7 ianuarie 2018 – Vocea Lui 1: O aventura minunata te asteapta

Program
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Introduction
Hearing God’s voice is an invitation to adventure
We’re beginning a new series tonight, and I’m definitely excited about what God is going to do
to encourage each of us, strengthen us, and guide us. A great and exciting adventure is awaiting
us, as we learn how to hear the voice of God and (most importantly) as we choose to set aside
time for practicing.

Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author said, “Daca tu crezi ca aventura e periculoasa, incearca rutina!
E letala.” I believe we see this happening in the church in Romania, and I see it happening in
my own walk with God. Christianity is meant to be an exciting adventure of following Jesus,
and the minute we settle instead for routine—for merely going to church, reading our Bibles,
being good people, doing what we’ve always done—we begin to spiritually die. God has been
challenging me lately with this truth: following Jesus, hearing God’s voice, is an amazing
adventure in which He invites us to participate.

When we read Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians, we might be tempted to read them as if he’s
complaining. But I think his words here are written as a badge of honor, like a medal pinned to
the chest of a soldier awarded for his bravery or like a medal hung around the neck of an
Olympic athlete. Paul is describing the dangerous adventure of following Jesus, the adventure
to which you and I are called.

2 Corinthians 11:26
I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from
my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness,
dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren…

As we talk about hearing God’s voice, I will share some very practical principles, and we’ll
take time to practice together. But tonight, I want us to begin by allowing God to remind us of
this amazing invitation to the adventure of a lifetime.

Following God is an adventure

We are called into the stormy sea
Matthew 4:19
And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

In Bucharest and in America, when we hear Jesus’ words that He is calling us to be fishers of
men, we think of a relaxing day sitting on a chair relaxing with our fishing poles out over the
water, a beer in one hand and the pole in the other, getting a tan.

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But when Jesus told this to Simon and Andrew, they weren’t thinking about a relaxing day on
the beach. These fishermen sailed into the sea of Galilee, a small sea but one known for having
violent storms that could arise without warning. They worked whether it was good weather or
bad because they didn’t have sick days or vacation days; they had “eat days” and “no eat days”.
These fishermen went out at night to work while everyone else slept peacefully in their beds.

There is a great adventure awaiting you if you will hear His voice and follow Him even into
danger.

I remember the first time I felt God tell me to preach the gospel on the street. I was terrified.
My pastor at the time was preaching open-air on the college campus each day, and I joined him
to pray and be a part of the “audience.” But one morning, I felt God say He wanted me to be
ready to preach. I planned to just talk about how I came to know Jesus, but I was so nervous
that I wrote out what I wanted to say and took the paper with me. When it came time for me to
speak, I was both completely terrified and so full of the presence of God. That act of obedience
to the voice of God changed my life! After that, I was no longer afraid to speak with anyone
about what Jesus had done for me.

We live by faith!
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

You are called to pursue a life of faith, meaning you live for that which you cannot yet see, like
Joshua who saw the thick and impenetrable walls of Jericho but heard God tell him they would
come down if the army marched around it seven times. His eyes told him the walls couldn’t be
destroyed, but he believed the voice of God.

In 1961, a 19-year-old boy in Minnesota who couldn’t speak a word of Spanish and had no
money felt God speak to him and tell him to share the gospel with the Indians in the jungles of
Venezuela. His parents advised him not to go, but in the end they bought him a one-way ticket.
This boy, Bruce Olson, ended up leading an entire tribe to Jesus, a tribe who had never before
heard the gospel. This tribe then began sending their own missionaries throughout the jungles.
You can read his story in the book Bruchko.

We are called to go into the unknown

Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive
for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

I want you to imagine something. Imagine I give you a call, and I tell you, “Hey, I’ve got a
new apartment I don’t want anymore. I want to give it to you.” You respond, “That’s
awesome! Where is it, and when can I move in? And how big is it?” I say, “Well, the good
news is you can move in right away. I’ll tell you more details later, but I gotta get going.” The
phone call ends, so of course you call me back. “Hey, Ben, I think there’s a problem with your
phone. It hung up on me.” “Oh, really?” “Yeah, but anyhow, where’s the new apartment?”

