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Declaring good news of real change out of, through and into the Spirit of Jesus Christ Rom. 12:2 Rom. 11:36

Faith

(part 4)

Hearing?

“So then faith cometh by (out from) hearing, and hearing by (through) the word of God.”  What does this mean to us? Can I just pick up the bible, and hear, or must someone speak in order for me to hear? Indeed, someone must speak, but it is not man. This is a rhema word of God, a spoken word or utterance which we hear in our spirit. This is a true word that endures because it is spoken by God. This heavenly sounding in our spiritual ears has a certain tone or likeness with which we identify. The bible uses many different word pictures to describe the voice of God. Thunders, trumpets, waters, the candlestick, angels, prophets, the Lamb and the Lion are all pictured in scripture as speaking with the voice of God. We need to know Him in the fullness of all that He is, not just in the way that we are familiar; i.e. it behooves us to know the many different voices of God. Remember, we are hearing the voice of the true and living God in this hour. We must approach in reverence and with respect (fear), but we must approach. So then, into the fire we go; because, God’s voice comes to us most times out of the midst of the fire. Do we want to hear? Yes we do, because He has brought us to this place in Him. But first I want to set down a little bit about the difference between truly hearing God’s voice and merely thinking so.

“There is a difference between mental persuasion and faith. One can be totally convinced of the authenticity of Scripture and that Jesus was the Son of God who died and rose again for us, and yet not have the level of faith needed to enter the Promised Land:” Stephen E. Jones Hearing God’s Voice.  This statement is one of the most profound that we can ponder. Hearing God’s voice does things to us. It changes us. The Holy fire of His presence consumes all of our old, and we are reborn into His likeness. It makes our hearts grow fond of who He is within us. When we hear God’s voice, we walk in faith. When we hear God’s voice we walk in victory. God’s voice creates within us ears to hear and eyes to see. If we think we hear God speak, but there is no change, I tell you now, it was not God. His sweet voice brings about the deliverance and salvation of our souls. Hearing God’s voice is the catalyst through which real change comes. It is imperative that we hear. Hear ye the word of the Lord!

Your Mama!

As babies learn to recognize the voices of their parents, so too must we learn to recognize the voice of our spiritual Mother and Father. Mother’s voice is one of concern, compassion, healing and love. It is Mother’s sweet voice that we learn first. Mother sings to us. Mother comforts and gently guides us. In Mother, we know grace and forgiveness. In Mother we learn unconditional love. There is a saying: “If Mama’s happy, the whole house is happy.” This is true. We learn obedience to Mother’s voice as children secure in the knowledge that even if we go astray, Mother still loves us. We grow and learn to make Mama happy, thus finding our own happiness in her delight. We must learn to hear Mother’s voice; for in her voice is the sound of joy and peace.

You say who is this Mother? Well, like any picture of God, it is a requirement of spiritual revelation that you seek to understand these things for yourself. We  have a great teacher in the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth. And as I endeavor to embrace truth and honesty, I do not claim to have an all-encompassing understanding of this and many other truths about which I write; but, I can write about that which I know as I am directed and lead of the Holy Spirit. I can also give a few references to help; a starting point in Christ Jesus from which to begin to understand the mystery that God is both male and female. Consider carefully, remember it is by receiving that we have life. If we try to take and appropriate even knowledge of God, who is good, we will find only death. I have been down this path; trust me you do not want to go there. So then in all humility, I point you to Gal. 4:26, to go along with that, I refer you to Rev. 21. Also, Rev. 1:13 in reference to Jesus as the Son of Man girt about the paps with a golden girdle. In 1 Pet. 5:7, we see a picture of the Lord who cares for us, in the sense of a Mother caring for her children. In Eph. 6: 1-4 we see a nurturing view of our Lord. I set before you Gen.1:26-27 and again Gen. 5:1-2 and humbly invite you to see that as we were created male and female, we were created in the image of God. God’s image includes both. 

