect the ancient four temperament personality theory. His book, Why You Act the Way You Do, became a popular reference in Christian counseling circles. I ve read it and find it very informative. It s fun to read too. It is only where the bible is used as backing the theory that there is a problem. It s fitting to categorize bible personalities into personality types. This is not unscriptural. Where it s not fitting is to claim that the theory is from the bible. However this is not a major error compared to many false teachings circulating in the body of Christ. Lahaye received too much criticism on a matter that was blown out of proportion. The four temperament personality theory is part of personality theories in the secular academic field of psychology. It is among the many personality theories in the field of psychology. It is in the category of Personality Type theories of personality. The following is a list of the categories of the major personality theories in the field of psychology: 1. Personality Type theories. 2. Personality Trait theories. 41

46 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 3. Behaviorist Personality theories. 4. Cognitive Personality theories. 5. Psychoanalytic Personality theories. 6. Humanistic Personality theories. 7. Biopsychological Personality theories. Personality Type theories classify people into different types of behavioral characteristics. For example the four temperament personality theory classifies people into four different personality types. Another among the Personality Type theories is one that puts people into two types. It is called like the Introversion and Extraversion theory. Other Personality Type theories like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) have more complex classifications and measures. Advantages of the four temperament personality theory The four temperament personality theory has many advantages. 1. It helps in understanding oneself. Understanding yourself is one of the most liberating experiences in your life. It brings an awareness about your individuality which helps you appreciate yourself. Instead of wishing to be like someone else who may have a personality you admire you realize you actually have admirable personality traits as well. You realize that you re a set of admirable strengths while also having unpleasant weaknesses. You realize that it s the same for everyone else out there. There are no perfects. The only perfection is to strive to maximize the expression of your strengths while striving to minimize the expression your weaknesses. As a Christian this is important. Knowing your strengths helps you to cooperate with God in effectively using the natural gifts he has entrusted you with. Knowing your weaknesses helps you to cooperate with God in effectively preventing your weaknesses from hindering you. 2. It helps in interpersonal relationships and behavior. The principles in the theory help to relate with others in personal, verbal, and emotional circumstances. It is a communication facilitator. By understanding the different makeup of people you re able to relate with others in a better way. For example, if some are detailed oriented and you re not you ll be able to relate with them at their level or at least in a negotiating way than by being irritated by their strange detail needs. This type of accommodation and understanding of others is helpful in intimate relationships and in other social relationships, like in work or school settings. It also helps in conflict resolution skills. 42

47 1. How God Speaks to Us 3. It helps in guiding career choices. Though not the only guide a personality self appraisal helps in pointing to some career preferences related to one s personality. As Christians the Holy Spirit is our primary guide. It is not strange to find the Holy Spirit guiding a person in a career area related to one s personality. For us Christians any career is a ministry. It is a profession through which God is able to use us in being vessels to show his nature through us. His nature through us in our various forms of ministry is expressed through our conduct, our diligence, our concern for others, and where there is an opportunity our witnessing to others. In addition, it is through our primary areas of ministry (work) that our financial earnings come from. The way we use our financial earnings for the various needs, whether for personal or corporate interests, determines where our hearts are to the interests of God and fellow humanity or to our own interests. 4. It helps in understanding oneself in dealing with your emotions. Emotional health is guided by understanding. Although emotions are separate from reason or the mind, they are guided by the mind. Try screaming in a public square if you drop your cell phone. Your mind says it s not appropriate. When you drop it at home you may even yell at the phone at least some personalities have this tendency. Having an understanding of your unique self therefore helps in dealing with your emotions. Your mind takes an active role in controlling the various emotions going inside you. Your mind takes an active role by you purposely deciding or working on your emotions to go toward a desired direction. This is better than yielding to the sometimes irrational whims of emotions. Understanding your unique self therefore helps in exercising your emotional strengths while minimizing your emotional weaknesses. It gives you a sense of direction rather than mere guesswork. More understanding of yourself helps you gain what some call emotional judgment, emotional intelligence, and emotional health. Disadvantages of the four temperament personality theory 1. Its biggest disadvantage is that it s limited. This is what gives fuel to a lot of its critics. However most academic enquiry is limited. The field of medicine is both art and science (and big money business in our time). Should its limitation be the basis to abandon it? No. 2. It is very stereotypical. The theory places people into boxes of personality types. In real life we re all very unique in our combination of personality traits and behavior. The only consolation is that the theory states that we re all a unique combination of various levels from any of 43

48 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life the four types. It is the support for the unique combination of traits each of us has that makes the theory more acceptable. The four temperament personality theory Now that we ve covered on the makeup of the four temperament personality theory we can focus on its nature. The theory says each one of us has one major personality type and at least one minor one. The major one is the most dominant that people can easily describe us by. The minor one is the one we know ourselves and people close to us. The four personality types are: 1) Sanguine, 2) Melancholy, 3) Choleric and 4) Phlegmatic. 1. TRAITS OF A SANGUINE STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES 1. Outgoing, sociable Undisciplined 2. Inspires allegiance Easily influenced 3. Sincere Restless 4. Positive attitude Disorganized 5. Responsive to others Undependable 6. Talkative Loud 7. Enthusiastic Promotes self 8. Seldom worries Exaggerates 9. Compassionate Fearful, insecure 10. Generous Unproductive 2. TRAITS OF A MELANCHOLY STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES 1. Natural talent Moody 2. Analytical Negative 3. Perfectionist Critical 4. Conscientious Resists change 5. Loyal Self-conscious 6. Organized Unpredictable 7. Idealistic Revengeful 8. Sensitive Lacks self-confidence 9. Self-sacrificing Unsociable 10. Self-disciplined Theoretical 44

49 1. How God Speaks to Us 3. TRAITS OF A CHOLERIC STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES 1. Determined Unsympathetic 2. Independent Inconsiderate 3. Productive Resists regulations 4. Decisive Cruel, sarcastic 5. Practical Doesn t give recognition 6. Goal-oriented Self-sufficient 7. Optimistic Domineering 8. Willing to risk Opinionated 9. Self-confident Proud 10. Willing to lead Cunning 4. TRAITS OF PHLEGMATIC STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES 1. Calm, quiet Unmotivated 2. Easygoing Unexcitable 3. Likable Avoids conflict 4. Diplomatic Spectator 5. Efficient, organized Selfish 6. Dependable, stable Stingy 7. Conservative Stubborn 8. Practical Self-protective 9. Reluctant leader Indecisive 10. Dry humor Fear of risk After spiritual rebirth, the strengths of our natural personality attributes remain intact. Our weaknesses on the other hand, undergo a process of continual transformation. As we grow spiritually, our weaknesses become less pronounced because the Holy Spirit living in us is the one who increasingly expresses himself through us. We die more to ourselves. Although we die to ourselves he usually uses our natural strengths. The individuals in scripture are good examples. For instance, Paul was an uncompromisingly goal oriented individual before his conversation. Goals mattered more than relationships - a choleric trait. Paul remained with this trait even after his conversation. He continued to be more focused on goals. This time preaching the gospel was his biggest goal. The relationships around him were all centered around his goal of preaching the gospel. He did not hesitate to cut any relationships that came against his newly inspired goals. 45

50 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life He also confronted matters that challenged his goals. He boldly confronted Peter, who was then a key leader in the church, when he began to be hypocritical about the circumcision matter for gentile converts. Peter s personality (sanguine) was unlike Paul s. Though goals mattered, relationships were a strong priority for him. It could be a strength and it also could be a weakness when not used in context of his calling. For instance, he was double minded on the circumcision matter. Before certain men came from James (who was among the key church leaders in Jerusalem), he (Peter) used to eat with the Gentiles (who were uncircumcised). But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray, Galatians 2: Sad episode, though it makes us learn that we can easily bend our calling in order to fit in with others. It also shows that our personality weaknesses can compromise our calling. Natural gifts can be developed and perfected regardless of whether one is a believer or not. For instance, athletes and singers are able to sharpen and develop their gifts regardless of their personality or spiritual deficiencies. However when we use our gifts to our own glory and not to God s or in line with his will for us, our gifts end up bringing more harm than good to us. For us believers it is worth seeking God to place us in the right place per time so that our natural gifts can be sharpened and used for building the body of Christ. We must not despise our gifts. They re not carnal or evil in themselves. They only become carnal when we use them independently of where, when and how God wants us to use them. 46

51 1. How God Speaks to Us 14) Through Spiritual (Newbirth) Imparted Gifts Other gifts are given to us when we become born again and we begin to grow as spiritual children. These gifts are superior to natural gifts. They transcend the laws of the natural world. For instance, they can operate in an individual regardless of his natural abilities, his education, background, sex, age, personality and so on. Like natural gifts, spiritual gifts are God given and intended to fulfill God s purpose in our lives and others he purposed to benefit from the gifts. Every believer is therefore a minister in the eyes of God. He/she is meant to minister to God with his particular gifts. No one is superior to another. Each one of us can be where God wants us to be and considered of equal value. Spiritual gifts include, 1) Wisdom, 2) knowledge, 3) faith, 4) healing, 5) working miracles, 6) prophecy, 7) distinguishing between spirits, 8) speaking diverse tongues, 9) interpretation of tongues and other matters (1 Corinthians 12: 7-11), 10) teaching, 11) encouraging, 12) giving, 13) serving, 14) leading, 15) showing mercy (Romans 12:4-8), 16) evangelism, 17) pastoring, 18) prophet (Ephesians 4: 11-14), 19) helping others, and 20) administration. Spiritual gifts equip an individual to do tasks beyond what is naturally conceivable. Spiritual gifts can work independently of natural gifts or God can use them to back up a believer s natural gifts. For instance, an individual with a natural gift in the medical field can be empowered with any of the above combination of gifts. God can build the church through him in his medical assignment. His medical career then becomes his full-time ministry before God. Most believers are called to remain in this category of ministry. It can also happen the other way round. Spiritual gifts can take precedence over natural gifts. For instance, a businessperson in the transport sector can be called to be an evangelist after having been given the gift of evangelism. In this case evangelism becomes his full time ministry. The transport business has to be surrendered completely in order to avoid it being an inconvenience. The natural gift can lose value completely. The disciples who were called into evangelism left their fishing business completely. It is therefore important to remain tuned to God on what he wants to do with our natural and spiritual gifts at every point in time. He ll continue talking to us as we remain open in all the avenues that he speaks. A believer who cannot identify the spiritual gifts God has given him needs to search his spiritual life. It could be that he is quenching the Holy Spirit by nursing some sins. It could be that he is not doing his part of exercising the gifts so that they can be increased. Gifts are perfected and magnified through constant use. Timothy received his spiritual gift through a prophetic message. He was urged 47

52 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life to cultivate it and not to neglect it. Do not neglect your gift, which was given to you through a prophetic message, (1 Timothy 4:14). For instance, a believer who has received a gift of healing will be urged from within by the Holy Spirit to pray and lay hands on sick people. His obedience in cultivating that gift will be shown from being trustworthy in the small matters like headaches and fevers. His master (Jesus) will be adding bigger matters because of his trustworthiness. His master will say, Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities, (Luke 19:17). A believer may also lack the gifts because he has not asked for them. Spiritual things are for the thirsty, those who crave (persistently desire and ask) for them in order to glorify God John 7: We re to continually ask for these gifts to be given to us according to God s purpose for our lives. We re also asked to be specific in asking for certain gifts. Scripture says we must eagerly desire for them. Eagerly desire the greater gifts, (1 Corinthians 12: 31). For instance the gift of prophecy can be given to each one of us. Be eager to prophecy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues, (1 Corinthians 14:39). Without the spiritual gifts our Christianity is powerless. It becomes a mere religion like other religions. Spiritual gifts enable us to fight the good fight of our calling. We become effective in our calling by operating with supernatural power and results. Timothy was urged to cultivate the gifts God gave him so that he could effectively fight. I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophesies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith, (1 Timothy 1:18-19). Thus without following our spiritual gifts we can shipwreck our faith. We end up doing things we re not called and empowered to do. Then we fail and our failure can demoralize our faith. Spiritual gifts are therefore indicators of our calling in the Body of Christ. When God reveals them to us we must follow hard after them. As we cultivate them our Christianity moves from mere religion or an intellectual discipline to a religion of power. 48

53 1. How God Speaks to Us 15) Through the Authoritative Voice This is another form of an inner witness. However, it s unique in its authoritative nature. It is direct and firm, sometimes as if spoken loudly by someone from outside. The voice can also be external like Moses used to hear from God (Numbers 12:8). One s thoughts and attention are arrested on the heaviness of the voice. Although it is authoritative great peace and joy always accompany it. Even if it is a rebuke or caution. 49

54 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 16) Through the Inner Voice and Affirmation The Holy Spirit lives inside every one of us born again. Don t you know that you yourself are God's temple and that God s Spirit lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3: 16). Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19). In her book, Listening Prayer, Mary Swope says, Since we know that God dwells within us, isn t it reasonable to expect him to speak to us from within? This makes hearing a matter of spirit communion - from God s Spirit to our spirit. The need to hear an audible voice therefore, is eliminated. God can speak audibly if he so desires, but most guidance from God comes from within and not by a voice that others could hear or that a cassette tape could record. The inner voice of God is audible from within. We now can act according to the directions of his Spirit. Since the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one it means we have God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit living in us. God the Son can now carry out his plans for building his church through us. We begin to operate under instructions from him just as he also operated under instructions from his Father while on earth. He said, By myself, I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, (John 5:30; 5:19; 8:28) We can be able to judge situations not according to men s wisdom but according to what we have heard from the Spirit of God. His Spirit will always tell us what to do or say in a particular situation. For as long as we daily submit to his leadership we will be merely saying and doing what we have heard from him. And our judgment will be just, no matter how contrary it is to human wisdom. The inner voice of God to believers who have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying is so real yet difficult to define. It is not usually an audible voice like I want you to go and work in Jerusalem or Rachel will be your wife. Neither is it an emotion or feeling, though they can accompany it. Rather, it is usually a push, a conviction and inspiration inside us. The more we submit to God s leading from within we can hear more clearly this push, conviction and inspiration. For instance, in the voyage to Rome, Paul said, Men, I see our voyage is going to be disastrous, (Acts 27:10). He did not see with his physical eyes but he could sense from within him that trouble was looming. He had a conviction and perception that something strange was going to happen. God spoke to him and because of his sensitivity to his leading Paul was able to perceive the 'voice of God from within. We are like radios. There are three stations we can tune to: 1) channel flesh, 50