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“Oh, I told you, I’ll tell you later. Just start packing now. You can move in right away.” “The
apartment’s in Bucharest, at least, right?” “I told you, I’ll tell you later.”

Abraham was in the city of Haran, a city about 1000 kilometers away. His brother had died
there and is probably buried in that city. All his relatives are there. His work is there. His
home is there. But God spoke to him one day and told him to leave it all to go somewhere new.
And the craziest thing is that he obeyed.

Now, what I find really interesting is that the Bible tells us Abraham was not the first one God
spoke to and called to go to the new land. Years ago, in Genesis 12:31, we read that God spoke
to Abraham’s father Terah and told him to go to Canaan. He started to go but stopped and did
not obey God.

Abraham was not the first to hear God’s voice calling him to go to a new land, but he was the
first to obey.

What surprises does God have in store for you if you will take the time to hear Him and obey?
Maybe there’s a new country He wants you to live in. Maybe there’s a new relationship He
wants you to build. Maybe there’s a new ministry He wants you to start. I don’t know where
God is leading you individually, but I do know He is calling you on an amazing adventure.
There is an inheritance to which He is calling you, and if you will hear His voice and obey,
you’re going to be amazed.

A number of years ago, a friend of mine named Lisa recently led her roommate to repentance.
Her roommate needed a Bible, but my friend Lisa and her roommate were both college students
and had no money to buy one. One day, Lisa was driving and felt the Holy Spirit tell her to turn
the car. She turned and continued driving. Again, she felt Him say to turn the car, so again she
turned and continued driving. Soon, she was in a part of the city she’d never been, and she felt
the Holy Spirit tell her to turn down a really small street with no exit. She turned and stopped
the car. There, to her right was a dumpster. There on top of the dumpster was a new Bible still
wrapped in plastic.

Jesus calls us to follow Him

Luke 9:23
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and
take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

When I read these verses, I normally concentrate on the negative aspect, the idea that we need
to deny ourselves, to take up our cross (the instrument on which Jesus was crucified). But I
believe Jesus’ heart in these verses was much more towards the promise of what happens if we
pursue Him, if we follow Him.

The very next verse says: “Whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”

Yes, Jesus is simply saying here that following Him is hard, but the emphasis is on the life
given to those who obey! He’s not saying, “Look, guys, following Me is a heavy burden.

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You’re going to carry your cross on your back, and it’s going to be painful, and you’re going to
hate it. But if you want to have eternal life, that’s the plan. So get ready to suffer!”

How long did Jesus carry His cross? For a couple of hours until He made it to the place of
crucifixion, where He then died and was relieved of the burden.

The cross is only a burden if you haven’t died. But the minute you’ve died (i.e. chosen to turn
away from living for yourself and chosen to obey Jesus), then following Him becomes your
greatest joy and your source of life!

God is inviting us into this amazing adventure, of hearing His voice and following His
instructions to the death of the old, selfish ways of life that only left us feeling frustrated,
lonely, empty, and lost in order to give us true life, life that makes us fulfilled, life that is full of
joy, life that is abundant, life that leaves an impact for eternity on those around us, life that
changes the world.

If you want to hear His voice and obey, to follow Him, get ready for the adventure of a lifetime!

Those who know Him will do great deeds!

Daniel in the Bible was an adviser for the kings of Persia and Babylon. He worked with top
political figures, and so it’s no strange thing that God spoke to him about political matters. At
one point, he got a confusing dream, and the interpretation was quite frightening, detailing the
wars that would come and what would happen to Israel as more powerful nations invaded.

In chapter 11, we read of how a time would come when many Jews would fall away from the
faith due to pressures from the conquering nations.

But a few would resist. Who were the ones who would stand strong and not give in? Who
were the ones who would rebel against the lack of trust in God? Who were the ones who would
live an adventure of faith rather than die following old rituals? The ones who knew their God.

Daniel 11:32
The people who know their God will display strength and take action.

