He Speaks

I go to an amazing church. Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. The pastor is Robert Morris and he is one of the greatest teachers of the Word I have ever encountered. I could talk about how awesome my church is, or you can look for yourself at gatewaypeople.com

Anyways, I bring that up to say that the series we just finished up on was called "Frequency." It's all about tuning in and hearing God. Yes, hearing the Creator of the universe. Shocking to some of you I'm sure, but not shocking to all. It's biblical to say that God speaks to us today. We're even told in Acts 2 that we can all prophesy. Alright, before the "Frequency" series I had heard God. There have been specific times in my life where I know that I know that I know. I heard Him. But, when we started this series, it was like Satan turned it around to discourage me. I was believing lies. "You can't hear God like these older people can. You're too young." "You aren't hearing God all the time like the pastor." "You'll never get there." Those lies were shut up when I was told by someone that hearing God is a learning process. You're in a relationship. In a relationship you talk to this person everyday, right? You also are there to listen to them. Then I started thinking, am I taking the time to listen? Am I tuning into the frequency of God's voice?

About two days ago, I tuned in.
I have been praying for God just to show me something. Anything God. Like I said before, I had seen things and heard things from God, but it has been forever since He's spoken to me. I felt like He was listening to me and then there was nothing. No response. "What the heck God?! I have spent time with You everyday and still nothing?" Silence.

I was sitting in a McDonald's and having my quiet time and lunch with God. I started thinking about all the things God has done in my life. I started thanking Him for what He was doing in me and through me. I had just a rush of love overwhelm to the point of tears in this McDonald's. It's like I tuned in. "Imagine how that feels all the time." Wow. God? Did I just hear that? God spoke to me in a McDonald's. A 24/7 kind of love. Thanks for reminding me.

So, you think after that I could say, "alright, that's all I needed to hear." Um, absolutely not! I want more and more is what I got. On Halloween night, two of my friends invited me to go see a Shane and Shane concert. The last song was an old hymn. I sat there on the lawn next to my friends and just shut my eyes. It felt so good outside. I sat there and just imagined that one day, this will be what we'll be doing for eternity. Then I started to pray for my friends. I prayed for the Lord to show me something for my friend...Something encouraging for her. While I was praying God gave me a vision. (Oh, we can also see visions according to Acts 2). I saw my friend with her arms up and spinning. While this was happening she was looking up and gold was showering done over her. She was shining. Then she began to act goofy and silly, and God told me, "That's what I love about her." I saw it all so quickly and just had a smile on my face. I asked God for an opportunity to tell her and right at that moment He did. I began to tear up while telling my friend the encouraging vision I just saw. She teared up too.

God is so cool. It gets better... The next day I decided to look in my Bible for some kind of confirmation of what God showed me. He brought me to Isaiah 60:1-7.
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD shines over you.
2 For look, darkness covers the earth,
and total darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will shine over you,
and His glory will appear over you.

The other verses are all about God's blessings for those radiant people. God then told me that He's wanting us to "arise" from our circumstance, our low point, our struggles, our worries, our to-do lists and "SHINE." Arise from the lowness and sit at Jesus' feet. It's like the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10. Mary chose to sit at Jesus' feet while Martha was consumed with all she had to do. Arise and let Jesus' light shine on your face.

God speaks. He speaks to an 18 year old college student just like He speaks to a pastor of a mega church. He speaks. You just have to tune in.

Blessings!
Samantha


P.S.
There was so much I learned from this series. You can watch it online at the site I gave you in the sermon archives under media. :)