55 2) channel Holy Spirit, and 3) channel evil spirit. 1. How God Speaks to Us Most people tune their lives to channel flesh. Those tuned to channel evil spirit are those in the occult. They are few among unbelievers while none among Christians (true believers). As for most that re tuned to channel flesh, they receive signals from their hearts, full of their own ways and desires. Their decisions are based on what they feel, want and how circumstances will enable them to obtain their desires. Such people live self centered and self ruled lives instead of God centered and Holy Spirit ruled lives. The signals they receive from their own hearts, based on their upbringing, personalities, education, status, culture and so on are transmitted in their words and actions. Their words and actions are packed with self-direction, perceptions and limitations. We re all born already tuned to channel flesh since we inherit Adam s sin. At rebirth we re expected to increasingly listen to the Holy Spirit channel. Sadly, many Christians remain tuned to the old channel even years after conversion. They refuse to obey God s command to be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2). Although they willingly accepted Jesus as their Savior they are not willing to have him as Lord of their lives. Scripture says such people are Lovers of pleasure (flesh desires) rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness (religiousness) but denying its power, (2 Timothy 3:4-5). They say they re born again, some speaking in tongues, but their lives show denial of the power of God to reign in their lives. Such cannot know God s will for their lives. They do not give him room to speak to them and fulfill his plans in their lives. Consequently, they usually end up in unnecessary traps that could have easily been avoided had they sought God s guidance. Then there are those who have tuned their lives to channel Holy Spirit. They receive signals from the heart of God concerning their circumstances, their lives and lives of others. Jesus our, good Shepherd said, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me, (John 10:27). His sheep are tuned in to his channel to listen to his voice. They have willingly chosen to be led by him and to follow his ways rather than follow their own ways or ways of the society they live in. Our Shepherd s voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit. We re expected to lose all sense of self direction and become like sheep, before our Shepherd s guiding voice can be heard in our lives. Paul understood the importance of Christ replacing the self part of us. He said, For to me, to live is Christ, (Philipians 1:21). I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20). What Paul meant was I have no thoughts but his thoughts, plans but his plans, no will but his will, no personality but his, no energy but his energy, no mind but his, 51

56 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life my body is not mine, my house is not mine, my money is not mine, my career is not mine - all belong to Jesus. The man you knew as Paul is dead. Jesus now lives in the body Paul used to live in. So physically you may see a body of Paul yet inside it is Jesus living in it. He also labored in prayer and his ministry for Christ to be formed in the lives of other believers. My children, for whom I am again in pains of childbirth until Christ be formed in you, (Galatians 4:19) Once Christ is formed in a believer it will be no longer be such-and-such a person who desires, who thinks or loves. Rather, Jesus Christ will think, act and love in that individual. This is the highest level of calling God desires us to reach - each of us to be like Jesus on earth. In a world heavily tuned to channel flesh it s not very easy. However it is very possible. It s very possible because God s grace is always made available to us when we earnestly desire to live by his terms, (2 Corinthians 9:18). Jesus intercedes for us (Hebrews 7: 24-26). God s Spirit lives in us and produces his fruits as we allow him to rule us (Galatians 5:22). We have been given all authority over all power of Satan (Luke 10:19, 1 John 5:4). Our supernatural weapons are superior than our enemy s since they re divine powered (2 Corinthians 10: 3-5). God trains us for battle and his Spirit teaches us to fight according to his will (Psalm 144: 1-2, 1 Corinthians 2:10). God is always for us not against us (Romans 8:31). We re more than conquerors through Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37). He is the one who started the good work in us and he will ensure that all that he wants to achieve in us, for us, and through us is completed no matter the level of opposition (Phillipians 1:6). He (the Holy Spirit) that is in us is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4). Thus this surrendered lifestyle is more than possible. The journey of being changed into Christ likeness is thus very possible. It s also very exciting. One is able to look back and feel excited at how God has been at work in his or her life. One can look back at his life before being born again. He can also look back to his spiritual babyhood after being born anew and see how he has been growing from strength to strength. It is exciting to look back and see how the Holy Spirit has been cleansing his temples (our bodies) from all evil things thoughts, word and actions. The cleansing is his lifetime job since his temples were so dirty with all sorts of unclean things. At some point of cleansing he begins to use each temple to draw others to Christ though at the same time still cleaning it. 52

57 2. Why the Different Ways God Speaks Why does he want us to go through the many things in life like reading his word, praying, visionary leadings, fasting, circumstances and so on in order to determine what he is saying on particular issues? Sixteen ways have been mentioned here on how God speaks to us. The list seems long and it s not exhaustive. The main reason is that God wants to have a unique and colorful relationship with each of us. He wants each one of us to have a personal relationship with him. That is why the way he relates with one individual may not be the same for another. The Unique Way God Made Each of Us This section is a brief excerpt from my book, Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit: Dealing with Root Causes. Many times God relates to us based on the way he uniquely made each of us, spiritually. By spiritually I mean our unseen makeup, beyond the physical makeup. Our spiritual makeup in its primary form consists of the mind, will and emotion or sensory faculties. Some people are more mentally driven like king Solomon, others by willpower like apostle Paul, while others are driven through their emotional and sensorial faculties like prophet Isaiah. God is able to relate with us at our level of how he framed each of us. Whenever necessary he s able to relate to us in avenues outside our makeup. For example people driven by their willpower like apostle Paul are not concerned with any feelings or the logical details as long as the matters do not undermine or break the scriptures. They re able to move from point A to point B or make decisions without necessarily being able to explain how, yet with a sure attitude that it s God s leading. If you met Paul today you d describe him as bold, practical, hasty in decisions, loud, forceful, aggressive, ambitious, hardworking, antagonistic with those in disagreement, etc. All these qualities were fortunately operated under the Holy Spirit. They ended up being applied in a positive way. In his boldness he preached the gospel in places others like Peter could not dare. He was hasty in decisions and made many enough to surpass all other apostles put together. Peter had to receive a sign from God to dare preach to gentiles (non Jews) while Paul instantly got it from within. Paul was loud, very loud to voice his stand against anyone. He was aggressive and zealous in his work, no half-deeds and no fear. Where necessary he

58 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life got antagonistic with those in disagreement to what he knew was the truth. He was quick to confront Peter (in front of others) when he was in err (Galatians 2:14). He confronted congregations such the as the one in Corinth on their shallowness and immaturity on speaking in tongues. He aggressively confronted Alexander the metalworker, an aggressive hothead equal to Paul, to a point where Paul s colleagues deserted him out of fear (2 Timothy 4:14-16). The list is endless. God effectively related with Paul in the way he uniquely made him. Whenever necessary God related to him in avenues outside his makeup. He received visions and was once caught up in the spirit that he received deep revelations. Outside these exceptions Paul was a practical person, always on the go and relating with God in his day to day dealings. Most of the Epistles he wrote them without receiving a vision nor any other avenue we might call a super-spiritual experience. He wrote them based on day to day matters he confronted and applied his understanding through the Holy Spirit, the teachings of Christ and based on the Jewish Torah, what we call the Old Testament. There was largely no extraordinary spiritual experience or drama behind his leading by God. Then there are those on other extreme end, opposite to practical or willpower driven people like Paul. They are what we may call emotional and sensorial. Emotional and sensorial matters includes the ability to feel and sense matters or people, to see deeper realities and patterns in life s matters, and having an awareness or perception of deeper things. On the emotional side the secular term used for such is emotional intelligence (EI). It includes abilities such greater self-awareness, perceiving, assessing, and managing the emotions of one self, of others, and of groups. On the sensorial side they are referred to as transcendental in the secular world. This is not the spooky transcendental practices such as transcendental meditation. It s in reference to supernatural experiences, that is, matters that go beyond or transcend the physical world. God is able to relate at their level to people whom he made with an emotional and sensorial orientation. Whenever necessary he s able to relate to them in avenues outside their makeup. Christians in this category tend to make up the most upright believers who apply the scripture to its letter, are pure and sincere, trustworthy, dependable, good intentions, etc. Remember Isaiah, also known as the Prophets Prophet? If most prophets in the scripture were to be examined by modern non-christian psychiatrists they would be diagnosed as having psychotic disorders. Psychotic disorders are a collection of severe mental illness where an individual occasionally loses contact with reality. They can be in any combination. They include: 54

59 2. Why the Different Ways God Speaks a) Hallucinations: hearing things (auditory hallucinations) and/or seeing things (visual hallucinations) and/or sensing the presence of things that are physically not there, b) Delusions: holding on to irrational beliefs even though there is much evidence that the belief is not true. This can result in strange behavior including, c) Severe withdrawal, personality changes and loss of personal care skills, d) Disorganized thinking, speech and impairment of intellectual functions. Most prophets would have been prescribed psychotropic medications that act on the central nervous system to alter the brain and psychological function. These include antidepressive agents, hallucinogens, and tranquilizing agents (like antipsychotics and anti-anxiety agents). This would be a shame to demean their contributions as imaginary. While God s true prophets did not have any psychosis their experiences were far from the physical reality. They had their own inner world that few could relate with during their time. They were led by God in the most extraordinary ways that few experience. People led in this nature are not any closer to God than those led in the normal ways. They may seem to appear as if they re above the rest, yet are not. It s just God relating to them in avenues within their makeup. And for some reason the best prophets have predominantly have an emotional and sensorial orientation. Prophets and many Christians with an emotional and sensorial orientation have the following characteristics: a) Divine inspiration. A sense of calling and conviction that God is the one bringing matters they re experiencing. For instance, in the bible, their divine experiences were more than enough for them to be willing to die and face any odds, b) Divine revelation. The revelation may include visions, dreams and/or auditory revelations. This is where modern non-christian psychiatrists may have problems understanding. For example, Isaiah was led by revelation through visions, dreams and auditory revelations. Few if any could understand what he wrote in his day. I d say the book of Isaiah is among the last books one should read after reading the more straight forward ones like the gospels and Paul s epistles. Isaiah is not an easy read yet it has one of the richest (deepest) content. Among the major ones are the scattering and gathering of Israel, and the mission of Jesus. Jesus even quoted from Isaiah to proclaim his mission (Luke 4:18-19 quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2). What happened after Jesus began to explain the mission to those having a different reality? They chased him from the syna- 55

60 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life gogue and attempted to throw him off a cliff. Yet the works he fulfilled after this speak for themselves. So Christians with an emotional and sensorial orientation may not be the most acceptable in their views and perceptions. However they are normally way ahead of time among those who re more practically oriented, like Paul. Remember how Paul resisted the early church to the point of orchestrating Steven s murder? His practical nature hindered him from seeing or sensing that there could be something in this new movement. After Jesus revealed himself to Paul he realized that his zeal and accomplishments did not necessarily imply he was heading in the right direction. God effectively used his practical nature in its rightful place. A word of caution to those with an emotional and sensorial orientation: not all that seems to come from God actually comes from him. Some of it is from inner perceptions while some can even be from Satan. The devil copies what God does and how he works: Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14. Remember in the Old Testament that for every true prophet there were many more false prophets issuing false oracles (divine revelations). It is fitting to say that for every true divine revelation there are many more false revelations. It s worth testing every revelation on God s word. If it s outside the bible it s not from God. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me, John 10:27. For instance there are Christians receiving revelations about marrying someone that s an unbeliever. Others may already be married yet assume a revelation about marrying someone else is from God. This is just one area. You name it, it s out there. This is not funny when confronting such matters. It s sincere believers who re sincerely misled by their inner world. They can be quite a pain to those around them and can also undermine the work in the body of Christ if they are in high ranks. I d one such experience in my early Christian life. It could have been avoided had I known matters I m sharing. But the depth of understanding on this matter may not have been known had I not gone through it. My family couldn t believe what I was getting into. It was a problem for them while also a problem for me to see that they were so unspiritual. I had heard from the Lord and they needed to get it. So much prayer and fasting was devoted for God to convince my family on matters I was applying. A whole city could have been saved if all such prayer and fasting was devoted to it! I d even gathered a lot of scripture to back up my revelation. The scriptures were however misinterpreted as I later found out. When the Lord revealed that I was the one mixed up my spiritual and emotional orientation got its wakeup call. 56

61 2. Why the Different Ways God Speaks Now if there is any revelation (vision, dream and/or auditory revelation) it has to pass through a difficult biblical test to qualify. If it fails (most fail) it s discarded, regardless of its excellence, clarity or the feelings accompanied with it. I apply the same difficult biblical test when reading about revelations (visions, dreams and/or auditory revelations) others received. If I m liable to err on revelations the same applies to other fellow mortals. Unfortunately many fail the test regardless of how excellent, glorious, clear or how the person felt while experiencing the revelations. Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world, 1 John 4:1. John was saying that each Christian was liable to receive revelations from various spirits other than the Spirit of God. There are two categories of spirits that are other than the Spirit of God. One category consists of human spirits and the other category consists of evil spirits. Our own human spirits could perceive matters that are not really from the Holly Spirit. Each of us consists of a spirit, a soul and a body. Sometimes the bible refers to our own human spirit as the heart. It is the inner heart of our lives that s our real engine. The bible talks about false prophets who prophesy out of their own heart: Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the word of the Lord, Ezekiel 13:2-3. The other category where deception can come from is from evil spirits. Evil spirits are also called fallen angels, demons and deceiving spirits. When they speak to us they are voices from the stranger (John 10:5). The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons, 1 Timothy 4:1. Deception concerning the supernatural can happen to any of us in our sincerity and innocence. Most believers that I ve known to have been quick in sharing their revelations without testing them on God s word have been genuine Christians. Prominent examples include William Branham, John Paul Jackson and Rick Joyner. William Branham had an amazing gift of healing. Unfortunately fame got to his head and he began to assume he was above the bible. The revelations and visitations took center stage in his ministry. He reached a point of claiming to be God s only prophet on earth sent to bring the church into final truth. However it has turned out that he s our modern day example of a false prophet. He was innocently deceived yet he refused repeated rebukes from fellow believers in the body of Christ. He chose to be led by his supposed words of faith, not by the word of God. 57

