Thanking God for your trials turns burdens into blessings..
Substance Church Sermon- Understanding the Supernatural Part 2
If you follow Christ you will experience miracles. John 14:12 says, "very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things then these." Many of us ask the question, "why do we not experience miracles all of the time if we are following the Lord?" There are many reasons we are not experiencing miracles all of the time, the first being spiritual warfare. There is a war here on earth caused by the evil spirits of Satan. There is a constant battle between the truth and a lie. We fail to experience God's miracles because of a lack of faith. Mark 6:5-6 tells us that Jesus went to his hometown but could not do any miracles there because of the people's lack of faith. It's not that Jesus chose not to do miracles there, rather, he could not do any miracles because they had such little faith in Him. Other reasons for the absence of miracles in our lives in our lack of persistence and lack of purity. Maybe God is working a bigger plan then what we can see? Maybe we aren't praying insync with God's will? These are questions we can meditate on and ask ourselves.
How can we hear the supernatural, prophetic voice of God? How do we know if God is telling us something or if it is merely our own thoughts? It's so important that we discern the difference between God's voice and our own.. We must use our faith to discern whether it is God's voice or simply our own thoughts. What do you mean use my faith? I mean, use what you know about God, what you know about the Scriptures. When you have a certain dream or you get a certain vibe, go to God and ask Him, "Is this from you?" Then listen. We must examine our thoughts. Pastor Peter's question to "How can we hear God's voice" is this... 1. Pray. Say, God what do you want me to know? Then Listen. 2. Learn the Scriptures. Read your Bible and understand what it means. 3. Don't use phophesy to fight against Godly counsel or Godly mentors in your life. So many people are guided by God to do something through the wisdom and guidance of mentors, counselors, pastors, etc., but they are quick to reject it. They don't want to follow God's prophesy for whatever the reason may be. They are quick to play the "God card" and say, "Well God told me to do this... and it conflicts with what you are telling me." Try not to do this. 4. Immediately obey the voice of your conscience. Follow your gut instincts. If God is telling you don't rent that movie, then don't rent it. If God is saying don't go out tonight, then stay in. Listen to the immediate instinct you have in your heart. If we do these things, or try our best to, we are able to hear God's prophetic, supernatural voice leading us...
Songs on my heart...
Jon Foreman- Your love is strong
Hillsong- Saviour King
I encourage you all to let God have His way with your heart. Simply talk to Him. Pray. Say, "God I want to follow Your purposes and your plans, for without them I will never be satisfied." The truth is this: without God's plans being lived out in our lives we will never feel content, never be satisfied. We will be restless, tiresome, meaningless souls... searching for satisfaction in all the wrong things.
