(upbeat music) - Hey everyone, I'm Clinton and this is my wife LeBlanc and we are the lead pastors of Hope DSP. We want to thank you for joining us on our Hope DSP cooking channel. We pray that as you listen to this message today, it will normally lift you up and encourage you, but it will be a blessing to you and your family. Enjoy the message, God bless you. (upbeat music) - Tuning in. Last week, I shared three weapons of mass distraction that come in the way of us, you're in God's voice. That come in the way and prevents us from you're in God's voice. The first weapon of mass distraction that I mentioned last week was busyness, busyness. And one of the main reasons that take up that whole definition of busyness is this thing in my hand. You know, you can sit in your living room with your family and your husband or your wife or your kids might be telling you something and you can drown out their voice completely just by being on this. And how many of you have been in that place after a sentence or a conversation is spoken, you look up and you're like, oh, sorry, did you say something? I've done it multiple times, okay? So I'm not a saint standing over here preaching to you, I've done it a number of times. My wife gets really annoyed and upset, but I'm trying to be a better man. I'm trying to be a better husband, a better father, but today is our day, today's father's day. So no one can say anything to us. But the first weapon of mass distraction is busyness. We allow ourselves to, we allow busyness to come in the way of your in God's voice. You know, many a times, first thing in the morning when we wake up, we check our phone to see how many likes we've got on Instagram. Who messaged me the previous night while I was sleeping, whose message I received in the morning, wherein the Bible is very clear when you wake up before dawn, praise God. The second weapon of mass distraction that I spoke about was competing voices. We allow so many other voices to come in the way of God's voice. We allow so many other people to come and give us instruction and tell us how we need to go about our day, how we need to do things rather than listening to the source of life himself, rather than listening to the person from where our life came from, rather than listening to the person who knows us inside out and knowing that his instruction and his direction will be the best. So we allow competing voices to come in the way. And the third weapon of mass distraction that I mentioned about was an unprepared heart, an unprepared heart. You know, we often run with revelation based on what other people have received. And I said this last week, somebody else's revelation is knowledge to you. And it will only carry you on for a certain moment in time. But when you receive something fresh from God, it will carry you for a very long time. And the reason why we don't allow, a reason why we get disappointed and frustrated after we year someone else's revelation and we go like, "Wow!" And we allow that to carry it, we allow that word or what that person, what God revealed to that person, we allow that to carry us on for a while and then we get frustrated and fed up. And we think God's not speaking, it's because we are riding on something that God communicated to somebody else. When actuality, I said, "God wants to give you "your wow factor." He wants you to go, "Wow!" You know, in heaven, let me say this, the angels are worshiping God 24/7, okay? You may be wondering, like, so boring. Don't you get fed up worshiping God 24/7? But no, they don't get fed up because just when they've seen one aspect of God, okay, they see one aspect of God and they go like, "Wow, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God Almighty." And, you know, while they're worshiping, they see another aspect and they go, "Wow, this is way better than the previous one." And God, being God, is unpredictable. You can never get tired of serving God. You can never come to a place where you've read a passage of scripture and say, "Been there, done that." I know, I can say it backwards. I can say the words backwards. No, no, no. Every time, have you been in that place, you've read a word, you've read a portion of scripture and God has spoken to you. And then, after some time, you go back to that same portion of scripture. God has spoken to you in a completely different way. Have you ever experienced that? That's what the angels experience. So I said three things, busyness, competing voices, and an unprepared heart. But today, I'm going to share what we can do to enable us to your God's voice in a better way. And they're very simple steps, but I want to begin with first Samuel chapter three, verse one. And I'm reading from the message Bible. It says the boy Samuel was serving God under Eli's direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. Now mind you, let me say this. Samuel was a young boy serving under a mentor, another prophet Eli. And this was in a time, this was in a time where people weren't regularly yearing from God. It's probably not because, it's probably not because God wasn't speaking. They just weren't listening. Okay, they just weren't listening. And yes, Samuel is under the mentorship of Eli. It says, one night Eli was sound asleep. One night Eli was sound asleep. It was well before dawn. The sanctuary lamp was still burning. The sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the temple of God where the chest of God rested. Now notice where Samuel was. Notice where Samuel was. He was in the temple of God. In other words, I love this. In other words, he intentionally put himself in a place. He intentionally, Samuel intentionally put himself in a place where people historically had encounters with God. Now we're gonna come back to that. We're gonna come back to that. So I want you to remember what I just said. Okay, we're gonna come back to that. I want you to remember this portion. Eli was sound asleep. It was well before dawn. The sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was in bed in the temple of God where the chest of God rested. We're gonna come back together. We're gonna come back to that. First Samuel chapter three was his four to nine. Then God called out. Samuel, Samuel. Samuel answered, "Yes, I'm you." Then he ran to Eli saying, "I heard you call. Here I am." Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed." And so he did. God called again, Samuel, Samuel. Samuel got up again. Is Eli playing games with me? You know, what's he up to? He's calling me. He's saying he didn't call. So he goes back to Eli. I heard you call. Here I am. Again, Eli said, "Son, I didn't call you. Go back to bed." Now this all happened before Samuel knew God for himself. It was before the revelation of God had been given to him personally. God called again, Samuel, the third time. Yet again, Samuel got up and went to Eli. "Yes, I heard you call me. Here I am." That's when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel. Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, "Speak God. I'm your servant ready to listen." Let me say that this is some good advice right here. This is some really good advice right here. If you don't get anything from the message today, I want you to get this. When God is trying to get your attention, quiet yourself. When God is trying to get your attention in the midst of the busyness, quiet yourself and say, "Speak God, speak. I'm your servant and I'm ready to listen. I'm your servant and I'm ready to listen." Was this 10 to 11? Samuel returned to his bed. Then God came and stood before him exactly as before calling out. Samuel, Samuel, and Samuel answered, "Speak I'm your servant ready to listen." God said to Samuel, "Listen carefully. I'm getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention. I'm going to do something, I'm getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention. You know, it's really interesting how the one, it's really interesting, I find this very interesting, how the one during God's voice was Samuel when in actuality the more mature one was Eli. It's amazing. Eli, known as the prophet, wasn't hearing anything. He wasn't hearing anything. And I really believe in this story. You know, I really believe in this story. There are three things that will guide us into an environment where we can hear God's voice. It doesn't matter how old you are or how young you are. We can all take these steps. And so the first thing that I want to say this afternoon is God speaks as we read His word. God speaks as we read His word. Remember I told you about the sanctuary lamp? I said we're going to come back to that. It says the sanctuary lamp was still burning. The sanctuary lamp when Samuel was sleeping in the temple was still burning. You may have not realized the significance of Samuel lying by the sanctuary lamp as it continued to burn. You may have not realized it. The significance of Samuel laying by the sanctuary lamp as it continued to burn. But look at this, Psalms 119 was 105 says, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Let me say this, the Bible doesn't exist only to give you a historical record. The Bible doesn't exist only to give you a historical record. It's not even there just to give you great spiritual ideas. Great spiritual ideas, okay? The Bible doesn't exist only to give you great historical records. And it's not there just to give you great spiritual ideas. The Bible exists to illuminate the best spot for your life. The Bible exists to illuminate the best spot for your life. It guides you on the journey to your best life. It guides you on the journey to your best life. But you know what, you have to keep it lit. Hashtag, keep it lit, make a T-shirt. This is young generation today. Man, those shoes are dope. That's lit, you know? And some things, you know, in today's generation, something, there'll be something nice that you rather look good, man, that's bad. No, it's good. It's so good. I paid a whole lot of money for it. No, that's bad. Keep it lit. If you want the Bible to direct you, if you want the Bible to direct you to the best part of your life and take you on the journey to your best life, you need to keep it lit in your life. Because while you are walking down this path, life is going to show up and try to blow out the candle. Life is going to show up and try to blow out the lamp. And when that does, and you can't see the path anymore, so you start straying away from your best life. How do you keep it lit? So how do you keep it lit? You read it every single day. You read it every single day, even when it's boring, even when you feel like you aren't getting anything out of it, read your Bible. Because what you're doing is when you are reading the Bible, you are only not reading the Bible. The Bible, the Word of God is reading you. It's speaking to you. It's filling you up. You may be empty. You may be at a place where you feel this is boring, but the Bible is the Word of God. It is life. And what you may consider boring, or what you may consider a boring time to read the Bible, is more than enough to fill you with life. To fill you with strength. Because the Bible is life-giving and life-changing. And when a big wind of life comes and blows out the lamp, you light it again by reading the Bible. You light it again. Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my part. You know, it doesn't say your Word is a lamp in the distance. Every step you take, God is able to show you where you are going, where you are walking. Because God wants to strengthen you and encourage you in the moment, not when you reach your destination. He wants to strengthen you and encourage you in the moment. And it's amazing. It's a lamp unto your feet. And it's a light that will illuminate the pathway in order for you to get what God wants you to get. That's the beauty of the God we serve. Don't do what most of us do by wandering around. Don't do what most people do, by wandering around in the dark for a few weeks or months. Light it up as soon as it goes out. I've shared this before. You know, Pastor was rid of family from church. And he went to have dinner with them. Very well to do family. And so they brought the best, you know, plates and spoons, cutlery, to show the pastor that, you know, they have nothing but the best. And so they had, they had their dinner. And the pastor left. And then this lady was searching for a spoon. This lady was searching for a spoon. It was a very expensive cutlery set. And, you know, the husband said, "No, I'm pretty sure it's somewhere around. I'm pretty sure it's there somewhere." And the wife was like, "No, I'm pretty sure that pastor has taken that spoon and gone home." You know, that pastor must have been so blown away by seeing this expensive cutlery set. So the husband said he would have taken the knife and fork as well, right? She was like, "No, there's something, she couldn't get by the fact that, you know, that the pastor hadn't taken it." She said, "I'm pretty sure the pastor has taken the spoon." And a couple of months later, then why did the pastor of the house again? And this time it was obviously for dinner, but with a different intention to see what's the pastor going to take away this time. And so the pastor sat with them, enjoyed the meal, and he was talking about how has it been, you know, getting the Word of God and, you know, just spending time with God. And the wife was like, "Oh, it's been absolutely amazing. It's been absolutely amazing, you know, the way God's been speaking to me. You know, I've really been reading this and this and this and this." And the pastor said, "Well, that's absolutely amazing, you know. It's so good to to hear what God's doing in your life." And some of you might have heard this, so I can see smiles already on some of your faces. And then she was very, she couldn't keep it in anymore. She said, "You know, pastor, last time when you came, we had a really good time, we had dinner, it was really great. But when you left, one of my spoons was missing, you know. So by accident, I don't know if it slipped in your pocket, or you might have taken it by mistake. I don't really know what happened, but I'm just asking you." We said, "Oh, your spoon, yeah, yeah, sure, sure." He goes up to the Bible in the showcase with all the dust and he opens it and the spoons lying over there. And he said, "So much for reading the Word of God every day." It's not funny, but it's a bit ouch also for some people. There's power in the Word of God. There's power in the Word of God. Listen, when you tell me that God's not speaking, that's a lie. That's a lie, that's the biggest lie ever. If you open up your Bible every day, God will speak to you every day. If you have a hard time with the Bible, if you are trying to figure out, see, we at Hope DXB, we love you like crazy. I don't know if you figure it out by now, but we love you like crazy. And I know some of you don't really know how to go about starting a Bible plan or, you know, where to start, which is why on our website, we have a plan, ready plan, there for you. All you have to do is go and click on the PDF, take a screenshot, or save it on your phone. We have a Bible plan that we put out every month for you for the entire year. You don't have to try to figure out from where to get a Bible plan. That great Bible plans on you version on the Bible app as well. We also have a devotional that we put out for you every month based on the team. But there's only so much that we can do. I can tell you that God wants to speak to you, but you need to be willing to hear the voice of God. And let me say this, if you haven't started doing it already, you don't have to waste time living in regret. You don't have to waste time in regret for not doing it until now. You can start today. Today can be a brand new start. Today can be a fresh start. It doesn't have to be complicated or overwhelming. You can start by reading a couple of verses. Simply download the plan on your phone or open up the Bible app, read the words of the day, and allow God to speak. You take time, take a moment to let it speak to you. Make a commitment to get in the Word every day. And when you do, the Holy Spirit will guide you in the right plan for you. If you're reading a couple of verses, if you're reading a chapter, don't compare yourself. Somebody else might say, I read seven chapters today. Don't compare yourself with that person. Each person is different. Don't come under condemnation. Don't allow yourself to come under guilt. He's a better Christian than I am. No, no, no. Even if you read a couple of verses a day and you take a moment to allow God to speak to you, God is more than able to speak to you. God speaks as we read His Word. I like that verse. It says, I rise before dawn and I cry for help. I have put my hope in your Word. The most important thing is that you are consistent and you read it every single day. And this is the best time to do it. Rise up before dawn, spend time in God's Word. If you want to hear God's Word, spend time in God's Word. Very quickly, the next one is God speaks as we cultivate His presence. Samuel was where the chest of God rested. God speaks as we cultivate His presence. Samuel was where the chest of God rested. Now, I know that this one sounds a bit too churchy, but just hang with me, just hang with me. Because you'll grab ahold of what this means as we move through this. In the story we read earlier in the passage of Scripture, we read, it said that Samuel was sleeping where the chest of God rested. In other translations, it was called the Ark of the Covenant. It was called the Ark of the