62 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life John Paul Jackson has written a wonderful book on spiritual warfare titled Needless Casualties of War. However, outside this he has many extrabiblical teachings on the spirit realm. They fail the biblical test regardless of how excellent, glorious, or clear they are. A bigger list of names can be added on believers having supernatural revelations without thoroughly testing them. Each of us has a responsibility to examine or test the revelations others are sharing, no matter how prominent they are, how excellent, glorious, or clear they are. We cannot afford pushing the scripture out of its central role as our Christian foundation. For detailed info on spiritual areas please see my book, Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit: Dealing with Root Causes. The extremes of how God meets us based mainly on our spiritual makeup (mind, will and emotions) are guiding examples. Most of us are a mix of the three makeups, like Jesus was. Other factors include our natural gifts and spiritual gifts discussed in parts 13 and 14 of chapter 1. The Unique Way God Wants to Relate with Each of Us God is a person like us his creatures. He therefore cannot work like a computer or calculator were one just punches the right buttons in order to receive a particular answer. All of us would prefer a heart to heart relationship with our loved ones than a mechanical one were we just do what is required in order to receive the right responses. For instance, sometimes we may wait for our children or spouses to ask before giving them what they want. Sometimes we just explore what they need and give it to them before they ask for it. When interacting with them we use verbal and non-verbal means full of meaning and expression. If we want to instruct them for the sake of inevitable things ahead we can talk with them, take them to school, buy some books or tapes for them, or assume they re old enough to learn certain things by themselves. And when imparting discipline to them we can tell them how we re hurt by things they ve done against themselves, use the rode, yell, or leave them to learn for themselves how harmful fire is. That s also how God relates with us and wants us to relate with him. He treats each of us in a unique way. The closer we are to him the easier it ll be to determine what he is saying, how he is saying it and why. We ll also be able respond better to him. The diverse ways God speaks to us are also there to facilitate submission to him. Every time we re searching for God to reveal his ways to us we re submitting. We re acknowledging our helplessness and lack of independence. 58

63 2. Why the Different Ways God Speaks The more we look for him the more of us is lost. And the poorer in spirit we become. God never allows us to be sure we know him enough. He hides himself. Truly you are a God who hides himself. (Isaiah 45: 15). Each of us has a responsibility to search for him and find him in order to live fruitful lives. The more we seek him the more we find him. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart, (Jeremiah 29:13). The more we seek him the more we deny ourselves and become child like. We become like children with nothing to boast of. Our abilities, intellect and other attributes lose value in knowing his will and relating with him. He becomes the ruler of our lives not ourselves. We cannot press any buttons to receive our answers. We just surrender ourselves to his will and his ways of doing things. The Challenge is in the Flesh Not in the Different Ways The different ways God speaks to us may seem as if he has complicated things for us. Then there is also our flesh or fallen nature that makes us to be self-driven instead of divine led. It is actually our fallen nature, not the many ways God speaks to us, that can make it more difficult to hear from him. Once the flesh and its self-centered appetites are conquered it becomes easy to relate with God and hear from him. Our flesh is conquered or crucified by applying on consistent basis our Christian disciplines: a) prayerful lifestyle, b) occasional fasting, c) helping those in need, d) walking by faith (shield against storms, doubt, spiritual or psychological defeat), e) striving for righteousness (breastplate against temptation and the flesh), f) learning God s word (sword against all spiritual deception, storms, and temptation), g) walking in peace and mercy (shoes against bitterness and life s rough paths), h) etc. For detailed info on our spiritual armor please see chapter 4: True Biblical Spiritual Warfare = Indirect Confrontation, in my book Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do s and Don ts of Warfare. Applying our Christian disciplines enables us to crucify the flesh and exalt the Holy Spirit in our lives. With the Holy Spirit have free expression in our lives it becomes very easy for us to relate with God. He enables us to 59

64 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life suppress the urge to live self centered and self ruled lives instead of God centered and Holy Spirit ruled lives. All of us have equal opportunity to be led by the Holy Spirit. It s not a pastor thing, nor anything some have more privileges than others. Through the blood of Jesus we are now counted as righteous in God s sight. That s why he qualified us to have the Holy Spirit who only relates with holy vessels. Every believer now has a right to draw towards God s throne to receive grace, whenever need arises (Hebrews 4:16, 2 Corinthians 9:8). His grace, not our efforts therefore enables us to walk and relate with him. However, that grace does not take our responsibilities. Its main purpose is to empower our weak nature to fulfill our responsibilities. Our responsibilities still include obedience to God in fulfilling our Christian duties and submission to his will. Obedience and submission are forms of self-denial. Since our sinful nature wants to rule and not to submit it becomes difficult to submit. The more we obey the sinful nature the more difficult it becomes to submit to God. On the other hand, the more we re willing to obey God the easier it becomes to submit to him. 60

65 3. The Importance of Listening to God It is the Only Way to Fulfill God s Will We are to make the most of every opportunity of being alive to the glory of God. Scripture says, Be very careful, then, how you live not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord s will is, (Ephesians 5:15-17). This scripture implies that if one does not know the Lord s will he is foolish. The Collins Thesaurus defines a fool as an individual who is a, blockhead,... dunderhead, idiot, ignoramus, illiterate, moron, laughing stock, bafoon, clown,... Even the book of Proverbs gives some very unpleasant distinctions between the wise and the foolish. God considers us foolish if we do not know his will concerning us corporately and individually. Irrespective of our status, age, wealth, titles, education and so on, we remain foolish without knowing and fulfilling his will. To him all these are irrelevant. He is only concerned about one thing. He measures all people by this one thing, this one standard, one test, one criterion: the fulfillment level of his will in our lives. This is the true measure of success and failure in life. Knowing and fulfilling God s will is the only thing truly worth living for. It is our only worthy investment of our time and effort. It is our only true career, our only source of employment and entertainment. Ultimately, it is our passport to heaven through Christ. And besides securing eternal life, God has promised us to pay for all our earthly needs. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, (Matthew 6:33). While unbelievers are busy seeking first all these things, God personally gives them to us believers as we seek him first. Seeking first God s kingdom, that is, seeking to know and fulfill his will is the first thing that ought to be considered in every plan, thought, word and deed in our lives. No place is worth living in that is outside his will. No career is worth pursuing that is outside his will. No friend, no companion is worth having that will corrupt our pursuit of his will. No responsibility or activity is worth carrying which compromises knowing and fulfilling his will. We therefore cannot afford to live without God s will and fulfilling it. We have no excuse before him if we never labored to know and fulfill his will. It is within our power of choice. It is within our power of choice to live God s way or our way, to invite blessings or curses in our lives

66 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life And our choice affects not only us but also our descendants. It is written, This day I call heaven and earth as witness against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him, (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). No Bench Warmers, No Spectators in the Body of Christ The main area we are to seek the will of God concerning our lives is in our role in the Body of Christ. Each of us has a key role to play in the Body of Christ. We ought to be wise by searching for it until we find it. Remember that it s not entirely the work of preachers, evangelists and the like, to play a central role in the body of Christ. All believers have distinctive abilities (natural and spiritual), opportunities, etc and are responsible to how they apply them. Also remember that the labels or titles of pastor, evangelist, apostle, prophet, etc are descriptive of roles. They do not imply one has no role to play if one does not have a title. Scriptures require no special ordination of God s servants and service in ministry. Ordination is man made for good reasons of order yet can also backbench those not yet ordained. There is no back-bench in Christianity, no bench warmers, and certainly no spectators. We re all a royal priesthood ordained by God at salvation to serve and glorify him. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God, 1 Peter 2:9-10. The potential to serve God and fulfill his will is in each of us. Are we stirring it up? Otherwise we ll be labeled as fools for not knowing the will of God for us. All that we do that has no connection to the advancement of the Body of Christ has no heavenly value. Whether it s done for our bellies, our egos or whatever, it counts as nothing before God. By knowing and fulfilling our role in the Body of Christ we will be adding value to what counts before God. James and Deborah Green say, When we stand before him, we will give an account, and it won t be our bank account, but it will be the account of how we used the precious commodity which he has committed to us, the truth of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Let us rend our hearts that we can feel, bear, and live the burden of the Lord...let us never be satisfied again with selfish Christian living. Let us throw out the seminars on how to get rich, and let us become poor that we may give others, that is become poor because we have given to 62

67 3. The Importance of Listening to God others, for when we do, many will be made rich in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Frail and diseased bodies all around the world tremble and shudder with the pain of their daily existence... do we dare to live fat in the abundance of our wealth or shall we lay our lives down, as he laid his down for us? Quit petitioning God for the things which pass away as your first petitions, and begin to beg of him to redeem souls, to draw closer to him, to satisfy his desire for your life. Begin to thank him fro even the smallest of blessings and provisions that he gives. Do not compare yourselves to those who appear rich as far as the present life, but rather compare yourselves to Jesus Christ the pattern son. Begin to see if you are measuring up to his expectation of you or you are simply playing a religious game to be seen and heard of men. 63

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69 4. The Central Role of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit Determines Our Walk with God Many of us began our Christian pilgrimage with the belief that the main determinant of a closer walk with God was the church one goes to. So, we would wonder from church to church looking for the right church. It s like an unbeliever searching for a right partner by using sight and opinions from others. We focus on big churches or those respected by people. It s amazing how our worldly ways unconsciously influence our lives. It takes God to reveal and purge them. Our Lord Jesus did not say that when he ascends to the Father he was going to send individuals to guide us to all truth. Neither did he say he would leave us a book of truth that we d read on our own to know the truth. He said, The Counselor, the Holy Spirit..will teach you all things, (John 14:26). When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, (John 16:13). He repeated it on so many other occasions to ensure that we get it very clear. It is a very important matter. It is tempting to replace the central place of the Holy Spirit s inner witness in knowing the truth with other outer avenues. Since he lives inside us and cannot be seen it is tempting to replace his central role inside us with external sources which can be seen. These include church ministers, respected believers, Christian books, tapes and visual programs. These avenues are secondary avenues the Holy Spirit uses in revealing the truth to us. They usually give the boundaries around where truth in regard to our individual lives can be found, not the specific location. For example, a believer may desire to get married. She wants to know and find her true partner. If she consults fellow believers or reads a book on marriage she ll only learn how she can know her true partner. Regardless of the number of people or books consulted only the how to part will be revealed. She will not know who her partner is, where he is and when God will make it possible for them to be bound together. The only way to understand these areas (who, where and when) is through the Holy Spirit she received inside her the moment she got born again. Scripture says, We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us, (1 Corinthians 2:12). To understand what God has freely given her she must have ears to hear from the Spirit she received inside her. Therefore, if she is able to hear from the Spirit of God she ll be able to have what God has already freely given to her

70 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life The same goes for ministry and other important areas of life. Whatever God has called us to do is ministry. For instance, some are called to be pastors, others lawyers, farmers, medical professionals and all other godly professions. The Holy Spirit s inner witness will confirm what God has called an individual to do in life. Outside God s calling an individual ends up having a job. A job is born in the flesh because it is the individual s chosen assignment. Ministry on the other hand, is God s chosen assignment for the individual. A job is determined by human strength in areas of relative advantage. It is determined by things of the flesh such as education, qualifications and other human attributes. Ministry on the other hand, is not determined by our human might or power. It is determined by the Spirit of God. It is determined by one s submission and sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit. God can use our human attributes but he does not depend on them. Being of the flesh (the sinful nature), a job brings fruits of the flesh in one area or another of the individual s life. Scripture says the fruits of sowing to the flesh (sinful nature) include, Sexual immorality; impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I ward you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God, (Galatians 5: 19-21). On the other hand, ministry being of the spirit brings fruits of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, (Galatians 5: 22-23). It also makes an individual to be a part of the body of Christ, thus facilitating his relationship with God. All these benefits are freely given and are obtainable through one s fellowship with the Spirit he/she has received from God.. The central place of fellowship with the Holy Spirit cannot therefore, be replaced with church or book fellowship. Its central place must remain if an individual wants to know all truth concerning God s perfect will for his life. The other areas must be there to facilitate it. They must be effectively used so that fellowship between the individual and the Holy Spirit can grow. 66

71 4. The Central Role of the Holy Spirit Fellowship with the Father and the Son Through the Holy Spirit Scripture says, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, (1 Corinthians 13:14). Fellowship with the Holy Spirit is fellowship with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And that is our greatest calling. Scripture tells each one of us that God, Called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians 1:9). Our expected response? Yes Lord, I ve heard your word. I ll always pursue closer fellowship with you. That is why God is jealous over anything that breaks our relationship with him. In fact his other name is Jealous. Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God, (Exodus 34:14.) Anything that takes most of our attention from him is a god. The biggest gods competing against God Almighty are power, money, and fame. A personal acid test of how much one is serving any combination of them is to estimate how much time, energy, thoughts and other resources he/she is allocating towards them as compared to God. Sometimes God withholds certain blessings from some of his children because he knows they ll just ruin the fellowship he desires with them. Any jealous person can withhold something he knows will undermine his relationship with his beloved. For instance, no loving husband would want to buy a car for his wife when he knows she ll end up spending most of her time with her friends. He s jealous of losing the time he d spend with her. And no loving wife would desire her husband to take an occupation that makes him go away from her for three weeks and appear at home for only two days. Money and material things will not compensate for her desire to spend more time with her husband. She ll remain jealous over the occupation her spouse has until he gets one that does not steal him away from her. God can be as jealous as we are. Not the sinful jealous, but that of intense love for someone that anything unjustifiable that tries to block the relationship is an enemy. Fellowship with him is his highest priority for every child of his. The fellowship Adam and Eve cut with God when they fell was restored to us by Jesus. Since God is not a flesh being but a Spirit he spoke to the spirit part of Adam and Eve. The death of our Lord Jesus for our sins qualified our spirits to interact with God like Adam did. However, the interaction Adam and Eve had with God is different from ours. He spoke to them from the external. They could literally hear his voice. He was a Spirit being operating from the outside. Now he is a Spirit being operating from the inside. Believers have a privilege to have a more intimate relation- 67

