Seeing God Pt. 1

The sense of sight should seem pretty straight forward, correct? However, have you considered that there is more than one way to see? We are going to be sharing with you about seeing God. We offer this as a message of Hope in an increasingly dark world. First, we can see with our physical eyes. I ‘see’ the computer screen in front of me right now. We are also able to “see” God at work in our environment. Through certain circumstances, we can have the assurance of knowing God is with us and that He orchestrates the world around on our behalf when we choose to trust Him. In other words, we believe there are no coincidences.  However, there is another way in which we can see and that is with our mind’s eye through dreams and visions.  In this first segment of Seeing God, we will focus on seeing God at work in our midst.

We all know of situations in which the outcome has been favorable. We may attribute different reasons behind those outcomes. Some may attribute pure stimulus / response actions to everything that goes on around us. Others may add deeper mechanics of the human psyche but still consider our lives in this world to be simply a matter of chance. But, when you have chosen to believe the Lord, then your spiritual eyes open and His actions in this world become evident to you. Again, the process is quite simple….. just ask Him to reveal Himself to you and He will answer. In fact, God’s divine nature should be so clear to us that we really have no excuse to claim otherwise.

 Romans 1:20 (CEB) Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse.

Both Joanne and I have been blessed to know that we have “seen” God at work in our lives and we truly desire for you to have that knowledge of Him as well.
Following is a recent experience Joanne had of God at work in her life:

 On Wednesday night, February 24, 2016 I was saved from the path of a tornado!

For some reason, I was delayed from leaving the ballet studio after teaching a class.  The weather apps on my phone sent alerts of severe lightning in the area.  It was raining quite heavily, and the roads were very dark.  After driving through a mountain pass, as the road levels off, I saw a line of vehicles coming from the other direction, stopped on the side of the road, and a large truck with emergency lights driving towards me! Somehow I maneuvered in a zig zag fashion around and over small tree limbs that were in front of me on the road. I thought "it looks like a tornado went through here" and slowly drove home. It was not until the next day, March 25 that a friend sent me an article that a tornado had touched down!
The National Weather Service in Binghamton, NY, has confirmed that an EF-1 tornado did in fact touch down in Wyalusing Township Wednesday night, Feb. 24 around 7:30 p.m. in the area of Homets Ferry... just where I saw the limbs in the road. If I had left on time, I would have been driving right where the tornado went through across the road, apparently uprooting a tree that had blocked the other lane. I give the LORD Jesus Christ all the glory for His protection as I abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Joanne had been meditating on Psalm 91 and was confident that the LORD was her shelter in the midst of any storms in her life.  The Lord speaks to us from His Word and makes Himself known to us in our daily lives.  That is how we “see” Him at work.  Many of you may remember hearing stories from people who were saved on that fateful day now referred to as “9-11” (September 11, 2001). There were just too many ‘coincidences’ that kept people away from the Twin Towers or the Pentagon, or even during the attacks, when people were miraculously saved!

There is more than one way to “see God” in our lives, and in the next article, we will describe how we see the Lord through dreams and visions.  What can God say to us through dreams?  How do you know if a dream is from the Lord?  What about a vision?
Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NKJV)
 Then the LORD answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
Daniel 1:17 (NKJV)
As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Ezekiel 1:1 (AMP)
Now it came about [when I was] in my thirtieth year [of life], on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles beside the River Chebar [in Babylonia], the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
There is more than one way to ‘see’ and ‘know’ God.  The Lord does show us things that are ‘great and mighty which we do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)  All we need to do is get quiet before Him and ask.
~ Sarah and Joanne

Word of the Lord 4/15/2016

We hope you are enjoying this series of Hearing God’s Voice. While praying together recently, it became clear to us that the Lord wished for us to share a specific Word from Him to illustrate how you, too, can hear His voice. We are so excited to share with you what we described last week as an inner witness. In this case, the "inner witness" is a prophetic Word from the Lord brought to us by His Spirit (the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost). To understand the “mechanics” of how this word was received, please consider God’s word in Acts 2:16-18 (NASB):

 ....but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,

‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;

And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

And your young men shall see visions,

And your old men shall dream dreams;

Even on My bondslaves, both men and women,

I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit

And they shall prophesy.

Friends, “the last days” are here. God poured out His Spirit on the new born church in the book of Acts at Pentecost and His Spirit remains until today. Many born again believers all over the world are experiencing this pouring out in a way that indicates His presence among us is extremely prevalent at this time. So, please read the following Word from the Lord given to Joanne and Sarah on 4/15/2016 and be blessed. 

 The Word of the Lord 4/15/16

“I have brought you here for my purposes”, says the Lord. “For I have found you and you have been seeking Me, but know that I see you, everything you have done. So come, come and sit with Me. Come and sit and let Me tell you my love for you. Come and sit and wait in My presence. For I AM directing your steps and I AM guiding you every step of the way.”

“My Beloved, you have found it hard, especially you, Sarah, to realize the depths of My love, the extent of what I want to lavish upon you.  So imagine those who don’t even have the same kind of relationship… how they must feel. I don’t want them to feel abandoned or lonely, I want them to come to Me.  I want you to show them how to come to Me.  I do want you to begin to speak about these experiences, I do want you to begin to speak about where I have brought you.”