This verse is one of the reasons why I want to have us learn and practice how to hear God’s
voice. It’s not simply so we can be more effective and do more exciting things, it’s because
hearing God’s voice is one of the best ways for growing in relationship with Him. And when
know God, we will by God’s promise be strong and do great deeds.

In my own life, the one thing that has done the most for growing me in my relationship with
God and in knowing Him (not just knowing about Him) has been the Bible. The second-most
important thing has been learning to hear His voice.

When we learn to hear God’s voice, we will come to know Him better, and this is the basis of
strength and of life and of fulfilling the calling God has for each of us.

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Practical points
1. God has good plans
Many of us are terrified of hearing God’s voice because we think He’s going to ask us to do
something we would regret. While He will ask us to do things we do not want to do, He will
never ask you do something that you will regret doing.

Here’s what I mean. Your Mom may ask you to clean your room. You may hate doing it, but
when it’s all done, you really enjoy having a clean room. You don’t regret it. It’s the same
when God speaks to us.

Because we’re afraid He’ll ask us to do something we regret, many of us then choose to never
ask Him to speak. We figure if we don’t hear anything, then we don’t have to disobey Him.

But while God’s commands are often challenging, they are always good and meant for our
benefit. If we obey, we will never come to regret it. In fact, the only times I’ve felt regret were
when I did NOT obey His leading.

Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for
calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

Sometimes I would be in the subway, and the thought would come, “I should pray and ask God
what He’s saying right now.” And then immediately another thought comes, “What if He asks
me to start preaching in the subway? If I don’t stop to hear Him, then I don’t have to disobey.”
A lot of times, I give in to the thought. But many other times, I choose instead to fight it, and I
turn my heart to hear God’s voice. Guess what He usually tells me? He usually tells me
something like, “I love you. I can’t wait until you get home tonight and we can spend
undistracted time together.” But there have been times when He’s told me, “Get up and
preach!” when I asked. He just hasn’t said that while I was on the subway as far as I know.

If anyone struggles with fearing that God will tell you to do something you regret, I want you to
pray with me right now. This is not something we should live with.

2. Hearing God is a skill you can grow in

I won’t ask, but I could invite Victor and Laura to come on stage and to each take a guitar. I
could then ask them to play a song. Who would do a better job? Why?

Victor would do better, of course! Why? Not because he’s been miraculously gifted with a
musical talent but because he has practiced this skill!

We have all been given spiritual gifts as well, and our spiritual giftedness differs radically from
person to person.

Romans 12:6
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them

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accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith.

The same way that a person can grow in any talent—even in a talent they had since birth—so
can we all grow in our ability to hear God’s voice. And in the same way that growth in any
talent requires practice, so must we practice hearing God’s voice if we want to develop this
spiritual ability.

You may be born with a prophetic gift and find it easy to hear God’s voice, or you might be
born without the slightest prophetic inclination and find it extremely difficult to hear God. In
either case, practice hearing Him!

I was born with no innate musical gifting, but I learned to play guitar and lead worship by
practicing every day for at least 15 minutes. I wasn’t born with a musical gift but I developed
the ability through practice. What if I would never have practiced? I never would have played
guitar, and I would go on thinking that only those with special musical gifts could play.

I was, however, born with a teaching gift. I have always found it easy to explain difficult
concepts in easy-to-understand ways. When I became a Christian, I received some prophetic
words that I had a teaching gift. When I started teaching, I remember thinking to myself, “If I
have a teaching gift, that means that I’ll never teach anything incorrectly and don’t need to
learn how to teach. I have the gift!” Is that true! No! Even if you have the natural talent, you
still need to practice in order to further develop the ability.

Hearing God is a skill that we all can develop through practice.

2 Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the
glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Grace is the power of God working in us to accomplish God’s plans. So when this verse talks
about growing in grace, it means we can expect to grow in God’s power working through us,
including the power to hear His voice.

Notice that growing in grace is a command from God! If I’ve grown complacent, don’t want to
grow or practice the ability of hearing God, I have some issue with God because he commands
us to grow in grace!