72 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life ship with God than Adam did since God lives inside us. The choice to utilize that privilege is with each individual. The Sin Breaking Role of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit exposes and convicts the individual of the sinful areas. He is then left to decide what to do about it. If he decides to continue the sinful practices he has chosen to obey his old master of self which is under the influence of the enemy. If he decides to change then he has chosen to obey his new master, God the father, Son and Holy Spirit. However, many Christians, at one stage of their walk with God choose to obey their old masters in spite of the Holy Spirit urging them not to. Scripture says, Do not put out the Spirit s fire, (1 Thessalonians 5:19). A person maintaining his old ways is putting off the fire of the Holy Spirit within him. As a result, the Holy Spirit stops burning (exposing) the sins of the individual. His spiritual growth either stagnates or recedes further into more sins. He remains a fruitless Christian because God can not use him. A life of fruitlessness makes Christianity boring, difficult and mere burden of trying to get to heaven. The chances are zero minus the fruits. Jesus said, Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, (Matthew 7:21). The only safety is in doing God s will. There is so much in store for us in the will for this life and afterwards. In it is contained all that we can ever dream of in this life and the hereafter. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things (material, marital and other personal needs) will be given to you as well, (Matthew 6:33). To miss these golden opportunities just for the sake some deceptive sins is utter madness. Mad people are not the mentally insane. It is those who had every opportunity to choose between gold and cow-dung with a visibly false gold coating, and they ended up choosing cow-dung. The Holy Spirit: The Only Source of Power Before each of us was born God had already made plans concerning everything about our lives - from the cradle to the grave. The only part we have been given to play in those plans is in exercising our choice. God chose to be a democrat rather than a dictator. So to each one of us he says that he has already made plans about our lives. The choice is ours whether we want them fulfilled in our individual lives or not. He says to each one of us, I know the plans I have for you, plans to 68

73 4. The Central Role of the Holy Spirit prosper you and not to harm you, and plans to give you hope and a future, (Jeremiah 29:11). It is within our own power to choose which course of life we want to take. However, it is not within our own power to put that choice into practice. That is beyond our ability. When we choose to follow God s plan God enables us to fulfill it by empowering us with the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, when we choose to follow our own plans we open the door for Satan to control our lives. No matter how upright our plans are, if they are outside the will of God they do cannot compel God s support. So we remain accessible to the enemy s influence. Many of us have at one point made great resolutions. But we found ourselves never achieving our goals. The reason for the failure of some of our noble plans is that we made them ourselves. We did not receive them from heaven. As a result, God had no share in them. Since we have only been given the freedom to choose, when it came to the implementation, the rightful Power who determines their outcome was unavailable. He has no interest in what s not in line with his will, however ambitious. The enemy had access in this case. Since our noble plans threatened his evil plans he decided to crush them. He easily comes To steal and kill and destroy, our efforts (John 10:10). Even our Lord Jesus had no power or ability to do anything good whilst on earth. He said, By myself I can do nothing, (John 5:30). If our Lord Jesus did nothing whilst on earth until he was enabled by God how much more do we, his disciples, need to be led and empowered by God? It was only after he was anointed by the Holy Spirit that he could begin doing what he came for. When he was anointed he declared, The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor, (Luke 4:18-19). As his disciples our Lord Jesus said that the person who will empower us to fulfill God s will is the same Spirit of God that anointed him to fulfill his mission on earth. He said the person who will teach us all things and guide us into all truth is the Holy Spirit. He will teach you all things, (John 14:26); When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth, (John 16:13). Without him we are ignorant and powerless. It means that no matter how many Bible courses one attends, how much time he spends reading the Bible, etc., if the Holy Spirit is not the one teaching and guiding him what he obtains is of no spiritual value. It will have no value in fighting against things in the spiritual realm. Through him Christ, the same Spirit of the Lord that enabled him to know and fulfill God s will has been made available to us. He (the Spirit of 69

74 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life God) empowers us to know and fulfill all that God has ordained for us. He now lives inside us and empowers us from within. As we submit to him he is able to do more than we ever desired and planned for. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen, (Ephesians 3:20). If we desire God s will to be accomplished in our lives we need to allow his Spirit to take full control over us. His Spirit is Jesus leaving inside us. Jesus said, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you, (John 14:18). It is written that, If any one does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ, (Romans 8:9). Through him (the Spirit of Christ) we are linked to our Savior who then enables us to bear much fruit. He said, I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing, (John 15:5). Without the Holy Spirit (Jesus and God the Father in us) we can do nothing. If Jesus could do nothing without the Spirit of the Father our Christianity is also impossible without him. He said, I tell you the truth, the son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing, (John 5:19). People were amazed at his teaching. How did this man such learning without having studied? Jesus answered, My teaching are not my own. It comes from him who sent me, (John 7:15-16). Just as Jesus was enabled by the Father he also has received all authority in heaven and on earth to enable us today. He was able to do wonders through the early apostles. After healing a crippled person people were amazed at them. Peter responded, Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? It is Jesus name and faith that comes through him that has given complete healing to him as you can all see (Acts 3:12,16). Jesus is still at work in the world through the Holy Spirit using believers to do his work. Do you know that Jesus Christ is in you unless of course you fail the test (2 Corinthians 13:5)? Jesus was giving a rule when he said, apart from me you can do nothing. Thus as a rule we have no power to do anything of value to his kingdom without being enabled by him. Life is mere loafing and wasting time without him. As far as he is concerned, no matter how busy one is occupied if all his efforts are without Christ he is doing nothing. He is still unemployed and jobless. The individual is still in the life of the wilderness. He may be labeled very successful in worldly terms, yet God labels him an outright failure. Our Lord was a failure in worldly terms, yet God was most pleased with him. Being his servants, only his assessment matters if we want to succeed on his terms. 70

75 4. The Central Role of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit Enables the Mind of Christ to Reign in Us Scripture says We have the mind of Christ, (1 Corinthians 2:16). However, his mind becomes more operational in us the more transformed we are from our previous ways of thinking and lifestyle. We have to enter our new nature lifestyle by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us into the ways of God. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will, (Romans 12:2). When our minds are being transformed by the Holy Spirit we begin to know the will of God over our lives and the body of Christ. We begin to walk in the spirit, worship God in spirit and truth and to be led by the Spirit. We become true sons of God: Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:14). With constant communion with God and reigning of the mind of Christ over our minds we are able to know the will of God on an issue. The mind of Christ enables us to discern the truth. People with their minds being transformed are able to hear God s voice because their hearts are sensitive and yielding to God s Spirit. Our savior assured such people that, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things. On behalf of those being transformed by the renewing of their minds, their values, beliefs and traditions, Paul said, We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truth in spirituals words, (1 Corinthians 2:12-13). It is through transformation and renewal of the mind that the mind of self and flesh is replaced by the mind of Christ. The mind of self and flesh thinks on self and carnal level while the mind of Christ thinks from the Holy Spirit level. The more transformed and renewed one s mind is, the more clearly he or she is able to pick messages from the Holy Spirit. This is where many Christians fall. Either willingly or out of ignorance they fail to allow Christ be formed in them. Without Christ in them, God s voice is either very faint or totally blocked, because the voices of the flesh are still blocking the voices of the Holy Spirit. The formation of Christ in us is a challenging and an endless journey in our lives. It demands denial of self and replacing self with Christ. Our Lord said, If any one would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, (Matthew 16:24). 71

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77 5. Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Disciple of Jesus Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Christian This chapter addresses matters that ought to be reflected in all our endeavors as Christians. It answers the question concerning our responsibilities while we re still here on earth. It also answers the question concerning why we re still left to remain on earth after receiving salvation. Why do we remain on earth after receiving salvation? Is it to have a nice life and seek God to satisfy all our desires and fantasies? Is it to clothe ourselves with worldly riches so that non-believers would envy us? I believe you already know the answer to these questions unless you re a disciple of the prosperity gospel. The problem is therefore not in knowing answers to such questions. The problem lies in retreating to our ways and ways of this world once we receive salvation. We easily forget that the only reason God did not take us out of this world after receiving salvation is because he has work for each of us to fulfill. He certainly does not leave us here so that we can have a nice life and seek God to satisfy all our desires and fantasies. Whatever seems nice and glorious in this life is nowhere near compared to what s in store for us in heaven. This life is a mini-hell compared to what s in store for us in heaven. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, 1 Corinthians 2:9. This is why the bible says we re to set our minds on the glorious life awaiting us. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God, Colossians 3: 2-3. Setting our minds on things above means placing little to no value on earthly things. They ought to only be used to the extent that they help us to fulfill our duties while still here on earth. They re not our comforts and security. Our comfort and security lies in what God has in store for us. Our time here on earth ought to be focused on the purpose God allowed us to remain on this earth. Considering that heaven is a better place he d have raptured us or taken us to heaven soon after accepting Christ into our lives. But he left us here. His purpose for leaving us here was to use us to do his work on earth for all humanity. God s primary work on earth for all humanity is to ensure the gospel is preached worldwide so that people have the same opportunity we already have.

78 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life God is counting on us over the salvation of fellow humanity. He works through us, in the body of Christ, to reach the lost not independently of us. How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?...as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! Ro-mans 10:14. Sometimes I wish he chose angels and gave them physical bodies to preach the gospel. With so many Christians settling for earthly things and underrating the urgency of our evangelical work it seems better for him to use his angels who value the importance. But he s God. If he chose us for the job he s able to use those willing to do his work. Our existence here on earth is important not primarily for our own sake but primarily for the sake of others the lost and fellow believers in the body of Christ. We have a divine responsibility or job to work for the needs of others. It s actually from fulfilling these responsibilities that we ll receive crowns or rewards in heaven. Each person will be rewarded according to what God assessed out of what he/she or did for God s glory. Who are these people that God calls us to lay down our lives for? They are in two categories: A) the Body of Christ (fellow Christians), and B) the Harvest Field (unbelievers, the unconverted). Every Christian is an apostle or disciple of Christ. Each one of us has an assignment, a role to play or a job to fulfill in this life for God s kingdom. Living the Christian life is itself a vocation - not always an easy one. And there s more: We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do, Ephesians 2:10. God prepared in advance, before even our salvation, the work for each of us to do. Thus there s no such thing as unemployment in the Body of Christ. Each of us has a puzzle to solve (with God s help) on finding our area(s) of assignment. Once discovered we get busy avoiding excuses. For every excuse out there there s someone who actually stumbled into his/her area of assignment through it. Each of us is burdened in at least one key area. Some have more diverse areas while others have more specialized areas. Serving in the areas outside our unique assignment(s) is still part of our Christian walk. The biblical principles shared in this book on hearing from God ought to have given you an avenue to understanding your purpose and role in the body of Christ. Earlier it was said that our Christian work is classified in two distinct categories: 1) Work related to directly serving the Body of Christ (fellow Christians) and 2) Work related to directly serving the Harvest Field (unbelievers, the unconverted). Our work differs for each category because each has its unique needs. Each category s unique needs are as follows. I ve called them the E s of our Christian work, to make it easier to remember. A. Every Christian s work/responsibility in the Body of Christ: 74

79 5. Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Disciple of Jesus To Empower or Equip To Enlighten To Encourage B. Every Christian s work/responsibility in the Harvest Field: To Evangelize To Emancipate (deliverance from bondage, mainly spiritual) To Exemplify Jesus A. Every Christian s work/responsibility in the Body of Christ To Empower A powerless or ill-equipped Christian is as good as any unconverted person - fruitless and subject to the whims of life. My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge, Hosea 4:6. This is the opposite with an empowered Christian. The people who know their God shall be strong and do great exploits, Daniel 11:32 (KJV, NKJV, ASV). Christian empowerment is essential to effectively do God s work. This kind of empowerment is not having lots of money even though money is not evil the love of it is. Neither does is it need a university degree, connections, particular personality or whatever none of which are sinful in their good context. This kind of empowerment is divine empowerment through the Holy Spirit. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, Acts 1:8. This divine empowerment doesn t just fall on the lucky few, the pastors, the workaholics, and so on. It is an empowerment that comes as we fulfill our areas of required input. We do our part and God moves in to do the rest of empowering us. It starts with us heeding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and ends with God doing the empowering. What part does God expect us to fulfill in order to pave the way for him in empowering us? Jesus said we re to abide or remain in him. He said without him we can do nothing or bear no fruit (do nothing worthy of God s kingdom). Here s the scripture: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and 75

80 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you, John 15:5-7. A deeper abiding in Christ through God s word, prayerfulness, fellowship in the body of Christ, charitable service, Holy Communion and all the other Christian disciplines is what allows God s empowerment to work in us. Our fallen nature or the flesh loses its influence on us over its desires, worldly ways and cravings. For any of us in front-line ministry we share biblical principles that enable or inspire believers to fulfill their areas of responsibility in receiving God s empowerment. God is eager for each of us to bear much fruit. Jesus said, This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples, John 15:8. When we do our part of abiding in Christ through our Christian disciplines God is able to empower us. The deeper the abiding, the more empowerment against the whims of life and above all, against the works of Satan over our lives or over the lives of those we re entrusted with. To Enlighten You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free, John 8:32. In addition, the same opening scriptures used above on empowerment also apply here. My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge, Hosea 4:6. The people who know their God shall be strong and do great exploits, Daniel 11:32 (KJV, NKJV, ASV). The bible says we know in part, i.e. we do not have perfect knowledge. That s why we have so many denominations with somewhat different interpretations and convictions - yet following the same God. Centuries ago we used to fight over it or hang those that differed from the dominant denomination. The dissenters or doctrinal rebels in those days used to be called heretics. Now we re more mature and more tolerant of each other (for the most part). Nonetheless there is only one truth. We cannot all be right on one issue with different interpretations (or different misinterpretations). We re all God s children yet what we know or don t know will influence our outcomes in this life. That is why it s not worth being stubborn about holding on to teachings that have been found to be in err or to be misinterpretations of scripture. Each of us has a personal responsibility to be enlightened in knowing what s biblical and what s mere misinterpretation of scripture. Otherwise we end up entrusting our own destinies and our lives to others. We re also to enlighten others about these potential spiritual impediments. It doesn t require finding a new church if the matters in err are minor. Every church and denomination has its leaks. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 1 Corinthians 13:

