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Everyday we make choices. Most of our choices are simple choices, like where to buy gas, where to eat lunch, which route to take to our destination, what outfit we are going to wear. Other days our decisions are more important, like who am I going to marry, where am I going to work, what church am I going to attend, what friendships will I invest in. Whether significant or less impactful, we are continually making choices.

Hearing the voice of God is not to be only for big choices we make, but it is also not for little choices like do I want to drink out of this coffee cup or that one this morning. Hearing the voice of God is a relational issue, for hearing His voice reveals His love for us and His character. If we do not know the character of God we will miss the voice of God. Our belief about who God is determines what we hear and many hear voices but they are from valuable voices not from God.

Valuable voices are locked in our memory and speak to us more than most realize. We also hear intimidating voices like fear, worry, gloom and doom, but those are not God either, for He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all so there is nothing to be afraid of. The character of God reveals the voice of God and makes us feel loved by God when we hear it. So, how do we know if it is the voice of God.

Isaiah 30 says, “Your ears will hear a word behind you, This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” The voice of God can be heard, He wants to share with you where to walk, but what is the way the voice of God is leading you into? Psalm 23 answers this for us, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The voice behind you is showing you the way of goodness and mercy. God is not angry, no mad at you, not disappointed in you, He is for you and not against you.

Listen for the voice behind you speaking goodness and mercy, when you hear that voice then you will know the way to walk, whether to the right or to the left. His voice is there, He wants to lead you in the way of goodness and mercy, can you hear the voice of God speaking to you? He loves you that’s why He talks to you.

This week will be filled with predictions; prophesies; I told you so’s; I can’t believe it; commentators; political pundits; opinions; fear; anxiety; joy; excitement; all the things will be happening this week as there is an election in the United States on Tuesday. The atmosphere is charged, people are on edge, you can sense it, you can feel it, you can hear it in the things people say and see it in the things people are doing.

I am so thankful the word of God has something to say about everything. Today is the 3rd of November and I am reading Proverbs 3 in the Message Bible and it says exactly what we need to hear…

“Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;
don’t for a minute lose sight of them.
They’ll keep your soul alive and well,
they’ll keep you fit and attractive.
You’ll travel safely,
you’ll neither tire nor trip.
You’ll take afternoon naps without a worry,
you’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep.
No need to panic over alarms or surprises,
or predictions that doomsday’s just around the corner,
Because GOD will be right there with you;
he’ll keep you safe and sound.”

I pray as you enter into this week that you remember the wisdom of Solomon spoken in Proverbs 3. Never forget, a nap is spiritual warfare; everyone has an opinion but God is the Truth; there is a peace that passes all understanding; and when Light shines in the darkness, the darkness cannot understand it (the Light); finally, don’t forget you are the light of the world, a city on a hill, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God and Christ in you is the hope of glory, for you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Have a great week!!!!

The temperature was a brisk high 40’s this morning, the breeze was gentle, the stars were out and the noise was minimal. What a perfect morning to walk the dog and listen to the Holy Spirit teach things I did not realize I needed to know. I love how Solomon says in Proverbs 2 that wisdom calls out and wants to tell us more than we even think we need to know. It was a walk with wisdom this morning as the voice of God spoke many things. I pray you take walks with God. Leave the AirPods at home, rise before the sun, go to a place where it is silent externally so you can hear internally. The voice of God is a priceless gift that is not earned, but is given to us from a very generous God.

One of the messages the Holy Spirit spoke this morning was “Preperation is a private matter and work is a public one.” I had never thought of it this way, but how true it is. We prepare in private and our works are seen in public. I have a son who is a worship leader and he sings at home all the time. Whether while making lunch or in the shower, his voice can be heard throughout the house. He is watching worship leaders in his bedroom, he is practicing his piano in his room, he sings and plays during the day and during the night. All while no one is looking, no one is listening, and the Holy Spirit calls that preparation.

Jesus said in John 10 “By all means, do not believe in Me, if I am not doing the things of the Father. But examine My actions, and you will see that My work is the work of the Father. Regardless of whether you believe in Me—believe the miracles. Then you will know that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.” Jesus did works in pubic that revealed His oneness with His Father that was prepared in private. Works confirm preperation.

I sense the preperation that has been done in private is giving way to works we are about to see in public. These public works are going to reveal people’s oneness with God that has been established in private preperation. Businesses are about to manifest, bible studies are about to be revealed, books are about to be published, relationships are about to be seen, there will be such a variety of works that reveal what has been done in private preperation and it is all going to reveal God’s glory on earth. Private preperation is giving way to public works for those who have been preparing while no one was looking.

For the past years, money has been tight, interest rates have gone up; inflation is obvious; gas prices go up and down; the price of homes is ridiculous; used cars are overpriced; taxes seem to be off the charts; everyone everywhere has been feeling the pinch of people picking at your paycheck. Conversations about money are everywhere as the moment you leave the house someone is asking you to buy this, buy that, go here, go there, do this, do that. It has been a hard four years since C-19 started.