I never know the news going on in Romania or America. Why? Because I don’t take the time
to read or watch it. If I want to know the news, I need to take time to read it. If I want to grow
in hearing God’s voice, I need to take the time to practice.

If you have grown satisfied with the measure of grace that’s working in your life in the area of
hearing God’s voice, I want to pray for you to get a desire again to grow in the grace of God.

3. You can hear God’s voice in many ways

There are many ways to hear the voice of God, and I can guarantee you’re already hearing Him

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in some ways. At the very least, you hear Him in your conscience, and you have probably
experienced moments of intuition, where you knew something without knowing how.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul lists ways that God can speak to us, including words of knowledge,
words of wisdom, prophetic words, discerning of spirits… How we hear Him is different from
one person to the other. Maybe you easily receive words of knowledge (where you know a bit
of information you couldn’t know except through God) easily but it’s hard for you to discern
spirits (tell what spirits are operating in a person, region, or circumstance).

The Bible also shows God speaking audibly, as a whisper, through dreams, through visions,
through natural disasters, through angels…

My old pastor Michael was a new Christian, and he learned that God could speak. He was in
desperate need of guidance, and so he went to a quiet place outside to ask God to speak to him.
His only experience so far with hearing God was reading about how He sent angels and spoke
in thunder at various times in the Bible. So he sat there outside crying for God to speak to him
but never heard anything because no angel came, no thunder roared…

If we limit God to only speaking how we have heard Him before or only speaking in a way
that’s comfortable for us, then we will miss out on His guidance.

I want to pray for all of us to be ready to grow, to change, to hear Him in whatever way He
wants to speak to us.

4. Take a risk!
When I was teaching in the U.S., I had the habit in the morning of praying and asking God to
give me instructions concerning my day. One day, He told me, “Sara is in your class today.
She has black hair. Tell her that I love her.” My first response was, “That must not be from
God. I know Sara is in the class today, but she has brown hair, not black. And besides, I’m in
the public school, so I can’t talk about God.”

I had decided it wasn’t God’s voice. But when I arrived at school, Sara was one of the first
students to come, and she had died her hair!

I was completely shocked that I had heard God correctly. But I had already resolved in my
heart not to obey, and so I didn’t take the risk.

Perhaps the biggest practical point I can give when it comes to hearing God is to simply take a
risk and try!

I love the story of Jonathan and his armor-bearer in the book of 1 Samuel, there’s a war going
on between Israel and the Philistines. King Saul is too scared to attack, and the Philistines are
too scared to attack. So no one’s doing anything.

Suddenly, Jonathan (Saul’s son) gets a crazy idea to attack a tower full of enemy soldiers,
taking along only one other man, his armor-bearer.

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He has no idea if it’s an idea from God or not, but turns to his armor-bearer and says…
1 Samuel 14:6
Perhaps the LORD will work for us…

I have heard God incorrectly many times. Other times I heard correctly but interpreted the
message incorrectly. Other times, the person I gave the message to interpreted it incorrectly.
Other times, everything was great except the person wasn’t at all receptive…

There are lots of mistakes that can happen, but… Perhaps the Lord will work for us!

Where is a ship the safest? At port. But ships weren’t made to stay in the port but to sail in the
open sea, in the danger and the adventure.

When is a stable the cleanest? When there are no oxen there! But if there are no oxen, then
you can’t get anything done on the farm.

Proverbs 14:4
Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.

Hearing God, listening to His voice, following Him is like inviting a bunch of oxen to come and
stay in your manger. Your nice clean stable is full of poop, mess, smell, noise… but you get a
lot of work done!

If you’ve ever struggled with this idea of taking a risk, I want to pray for you to receive a new
boldness to hear God and step out in faith.

Father of Lights
Ravi from India
In the coming weeks, I’ll talk about some principles to hearing God’s voice, and one if them is
that God usually does NOT speak audibly. But to encourage all of us about the great adventure
which is opened to us when we hear God, I want to show a video about a man in India named
Ravi who has heard God’s audible voice every for the last 20 years.

