(upbeat music) - Hey everyone, I'm Clinton and this is my wife LeBlanc and we are the lead pastors of Old DSP. We wanna thank you for joining us on our Old DSP literature world. 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) - The title for my message is listen up, listen up. You know, in the last days, the Bible tells us that there will be many voices deceiving the most faithful. You know, Jesus tells us, you know, through John chapter 10, verse 27 and verse 28, that if we are his sheep, we will hear his voice. Which simply says that God wants to speak to us. If we are sheep, we will hear his voice. It doesn't say that we can hear his voice. It says we will hear his voice. That means that God desires to speak to us. The problem is we are not listening. God enjoys communicating, God enjoys communicating with his children as we see in Revelation chapter three, verse 20. It says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, "I will come into him and dine with him and he with me." What it simply says is that God wants to fellowship with you. God wants to, God wants to be there with you. He wants to spend time with you. He wants to have an intimate relationship with you. He's not, you know, dining doesn't literally mean that, you know, go and prepare something, go and prepare something in the kitchen and come on, God, let's eat together. He wants to give you food beyond physical food. He wants to speak to you every single day in order for you to be able to navigate through life, knowing that if God is for me, nothing can be against me. Our responsibility is to be in a position to your voice. Our responsibility is to be in a position to your voice. This is simply a position of submission. A position of submission. There's no quicker way to harden the, there's no quicker way to harden the arteries of your spiritual heart than to walk in rebellion. The writer in Hebrew says in chapter three, was seven and eight. Today, if you will hear my voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. You know, much like a radio receiver, must tune into the signal of the, much like a radio receiver. We need to tune in to the frequency of the Holy Spirit. Much like a radio receiver, we need to tune in to the frequency of the Holy Spirit. Like the radio wave is constant and does not change. God is constant and does not change. And you need to know that during the voice of God is a highlight and delight to the believer. How many of you say God, as I'm praying today, please don't speak to me. Anybody over here says that? God, please don't speak to me because you speak to me. It's gonna take more time. And then I've already prepared my schedule. I've got A, B and C lined up. So God, if you speak to me, I'm gonna get all mushy and emotional. And I'm gonna, anyone over here says don't speak to me? No, right? Because hearing the voice of God is a highlight and a delight to the believer. It can save you thousands of derums. It can give you divine guidance. And it can protect you and encourage you to move on. How many of you have been in a place where you ever had to take a very important decision and you felt God lead you in that decision? How many of you felt that you need to do something and the Holy Spirit on the inside of you, you hear that voice prompting you so loud, louder than anything around you telling you don't? As much as you think it's the right thing, it is in your eyes, not in God's eyes. How many of you have had that voice? You know, the job sounds so good. In fact, too good to be true. And just as you're ready to sign the offer letter, you have that voice, don't do it. I've got something better in store. You know, and I want you to know that voice, the voice of God can save you thousands of derums. It can give you divine guidance and protect you and encourage you. You know, I'm being very honest. This is my family and I'm going to be very vulnerable. You know, my wife has a thing with me and my shoes. Yeah. She has a thing with me and my shoes. And then she put up something, she put up a clause. It's like, you know, when you go to the boss and the boss gives you a couple of your, all this is great, but you cannot do this, you cannot do this, you can now sign the paper. It's like your rent agreement. You know, you like the place so much and then you read the agreement and there's so many things. My wife put up a clause. This was a couple of years ago, okay. I've become a lot better from there. She said, for every pair of shoes you buy, you give away two pairs. She's not a very good clause. But why never give it away? She did. But there have been times when my wife, and I always consult my wife and everything. Husbands, please consult your wife and everything. Okay, don't do anything on your own. Even if you have to go and buy something. You know, there'll be a time when, I've told I want to go and buy something, and she'll be like, if you want it, great. And then she'll tell me reasons why she thinks I shouldn't have it. But she'll say, no, but if you want to buy it, just go ahead. And I will go to the mall, ready to buy it. And just as I'm looking at whatever it is that I want to buy, I hear two voices. One is a beautiful, sweet voice of my wife, and one is louder than every other voice, which I feel a prompting. It's not worth it. Don't do it. Don't do it. You know, God is more important. God is God over every detail of your life, even the smallest. And then when I go back home, my wife will be like, what happened? You didn't buy it? I'm like, no. Not painful words, but these right words come out. I felt that what you said was right. You know, I felt that what you said was right. I didn't feel like it. I went to buy it. I saw it, it looks nice, but I didn't feel like it. You know, many times, not many times, always if you tune into the frequency of heaven, you can hear God speak you throughout the day. From the time you get up to the time you sleep, because God has given you the Holy Spirit to lead you, to teach you, and to guide you in every step of the way. It's not that the Holy Spirit is not speaking always, it's that we have tuned out, which is why constantly every day we need to listen up. And so, you know, all along I've been telling you what you, you know, what are the distractions, what we need to do to hear the voice of God. But today what I'm going to tell you is what does voice, what does God's voice sound like? What does God's voice sound like? The first is God's voice is still and quiet. God's voice is still and quiet. You know, in 1 Kings 9, 12, such an amazing, such an amazing passage of scripture. Elijah is running away from queen Jezebel after one of