 “Before Moses, God revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob only by the name of El Shaddai (Exodus 6:3, where the name is translated ‘God Almighty’). This is the name of God in His motherly role of creation and genesis. Even as a child is nurtured primarily by his mother during infancy, so also did God nurture creation in its infancy from Adam to Moses:” Stephen E. Jones Hearing God’s Voice. There is a lot more to understand; this is barely a thumbnail view of such a vast aspect of who God is in relation to us. I strongly and contritely adjure and implore you to go before God in humbleness of heart and mind in the Holy Spirit and inquire of Him in all things.

God Almighty rules the house in the same way wise mother’s everywhere rule, in grace, love, nurturing, forgiveness, and yes discipline. But how many know that Father owns the house? If we stay within the house, Mother rules our thoughts and actions. If as we grow, we are led to go outside the house, it is under the calling and direction of our Father. It is not the children who work out of the house; children play outside the house. No, rather, it is the mature and growing Sons who get to help their Father. (Some who read this will begin to see something totally different than what you have ever seen before. I encourage you to be diligent in receiving what the Lord is showing you and show your self approved.) We are told to love our Mother, and not to despise her as she ages. This is applicable in Spirit as well as in the natural. As we honor our Father and Mother we will have prolonged days and well going in the land which the Lord has given us. Too many want to forget all about their Mother, I tell you this is a mistake. Let us honor her, New Jerusalem, for she is our spiritual Mother.

Not the Mama!

Now I have heard some refer to the Babylon system as being our mother; but I must disagree with this assessment. No, the system was never our spiritual mother. We may have been in the system, when we first heard God’s grace and provision for our sin condition spoken into our hearts; but the system did not speak those words to us. Babylon is the mother of harlots. No true believer was birthed out from her. Now, how do I make this assertion? I can tell you that we all caught a glimpse of our true mother. She is shown to us by God who gives us eyes to see; even though she wears the veil of the harlot system. If we are being honest, we must admit that we all know someone in the church realm who truly and honestly loves God. Not everyone is called to come out of her. Some live their whole natural lives in relative obscurity; known only by those whose lives they touch. No, there are too many references in the Pauline epistles to people who carry a real burden for the people in their circle of care. These people are the true church. Yes, the system has draped itself over the truth, and used the traditions of men to lie against and make of no effect the word of God, just like in Jesus’ day. But we all know some who have not fallen for this. We all know some who care not one whit about the traditions of men. We all have seen this in someone. This is the New Jerusalem which is the Mother of us all. It is good and right for us to remember that God reserves His own unto Himself. No, Babylon is not our mother; she is a whore of exceeding wickedness. True faith and belief in the Lordship of Jesus Christ will always protect and keep His people from her. Babylon wants to be our mom; but she is not, and never can be. God reflects a Mothering nature through the true church. God Almighty as Mother is seen upon New Jerusalem, just as God as Father is the King of that city. Mother rules the house, but it is Father’s house. Again, if this is new to you, I urge you to go before the Lord in humility and let the Holy Spirit show you the truth in this. I believe it is vital to us as we grow and learn that we receive all truth from Him in wonder and even Holy fear so that we grow strong and tall within His Holy Spirit.

Called out ones

The true church, or ecclesia, (pronounced: eh-klee-zee-ah or ek-leh-see-ah) is a group or body of called out ones. “Called out of what (?),” you might ask. Well, to answer that I must tell you that truth in God is layered and that just as God reveals Himself in a greater and greater ways; so to, He opens up to us His truth in the Holy Spirit in greater and greater ways. We, God’s people, have been called out of many different things. First and foremost, is the world. We have been called out of the world. There are untold numbers of people who while still in the system, have truly been called out of the world. These people represent the majority of us “called out ones.” It is through people like this, that most of us, because of the grace of God, get our first glimpse of our True Mother, New Jerusalem. Dear sweet women and men of courage who are where they are at because that is where God has placed them. Truth be told, none of us can do anything to move ourselves from one level of understanding into the next. We are by the will and grace of our God where we are. Next, as we are led of the Holy Spirit, we feel the need to come away from the organized church realm. There grows upon us a vague dissatisfaction for the ritual and practice; while a hunger for truth and the reality of God in our lives is also growing. We begin to come of age, so-to-speak, and feel the need to know our Spiritual Father.