81 5. Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Disciple of Jesus A worthwhile chapter to read that discusses this topic in detail is Chapter 1: The Fallibility of the Church (Body of Christ) in my book on spiritual warfare. The book is titled Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do s and Don ts of Warfare (a free online edition is available at our website: SpiritualWarfareDeliverance.com). To Encourage Christianity is not a joyride into some divine Disneyland. Some assume it is. For the most part it is such that have a hard time being Christians. When the Santa Claus God they have conceived does not give them blissful happiness, trouble free, persecution free lives, great material bling bling, wholesome health, you name it, earthly lifestyle, they begin to assume something is wrong with their walk with God. This section on encouragement is not for such. They need more biblical enlightenment than encouragement. We do not use God for our own gain, wants and desires at least that s what my bible says. He s not our property for our self-centered desires. It s the other way round. We are his property for his loving yet divine centered desires. That s why we call him Lord, which basically means master or boss. The bible says we do not own ourselves. God owns us through his Holy Spirit. He bought us with his Son s precious blood. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price, 1 Corinthians 6: The Lord s Prayer, a model for our own prayers sums it up (Matthew 6:9-13). Max Lucado in his book The Great House of God, says, In these verses (of the Lord s Prayer) Christ has provided more than a model for prayer, he has provided a model for living. These words do more than tell us what to say to God; they tell us how to exist with God. We seek God, worship him, serve him, obey him, etc for the sole purpose that he is our heavenly Father and God. Serving God is not all about you. It s bigger than that. It is primarily about him and about his kingdom interests. Needless to say serving God has its eternal rewards that are far greater than temporary earthly rewards. As we fulfill his will in our lives we grow in knowing how to deal with matters in our lives his way (not ours) and to set our priorities on things above. And he appropriately intervenes in our lives. As we put his interests firsts he in return takes responsibility in securing our needs. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, Matthew 6:33. It is for such heavenly minded Christians that encouragement is needed. Sometimes carrying the cross seems so heavy, the sacrifices, the lack of appreciation, empathy, understanding and compassion among those being served, 77

82 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life warring against the flesh, worldly pressures, temptation, and so on. All these can be draining. At the point of feeling drained the weary Christian soldier needs some counsel from a fellow believer, a word of encouragement, a teaching or merely some help or even some time off. We are admonished to encourage one another, planting seeds of faith and hope, bearing one another's burdens in our higher calling. Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin s deceitfulness, Hebrews 3:13. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another (toward love and good deeds)--and all the more as you see the Day approaching, Hebrews 10:24-24 (emphasis added). Fellowship whether church based or less formal ones like family and neighborhood Christian fellowship is a great source of encouragement. With the advent of new technology such as the internet electronic networking tools are additional sources of connecting with other believers giving and receiving encouragement. Reading, watching or listening to Christian works (books, sermons, music, etc) is also a great source of encouragement (and source of empowerment). Above all, we have the Holy Spirit. He is our Comforter and Counselor who counsels us on God s encouraging word when feeling burnt out. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you, John 14:26. And we have the peace of Christ. It is the kind of peace that can never be acquired or found by unbelievers, no matter how they try. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid, John 14:27. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful, Colossians 3:15. B. Every Christian s work/responsibility in the Harvest Field To Evangelize 78

83 5. Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Disciple of Jesus Evangelism is self explanatory even for spiritually young believers. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age, Matthew 28: This is our primary Christian work in the harvest field (to unbelievers, the unconverted). How each of us does it is another book altogether. Knowing how we re each uniquely gifted helps each of us know the best way God has purposed to reach the lost. Some are social creatures and can thus better witness by directly meeting people one by one or witnessing to large groups. Others are artists and handy persons and can thus better witness through their creative abilities of art, music, writing, technology, aesthetics, and so on. Each of us can win people to God through our unique makeup. It s worth using our individualities in advancing God s kingdom rather than seeing them as barriers. He didn t make a mistake shaping us in whatever way. God uses our unique qualities for his glory. To Emancipate (deliverance from bondage, mainly spiritual) Emancipation was the matching E word found to identify this other key area of our Christian work. To emancipate says the dictionary is to: a) To set free from oppression or slavery, b) To free from bondage or involuntary servitude, c) To give equal rights to; of women and minorities, d) Independence of children from their parents due to age or circumstance. Parts a and b of the definition hit the nail right on. From a Christian point of view everyone without Christ is in bondage or involuntary servitude. Jesus would not have been needed if this was not so. Our Christian duty is to seek the freedom of our fellow humanity from bondage or involuntary servitude to Satan. It is involuntary because they inherited the sinful nature that goes all the way to the sins of Adam and Eve. This bondage, involuntary servitude, oppression or slavery varies from person to person. Some are in severe oppression, others less. The bondage at its highest level is spiritual. They are cut off from the Spirit of God. That is why the unconverted people are described as the living dead. In their deadness they are not able to grasp spiritual matters until Christ comes into their lives. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned, 1 Corinthians 2:14. From a Christian perspective every unbeliever has a spiritual deficiency. Some may have an outward coat of success yet their lot ends here once they die. 79

84 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Is that worth it? What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Mark 8:35-36 It is our mandate to reach out to the deepest needs of the unconverted. Their spiritual need is their utmost poverty. If this is so crucial our perspective of which people, regions and countries are poor ought to change from material poverty analysis to spiritual poverty analysis. The spiritual is what matters most at least to us Christians. Spiritual deliverance connects people to God, their source. Above all it secures their place in heaven. It s of no use focusing on giving people a nice life here and then watch them miss the most important life of eternity. It s therefore worth first securing people s place in heaven and then move on to caring for their earthly needs. It can also be done simultaneously, though with an understanding that the ultimate spiritual objective is receiving its due attention However there s more needless poverty out there and many of us are burdened to fight one type of poverty or another. Diverse poverty can be categorized into spiritual poverty, material poverty (this one we know too well), socio-cultural poverty (consumerism bling bling cultures, me first cultures, etc) and physical poverty (physical health). The mandate Jesus received was to save the whole person (spirit, soul and body) from such bondage. The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor, Luke 4: He said, As the Father has sent me, I am sending you, John 20: 21. We have the same mandate that Jesus received. How each of us fulfils this mandate is also another book altogether. The areas in need of freedom have been categorized so that one may know where he/she is most burdened to serve - spiritual, material, social, and physical areas. Someone may say some Christians are also in need of spiritual emancipation in the form of deliverance from demon possession. It may seem like it among some. However it actually is empowerment and/or enlightenment that they need. Christian cannot be demon possessed. This is addressed in a chapter of one of my books Chapter 6, Can a Christian be Demon Possessed? The book s title is Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do s and Don ts of Warfare. Biblical deliverance principles that fellow believers ought to apply in their lives are covered in my other books. The main one is titled Major Christian Deliverance Principles: Keys for Self-deliverance and Ministry. The other is titled Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit: Dealing with Root Causes. Please see our spiritual warfare and deliverance website (SpiritualWarfareDeliverance.com) for free online copies or for advanced editions you desire to purchase. 80

85 5. Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Disciple of Jesus To Exemplify Jesus Like to evangelize this section is self explanatory even for spiritually young believers. Exemplification has to do with what others can see. It is role modeling. To exemplify says the dictionary is to: a) be an example of something: to show or illustrate something by being a typical or model example of it, b) give an example of something: to give an example or examples in order to make something clearer or more convincing. Thus to exemplify Jesus would be to think, act, interact, communicate, stand for, desire, the very matters Jesus himself stands for. It is to live as if Jesus were each of us. It is to embody him, be him, personify him and represent him. This exemplification is where our lives can be seen: in our families, careers, extracurricular activities, charitable service to the disadvantaged, and other social areas. This is easier said than done. However, it is not worth holding on to negative behavior if one needs to grow, be used by God and effectively witness to unbelievers. There is nothing that turns unbelievers off than seeing Christians being hypocritical. It s not worth being a stumbling block to an unconverted from receiving salvation. Hypocrisy is behavior the Pharisees were distinguishable of. They majored on the minors, i.e. focused on minor matters while forgetting the things that mattered most. Jesus was not too kind in exposing their narrow mindedness. He lashed at them even at their dinner tables where he was frequently invited. This would be considered so rude in our generation. He was more hash when addressing the crowds. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them, Matthew 23:2-4. Here s something happening in some of our prosperity gospel circles: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth (tithe) of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former, Matthew 23:23. So even today we have hypocritical Pharisees, whether in leadership roles or in general Christian circles. They neglected the more important matters that God requires of us as Christians: justice, mercy and faithfulness. They focus on less important matters like sowing material seed to later become rich Christians. Some Christians are very obsessed with the material toys this world has to offer. They measure their blessings by material toys they have, not based on how God is using them to meet the diverse needs of others in the body of Christ and the harvest field. It s not worth being one of them. 81

86 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Like unbelievers they seek first earthly glory and consider their service to God is enough through church going and giving offering. There s more to Christianity than cheap service to God. The Pharisees did this. In fact they did better than people who serve God for their own gain or just to escape hell. Many never missed a minute of their religious duties. In their finances they gave every tithe and offering to the smallest fragment. Their outward service to God was perfect. And people respected them for their outward piousness. However God rejected them. He rejected them because they failed in the most important areas. Their hearts were not right. They served God with their mouths (and pockets) yet their hearts were far from earnestly serving God. Their service to God was self-centered. God rejects self-centered service in whatever form whether it s in money, time, skills, prayers, or whatever. Self-centered service is born from our flesh. It s not from the Holy Spirit. It seeks its own good first. It s not sacrifice service since it s serving oneself. Thus self-centered service is not considered a sacrifice in God s eyes. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? James 4:3-6. God wants service in whatever form whether money, time, skills, prayers, and so on, with our flesh or sinful nature crucified. He wants such service to be driven by his Holy Spirit, not by our own ambition and selfinterests. Service driven by his Holy Spirit is full of love and genuine sacrifice. It seeks the interests of others first, ignoring its own losses. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit, Galatians 5: You ll be puzzled on how Jesus lashed at the Pharisees if you read through the whole chapter of Matthew 23. And he said to us, Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 5:20. In exemplifying Jesus there ought to be no room for making lazy excuses like this is how I am, I can t help it, it runs in the family, my upbringing is causing all this, it s part of my personality, I m not perfect, I ve got bills to pay, etc. My book, Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit: Dealing with Root Causes, has more detailed content on deliverance and healing on matters that hinder our Christian walk. 82

87 5. Every Christian s Work/Responsibility as a Disciple of Jesus May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, 2 Corinthians 13:14. 83

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89 6. 80/20 Principle: Everything Permissible is not all Beneficial Everything Permissible is not all Beneficial -1 Corinthians 6:12 The 80/20 Principle has some significance in your life -be it in spiritual areas, social, material, or physical health areas. It enables you to focus on the 20% of what you do best. In our Christian setting it enables you to focus on the essentials of your calling. It enables you to focus on matters that are not just permissible but are beneficial to your calling, and to the body of Christ. Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial, 1 Corinthians 6:12. The Principle or the Pareto principle says that a minority (about 20%) of inputs, efforts, causes, usually lead to the majority (about 80%) of outputs, rewards, results, or consequences. The ratio is higher or lower for some, and in different areas per person. The key in the 80/20 Principle is not in the exact ratio but in the idea that there is an imbalance or inequality in nature and life. The relationship between input and output is rarely, if ever, balanced in life. Some matters of input have far more output value in our lives than others. Thus a few things (about 20%) turn out to be far more beneficial or important than most things (about 80%) in your life. The challenge is on how to focus your valuable time, resources and effort on these vital few. There are five categories of areas for applying the 80/20 Principle: 1. General areas and the 80/20 Principle 2. Spiritual areas and the 80/20 Principle 3. Social areas and the 80/20 Principle 4. Material areas and the 80/20 Principle 5. Physical health areas and the 80/20 Principle The 80/20 Principle is from the secular academic field of economics. There is nothing wrong or sinful about the secular academic world in its noninfiltrated context. It s matters that contradict or undermine the bible that are no, no for us. If disciplines from the secular academic world were evil then all of us Christians need to go back to the Stone Age type of living. No school, no reading, no technology and tools invented by the secular academic world. What follows are some examples of the Principle in each of the five categories above. It s important to see the examples as guidelines rather

90 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life than taking them religiously as if the ratio must always be exact. It s the main principle behind the 80/20 concept that matters most than the ratio itself. The main principle is that some matters in life are far more beneficial or important than others in terms of outputs, rewards, results, or consequences. 1. General areas and the 80/20 Principle 20% of your skills yield 80% of your returns. 20% of what you give (monetarily, spiritually, etc) accounts for 80% of what you get in life: The law of seed-time and harvest-time (Galatians 6:7-8, Isaiah 58:10-11). Life is like a big bank: give to others what you want to eventually receive with interest added. For any matter, 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes. 20% of your activities produce 80% of your rewards (spiritual, social, physical health, or material rewards). Focus on the 20% activities. You can increase your productivity 100% by doubling your 20% activities and eliminating the 80% activities. Thus do more of the 20%, and less of the rest. 2. Spiritual areas and the 80/20 Principle 20% of Christians account for 80% of the work in Christianity. 20% of your evangelism efforts account for 80% of the results. 20% of ministers account for 80% of false teachings in Christianity (many prominent ones too). 20% of church members account for 80% of the donations. 20% of books and other Christian resources you ve learnt from account for 80% of your Christian growth. 20% of the content in a sermon, book and other Christian resource yield 80% of your Christian growth value. 3. Social areas and the 80/20 Principle 20% of people in your life account for 80% of the difference people make in your life. 20% of your relationships account for 80% of people to nurture and foster close relationships. Thus spend most of your time nurturing these critical relationships. 20% of your friends account for 80% of your valuable friends. Thus focus on these friends more. 86

91 6. The 80/20 Principle: Everything Permissible is not all Beneficial 20% of your online friends account for 80% of your valuable online buddies. Thus focus on these friends more in Christian social networking. 4. Material areas and the 80/20 Principle 20% of what you learn in school accounts for 80% of helpful schoolbased professional skills. 20% of your investments will yield 80% of investment returns. 20% of raw materials and production costs account for 80% of the expenses. 20% of the customers create 80% of the revenue. Thus focus on them with no headaches for losing unprofitable customers to competitors. 20% of the time you spend at work accounts for 80% of what you achieve. Thus determine the essentials and focus on them. 20% of your products or services will account for 80% of your profits. Focus on the 20% commodities. 20% of the employees in an organization or department produce 80% of the output. Treasure and keep these employees forever. 20% of companies have 80% of market share in most industries. 20% of sales agents make 80% of the income in sales. 20% of real estate agents make 80% of the income. 20% of taxpayers account for 80% of a government s tax revenue. 5. Physical health areas and the 80/20 Principle 20% of the food you eat accounts for 80% of your health (especially if you eat lots of processed (junk) food). 20% of your leisure time accounts for 80% of your needed relaxation (the other 80% is a mere extra job, additional stress, or time wasted). Thus it s worth focusing on what gives you the most rest, than what the Joneses of this world run to for leisure. 20% of the kind of food you eat is eaten 80% of the time. 87

