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Tilling the Soil of the Heart: God’s Voice · First15 Devotional

• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: As we wrap up this week, focusing on telling the soil of our hearts.
• 0:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: Today we're going to look at the role of hearing God's voice in living open and responsive to God.
• 0:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I know for a lot of us, the idea of hearing God's speak can be a confusing sometimes too far out there subject.
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: But as God's children, he wants us to live in communication with him.
• 0:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: And through the Holy Spirit, you and I have the ability to hear God speak to our hearts.
• 0:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: May we discover today that we serve a communicative God who loves to talk to his people and may his voice soften our hearts to receive all that he belongs to give us.
• 1:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Our verse for today comes from John chapter 16 verse 13, Scripture says,
• 1:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: For he will not speak on his own authority.
• 1:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: But whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: spiritual father, brother Lawrence once wrote.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.
• 1:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: We are meant to commune with our heavenly father, to be in conversation with him throughout the day, concerning all that's going on around us.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: For a long time, I held the belief that God
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I thought you found out how to live the Christian life solely through reading the Bible, going to church, listening to sermons.
• 2:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: I thought prayer was just asking God for thanks and waiting to see if he said yes or no through circumstances.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: God does speak through circumstances and his word to be sure, but he also loves to speak directly to his children.
• 2:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: the Bible clearly teaches that God speaks to His people.
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jesus teaches us in John 1613, that when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: For He will not speak on His own authority.
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: But whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.
• 3:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: In John 1027, God tells us, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
• 3:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: God promises to speak to you as his child.
• 3:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: He longs to tell you his love for you even more than you long to hear it.
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: He longs to tell you his plans even more than you want to know them.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: There hasn't been a single thing more impactful in my life than hearing the voice of God.
• 3:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: His voice is so tender when I need tenderness, corrective when sin constricts my life, and powerful.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: When only he can make the changes in my life that need to be made, he speaks perfectly, never a word out of place and always at the perfect time.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: You might hear God more than you think.
• 4:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've never heard him speak audibly to me, but every day he whispers to my heart what I need to know.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: There are days I don't stop to listen.
• 4:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: There are times I allow the weight of the world to crowd out his voice.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: But as I turn my heart back towards him, I find out that he was there speaking all along.
• 4:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: He whispers of his love for me when I feel crushed by the opinion of man.
• 4:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: He tells me he's proud of me when I feel like everything I'm doing doesn't measure up.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: He whispers of his plans for me when I turn and go my own way.
• 4:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's not because I'm gifted in some certain way that I hear his voice, but rather because God and his grace loves to speak.
• 5:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: God has never made a spiritually deaf person.
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can hear God because His voice is immeasurably more about His love than your abilities.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: You are His child.
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: His love for you is vast, unchanging, and unceasing.
• 5:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: All it takes to hear Him is simply inclining and ear
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: as he speaks of his love.
• 5:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: You will feel the chains of the world fall off as he tells you of his purpose.
• 5:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: You will discover that a plan has been in the works for you since before you were born.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Choose to listen to his voice today.
• 5:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let it drown out the cares of the world and create a soil in you receptive to his seed, fertile and filled with the fruit of the spirit.
• 6:14
  [UNKNOWN]: Thank you for watching.
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: As we begin, meditate on the truth of what the Bible says about hearing God.
• 6:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: I say a 30 verse 21 says, and your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right, or when you turn to the left.
• 7:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: and next, take time to listen to God.
• 7:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ask him how he feels about you.
• 7:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Talk to him about anything that's bringing you stress.
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Listen for a whisper of his voice or an inclination that seems to be of God.
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: In last, let the truth of what he's speaking settle into your heart, pay attention to inclinations, to longings, or urgings of the Spirit.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ask him for greater understanding of what he's speaking to you.
• 9:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Choose to trust that he will speak and guide you into the fullness of life, if you will simply follow him.
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: There is a practice to hearing God's voice, but it's more a practice of casting off the things of the world than anything else.
• 10:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes it takes time to quiet your soul and focus on God.
• 10:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Don't be frustrated if you feel like you aren't hearing anything.
• 10:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: The weight of all of this is on God.
• 10:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: God speaks in any and every way he can.
• 10:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: He loves to speak through the Bible and through circumstances, so listen for his voice and continually see Him.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's no pressure from God.
• 10:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: He desires to take weight and burden from us, instead of putting it on.
• 10:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: He just wants you to live in relationship with Him.
• 10:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let His voice settle in your heart today and become a refreshing source for you in every circumstance.
• 11:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for listening to today's podcast.
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: The last in our week-long series untilling the soil of our hearts.
• 11:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Josh Miller with 1st 15.
• 11:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: If God is using this space in a meaningful way in your life, would you consider supporting this ministry?
• 11:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: We are able to reach millions of people around the world through podcasts, emails, our app and website, all because of generous donors.
• 11:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you already support First15, thank you for making this possible, and if you'd like to help with either a one-time gift or by becoming a First15 monthly partner, head over to supportfirst15.org, that supportfirst15.org.
• 12:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Have a wonderful rest of your day and may God bless you as you see Kim.