Who’s your Daddy?

The first thing we learn as we come away from the system that so wants to be considered our mother, but is not, is that Father’s voice and way of instruction is not like Mother’s. Mother was all about love and grace and forgiveness. These are all very necessary things for us to know, and I am not knocking them. Also, I am not saying that our heavenly Father does not love us, or show us love. No, rather I am saying that if we do not know these things, we will not be able to stand in the school of instruction which is our Father. Father’s instruction is about us growing into maturity. We must know that we are forgiven, and not have to dwell on it, or be constantly reassured therein. Rather, now we are called to be responsible for our actions in an ever increasing manner. We must know that we are loved. We must know that we were buried with Him in burial, and raised with Him in newness of life. We must know! We are called to partake willingly of the fire of consecration which will consume all that is not of Him. That fire is the fire of Pentecost. This Pentecostal fire speaks of consumption. Wood-hay-stubble, consumed. This fire speaks of purification. Gold-silver-precious stones, purified. Until we are no longer we, but we are the express image of Him in our own unique set of circumstances and foreordination. This Pentecostal fire is not about prophecy or speaking in tongues or any of the other gifts. It is about using these tools that God has provided us to come into a greater understanding and union with Him. I speak in tongues as much as anyone; and if you listen closely, with ears to hear, you will hear prophecy come from me also. But the union in Him with Him is the goal. This is why Paul told us to press toward the mark of the prize of the high-calling of God in Christ Jesus.

“Pentecost was (and still is) the celebration of the giving of the law by the voice of our Father God. Pentecost is the feast that separates God’s children into two classes: obedient and rebellious. This is evident in the story of Israel in the wilderness, where the people refused to hear the Father, but Moses was obedient. Later we see that Caleb and Joshua also had ears to hear, for they disagreed with the other spies who had given an evil report. In the Church of the Age of Pentecost, we find the same pattern manifested. God gives messages to the seven churches, but only the overcomers actually hear God and are obedient. Only the overcomers are True Pentecostals. Only the overcomers are willing to hear the divine law, that it might be written on their hearts.

  If Israel under Moses had been receptive, God would have begun to write His law upon their hearts and make it a part of their very nature. The people would have obeyed the law naturally—because they wanted to—not because they had to be obedient, lest they be disciplined.

However, Israel refused to hear God’s voice directly (that’s the key—author’s note), preferring to send Moses up the mount to hear God on their behalf. So the people heard only an indirect voice when Moses told them what God had said. The law remained external, imposed upon them from the outside even as a father’s commands might be imposed upon a rebellious child who prefers to go his own way. In some ways the law seemed stern or even harsh, but it was designed by a loving Father to break the will of His rebellious children, so that they would eventually be able to say with Jesus, ‘Not my will, but thine be done’ (Luke 22:42).

This is the cry of the son who has learned obedience by the things he has suffered. The disciplines of the Father are at first grievous in our immature eyes, but by the loving disciplines of the divine law we know that we are legitimate sons-in-training (Hebrews 12:5-8). Without such discipline, we cannot possibly come to the place of spiritual maturity.” End-quote Stephen E. Jones Hearing God’s Voice.

We want to work with our Father. We are legitimate sons-in-training. We are coming to the place of spiritual maturity. Whether we like it or not, we have been called to come out of the system which is draped over the reality, bearing our reproach; and yet honoring in our hearts the truth of what Mother taught us while we were there. We have been called to be Sons. To do that, we must hear God’s voice directly—for ourselves.  You might ask how any of this has anything to do with the topic of faith? Well, faith is about hearing the voice of our God. We hear God; and come out of the world. Be honest, you could not have left behind the things of the world in your own strength. We hear God and come out of Babylon. We hear God to go beyond Pentecost and go further still into the realm pictured in the Feast of Tabernacles. As we hear the voice of God, we change, because faith is created. We must, in faith, step into, and become one with fire that is the Holy Spirit of our heavenly Father.

Joy and peace to all who read in Christ Jesus…Larry

References: The Companion Bible with the King James Version

Stephen E. Jones’ Hearing God’s Voice