92 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Living by the 80/20 Principle: More of less (20%), less of more (80%) Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial, 1 Corinthians 6:12. The Principle is a critical concept in time and life management. Some matters are far more beneficial or important than others in terms of outputs, rewards, results, or consequences. 20% of the input creates 80% of the output. Out of 5 things, only 1 can be of utmost value. It s more beneficial to spend most of your time on the one most important matter and far less on the other 4 matters. Spend more time on the 20% matters and less on the less important 80% in order to dramatically improve results. Thus mourning over any lost time or opportunities is not wise. With the right focus on critical or 20% matters you can redeem the lost time by fulfilling in one year what was lost in 5 years, in 4 years what was lost in 20 years, and so on. Working hard is important, but more importantly working smart. This means working smart in all your endeavors - spiritual areas, social, material, or physical health areas. Like Richard Koch says, it s worth maintaining an 80/20 analysis and 80/20 thinking, to matters in life (Richard Koch in his book, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less). Living by this principle is more an art than a science. It gets better with time, prayer, basic measurement, and effort. Most people that are quite successful in whatever area in life actually apply the 80/20 thinking even if they may have no idea of the concept of 80/20 thinking. It s the principles behind the 80/20 concept that all high achievers apply. The main principle is that of maintaining a disciplined focus on one s goal. High achieving people have little time for petty distractions of television, gossip, idling, internet idling, responding to unimportant s, excessive reading of newspapers/magazines, outside interruptions, long personal calls, numerous and energy draining friends, and so on. Think of Olympic level athletes. Do they just show up to win their medals? No. So much painful hours of training, disciplined nutritional eating, avoidance of certain foods, luxuries, and so on, is what their lives are made of. They give up so much of many other things to gain so much of a single thing a rewarding performance in their sport. They focus on one thing at the expense of losing focus on many other things. At the end of the day it s more than worth it. The bible compares such focus, that we can call the 80/20 focus, with our Christian walk: Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a 88

93 6. The 80/20 Principle: Everything Permissible is not all Beneficial man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize, 1 Corinthians 9: Thus the 80/20 principle of focus on important matters is actually a biblical concept. Most of the self-help, management, and career development material have principles taken from the bible. They just don t give credit to it. MBA professors from top business schools hail the 80/20 principle as if the economist (Vilfredo Pareto) who framed it discovered an unknown principle of life. It was in the bible before he brought it out in the secular academic world. He did a great job at making it simple enough to understand. Here we give him credit and for his contribution to the field of economics. If businesses, athletes, scholars, and others in the secular world can attain high gains by using the 80/20 principle of focus how much more us Christians? We ought to be better experts at applying this biblical concept in our lives and callings. How to determine your critical or 20% areas in your life Are all (Christians) apostles? (No!) Are all (Christians) prophets? (No!) Are all (Christians) teachers? (No!) Do all (Christians) work miracles? (No!) Do all (Christians) have gifts of healing? (No!) Do all (Christians) speak in tongues? (No!) Do all (Christians) interpret? (No!), 1 Corinthians 12:29-30 (brackets added merely to increase understanding of the passage). The above passage says we cannot all be of the same calling. Most Christians actually have secular callings that include upright secular fields like hospitality, construction, information technology, health sector, business, law enforcement, and so on. Thus it is in one s calling that God s anointing for guaranteed growth and Christian expression lies. Each of us has a calling on us, whether we know it or not. It s my prayer that the earlier chapters in this book have been sufficient to enable you to hear from God on his purpose for your life. With a deeper understanding on the purpose for your life it becomes critical to be more self-disciplined. This will enable you to deal with life s numerous distractions, time wasters, energy and resource drainers. Thus there is no one size fits all prescription for everybody on the ideal critical or 20% areas in your life. Each Christian ought to find his/her own 20% areas that apply to his/her life and family. Your critical or 20% areas will also change over the course of your life. Your intimate walk with God will be a compass as the Lord burdens you with different matters at different times. What matters is fulfilling his will for your life rather than carving out your own critical or 20% areas in your life. His will or purpose for your life is your main 20% area for your life. 89

94 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life As Christians it s worth avoiding the fallen world such as the secular media to determine our 20% areas. The secular world is obsessed with material rewards even at the expense of spiritual values, social values, and so on. How to apply the 80/20 principle in your life The principle opposes conventional time management principles. Instead of creating a mere list of to dos it says create a to do list then focus on the important matters to fulfill. It says avoid trying to do all the things you desire to do and focus on the critical matters most of the time. What s important is therefore not in being able to do everything on a to do list. It is in wisely choosing to focus on the most important matters. Don t try to do more. Just do more of the right things. Thus it s worth writing down your responsibilities and your to-dos, then analyzing where you are wasting time, money and effort. Determine where to move your focus to create more output in terms of time, money, love, spiritual growth, and so on. Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial, 1 Corinthians 6:12. If other less beneficial or less important matters remain unfulfilled you can afford to ignore them. Or employ outside services for these matters that are outside your vital areas. You can seek assistance from someone willing to render the services and who considers his/her input in your non-essential area as his critical or 20% area. It could be his/her 20% area for financial reasons, for spiritual reasons, and so on. Eliminating or hiring assistance for less beneficial areas will save you from wasting time, from a burn out syndrome, from micro-managing, from fulfilling less, and from feeling guilty or disorganized. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts, 1 Corinthians 12: Thus it s fitting to eliminate or to hire assistance for activities that are not in the area of your burdened critical results. If hiring is currently unaffordable you can collaborate with someone willing to render services and who considers his/her input in your non-essential area as his critical or 20% area. Different people measure each area differently as their area of critical results their 20% area. Your critical results can measured in whatever category of your 90

95 6. The 80/20 Principle: Everything Permissible is not all Beneficial treasured output: spiritual value, monetary value, social value, physical health value, egoistic value (God forbid), people-pleasing (God forbid), and so on. This may mean making fewer promises to most people in your life. Instead of being a people-pleaser your goal is being God-centered on what he s purposed to fulfill through you. Once you re focused on his purposes he ll align you with people that really need to be served by you. These God-assigned people will benefit from your input in their lives. They ll appreciate you dearly at least most of them. If you choose to please everybody you ll be sorry for many of your sacrifices. Most likely won t benefit from your sacrifices, can be resentful because they re hard to please, and can derail you from fulfilling your essentials by wasting your time, money, or other resources. Thus it s better to serve those God has purposed for you to serve. Out of every 12 people you serve there could be one Judas Iscariot that s willing to betray you using a biblical scenario. This is a success compared to your own design that may bring in 11 Judas Iscariots and one beneficiary from all your efforts. By the end of it all you may come out bitter, mad at people, mad at life, mad at Christianity, and mad at God. Thus what s important is not being everything to everybody just to prove you re a Christian. What s important is focusing on your area of calling. This is were you can serve best and were God s anointing will meet you. In you focus on this area your service to people that really need your input will follow by God s design. In other words, by focusing o your calling you ll automatically be serving people you were called to serve. Focusing on the area you can serve best will energize you, will have God s anointing on your calling to flow, will enable you to go the extra mile, and will enable you to endure hardships that may stand in your way. The hardships may be social (people, persecution, opposition, relationships, and so on), or material (financial, lack of adequate equipment, and so on), or physical health (lengthy hours of work, and so on). It makes you unstoppable. Your purpose or calling in this life is a seed that can grow anywhere God pleases, and against any odds. Consider Apostle Paul. He faced many unpleasant matters that to many of us may cause us to give up. Had he given up we d not have had a third of the New Testament. Here is Paul s brief account of his battles taken from just one small passage: I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from 91

96 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 2 Corinthians 11: Time wasters versus essential matters outside your life s 20% areas Not everything outside your critical or 20% areas in your life is a distraction. Life is about balance. Matters of balance are essential to fulfilling your purpose even if most have nothing to do with your primary purpose. In reality, there is no one single critical or 20% area in your life to focus on. The other areas of balance in your life constitute the other sets of critical or 20% areas to include in your life. The problem comes in when we confuse needed areas of balance with distractions. Distractions are not essential for balance and balance matters are not in the category of distractions. The two are totally different. Here are some matters that may help you in distinguishing what constitutes matters of balance and what constitutes matters of distraction in your life. Matters of balance All matters of balance have their optimal limits. In other ways going beyond the limits they become a distraction from one s primary call, and a distraction to other people. For example a spouse, child, close family member, or close friend will appreciate, up to a point, the time you give them. Beyond that point you become a distraction to them no matter how much they love you. You become too needy. Excessive time with them will also distract you from your main calling. In economics the peak or highest level of a limit is known as the point of diminishing marginal returns. The law of diminishing returns says that for every yield rate after a the peak point fails to increase proportionately to additional outlays of invested time, labor, or resources. Beyond the peak limit the benefits begin to diminish. Although it s an economics concept it has profound meaning to matters we do in life. There are so many life principles we can learn from the business world and other noble careers. They just stole these principles from the bible and removed the verses. They still work even without the scriptural verses. Truth is truth. 92

97 6. The 80/20 Principle: Everything Permissible is not all Beneficial It s therefore important to note the limits in your matters of balance. It s important to also manage the time close people in your life get from you. Some may be too needy. If they re not burdened for anything and have time to waste you ensure their wasteful time is not wasted on you. Most of us have a large or sizeable extended family and friends network that we love so much. However there isn t enough time to frequently spend with each one of them. We all hope that most understand. Some may feel sad but it s one price to pay for focusing on 20% matters. They won t be there to take the blame if we fail to account for what the Lord entrusted us with. In addition, some may be focused on the wrong matters that they expect from us. It s therefore important to give what s necessary to give, not just what s expected. One of these quality matters to give our beloved is prayer. Some will only appreciate in heaven that our prayers saved them from needless heartache on earth, and even more, saved them from going to hell. Through prayer we give them the highest quality gift, by standing in the gap for them. Thus it s important to bear in mind the quality and the optimal limits of matters of balance. Below are some matters of balance in life: * Family and other relationship matters of love and support. * Church attendance and fellowship with fellow Christians. * Time with friends (within limits). * Meaningful communication (with friends - within limits). * Physical fitness training and exercise. * Leisure time on matters that bring rest (within limits). * Devotional time for prayer, fasting, bible study, music. * And so on. The above is only a guide. Create your own. Matters of distraction Distractions are time wasters. They re time thieves. They steal the most precious gift you can ever have: your time. Money and material things can always be replaced. Time cannot. In fact, true success in life is in time well spent on matters of one s calling that the Lord entrusts each person with. The worldly success that is defined as making a lot of money is a total scam or trick by Satan. True success is defined by fulfilling one s calling to a level as high as possible. And this means high self-discipline and walking with God in such a way that every bit of time is well spent. The next chapter has more detailed info on true success. Thus any time thief is not worth entertaining. A minute stolen is a minute you can never get back. The word redeeming time does not mean getting back the time you lost. The life clock never ticks backwards. It means compensating for the time you lost by doing certain things right. In regard to the 80/20 principle it means focusing on the right matters in your life spiritually, socially, materially, and physically. With the right focus on critical or 20% matters you can redeem the lost time by fulfilling in one year 93

98 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life what was lost in 5 years, in 4 years what was lost in 20 years, and so on. In other ways you can achieve in one year what would take you 5 years, in 4 years what would take 20 years, if you focus on the right matters in your life. Every today is called present for a good reason. It s a gift of time to wisely use. It s worth using every present or gift from God wisely. It s a talent that can be invested wisely. Any time thief is not worth entertaining from stealing the present. Here is a guide showing some major time wasters. You can create your own after evaluating your life on what s on track and what s off track in your life: * Secular television (see my other book on the occult world). * Accepting unnecessary help requests (e.g. to fix a computer). * Responding to unimportant phone calls, and s. * Excessive reading of newspapers/magazines. * Entertaining unnecessary outside interruptions. * Long personal calls, s, and face-to-face chatter. * Having numerous and energy draining friends. * Idle chatter and gossip. * Internet idling, computer games,constantly looking up . * reading trivial s which have no relevance to you. * Internet surfing at inappropriate times. * pursuing egoistic or personal ambitions. * procrastination. * Laziness and idleness. * Negative thinking, negative talk, and negative emotions. * having internet pages for egoistic reasons (with nothing to do with your calling, evangelism, or other noble purposes). Managing distractions Distractions will always keep knocking on your life. The key to dealing with them is in managing them. It gets better with time if you actively work to control them instead of allowing them to control you. Recommended books on the 80/20 Principle: There are many books out there that cover on time and life management. A few stand out that I d recommend. They are from the secular and academic fields. Although many are primarily focused on monetary rewards a Christian can easily draw out principles to apply in spiritual endeavors. The books include the following: * First Things First, by Stephen R. Covey * The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less, by Richard Koch. 94

99 7. Motivation and the Conditions for Fulfilling Your Calling Our inborn desire to succeed: spiritually, socially, materially, physically It s a mystery that we re all driven to succeed in life. Nobody in his/her sane mind wakes up just to breath, eat, and sit around. We all have an inborn desire to succeed spiritually (for us Christians), socially, materially, etc. You may say that you ve seen many normal people that just sit around and seem never to want to achieve anything in life. As a concern it may be to see some waste themselves if you were to look inside them you d hear a cry to rise above mere existence. There are reasons why some seem to have dropped out of life in striving to overcome its challenges. Numerous research work done in the secular field of psychology explains behavior in groups and individual settings. The research work has been categorized into what are known as theories of motivation. One theory of motivation is the Self-determination Theory, developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. The researchers (Deci and Ryan) found that all people have needs which are innate (inborn) psychological nutriments that are essential for ongoing psychological growth, integrity, and well-being. They say that there are three inborn psychological needs that people desire to satisfy for their ongoing psychological growth, integrity, and well-being. These psychological needs are: a. The need for competence. Need for self-worth, significance, selfesteem. b. The need for relatedness. Need for belonging, community, acceptance. c. The need for autonomy. Need for the freedom of choice and sense of self-determination, not individualism nor social detachment. It s the freedom to not being in oppression, manipulation, and being subject to the extreme dictates from others). These needs are inborn, natural, universal, and essential for psychological health and well-being of all people, regardless of gender, group, or culture. To be psychologically healthy all three needs have to be satisfied. Thus one or two psychological needs are not enough. The researchers argue that by saying the three psychological needs are essential nutriments implies that individuals cannot thrive without satisfying all of them, any more than people can thrive with water but not food

