Divine Encounters: Recognizing God's Voice Through Others

"God of our lives and of the time in which we live, we confess that we prefer our fantasy to your truth, and our plans to your purposes for us and the world. We shrink from costly discipleship, and we seek cheap grace. Forgive our fleeting enthusiasm and our shallow commitments and guide us always so that we walk in your way and follow the way of your son now and always through the steadfast grace of Christ. Amen." [00:12:05] (39 seconds)


"you think about Mary and Joseph and all the ways that God has been inter breaking in and letting them know of his mission for their lives he you know that the angel came Gabriel to let Mary know about this great mission and convinced her that it's good and so she ended she said let it be according to your will your word then God sent an angel to Joseph to minister to him in a dream and let him know that everything was all right and that he should take Mary to be his wife and and to name him Jesus because he will save this child will save the people from their sin then we have the birth narrative where the shepherds end up coming to Mary and and Joseph and just declaring what the angels had spoken to them about this child all these words matter you see words matter you see words matter words of encouragement, words from God matter, and God is breaking in to speak his word, his plan, the truth to Mary and Joseph, because there are a lot of words that get a hold of us, and maybe you're aware of different words that come into your life, and yet there's got to be a countervailing true word, something that you know is level, and sure, and right. And so God is is breaking in, and he's continued to reinforce his true word about his son, who he is, and what he's about, and Mary and Joseph need to know this." [00:19:19] (102 seconds)

"And it's just like we all need to know true words about our destiny, because if we don't, there will be all these other other kinds of words that will penetrate deep into our soul and we will be lost." [00:21:02] (15 seconds)


"Just imagine, you know, you're coming in with your child to get baptized and all of a sudden, you know, this old saint comes up to you. You know, as you're walking in here and he just stops you and he begins to say, say, I've seen God, and God has shown me something about your child. I mean, he's going to do great and wonderful things, and he begins to, like, prophesy over him, and maybe you've had a sense of that. Maybe you've had, I think every mom and dad feels like their kid's going to be something special, mostly like an NFL player, an NHL player, or some kind. We all have things about our children, but here it's happening right in church, and this is going on, and they're just going on and on and on, and next, I mean, wouldn't you be kind of overwhelmed by that?" [00:21:59] (43 seconds)


"People that have been fasting, and praying, and longing, and praying, and praying, and praying, and praying, longing forever for this, that, that this truth is being declared, and, and as they marvel, you see, they have to go back home to Jerusalem, and they raise this little guy, and, and it's in this truth of his identity, and his destiny, that we're, we're told that he raises up with wisdom and strength, and, and that really caught my attention, and I wondered if it's true for us, that, that when we know the truth of who we are, when we know God's truth about us, when we, when we lean in, and we hear God's truth," [00:24:30] (45 seconds)


"And the way that the Lord ministers this truth is that he raises up Simeons and Annas in our life. People who can see in us Christ and see in us Christ who we're becoming, even as we are becoming. And I'm sure that you've had some Simeons in your life who were able to minister God's word, God's destiny for you, who just in their very countenance, the way they looked at you, talked to you, encouraged you. I mean, they spoke truth to you." [00:25:20] (43 seconds)


"And there are times when people are filled with the Holy Spirit, godly people, righteous people, and they speak words to us of destiny. And sometimes it's not even the words they say, but the way in which they treat us. They listen to us. They care for us. They see value in us. And that's translated to us, that we start to believe that we have value, that we're worth something." [00:26:57] (30 seconds)


"and you know something when they speak a word when God's word speaks there's freedom God's word is like what a level and a square is to a carpenter God's word it helps you to begin to look at every other word and to find truth and fiction God's word is the word that penetrates deep in your heart and there's a resounding knowing within you that you know it's true deep in you God's word cuts through bone and marrow it gets deep into you it's a word that you can't lose the devil's word gets in you too people can say things to you that are dark and difficult and it sticks with you and it's like a curse that's upon you and if you don't get back to God's word it will start to destroy you but God's word has a way of kind of overcoming it's that light word that overcomes all those dark words that can be said over you through and and , and, and, kind of unknowingly working with the evil one but God's word has power it's the word that comes to you in the middle of the night when you think loss and yet there's this echo of a phrase from the scripture or a moment from a person it's the word for me where when my father when he was only had a chance few days left only a few days left he was my simeon and and i was being ordained and i remember he had to roll him uh on his wheelchair and he had to take the oxygen and he put his hand on my head and he prayed for me before i was to be ordained as a minister and i came back and i was asked to to pray a prayer over the people and so i prayed a prayer during the prayers of the people and we sang this big song and my dad was like six foot two and a tall guy and i remember you see god's word like came through my dad at that moment i remember coming back and my dad was like a guy that you he wasn't a handsy kind of guy you know i remember when i was 16 i was going off to somewhere you know probably counseling somewhere and and and we're at uh you know the the station" [00:28:01] (155 seconds)


"And then he held me and there was tears in his eyes and he said to me, I am so proud of you. And I'll tell you, something happens in those moments, you see, where Simeon breaks in, where God breaks in and he holds you and there's this word released that helps you. You can always go back to that moment and you marvel in that moment. You're overwhelmed in that moment. The moment where you know you're loved and cherished. We need those Simeon moments." [00:31:23] (43 seconds)


"How can we allow God to speak His heart and truth through us to others? Some of you are amazing note writers, you know? You have a way of writing or picking up the, like, phone and listening and encouraging. Like, that's an Anna moment, and that's a Simeon moment. How is it that we can be like that in the year ahead?" [00:38:32] (25 seconds)