Category:

When God Speaks

9/6/2013

“Then the LORD (finally) answered Job out of the storm.”
- Job 38:1

Introduction:

People often ask me how I can tell the difference between when God speaks to me, or my own imagination. The simple answer sounds like this; the difference is like two petite metal thimbles clanging together from the rhythm of your fingers and a two hundred-instrument orchestra. There is no comparison!

When God speaks the world is created (Genesis 1:1-31), when God speaks nations are struck down (Revelation 19:15), when God speaks the demons have to flee (Matthew 8:32), and when God speaks the dead come back to life (John 11:43). Over and over again we see countless examples of God speaking to His people throughout scripture, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Hope, that the God we read about from back then is still the same God today, who reaches out and communicates to His people in a really big way! We put our hope in Isaiah 30:21, “That whether we turn to the right or to the left, our ears will hear a voice behind us, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” God’s priority is to carry along a dialog with His children, which is understood as the lifeline to an intimate and personal relationship with Him. Where in the world did this notion that God does not speak to us anymore get fabricated? As if the Almighty had already said enough two thousand years ago and now just sits quietly on the thrown waiting until the day He can finally speak His mind, when He sees us face to face.

Today we will close the pages of a seven-week study that characterized the dramatic testimony of Job’s life. Yet before we do, we will partake in one last thrill from the climax of this novel and attempt to digest the powerfully spoken words to Job from the very breath of his Creator. When God speaks, the mouth of Job is finally shut and his confusion and complaining are eliminated. Once again, we will use Job as an example of how God speaks to us and compare personal testimony of how He is still speaking today. Be prepared to discuss seven steps we should consider when we hear from God, this way we will know what to do once He has spoken.

So buckle up and strap on your faith this morning, because in order to hear from God there is an element of faith that is required to show up. As we all know, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6), well I would like to pitch out to you that, without faith it is impossible to hear God! So for this lesson, I pray that God will help us overcome our unbelief and bless us with a double portion of this beautiful gift called, FAITH!

Do you know the voice of God?

9/2/2012

To have a personal relationship with the Lord is something that requires “experience” to be able to fully understand. In order to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, it takes listening, obedience, and reading the Word of God to learn what He sounds like. It is like any human relationship that you encounter on earth. In order to be close to that person and know all their personality traits, you have to spend time with that person. Intimacy with God is something that can NOT be taught by just going to church on Sunday.

John 10:27-
“My sheep hear my voice; I hear them and they follow me.”

Several years ago “I heard” the Holy Spirit speak to my heart over His beloved, Leila. Sweet Leila is a precious child that God so loves and He asked that Lexi (my daughter) and I pray for her ever night during our prayer time together. We did not know Leila personally but she was a five months old baby that had been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. She was admitted into the hospital for heart surgery and that was when I had heard of her story. Each night Lexi and I would lift her up in prayer and ask for God’s protection.

A few days after Leila's surgery, I received an update through a care page that her mother kept. As I began to write a comment on her page, I sensed that the Lord was using my fingers to write what HE wanted to say to Leila's mother to give her hope. I typed...

“We are keeping Leila warm through blankets of prayer” and then I quoted Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm….”

The next day, I went to visit the care page to see how Leila was doing and there was a new picture of Leila posted from the previous day. The hair on my neck stood straight up as I fully took in God’s confirmation to me, that it was HIM speaking through me on that simple blog comment I wrote the previous night. There was a picture of little Leila under a “blanket” that was embroidered with the scripture verse Jeremiah 29:11.

I had never seen that picture before writing that comment!

The tears fell from my eyes and I whispered to God… “You are clearly amazing!" And just like that, God blessed me in return for lifting Leila in prayer (through obedience).

What an honor it is to serve the Lord. GOD IS WITH US!

I attached the picture of little Leila under God’s “blanket of prayer!" The next time you start to worry, just remember…..He’s got YOU "covered!"

Right from my heart,
Holly Wright

He is Mine!

5/21/2012

Exodus 33:11-
“Inside the Tent of Meeting, The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend”.

When you have a personal relationship with someone, there are intimate things that go on just between the two of you. It is the hidden treasures that transpire from a beautiful relationship. Like for example, every morning after I take Lexi to school and Jason is on his way to work, he can always expect his phone to ring so I can wish him well for the day. Sometimes when I am late in calling him, he answers the phone with an immediate… “I was wondering if you were going to call”. We laugh and giggle and tell each other jokes for that moment in time before each of us begins our day. Those precious seconds in each day can make the world stop spinning on its axis. It is what I like to call, “my coffee” for the day (since I do not like the real coffee).

Did you know that Jason and I had that little special moment each morning before work? Of course not, because that is what makes our relationship, a personal relationship. It is intimate and personal in its own special way, custom tailored for the two of us.

Unbelievers always squirm with ignorance when I say to them… “No I am not religious, but I do have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ”.

What does that mean exactly? To have a personal relationship with the Creator of EVERYTHING….

