11-28-18 The First 15

The Weekly Overview To know God is to experience God. Just as we experience aspects of one another as we grow in friendship, we experience the wonders of God as we seek to simply know him. God is calling us to a life of seeking him with all we are. He is calling us to value relationship with him above all else that we would love no other but him. May you encounter wonderful aspects of relationship with your heavenly Father this week as we wholeheartedly seek to know him with all we are.

The Scripture “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” - John 8:47

The Worship Experience Artist: Jason Upton Song: Whisper

The Devotional To seek the fullness of relationship with God is to hear his voice. “Whoever is of God hears the words of God” (John 8:47). Just like when I seek true relationship with a person, a conversation must happen; when we seek to truly know God, he talks with us. He is not a God who is silent but a God who speaks to us in any and every way he can. All throughout the New Testament, there is both teaching on hearing the voice of God and instances where the people of God had conversation with him. In John 14:16-17 Jesus says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” And later in John 16:13 Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” God himself dwells within us and longs to speak to our hearts. He longs for us to know the will of our heavenly Father the way Jesus did. He longs for us to follow his leading moment by moment the way the apostles did. And he longs for us to engage in conversation with him as all those who are in true relationship with one another do. God is constantly speaking to us. The problem is that we don’t know how to listen. Scripture tells us that he is declaring the invisible attributes of his nature through creation (Romans 1:20). When I take time to experience firsthand the things God has made, I feel his presence. There is a reason it’s peaceful to be in creation. There is a reason it’s restful to be in the mountains, lay on a beach, or swim in the sea. All of creation is declaring the wonderful character of our loving God. We just need to learn how to listen. God speaks to us through his revealed word. The inspirer of Scripture dwells within us and longs to use the Bible as a wonderful avenue to encountering its Author. The Bible is not a biography written after someone has died. Rather, it is the living, active words of a living, active God who longs for relationship with us (Hebrews 4:12). God speaks to us through one another. All of us as believers have been given the same Spirit who has called us to a lifestyle of encouraging one another. We are called to be a critical part of the process of discovering God’s heart and will in each other’s lives. If we will make time to learn how God speaks to us for others, we will discover the very words of God given by grace to the lips of man. And God speaks to us directly from his Spirit to our spirit. The Holy Spirit is a vocal God. He longs for us to know his thoughts. He longs to direct us whether it be through words, a sense, a desire, an uneasiness, or a prompting. He is always speaking to us. In order to learn to hear his voice moment by moment, whether we’re in solitude or in chaos, we must make time in the secret place to seek the fullness of relationship with him. It’s in seeking relationship with God that we become familiar with his voice and are able to follow him as sheep with their Shepherd. Take time in guided prayer to seek the face of your heavenly Father and hear his voice however he is choosing to speak. Don’t limit yourself to hearing him in only one way. The path to the fullness of relationship with him is marked by his voice in each of these ways and more. Open your heart to hearing him through any and every way he is speaking that you might grow in your relationship with a good and loving God.

The Prayer 1. Meditate on Scripture that declares God to be a vocal God. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to hear God in every way he speaks. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” John 8:47 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20 2. In what ways are you comfortable hearing God? What ways might be new to you? Know that there is grace to grow in every facet of your relationship with him. Don’t limit yourself to only what you’ve known or experienced up to this point. Rather, seek the truth of God’s word by his Spirit and discover a wealth of relationship you might not have yet experienced. 3. Choose one of the ways God speaks that’s new to you and ask him to help you have conversation with him through that avenue. Again, hearing his voice through all of these avenues is meant to be the byproduct of simply seeking relationship with him. Just as we don’t seek to hear the voice of another person but seek relationship with them and get a conversation as a result, simply seek to know God and talk with him. “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3 “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.” Isaiah 30:21 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13

To have conversation with God might sound strange for some, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Rather, to have conversation with God available to us and to not take advantage of it is strange. God longs to speak to you. The Creator of all longs to have dialogue with you. The King of kings and Lord of lords is inviting you to meet with him that you might have true relationship. Seek God with all your heart. Look to Scripture and the lives of biblical believers as your source of truth and normalcy. Because of God’s heart to speak to you, you can live your life in constant conversation with a God who is both near to you and loves you. Extended Reading: John 10

CRAIG DENISON is the author and founder of First15, a daily devotional guiding tens of thousands of believers into a fresh experience with God's presence every day. He writes, speaks, and he and his wife, Rachel lead worship to help believers establish a more tangible, meaningful connection with God.