100 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life To suggest that the three needs are universal and developmentally persistent does not imply that their relative salience and their avenues for satisfaction are unchanging across the life span or that their modes of expression are the same in all cultures, (Deci and Ryan, Self-determination theory, in the American Psychologist, volume 55, page 75). To the extent that the three psychological needs are continually satisfied, people will function effectively and develop in a healthy way. However to the extent that they are hindered, people will show signs of ill-being, nonoptimal functioning, and psychopathology (mental and behavioral disorders). For example, a social environment that affords competence but fails to nurture relatedness is expected to result in some impoverishment (poverty) of wellbeing. Worse yet, social contexts that engender conflicts between basic needs set up the conditions for alienation and psychopathology (Ryan et al., 1995), as when a child is required by parents to give up autonomy in order to feel loved, (Deci and Ryan, page 75). Self-determination theory says that people have the freedom to determine their own behavior to the level to which major conditions in the environment they live in allow them to. Thus people s inborn desire to succeed is facilitated or hindered by conditions in the environment they live in. People can be self-proactive, creative, and engaged or, alternatively, passive, dropped out and alienated, largely as a function of the conditions in which they live and develop. Christianity, the foundation for divine motivation and for true success The bible says, If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3 (KJV). The above subsection covered on motivation, our inborn desire to succeed in life, and how our motivation or inner will can be facilitated or hindered by conditions in the environment one lives in. The most important condition that can facilitate or hinder a person s inner drive (motivation) to succeed is his/her religious foundation. History is full of records of people who did amazing things through their zeal motivated by their religious convictions. From a Christian point of view it is through our salvation after we re born again that new inner strength is added to us. This inner strength is the Holy Spirit. He is our foundation for living. Without him we re on our own trying to make it through the complex maze of life. No wonder we see many who have become passive and dropped out of striving to overcome life s challenges. It s a tough world on our own without the Holy Spirit. Even our Lord Jesus had no power or ability to do anything good whilst on earth. He said, By myself I can do nothing, (John 5:30). If our Lord Jesus 96

101 7. Motivation and the Conditions for Fulfilling Your Calling did nothing whilst on earth until he was enabled by God how much more do we, his disciples, need to be led and empowered by God? Please read chapter 4, The Central Role of the Holy Spirit, in case you haven t read it. Thus we need the Holy Spirit for any true success in life that s worthy of God s heavenly prize. To renew the inner drive (motivation) in people who have become passive and dropped out of striving we need to reconnect them to the source. The Holy Spirit is our greatest source of inner strength, zeal, or motivation. Through him any convictions God puts in our hearts are unstoppable. No environment, no circumstance, no opposition is strong enough to stop a Holy Spirit fired person. The secular theories of motivation on what can encourage or discourage people are relevant to the natural person. They ve little relevance to a spiritual person. This is because what facilitates the zeal in a spiritual person are not environmental or circumstantial factors. It is unseen factors that are bigger than the environmental or circumstantial factors. The unseen Holy Spirit is at work in a spiritual person. He s the only power that can rise above environmental or circumstantial factors. This is how we break the vicious cycle of people going through the basic motions of life. This were we come in as Christians in whatever capacity as ministers, Christian counselors, as lay Christians, as Christian parents, siblings, as friends, and so on. We seek to reconnect people to their source - God. I hope this won t bring some misunderstanding. Someone may assume it ll just be so easy to regain the childlike motivation to strive in one s area of calling. What I mean is that the one who ll make all the difference is the Holy Spirit. Whether or not it ll be easy to regain the childlike inner strength, zeal, or motivation depends on factors beyond this book. Some people s inner will has been severely broken by whatever storm in life. God can still bring healing and use such people. My other book covers on the healing aspects of any inner areas that have been broken. It s titled Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit: Dealing with Root Causes. Right & wrong motives for success in spiritual areas, social, material, etc Although we all have inborn desires to succeed our motives for succeeding differ from person to person. There are right and wrong motives for succeeding whether socially, materially, physically or spiritually (for us Christians once born again). The wrong motives for succeeding are the ones that have made the word success seem like a dirty word among us Christians. If someone says, I want 97

102 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life to be successful, some may assume he/she is a worldly Christian. It s worthwhile to ask what kind of success the person wants and what the primary motives are. Steven Reiss, a psychology and psychiatry professor at Ohio State University, has published a more modern work on human motivation. He argues that there is a diverse range of human motivations that cannot be easily categorized for each person. Different people are motivated in different ways. Reiss says that there are 16 basic motives that guide nearly all meaningful behavior. On each area in life people can be motivated by any one or combination of them. They are as follows: (1) power, (2) independence, (3) curiosity, (4) acceptance, (5) order, (6) saving, (7) honor, (8) idealism, (9) social contact, (10) family, (11) status, (12) vengeance, (13) romance, (14) eating, (15) physical activity, and (16) tranquility. Dr Steven Reiss outlines what each of the above mean in his book, Who Am I?: The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Behavior and Define Our Personality. Notice from the 16 basic motives that some are right motives while others are wrong motives. The 16 basic motives are not sealed and complete. All good academic inquiry helps us increase our understanding and needs not be taken as divine law. You ll notice that spiritual motives are missing from the 16 basic motives. This too ought to be expected from most secular academia they avoid religious matters as much as possible. It s mostly in a negative way when they do cover them. So we can add a 17th motive as spiritual motives. As Christians, with the mind of Christ, we take whatever is good information, remove the disagreeable, and fill in the blanks on what s missing. If you re able to do this you ll find Reiss book worthwhile to read or any other secular material by other authors. The bottom line on the many different motives on each area of pursuit is that there are many right motives and there are also many wrong motives. Dr Steven Reiss work and book are a good source to get a deeper understanding on the diverse motives people have. People do have different primary drives or motives for succeeding in whatever areas of life - socially, materially, physically in our physical health, academically and for us Christians, spiritually as well. Here are just five other primary motives I came up with that are part of or an addition to Reiss 16 motives. Unlike Reiss I do not have statistical research documentation. However you re likely to find information that confirms the findings in a psychology book: 1. Fear drive or motive. The sheer fear of failure compels some in their pursuits. 2. Love and service motive. Some are driven by the obligation of owing their time, abilities, and resources to their families, to society or to God. 98

103 7. Motivation and the Conditions for Fulfilling Your Calling 3. Pleasure drive or motive. For some, the pleasure of succeeding fuels their efforts. This is more prominent in workaholics who experience immense pleasure seeing progress in whatever area of passion. 4. Comparison motive. Such as are looking for acceptance or admiration. So they strive to keep up with the Joneses of their community. 5. Competition motive. Others are even driven by competition motives of aiming to do better than their peers and the average. They strive to be ahead of the pack. Their self-esteem is based on how far ahead they are. Each of us therefore has one or more dominant drives to succeed in life. Herein lies the test of whether or not we're on the right track of true success. It s worthwhile to take a self analysis on what kind of success we want and what our primary motives are. The self analysis can be done on whatever areas of life - socially, materially, physically in our physical health, and for us Christians, spiritually as well. You may be surprised on some of your primary motives, say for financial advancement, career advancement, or for marriage. You may find some motives are merely for status, or secular competition. These are worldly motives. Once any area is found to have wrong primary motives it s worth praying for God to replace the motives with the right ones. Otherwise he is unlikely to provide for whatever we ask with wrong motives. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? James 4:3-4. Worldly motives constitute spiritual adultery or friendship with the world. There is no heavenly reward for worldly motives. That s why we hear people say, You can t take it with you. Zealous pursuit of worldly glory is like zealously chasing the wind. It s an endless chase without any gain. One may gain this world yet lose his entire reward in heaven, if at all he ll make it to heaven. It s a waste of time, particularly to us Christians. Our eyes have been opened to see what s more important. Scripture admonishes us not to deceive ourselves that it s biblical to be worldly. It says, Don t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? James 4:4. In God s eyes everyone pursuing worldly success is wasting his/her life. It doesn t make it any better even if we may esteem such as celebrities, the world s richest, the powerful, and so on. Our perception doesn t change God s perception. So it s either we align ourselves with his perception and ways or we re lost with everyone else who s worldly. It is hoped that all our skills, energy, time and resources will be spent in areas that Heaven is committed to support. Areas pursued without God s support usually fail eventually regardless of how noble they may be. 99

104 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain, Psalms 127:1. Some areas may not fail but they lead to much sorrow in other genuine areas in life. God eventually uses the mess to work to either our personal good or corporately for good in the body of Christ. Yet it is not worth getting into what could have been avoided had there been enough understanding. Those who have gone through certain bitter experiences in whatever area know they were not worth going through if they could be avoided - regardless of how much good God may have brought out of the experiences. This is when the pain, trauma, the loss and whatever wasted is deep enough to keep saying that whatever good God may have brought was not worth obtaining by undergoing whatever was experienced. Many of us can identify one or more areas in our lives that bear such marks. May we be prayerful enough in our lives to avoid experiences that God never ordained. Prayer enables us to seek God s help in avoiding serious traps that seem right yet lead to destruction - destruction socially, materially, physically, or spiritually. May he also enable us to make required sacrifices that are unpleasant to our fallen nature so that we can fulfill higher callings. The next subsection covers on sacrifices needed for any kind of success true or false success, with right or wrong motives. The right perspective on required sacrifices is essential for any kind of success. Right perspective essential on required sacrifices in any area of pursuit Show me someone who s willing to make needed sacrifices in his/her area of pursuit and I ll show you the barriers he ll break. The sluggard (lazy) craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied, Proverbs 13:4. Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men, Proverbs 22:29 (KJV). He may not stand before earthly kings, if he s a spiritual person, yet his work will make him break barriers that mere men cannot cross. Sacrifices are major prerequisites for succeeding in secular as well as spiritual areas. Making needed sacrifices is basically applying the 80/20 Principle, covered in the previous chapter. It s focusing on critical inputs needed while giving up many unrelated areas. Having the right perspective on required sacrifices is therefore the foundation to fulfilling major endeavors. The right perspective on required sacrifices gives us the purpose to put aside certain needs. Then we will be more willing to put aside these needs. Without the willingness we would continue 100

105 7. Motivation and the Conditions for Fulfilling Your Calling satisfying needs that may not be sinful but are hindrances to fulfilling more important matters. The right perspective on required sacrifices also enables us to cope when major difficulties arise in our journey. For any noble cause difficulties are as certain to come as sunrise and sunset. God allows our adversary to trespass into our lives for reasons many times beyond our understanding. But he s God, and he is on our side no matter how loud obstacles roar. Major difficulties may be in social areas like with colleagues, in marriage, a family or persecution for one s Christian beliefs. They may be in material areas concerning money or lack of it. They may be spiritual, moral, psychological, physiological, and so on. Giving up is a sure alternative the more vague our perspective is on required sacrifices. Temptation to give up is not only for starters but also for the experienced in whatever area of life. In the scripture we have great saints like Moses and Elijah who expressed their resignation at the height of their success. The right perspective on required sacrifices is therefore an essential key worth carrying throughout all our various endeavors. We are to look at sacrifices as merely strategic prerequisites for our major endeavors. Then we ll be able to look at obstacles and sacrifices in a meaningful way. A willingness of carrying a failure label in areas that others value is also essential instead of feeling left out or feeling as if one is missing something. Thus we can carry a failure label that we ve no idea what s on secular television, or that we do not have certain toys worldly people value. This is more so for us Christians where fitting in the secular lifestyle is discouraged. Christianity demands a lot of sacrifices that the secular world values. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? James 4:3-6. Worldly motives constitute spiritual adultery or friendship with the world. There is no heavenly reward for worldly motives. One may gain this world yet lose his entire reward in heaven, if at all he makes it to heaven. Sacrifices are mere strategic prerequisites in any area of pursuit This subsection highlights some areas that are valued in the secular world and some in Christianity advocate for. The reader is encouraged to find areas that relate to godly convictions and identifying with required strategic sacrifices. Every success story is filled with enduring experiences of self-denial. Ask top athletes, students, chief executives, politicians, church ministers, 101

106 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life parents, married couples, and so on. Each had to make certain sacrifices that they wouldn't make if there was an easier alternative. They had to carry their own unique crosses by denying certain short-term desires in preference for their higher or long-term pursuits. Thus nearly every extraordinary accomplishment requires extraordinary sacrifices to achieve it. This is so for both pursuits of temporal and eternal value. For example, Oprah Winfrey is a personality most of us are familiar with. This only to give an example of a known person, thus not necessarily endorsing a person based on character. Oprah is actually now into promoting New Age teachings. Oprah says she had to forego the need for having children for reasons she discovered during the peak of her career. Her material success is beyond question. Speak of success from a temporal viewpoint she s on the list. Oprah is on the top material pack of the world s current 6.7 billion people!! She is currently, according to Forbes magazine, among 500 wealthiest people in the world. She has an estimated fortune of 1 billion dollars. But she probably had feelings of social inadequacy in spite of her material abundance. This was until her moment of truth in South Africa. Her destiny moment she said, came when she went to help orphaned and disadvantaged children. Now I see what all of this has been for, she said, now I see why I am not married. Now I see why I never had children. I am supposed to work with these children, (TV Guide, October 4, 2003, p.38 (NB. Not endorsing TV Guide s secular channels)). Our best example of success from an eternal perspective is Jesus. He once told his disciples the sacrifices he had to endure in fulfilling his success story. The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again, Mark 8:31 (emphasis added). His greatest success only came after being killed. It brought his resurrection, ascension into glory, and its related effects on the entire humanity. It is through him that we become God s children. He is our Lord and Savior. His mission to save humanity was a success. Jesus success mission was totally unconventional. It had no tangible earthly rewards of fame, fortune, and fun. This is why it didn t sound well among the disciples. Peter took Jesus aside for a good lecture on success from a human viewpoint. Jesus responded, You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men, (v. 33). Then he told the disciples what was required of everyone who wanted to follow his version of success. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what 102