I can tell you what it is not; It is not how the religious leaders of Jesus’ time had worshiped. The Pharisees put all their energy into works and laws. Although they followed the law to their best ability, they lived under the sin of condemnation, judgment, and pride. I wonder if they knew what it meant to have a personal relationship with their Creator? Christ “personally” showed them The Way while He walked on earth but did they open their crusty eyes enough to see?

My relationship to Christ is filled with nothing but personal encounters and understandings. Christ has danced through my life like a ballerina on point and left many memorable impressions that I can pick up at any time to reflect, ponder, and dream about. My testimony is filled with little stories like the one I shared about Jason and I.

An example of what makes my relationship personal to Christ, would be… every time that I go out of town I can expect a supernatural message from Him through a random book that He leads me to, in the airport. It has become such an absolute that I do not even question if I will receive a Word from Him or not. He started this several years ago at an airport where I felt the Holy Spirit guiding me to a little store that sold trinkets, gum, magazines and books. The interesting thing is, most of these little shops that I find my treasure in, do not specialize in selling books. So to find a Christian book within a small book selection… is a miracle in itself. I travel the skyways many times a year and there is always a theme that He wants to share with me over the period that I am alone on my trip (with just Him). The theme of His message usually comes from the book that He helps me find hidden and buried in the old airport. I smile as I write this to you because this is special to me. This is “our little thing” that nobody else has. That is what makes our relationship personal.
It is not just something I believe….it is something I KNOW! There is a differance! It is supernatural and He is all mine! Glory to God!

Right from my heart,
Holly

Is the Lord speaking to you?

4/12/2012

Isaiah 55:11-
“So is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

I heard something once and I never forgot it…

“If the Lord has to repeat Himself more than once, then it must be important and therefore I should listen.”

I had the pleasure of meeting my dear friend Bonnie for lunch. We always treasure the moments we spend with each other because they are few and far between. She lives on the other side of the world (in case you did not know, Hempstead, TX is right past Africa- Ha!). She had downsized her home living from 4,500 square feet to 1,000 square feet and she expressed to me how she made this possible. She showed me her craker-box closet and, as a woman, I was highly impressed with her enthusiasm.

She exclaimed… “ It was simple, I just got rid of everything, Holly, and I gave it to our maid.”

With the look of shock on my face I tried to digest the fact that she used the word “easy” in a sentence with getting rid of her well-kept clothing.

She continued… “Holly, now how many outfits do you wear in your closet? About 15 to 20? And how many outfits just sit there month in and month out?”

She was absolutely right! Although I felt the conviction in my heart to go and purge my closet, do you think that was the first thing I did when I got home? Keep dreaming!

Fast forward two nights later when my daughter and I were in her bed enjoying our nightly prayers. I was finished with my conversation with God and prompted Lexi that it was her turn. She got quiet and said…. “Hold on Mommy, the Lord has something he wants to say to you.” I gently giggled and she began to pretend like she was in a whispering match with Jesus. After she was done, she gazed up into my eyes and out of the mouth of a babe, she said…. “Mommy, the Lord wants you to give your clothes to the poor.” Quite honestly, nothing connected at the time, so I told her what I assumed she would want to hear by agreeing that I thought her and God were right. I had way too much in my closet. Yet, there was no motivation to actually go and face that giant.

After I put Lexi to bed, I went to kiss my husband good night as he was tucked away on the couch watching his movie.   I fell effortlessly onto our freshly-washed bed sheets and relaxed into a comfortable position. As I tried to close my eyes and prepare for a good night's sleep, I heard this loud “boom” in my master bathroom. I screamed for Jason and he came running. The testosterone in my man is what had him go look and check everything out. Every article of clothing that I had stuffed on the rail in my closet had split in two and everything came crashing down. There was a sea of clothing piled on the floor just begging to be let off this poor, frail, rod. (See picture at bottom of blog).

Believe it or not I immediately prayed for God’s guidance in this situation. Typically I would be so stressed out at the sight of something like this, my blood would boil and I would somehow make this Jason’s fault (poor guy). You ladies know what I am talking about. Instead, I curled back in bed and fell right to sleep. In the middle of the night the Holy Spirit awakened me, to give me the low down. Every scene between Bonnie, Lexi’s prayer, and the closet falling, flashed in front of my eyes and I experienced an “ah ha” moment. I got it...loud and clear! Literally!

God was asking me to do a specific thing and I was missing it each time. It had to get to the point where He had to scream it to me…but this old gal finally heard the Word that sprung forth out of my Maker's mouth that He refused to have it return void!

What has the Lord been whispering to you? Are you listening or does he have to scream it for you to hear? Let's
be a body of believers who hears, and then listens, the FIRST time He speaks!

Write from my heart,
Holly

"The Lord wants to bless you with a son."

3/16/2012

Luke 1: 44-45
“As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

As a Believer in Christ who continually seeks a personal relationship with The One and Only, I find it hard to spiritually grow without experiencing a direct word from My Partner. In the Greek, this is called a Rhema, which refers to a word that is spoken and means an utterance. A Rhema is a verse of Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to our attention with application to a current situation or need for direction. The Holy Spirit illuminates particular Scriptures for application that are confirmed in our daily walk with the Lord.