Show some excerpts from “Father of Lights” that show Ravi, the pastor in India who hears
God’s audible voice every day.

Show the following excerpts from the film: 2:09-7:12, 26:35-35:50, and 43:59-52:50. Use the
subtitles file “FOL Subtitles Romanian (ro).srt”

Conclusion
Challenge
I want to challenge you to take time tomorrow morning and ask God to give you instructions

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for the day. If you hear anything really crazy, don’t do it or talk to someone you trust before
assuming it’s God. Otherwise, expect Him to speak to you, and go do what He says.

If you’re ready to begin this crazy adventure, I want you to stand up, and we’ll pray together.

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You can hear God’s voice

Why? Bc those who know God will be strong and do great exploits

How? Spontaneous thougths that flow and is good… relationship with God… thought that
won’t go away but doesn’t pressure you to hurry… set a time and place… write/journal the
conversation… quiet place (in your heart)

Cautionary statements… George… Ilie was at a staruinta when he started speaking in tongues
and it was like a big rock that hit him, and he started feeling depressed etc… He thinks there
was a spirit of religion there… Check with people… Check with Bible… Confirmation in
heart… encouraging individuals… building up the church not making you special… you can
hear wrong

Hindrances… busyness… doubt… fear… wrong beleifes abut ID in Jesus

Dream interpretation… get the key word or point from the Holy Spirit… Details are less
iportant and come AFTER the main point… There is no list of what symbols stand for bc
dreams are a personal language, and each person’s language is different depending on the day
and the experiences they’ve had in life (i.e. for me, purple could mean terror bc of my past
experiences but for another it means royalty)… cannot be separated from relationship to God
(my experience with interpreting

In evangelism

In the family/in counseling

Psalm 16:7 – Eu binecuvântez pe Domnul, care mă sfătuieşte, căci până şi noaptea îmi dă
îndemnuri inima.

Psalm 37:4 – Desfătarea ta să fie Domnul şi El va împlini cererile inimii tale!

1 Corinteni 2:16 – Căci „cine a cunoscut gândul Domnului, ca să-L poată sfătui?” Noi însă
avem gândul lui Cristos.

1 Ioan 2:27 – Cât despre voi, ungerea pe care aţi primit-o de la El rămâne în voi şi nu aveţi
nevoie ca cineva să vă înveţe, ci, aşa cum ungerea Lui vă învaţă cu privire la toate lucrurile, iar
ea este adevărată şi nu este o minciună, rămâneţi în El, aşa cum v-a învăţat ea.

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Ioan 10:27 – Oile Mele ascultă glasul Meu; Eu le cunosc iar ele Mă urmează.

Fapte 15:28 – Căci ni s-a părut potrivit, Duhului Sfânt şi nouă să…

Habacuc 2:1-2 – (1) Voi sta la locul meu de strajă şi mă voi aşeza în turnul cetăţuii. Voi veghea
ca să văd ce-mi va spune DOMNUL şi ce-mi va răspunde cu privire la plângerea mea. (2)
Domnul mi-a răspuns, zicându-mi: Scrie viziunea, graveaz-o clar pe tăbliţe, pentru ca un herald
să poată alerga cu ea!

1 Corinteni 14:1-5 – (1) 1 Urmăriţi dragostea şi fiţi plini de râvnă după darurile duhovniceşti, în
special după darul profeţiei. (2) Căci cel ce vorbeşte într-o limbă nu vorbeşte oamenilor, ci lui
Dumnezeu, întrucât nimeni nu-l înţelege, iar îna Duhul spune taine. (3) Dar cel ce profeţeşte le
vorbeşte oamenilor, pentru zidire, încurajare şi mângâiere. (4) Cel ce vorbeşte într-o limbă se
zideşte pe sine, dar cel ce profeţeşte zideşte biserica. (5) Eu vreau ca toţi să vorbiţi în limbi, şi
încă şi mai mult – să profeţiţi. Cel ce profeţeşte este mai mare decât cel ce vorbeşte în limbi,
afară numai dacă nu este cineva să traducă, pentru ca biserica să poată fi zidită.

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