I don’t know what you learned during the past four years, eight years, twelve years, sixteen years or even twenty years, but one thing I have learned is that I want to live small so I can give big. No matter what the stock market does, no matter what the exchange rate is, no matter what gold and silver do, I have chosen to live small so I can give big. The reason I have decided to do this is because God is generous on all occasions and we are called to be like Him.

When we obey money we will make our life comfortable rather than seek to make someone else’s life enjoyable. Money is selfish by design, that is why we are called to not love money but to love God. God is generous by nature and will always give more than is deserved or expected. Giving unlocks something in the person you are giving to that we may not even know needs to be unlocked. Giving communicates to others something words can’t express. If you buy it for yourself, it does not carry the same love as if it is bought for you, given to you.

Generosity is a characteristic of God and is to be who we are, for people need to know they are loved and generosity communicates that in a way only the receiver understands. God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son; Jesus fed the 4,000 and the 5,000; we serve a generous God and we are called to be generous people. I pray you learn to live small so you can give big, it is a lifestyle that brings more joy than words can ever express. Try it, you may enjoy it more than you know.

There is a booming message coming from heaven, a clarion call to all who can hear it. The call is to OPEN YOUR MOUTH!!!! I have a friend of mine who had lock jaw for almost two weeks. She could not open her mouth. It came out of nowhere, then it opened for a moment and locked down again. She went to the right people to help her get her jaw unlocked so her mouth would open, but nothing worked. But God, yes God, He opened her mouth, she shouted, she finally got to eat and we celebrated big when her mouth was finally opened.

I see people in the spirit who have had their jaws locked by their history. Situations and people in your past have locked your jaw and your mouth won’t open, but I declare to you today, OPEN YOUR MOUTH. The day of being quiet, swallowing how people treat you, being silent when you know the truth, these days are over. It is time to OPEN YOUR MOUTH and speak truth, sing praise, declare the goodness of God in the land of the living.

Proverbs 31 says, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” When you open your mouth others who have been silenced get their jaws unlocked, they get their voice back. Jesus said it this way to a man who was mute, “EPHATHA – Be opened!!!!”

I was talking to a man last night and he asked me what the Lord was saying to me, so I shared with him about the word Beyond the Lord gave me and immediately his countenance shifted, his mouth opened and he declared that is it, that is what we need, that is who our God is, why have I been so crabby and quiet. Everything about him shifted when he heard that word, he will now go forth with an open mouth. It is time to OPEN YOUR MOUTH, I declare it in Jesus name, you are no longer living with lock jaw, your mouth is open.

Being a biblical treasure hunter, I love to dig into words, phrases, culture and context when it comes to reading the Bible. There is so much truth to learn, so many adventures to take and so many discoveries to make. The Bible is a treasure hunt everyday for me and I love sharing with you what I find.

Today, I was reading Proverbs 30 and it says, “Pressing milk produces curds…” I have never stopped and looked into what this verse actually means. After some digging what unlocked was not how Israel made butter, but how the words milk and curds speak to the idea of God’s blessing. Milk in Hebrew means the abundance of land; God’s blessing; while curds means beauty and bounty of nature; pleasant unhindered state of life. Immediately, I realize no wonder it is called the land of milk and honey.

Milk was a staple in Israel and it is said that when milk would drip down the mountains it was a way of saying the blessing of God is upon us as a people. What an upgrade for the word milk, for milk has always been taught to me as something for baby Christians who can’t handle the meat of the word. But now, I realize milk is about blessing, abundance and is accessible to everyone even the babies among us. Milk was actually served with wine as a special treat in Israel.

Friends, we are living in a land flowing with milk and honey; blessings, abundance, beauty, bounty and wisdom. A sweet land. We are not in lack, we are not running out, we are not being destroyed, we are not be removed, we are blessed and highly favored and everywhere we put our feet is land God has given to us. Don’t relinquish the beauty and bounty God has given to you in the land He has placed you, because of a narrative from man who says something contrary. This is a land of milk and honey and we are bountifully blessed.

I was leading a group on Sunday morning around a long table and we were discussing memories we have sitting at tables. During this discussion, a 20 something young lady spoke up about her generation and how they are hungry for authentic Christianity. She said, we can smell a phony and we don’t want religion, the hunger is real, but the food must be authentic not packaged, processed or full of preservatives. I smiled as I listened to her, because I do not know anyone that would honestly say they want anything but the authentic, yet we have learned to settle for something else because it seems like there are so few authentic options out there.

I have been thinking about this young ladies comments all week long and then as I am reading John 14 today I realized the challenge we have as people who call themselves Christians is that we do not love God. I know we say it with our words, but love is not words, love is obedience. When we say we love someone we do what we say and we do what they ask. People know when they are truly loved and God knows if we truly love Him.

John 14 says, “If anyone loves me (Jesus), he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” In our culture this can sound harsh, but it is not harsh it is truth. We can say we love God, love Jesus, but if we are not keeping His word, doing what He says, we cannot honestly say we love Him. The Bible is not bending to our culture, our culture has to bend to the Bible if we say we love Him.