Covenant. In the Old Covenant, the Ark of the Covenant is where the Spirit of God rested. That was the only place you would find God. But because of Jesus, we've entered into a new covenant or a new agreement with God. He's no longer contained to a chest or to an Ark. He's come to live on the inside of those who believe in Jesus. This happens the moment we say, I believe in you, Jesus. I ask you to come and be Lord and Savior of my life. In that moment, God comes to live in us through the Holy Spirit. And although He's always there, we have a part to play in experiencing God's presence. In other words, the Holy Spirit is in us. God's presence is in us. But if we want to experience it in our lives, we must cultivate His presence. We've got to develop those spiritual muscles. And the best way to accomplish this is through worship. The best way to accomplish this is through worship. The best way to experience God's presence in our lives is to get our minds and words off ourselves and towards God. Let me say this. If you've been here for long, if you've been part of Hope the XB for long enough, I'm pretty sure you've experienced this during worship over your Church. I'm pretty sure you've been-- we're singing of the goodness of God. We're singing. We're singing God. Your love is better than life. Your love keeps on running. And then suddenly, all of a sudden, you start feeling something that you cannot explain. You probably feel a warm sensation. You probably start crying. You probably sense something that you really can't explain. That's God speaking to you in that moment. Suddenly your problems become small and your emotions don't know how to handle what you're experiencing. But beloved, you are in the-- that's what you call being in the presence of God. We experience this at church because we cultivate it through worship. But let me say this. You don't have to wait to-- you don't have to wait for church to experience this. You can experience it in your car, on your way to work. Now mind you, please don't close your eyes and drive-- please don't close your eyes and drive on the road. And say, I'm in a moment. I'm stuck in a moment and I can't get out of it. No, please. You'll be stuck. You'll never be able to get out of it. No. But I'm telling you, have you been in moments where I have when you're driving and you listen to worship and suddenly you feel a presence just coming in with the car like you just don't-- and it's something like you cannot explain. There's such a tangible sense of God's presence around you. You know, it could be anywhere. It could be in the bathroom. It could be in the bus. It could be in your workplace because we are called to cultivate this presence wherever we go. We are carriers of the presence of God. Wherever we go, we have the God-given ability to change and transform the environment. Your boss might be the most difficult boss in the office. But you have the God-given ability with the understanding the presence of God is on the inside of you. You have the ability to release the presence and you have the ability to change the environment in your workplace. God speaks as we cultivate his presence. And the last one, God speaks as we get planted in the church. God speaks as we get planted in the church. It says Samuel was in the temple of God. Now, you may think this is pretty obvious for a pastor to say, but it's true. God speaks as we get planted in the church. Getting planted in a church is vital to the life of a Christian. You know, I get excited when people get planted in any church. OK, my thing is, if you are a Christian and you've been hurt by church, don't say I don't want to go back to church. Get plugged in to church and be surrounded by believers who strengthen you and encourage you. You know, Sundays are when you get to know God in a deeper way than you did before. And if you are here, if you are part of Hope DXB, within our church, we have something called Hangouts. How many of you know what I hangouts? Two of you, great. We have something called Hangouts. It's very important to get plugged in to a Hangout. Because Hangouts are where you build relationships and you find freedom from all those things that are holding you back from your best life. I believe that God's placed you over your for a reason. And if you believe along with me that God's placed you over your for a reason, be all in. Be all in. You want your God's voice for yourself? Be all in. Let me say this, I can actually give you a guarantee. If you go all in, you're at Hope DXB by engaging in Sunday's services. I know that birthday party is there. Might be very important for you. But I know another person who deserves more importance. His name is Jesus. I want to say this, I'm giving you a guarantee. If you go all in over here at Hope DXB by engaging in Sunday's services and Hangouts, if you do this for a year, you're going to get to the end of the year and be blown away by how far you've come. Trust me, you're going to be blown away at the end of the year by how far you've come. Seriously, it works. And if you wanted to work in your life, you need to go all in. All I'm asking for you is one year. Try it out for one year. I'm just asking you for one year. If it doesn't work, you can come and tell me about it. And we shut down our Hangouts. No, we won't. It's a problem. If it doesn't work for you, you come and tell me about it. But I know what you're going to tell me how much better your life is, how much better your life is. Let me show it to you in scripture. My eyes are seeing the defeat of my adversaries. My euros have heard the retreat of my wicked force. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon, planted where? Planted where? They will flourish in the courts of our God. This is the amazing life you live when you get planted in the church. Now, I know that culture is going to tell you that the real life is outside church, but I'm going to tell you, I'm here to tell you that they are lying to you. If you are going to prioritize something, prioritize church, because that's the only way you will flourish. You're not going to find God's best by overworking or spending all your time in other activities. Let me say this. This power, a unique sense of power we experience when we are in the house of God. God moves in power through other people who are able to speak to you. You're a thank God for church. Thank God for church. You know when my wife was praying for her life partner? It was. Remember when my wife was praying for her life partner? She put three things before God. God, I want you to speak to my mom. My mother-in-law is one of our strongest intercessors. I want you to speak to me through the Word of God, and I want you to speak to me through a random person in church. Now, God spoke to my mother-in-law and said God showed me in bold letters. My mother-in-law was praying for her life partner, my wife's life partner, her husband to be. God showed my name in bold letters to my mother-in-law. Now, there were two people with the same name in church. Thank God the other person was already married. Thank God. God spoke to my wife through the Word of God. And over a period of time, my wife had-- I may mess up the story, it's OK, it's absolutely fine. But today's Father's Day, it's my day. So God spoke to my wife over a period of time through six dreams. God gave us six dreams. And in all of those dreams, she saw me at the altar with her. And so that Sunday she goes to church. Church service is done. She gets in the car. She's leaving and she's going away. And this random person comes banging at the glass, as she's leaving the church, banging on the glass and said, I've been searching for you all over the place. You know, God, I haven't been able to sleep or something along those lines. But God spoke to me to say something to you. And she said, it might sound really weird. I don't really know what it means. But God said, God spoke to me last night. I had this very strong sense of God speaking to me. And God said that I need to say this to you today. And my wife said, what is it? Said, it might sound very foolish, very stupid, but please forgive me if it does. God said, you need to marry the man of your dreams. Thank God it was me. [ Laughter ] I am literally the man of my wife's dreams. [ Applause ] But what I'm trying to say is, what if, what if, you God can speak any way, anyhow? What if, you could use another person, what if she was not part of the church? What if, could have been a different story? There's something God is more than able to speak to everyone in this place, to be able to reach out to you and bring about encouragement, faith, comfort, and lift you up in your time of trouble. There's something about, there's something about being planted in the house of God. And many a times we say, God did not speak to me when actually somebody just came and gave you the exact word that you needed in your life. And we say, God did not speak. God speaks through different ways. All we need to do is quieten our hearts and listen. God speaks through the Word. God speaks as we cultivate His presence. And God speaks as we get planted in the church. Youring God's voice is very easy. If you do these three things, trust me, and you do these three things, you make a commitment that I'm going to do these three things every, I mean, apart from the church aspect, but I'm talking about loyalty and faithfulness as well. If you follow these three things diligently and with the wholehearted commitment, trust me, you will be able to hear God's voice every single day of your life, not just for you, but God's called you to be an instrument of breakthrough, of miracles, of peace, of faith, of encouragement for somebody else as well. If you follow these three simple things, you will be able to hear God speak. God wants to speak to you now more than ever before. God wants to speak to you more than ever before. Today, if Fabian came and shared something, you know, I shared something with Fabian, I was feeling really sick. We were both together on Saturday. At the same time, both of us had the same symptoms later on that night. Same thing. For me, I shared it with my wife and she's like, "It's probably an attack." God is speaking. God's saying something. You know, for me, it's like God is saying something. God's probably saying something. We just need to be more aware of what God is doing in the moment. We can put the blame on the weather and everything, but our walk with God is much beyond physical manifestation. It's spiritual and supernatural, you know? And I'm telling you in the same way, I know there are people in this congregation as well who have been in places where I've said something, I felt the exact same thing. It's because God is speaking. He's always speaking. All that we need to know is, do is quite not, and pay attention. Pay attention. Don't allow the moment to pass by. And so I just, my prayer, my prayer, especially for fathers today, as the head of your house, is that you will be able to hear God's voice for your family more than ever before. You will be able to not only provide for your family, but you'll be able to bring up your family, lead your family, and direct your family into the things of God. So that when your children, or when your children grow up, the testimony of your family would be, I learned how to hear God's voice from my father. That's my prayer. Thank you for joining us and listening to the message. We encourage you to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel, which is Hope DXB Church. You can also find us on Instagram and follow us on Instagram. Our Instagram handle is... Hope DXB Church. We are also on Spotify. All you have to do is key and hope DXB, and you will find us there. (upbeat music) You