107 7. Motivation and the Conditions for Fulfilling Your Calling can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father s glory with the holy angels, (v ). Each of us must therefore understand our unique areas of self-denial and sacrifices required to fulfill our purposed callings. We need not be ashamed for making them. It ll be more shameful for not having made them when compared with what we settled for. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines self-denial as, the denial of one s own interests and needs. It defines sacrifice as an act of giving up something one values for the sake of something that is of greater importance. A more elaborate description: self-denial: - the setting aside of your own wishes, needs, or interests, whether voluntary, altruistic, or enforced by circumstances. Sacrifice: a giving up of something valuable or important for somebody or something else considered to be of more value or importance, (Microsoft Encarta Dictionary). Sacrifices are only strategic since they allow us to reach our goals. It s like a chess game where a player allows or forces an opponent to take one of his/her small pieces (pawns) so that he can gain an advantage position. The player won t win if he tries to keep all his pieces. In real life strategic sacrifices of small pieces of life are required in order to gain the more valuable ones. No such thing as having it all. Attempting to have it all only leads to constant burnout, overload and mediocre performance. There ll be areas or standards that others may want us to live by. But ultimately the decisions and choices are made by each of us. Critics, though necessary and unavoidable, can be a burden in the pursuit of our convictions if not well handled. Strategic self-denial and sacrifices may include any combination of the following. It all depends on one s life mission, personal convictions and commitment to higher causes. Minor Strategic Sacrifices 1. Comforts and pleasures: these include ample sleep, entertainment inclination (secular TV & other media, partying, etc.), unnecessary chatter & visits, etc. Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive, (1 Corinthians 10:23). 2. Other time consumers. Time is our spiritual money. It s mainly intended to be spent on things of lasting value, not perishables. 3. Money. Money is our physical cash. It s mainly intended to be spent on things of lasting value. We ll one day account for every penny from the income level each of us was entrusted with. It may seem like our money now, 103

108 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life but we ll find out who gave us the privilege to have it. There d be less poverty if most people saw it as an obligation, not a property to endlessly stock up. Major Strategic Sacrifices 1) Gifts, abilities and pursuits for social and spiritual causes. Life is a call to service, not self-glorification. Parents understand this better the larger their families are. If our talents, abilities and pursuits are seen as tools for serving others we ll have the steam to go on when things get tough. Giving up for an easier and less demanding life will be letting those depending on us down. 2. Egoistic needs. Sacrificing needs for recognition, approval, good looks, esteem, comparison, competition, power, wealth and fame. A less surprising sacrifice for committed Christians since persecution (social or physical) and humility are part of the cross in the Christian journey. 3. Money and material resources. On the highest level money and material resources become tools for serving others. Those entrusted with callings dealing with money like in business are in a better position to accumulate for the sake of wisely distributing. It's a way of laying up your treasure (wealth) in heaven. Those entrusted with callings dealing more with spiritual matters like religious ministers and non-profit staff are in a better position to desire less for the sake of effectively focusing on their spiritual obligations. It s a way of seeking first his kingdom interests while minding less about material possessions. It s also a way of setting an example that life's true treasures are more spiritual than material. 4. Marriage. Like Mother Teresa, John the Baptist and other scriptural figures. This doesn t imply taking religious vows to be single. Ample sad lessons can be drawn from many good intentioned people that did. It means purposely avoiding marriage for as long as it ll interfere with your mission. It ll be unfair to your spouse if your mission is a mere interference to your relationship. So you purposely remain in a position where you re not emotionally hurting someone else. It ll also be an emotional drain on you having someone that not only doesn t share your convictions but sees them as a hindrance. If an opportunity comes of having someone that shares your convictions in word or more rarely in deed, you ll be free to marry instead of failing on your vows. In this case you ll have a mission partner rather than just a marital friend 104

109 7. Motivation and the Conditions for Fulfilling Your Calling you share material, physical and emotional needs. However if you re intended to be single for life you ll have the grace to fulfill your mission without any concern of marital needs. 5. Being childless. Like Oprah Winfrey for a secular example and many biblical figures. Asked if she could just have it all since she could hire people to raise her children Oprah responded, If I were a wife and mother, I wouldn t have been open to this experience (in South Africa (see above)). I wouldn t have had the space in my life to embrace the world s children, because I d be taking care of my own, which takes a lot of energy. People always say, Why don t you have kids? You ve got the money, the space. Have a nursery, hire nannies. That s not how I want to have children, (TV Guide, October 4, 2003, p.39). 6. Nurturing children. Like most of our parents and ancestors getting married was seen as step one to growing up. Then came having as many children as means could afford. However these standards are changing in our increasingly trying times - trying materially, socially, morally, spiritually, etc. One to two children families or none at all are becoming the norm. If you have children or intend to it s important to integrate them in your mission. Today s children need more nurturing than we did. They re far more exposed to negative influences ranging from the media, video games, the internet and cultures that are egocentric, materialistic and non-religious. Nurturing them may even be your main mission. Whether or not you live to see the fruits of your labor may not be an issue. You ll be securing their future morally, spiritually, professionally and so on. You ll also be planting seeds of a sacrificial life rather than selfishness in them. Children learn what they see. 7. Taking poverty vows. Wealth is not appropriate for everybody. Some are intended to have just enough to afford the basic needs of life. Having more hinders them from effectively fulfilling their callings. The early church is a good example. The apostles received a lot of money but they used it all for church needs. Taking poverty vows is not necessary though it wouldn t pose any problems compared to chastity vows. One whose cares are on the nice things or toys of this world is an unlikely candidate for living a simple life. A girl from a well-off family in Bangladesh and former student of Mother Teresa aspired to join her team in Calcutta. She cautioned her on the sacrifices required. Willing to make the sacrifices the girl returned without jewels and in a simple dress. 105

110 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Though Mother Teresa s organization handles funds larger than budgets of some small nations none is for self-gain. In 1964 Pope Paul VI gave her a Lincoln Continental limousine, a then status vehicle for the rich. She raffled it to finance a center for leprosy victims. There d be less distrust if more people working in charity and religious organizations followed her example, which is an imitation of the early church. Some in our evangelical circles look down on Mother Teresa because she was a Roman Catholic. She lived a more born again and selfless life than most of us in evangelical circles. Let s give credit where it s due without being caught up with denominational strongholds. 8. Fasting lifestyle. Like Martin Luther King, Jr. who constantly fasted throughout their callings. Fasting (among other spiritual disciplines applied) achieved what guns could have tried to gain with much bloodshed, hatred and destruction. Certain gains for some of us may come either through unnecessary struggle, trial and error, sin, or through fasting. The preference is up to each one of us. Fasting brings spiritual intervention from God (see section on fasting in this book). It s a spiritual discipline that works in mysterious ways. 9. Relinquishing personal security. Relinquishing personal security and endangering your life by pursuing causes that invite hatred and violence in some regions. This was so with the prophets, Jesus himself, the early church, the early Protestants, civil rights and colonial independence movements. It s also common today in regions where Christianity or immigrant faiths are not tolerated. Many Christian converts die early, endure violence, false criminal accusations, imprisonment, isolation and material deprivation in these regions. Yet they re among the most successful people from God s viewpoint. They sacrifice nearly everything in pursuit of their higher purposes. Success can thus never be measured simply in length of days, marriage, number of children, power, wealth, fame or any human criteria. Each of us has our own legacy to live and it s the extent we fulfill it that ll determine our level of success. 10. Sacrificing everything that s outside God s will. This is the ultimate sacrifice or self-denial level for every Christian. Only a handful reach this peak of the Christian mountain. It doesn t mean they ve more strength than any of us. It only means they re willing to give up everything that s outside God s will. They renounce to cling to earthly attachments. Seeking to know and fulfill God s will is the first thing that ought to be considered in every matter in our lives. No place is worth living in that s outside 106

111 7. Motivation and the Conditions for Fulfilling Your Calling his will. No career is worth pursuing that s outside his will. No friend or companion is worth having that will corrupt our pursuit of his will. Knowing and fulfilling God s will is our only worthy investment of our time and effort. It is our only true career, our only source of employment and entertainment. If you re not certain on the unique sacrifices required to fulfill your convictions you can start by following people you admire. Your model may be someone who felt complete and found a higher purpose living as a single or living childless. Or it may be a parent, a wife or husband who sacrificed his/her own interests for the sake of saving a hopeless marriage or child. Some of our parents devoted their lives to praying and taking care of us. They literally had no other life outside taking care of us. Some of them made it loud and clear to us. There s someone each of us can identify with in whatever area of pursuit or calling. Some of our models may have suffered some genuine losses spiritually, socially, materially or physically. However even their negative experiences remind us that they re human, not angels. We too will have to confront some failures in one area or another. We can only pray that they re framed as part of the success story that ll serve to inspire others. If they re artificial failures they ll be mere thorns in the flesh placed in our lives to keep us humble, forgiving, prayerful, drawn to or focused on our main mission, etc. It s worth repeating that a successful lifestyle cannot be simply measured in length of days, marriage, number of children, number of awards, power, wealth, fame or any human criteria. It cannot be boxed into a single measure. Each of us has our own legacy to live and it s the extent we fulfill it that ll determine our level of success. The ultimate judge on the extent we succeeded in life will be God, not fellow beings. If humans measured success many of our parents, ancestors and biblical figures lived the most unfulfilled lives. True many lived below their potential materially, socially or spiritually. However our narrow definitions of what they could have fulfilled are too simplistic. If we apply this to our lives we ll be less troubled and distracted by the definitions being popularized by the secular media and institutions. We ll be more inspired by our personal convictions rather than by the popularized standards of success. May this truth set us free from striving to fulfill secular fantasies that have little or no true value. They re also obstacles to our higher callings. 107

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113 Book References Deci, Edward L. and Ryan, Richard M. Self-determination theory, in the American Psychologist, volume 55, January Gondwe, Eric I., Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit: Dealing with Root Causes, Jesus Work Ministry (JesusWorkMinistry.com), Cambridge, MA Gondwe, Eric I., Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do s and Don ts of Warfare, Jesus Work Ministry (JesusWorkMinistry.com), Cambridge, MA Gondwe, Eric I., Breaking Curses, Including Generational Curses, Jesus Work Ministry (JesusWorkMinistry.com), Cambridge, MA Gondwe, Eric I., Breaking Occult Spells: Protection from Witchcraft and Occult Influences, Jesus Work Ministry (JesusWorkMinistry.com), Cambridge, MA Gondwe, Eric I., Major Christian Deliverance Principles: Keys for Selfdeliverance and Ministry, Jesus Work Ministry (JesusWorkMinistry.com), Cambridge, MA Gondwe, Eric I., Bible Powered Prayer Guide: Guide for Applying Scriptures to Daily Prayers, Jesus Work Ministry (JesusWorkMinistry.com), Cambridge, MA Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, Tennessee Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged (6 Volumes) Retrieved March 2004, from Munroe, Myles, Understanding the Purpose and Power of Prayer: Earthly License for Heavenly Interference, Whitaker House, New Kensington, PA Reiss, Steven, Who Am I?: The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Behavior and Define Our Personality, Tarcher, New York, USA. Wesley, John, Explanatory Notes: the Old and New Testament, BibleDatabase (Versio 3.1 (Christian Software)). Download available at Elwell, Walter A. (Ed) (1996). Baker s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Crosswalk.com. (Accessed March 2004 to November 2007)

114 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Bible Library Ultra Edition (version 6.0 (Software)), 2001, Ellis Enterprises, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Easton, M.G. (M.A., D.D.) Easton s Bible Dictionary (Illustrated Bible Dictionary), 3rd Ed, Thomas Nelson, Public Domain, Retrieved March and April 2004, from The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (4 volumes) Bible Library Ultra Edition (version 6.0 (Software)), 2001, Ellis Enterprises, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright by International Bible Society. Zondervan Reference Software (Version 2.6), Grand Rapids, MI The Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV), Electronic conversion by NASCO. Copyright Electronic Work Product. Bible Library Ultra Edition (version 6.0 (Software)), 2001, Ellis Enterprises, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma The Holy Bible, American Standard Version (ASV) American Bible Society. Electronic conversion by NASCO. Copyright Electronic Work Product. Bible Library Ultra Edition (version 6.0 (Software)), 2001, Ellis Enterprises, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 110

115 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life Book Index authoritative voice... 5 binding and loosing circumstances..1, 5, 18, 19, 22, 24, 51, 53 consecration... 33, 34 deception dreams... 5, 27 emotional and sensorial... 53, 54, 55, 56 fasting...5, 8, 9, 21, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 53, 56, 59, 93, 106 fellowship... 5, 21, 66, 67 Holy Spirit... 29, 30, 33, 35, 37, 38 inborn (natural) gifts... 5 inner peace... 5 inner voice... 5, 50 Jesus... 29, 32, 33, 36, 114 keys of the kingdom...6 mind of Christ...30 Moses... 31, 33, 36 newbirth (spiritual) gifts...5 permission...2 prayer...5, 6, 7, 13, 16, 18, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 52 prophecy... 5, 12, 47, 48 spiritual warfare... 34, 35, 37 strongholds... 33, 37 testimonies...5 unbelievers...6 visionary leadings... 23, 24, 26 visions... 5, 22, 23, 53 wise counsel...5 JesusWorkMinistry.com... 1, 2,

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117 Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life About the Author Dr. Eric Isaiah Gondwe is the founder of Jesus Work Ministry, a primarily online based Christian resource and outreach ministry. The main website is at JesusWorkMinistry.com. He is a born again and ordained evangelical pastor. For many serving in the body of Christ the calling comes in unexpected ways and sometimes in unexpected areas as well. In his case the unexpected was serving in deliverance ministry. Deliverance ministry is an area of ministry that abounds with harmful demon-centered teachings. Such teachings that are obsessed with demons are due to misinterpreted scriptures - mostly unintentionally. This is the opposite with Christ-centered principles on deliverance. Their focus is on God and Christ s redemptive work on the cross. Gondwe is among evangelicals upholding the Christ-centered principles that have triumphed over evil throughout church history over 2000 years. His books include the following. (Please check online for latest updates, including audio material, at JesusWorkMinistry.com/EricGondwe): 1. Breaking Curses, Including Generational Curses 2. Breaking Spiritual Strongholds and Healing the Wounded Spirit 3. Hearing the Voice of God and Fulfilling God s Purpose for Your Life 4. Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do s and Don ts of Warfare 5. Breaking Occult Spells: Protection from Witchcraft and Occult Influences 6. Bible Powered Prayer Guide: Guide for Applying Scriptures to Daily Prayers 7. Major Christian Deliverance Principles: Keys for Self-deliverance and Ministry From the secular academic world Eric Gondwe has an undergraduate degree in mass communication, print media concentration, from University of Zambia (Lusaka, Zambia). His graduate program was an MBA, IT and marketing concentration, from United States International University ((USIU) Nairobi, Kenya). His second graduate program was in management, IT concentration, at Harvard University (Cambridge (in Boston), USA). He has a number of certificates in theology and in various disciplines