There is a generation that is not going to fall into our religious say one thing do another culture. They can see through our words to our actions and they aren’t buying it. If we were honest, when we were there age we weren’t either. Where are the people who will love God not just expect to know God loves them? Friends, loving God is easy, it is fun, it is exciting, it is the greatest decision I ever made. There is abundance in loving God, there is life, there is hope, there is peace, there is joy. Try loving God by doing what He says in His word, I promise it will be the best decision you ever made and a generation will follow your lead.

The Bible is a book of historical events for us, but reality events for those who experienced them. When you are in the middle of experiencing something that will be historical for another you see it differently. We are in the middle of a God event of the likes we have never seen or heard before in our lifetime, it is can seem unbelievable because we are in the middle of it.

Israel lived 430 years in Egypt, multiple generations only knew Egypt, but during one of those generations, Moses was born, raised and went before Pharoh and they did not know what was happening. They were making bricks and Moses was having a showdown with Pharoh. It was not until the people of Israel were told to put blood on their doorpost so the angel of death could Passover that they even knew something was happening. Then they went through the Red Sea and still weren’t fully aware of what was happening. They were living the history we are reading.

Friends, I sense in the spirit a Moses figure has been dealing with the Pharoh of our generation and we are about to have a Passover event of the likes we do not see coming. A Red Sea moment of the likes we would not believe if we were told it. We are living, experiencing something that will be read about by many generations in the future. We are living it, so we can’t fully see it.

Proverbs 28:28 says, “When the wicked arise, men hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase.” I see wickedness being removed and righteousness being established in a way that will astonish us. Yet the Bible tells us of the increase of His (Jesus) kingdom there will be no end. We are about to see increase after increase after increase of righteousness on earth and it will be written about for future generations to never forget.

Words are an understood form of communication. Written words, spoken words, pictures in words, songs are words, words are everywhere. Because we are so inundated with words, we use words as our main form of communication. We type words, we speak words, we hand write words, we pray in words, oh the power of words. I personally love words. However, I am learning there is a language that speaks louder than words and it is our face.

Proverbs 27:19 says “As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.” As people we reveal what is in our heart by what is on our face. Sadness is seen on the face; bitterness is seen on the face; disappointment is seen on the face; joy is seen on the face; peace is seen on the face; anger is seen on the face. I have been realizing money cannot hide what the face says; makeup cannot cover up what the face says; a mask cannot conceal what the face says.

I was at a Pumpkin Festival yesterday and there was a man in a Batman costume, he looked so amazing from a distance, but the closer I got to his face, the more I saw the wear and tear of life on his face, just from the nose down. It was amazing to me as the Lord has been having me look at people’s faces. We love Facebook, we love selfies, we love showing our face, or others don’t like showing their face at least not on social media. However, the point is our face is communicating how we are doing on a heart level.

Next time you look in the mirror, look at your face and listen to what it is saying, for you face can tell you what is going on with your heart that you may not be able to hear. If you don’t like what you see on your face, cry out for the Lord to create in you a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within you. For the Lord loves to communicate through words, this is why we have a Bible, but He also communicates through the face, that is why He says, seek my face!!!! This is why I look at your face when I speak to you, I want to see your heart and I want you to see mine. It’s called face to face communication.

Do you have a promise from God that has not come to pass? Those promises can be hard to hang on to for a long time, for disappointment fatigue sets in and tells us it will never come to pass. If we think waiting is hard when it comes to something God has said, imagine this…

Two sisters, Mary and Martha, have a brother who is sick and they tell Jesus. Jesus responds and says, “This illness does not lead to death.” (John 11:4) Hope comes whenever Jesus speaks. The two sisters believe Jesus that this sickness will not lead to death, but guess what, Lazarus died. Jesus told His disciples in John 11:14 “Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died.” What do you do with this? Jesus said the sickness will not lead to death and the dude is dead.

Talk about a trial of your faith. Jesus Himself said that Lazarus’ sickness would not lead to death, but the guy is dead. When Jesus arrives to the village where they are John 11 says, “Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.” The guy is dead, dead, but Jesus said this sickness would not lead to death. What do you do with this?

Some of us have a word from God that something is going to happen and yet that which God told you would not die has died. This is a hard place to be in. The voice of the enemy is loud in times like this, all the assaults on God’s character comes when a prayer is not answered; a promise looks like it is not kept. But friends, God is not a man that He should lie (Leviticus 23:19). I know it is hard, I know you believed and haven’t seen yet, I know you heard clearly but now you are starting to give up hope. But we are dealing with God not man.

Martha understands how you feel, she confronted Jesus and told Him, you said, but now He’s dead. She was hurt, mad, confused, she understands how you feel. But it is God we are dealing with here. Friends, God does not lie to us, that is why we can trust Him. I know what it looks like, but I am telling you if God said it, no matter what it looks like He is going to do what He promised. Don’t give up on God, you are going to see the glory of God in the land of living, just you watch. Just ask Mary and Martha.