When you encounter a Rhema, I promise that you will never forget it. This in an experience that is so profound, it will leave you speechless. In the eleven years that I have been walking with the Lord, I have been blessed with a handful of these precious moments. These specific Words have come to me in different forms, some through scripture and some through the body of Christ. I have even received direct Words from the very people I might have judged and known to be unsaved. It is just like our God to use the very thing I believe He couldn’t use (or more like wouldn’t…Ha! Boy does He like to prove me wrong in my foolishness).

Ever since I met my husband he has shared with me his deepest desire of having children. Entering into a relationship with me as a single mother was something he did with ease. He has always treated Lexi as his own and to that I am grateful. As for me on the other hand, it has been a difficult journey for the transformation of my heart and to accept even the idea of having more children. My first pregnancy was emotionally draining and took every bit of strength I had. To get pregnant again meant that there was a personal fear that I would have to look straight in the eye and hit full force. This would take a lot of trusting in God. Coupled with my own fears, Jason and I were also healing from a devastating season of the enemy’s attack. Our marriage was severely tested and came out of the refiner’s fire as pure gold. That was a very difficult time of learning and growing for both of us and our trust had to be regained. Neither one of us regret that season, we have only learned to embrace it as a necessary part of our journey as individuals and as a married couple.

The enemy would continuously remind me of my fears and unwillingness to give Jason a child. For several years Jason would quietly pray on behalf of our unborn child and ask God to change my heart. He put his hope in the Lord and trusted in Him for this very specific request.

The Lord began to slowly soften my heart and calm my fears; I could tell He was preparing my heart to receive this child. Although I was doing what I could to prevent the pregnancy.

I remember in September of 2007 God started to turn the heat up a little, I could feel the convictions getting stronger and the small voice of God speaking to my heart that “it was time.” He assured me not to listen to the enemy's lies and that the Lord would “restore the years that the Locusts stole” from me during my first pregnancy. I was still not ready to listen and excused my convictions with some ridiculous rationalizations (sound familiar?) The Lord gave me scriptures to encourage me and I ignored them to the best of my ability. Although, there was something that stood out to me in the scriptures He would give to me… That this baby would be a boy.

In January of 2008, the Lord spoke for the final time! I was coming home from my annual convention in Vegas… tired, worn out, and with great anticipation to sleep. While the flight attendants eagerly walked the aisles manning their stations for anything or for anyone to correct, I tried to doze off praying that no one will disturb me to come sit in my row.

“Excuse me Mr., but you are in my seat,” I heard from across the aisle.

“No!!! I changed my seat with the front desk,” answered an aggravated gentleman.

After much back and forth discussion and assistance from the aggressive flight attendant, people began to change seats. I tried to keep my eyes shut and head down but somehow in all this commotion, I was asked to move to another seat. I didn’t argue, I just politely gathered my stuff and headed for a place to sleep because after all, that was the ONLY thing on my mind….. (but God had a different plan).

I regained my comfort and settled into my small, stiff, not first class airplane seat. The pilot announced to the attendants to prepare for departure, and this woman sitting next to me had the desire to strike up a conversation. After much resistance, I gave into the conversation and within half an hour I received a Rhema from the Lord.

I remember this woman was carrying a bible on her lap for all to see, I wanted to know where she stood in her faith so we began to talk about Jesus. By this time, we were high in the sky and laughing about how much we adored Him. We were kindred spirits and shared much in common with our relationship to our Papa. I had forgotten about my deeply desired sleep, because there was a presence of the Lord sitting upon our shoulders and we both could touch it. Who would choose sleep over being engulfed in His presence?

Thirty minutes into our conversation, the Lord decided to speak directly to my heart and put to rest any previous hesitations I had in regards to bringing life into this world.

I will never forget this Sister in Christ stopped our conversation, looked directly into my eyes with great compassion and said unto me…

“Holly, the Lord wants to bless you with a son and you are preventing Him.”

My mouth fell to the ground and I could not believe my ears. What did she just say? How did she know I was trying to prevent a pregnancy? Where did that come from? How did she know about the past several months the Lord has been dealing with my heart on this very subject and disobedience? Or that the Lord told me it would be a son He would bless me with?

I knew at that very moment it was not from her but I had received a direct Word from the Lord. I remember it was hard for me to think of anything else after she spoke that over me. I wrestled with the Truth and came to an agreement with the Lord. He had won; I was going to put my trust in Him.

Now I want to point something out to you, in case you missed it. Don’t overlook the word, son! She said He wants to bless me with a son. Do you remember me telling you (earlier in this blog) that over a period of several years the scriptures He would give to me in our quiet time, would always refer to this child being a son?

Well, the Lord did exactly what he had promised and He blessed us with a son on July 8th, 2009. Noah Alexander Wright was given to us so that we may train him up in the way of the Lord!

Luke 1: 44-45
“As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

Right from my heart,
Holly

When God Speaks

Do you know the voice of God?

He is Mine!

Is the Lord speaking to you?

"The Lord wants to bless you with a son."

Holly Wright

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