“For I AM calling you again, this day, my people, my Beloved Ones, to come and sit and get quiet and read my Word.  For I will speak to you in My Word.  And as you get quiet and listen and meditate on my written Word, I will speak to you. For I AM speaking to you now, and this is truly My voice for you, My words for you now, as I have spoken through Sarah, I AM speaking through Joanne, now, so that you will know My daughters are truly set in motion to put this down on paper for you.  So as  you read and know, know that I have called you, and that it is a special calling and that I AM surrounding you with My love, that I AM guiding you each day.  So, come, and sit with me.  That is how simple it is.  Come and sit with My Word, read, and stop and listen.  That is all you need to do,” says the Lord.  “And I will confirm My words to you in the written scriptures and I will confirm My words to you many different ways.  And you will know that truly I have been speaking.  So rest in My love for you this day."

“My Beloved, do not look at the chaos that is going on all around you. Do not look to the left or look to the right, but look to Me only.  For I AM all that you need.  My grace is sufficient for you in this time.”

“For as the darkness is covering the earth, however, know that My light is shining upon you and everything that pertains to you, every person, every situation, everything you’ve done before, everything you are going to do next, concerns Me.  And know that what I have accomplished for you on the cross is true.  All of your sins have been washed away.  I don’t remember any of them.  And I have given you My love, which is greater than any fear.  So remember that perfect love casts out fear.  And these words that I am speaking to you today are for each and every one of you who have a heart to know that I AM all you need,” says the Lord.

People, HE is speaking, are you listening? 

~ Joanne and Sarah 

HE Is Speaking, Are You Listening?

He is speaking... Are you listening? 

Jesus said:
Revelation 3:20-22 (NKJV)
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Would you like to have the kind of relationship with Jesus where you hear His voice? Would you like to be able to sit with Him and have a real conversation? You can have this because Jesus has already invited you to do so. We have contact with Jesus through His Holy Spirit.  These contacts often manifest in the form of hearing His voice. Typically that hearing is an inward voice similar to your thoughts but there is a knowing that these thoughts are in fact Jesus. It is this inner witness that you will need to develop to communicate with the Lord, and it really isn’t difficult. It takes a little practice and the same faith as when you chose to make Jesus your personal Savior.

The Holy Spirit dwells in us, and brings to us the words of Jesus and His Father. That “still small voice” from the Holy Spirit sounds like our own voice in our head, so the many emotions and distractions that swirl around us can be a hindrance from clearly hearing what the Lord is saying.
“A Christian’s spiritual ‘telephone line’ to the Lord translates messages through the same message processing center in the soul (i.e. the brain) that the soul itself uses.  Hence revelation from the Lord into your spirit ‘sounds’ like your own thoughts’ ‘tone of voice.’ Put another way, your soul has only one translation device….Therefore, regardless of the source of the message, the ‘sound of the voice’ seems to be the same.” (p.133-134 Chapter 9: Deception vs. Revelation: How to Discern the Difference, Dining at the Master’s Table, Paul D. Norcross, 1997).
So how do we receive from the Lord Jesus Christ, and hear His words spoken to us?  The Lord’s voice comes to us in a whisper, as a ‘still small voice.’


1 Kings 19:12 (KJV)
And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

We need to put distractions aside, get quiet, sit, and listen for the Lord to speak to us, without any prayer lists or other agendas.  He will be faithful to speak.

Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

As long as you have made Jesus Christ your Lord (Romans 10:9), Jesus says that you WILL hear His voice!

John 10:27 (AMP)
The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me.

We need to both HEAR from and LISTEN to the LORD.  To listen means to “give attention…; attend closely for the purpose of hearing; to pay attention; heed; obey.  Isn’t that what we desire????...to really hear the Lord speak to us and to listen to what He is saying?  If a corresponding action is requested, shouldn’t we follow up on His advice?
What about hearing?  And hearing HIS WORDS to us?

Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Word in this verse is rhema in Greek.  It means sayings, or words spoken.  This is what we want to hear from the Lord.  Many people refer to this Greek word as ‘revelation’ or a ‘revealing’ of something that you hear from the Lord.  But, you may ask, how do I know if it is the Lord who is speaking to me, and if the words I hear are truly from Him? All ‘rhema revelation’ will be based on scripture, on the written word.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Word in this verse is logos in Greek.  It means the written word, or what is written in the Bible.  This is the plumb line of truth for us.  When we ‘hear from the Lord’ we can be assured that what we are hearing is from the Holy Spirit if it is confirmed in the written word of God. He will never tell you anything that does not line up with scripture. This is your assurance.

When we come and sit beside the Lord, He will speak to us and tell us the words of Life. (John 14:6)  Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord and Savior, is seated beside the Father in heaven. (Hebrews 12:2) He will speak to us and show us the things that are on His heart for us.

Jeremiah 33:3 (AMP)
‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.’

We would like to invite you to listen to His voice today. Ask Him whatever you like and then listen. When you reach out to Him with sincerity He will respond. You don’t have to worry about thinking, “Was that just me? Or was that something other than God?” Truly fear and doubt are the biggest hindrances to hearing His voice. His voice is going to sound like a friend. He won’t be speaking in the King James version of English. The Lord’s still small voice will be recognizable and your heart will agree with what He says to you.  Come and sit beside the Lord Jesus Christ today.  Be refreshed, renewed, and rejoice in His presence!
Please join us for our next segment on Hearing the voice of God….. Having eyes to see Him.