the greatest victories in his life. Okay, Elijah just experienced one of the greatest victories in his life, and over here he's running away from queen Jezebel. You're here just finished acting as the agent between the prophets of Baal and God. It was undoubtedly a highlight in his life as God moved mightily bringing fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice. You know, and often after our mountain top experiences with God, we are the most vulnerable. We are the most vulnerable. You know, the anointing that he was, the anointing that he was, sorry, the anointing that he was flowing in on the mountain had lifted, and the queen now had Elijah on her most wanted list for killing her prophets. She had Elijah on a most wanted list for killing her prophets. In fear he runs, he's just in a move of God, he's just in one of the greatest victories, he's on the mountain top, and now in fear he runs wanting nothing more than to year from his God who anointed him on Mount Carmel. Now in the cave, God clearly shows him that he would hear his voice as a still quiet voice. But Elijah, like so many of us, was wanting some loud manifestation. He was wanting some loud outside manifestation to show him that God was with him. But if he wanted to know his God, he would have to calm down and be still. That's what the Psalm says in 46 verse 10, "Be still and know you are God." Be still and know that he is God. You know, the trouble with many of us, the trouble with many of us is that we are running a hundred miles an hour, trying to get everything the world says we need, and to get everything, and for us to get everything crossed off our to-do list. We wanna do this, we wanna do that. We know this is more important, this is more important, this is more important. We need to get this done, we need to get this done, we need to get this done, we need to get this on the list, we need to get this on the list, we need to get this on the list. But in doing so, in doing so, we are not still long enough to hear the father's voice. We are not still long enough to hear the father's voice. Our prayer lives consist of a few thank yous. God, thank you for today, it was good, nobody disturbed me, nobody stepped on my toes, nobody said anything bad. God, and while I'm at it, I thank you for everything, but these are the requests that are pending. You know, I need this, I need this, I need this, and then we're out the door to the next appointment. And then we're out the door to the next appointment. But to hear God's voice, we must take time to be still. God's voice is still and quiet. The second thing I wanna say is that God's voice is not repetitious, God's voice is not repetitious. When God speaks to us, He's not long-winded, that means He doesn't keep on rambling. He doesn't keep on rambling. Do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this. No, no, no, He doesn't keep on rambling. He gives simple, concise directions. He gives simple, concise directions. He told Jonah simply to preach in Nineveh. He told Jonah simply preach in Nineveh. He did not tell him how to get there, the text of his speech, where to hold the meetings, how to finance the evangelistic campaign, but rather, just go, just go. He told Abraham the same thing, just go. The problem is, many of us, when we hear God leading us towards something, we want the remaining details in advance. That, my friend, is not faith. Someone once said, "Faith is taking a step "when you can't see the rest of the stairs." Faith is taking a step when you can't see the rest of the stairs. What stops us many a times from going is that we're waiting for all the instructions, for every detail to come through before we act. But God purposely gives us instructions as you go. Last week I said, "Your word is a lamp to my feet "and a light for my path. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. "He guides you every step of the way. "All that God needs and desires is a willing heart, "ready to say yes." When you say yes, it's not like he tells you to come to the edge of the cliff and jump. Even if he tells you to do that, even if he tells you to come to the edge of the cliff and tell you to jump, be sure that he will catch you when you fall. But when he tells you to do something, you need to keep in mind and know that God has already taken care of everything concerning you. The Bible says very clearly, "God will accomplish everything that concerns you." You know, and it's amazing that while Jonah was in the belly of the whale, he cries out to God. And it's amazing that God speaks to the fish before he speaks to Jonah, he'd roll the fish to spit Jonah out, and then he spoke to Jonah in the same brief instruction. He speaks to the fish first, imagine in one, in one, in one go, the fish heard God and understood God and spat Jonah out. You know, God does not give you further instruction until you have accomplished the last thing he has asked you to do. God does not give you further instruction unless and until you have accomplished the last thing he has asked you to do. You know, I want to say this. There are three options for who we might hear when we're listening out for what God is saying. Yourself, Satan, or God? How many of you have always experienced the three voices and you're trying to figure out which voice is the right voice? Which voice is the voice of God? Here's how you can differentiate the three voices. Your own thoughts are probably going to sound logical or analytical. It will sound like the kind of things you often think. It would sound like the kind of things you often think. The voice of Satan always condemns. His purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. So if the thoughts you're hearing are negative, destructive, vicious, or accusing, it's the enemy. When God speaks, it always lines up with the Bible. When God speaks, it always lines up with the Bible. His character and his actions. His kind, loving, inspirational, wise, healing, and convicting without being condemning. Furthermore, the Lord cannot bless you past your last act of obedience to him. Let me say that again. The Lord cannot bless you past your last act of disobedience, sorry, not obedience, past your last act of disobedience to him. With the change in Jonah's heart, he's now in a position to your God speak again. The instruction is the same and to the point. Most people that say they carry long conversations with the Lord every day don't. Sorry to say that, but that's true. It's a fact. Most people who say that they carry long conversations with God every day don't. If it does, it will show it to your lifestyle. When the Lord spoke to Joseph to take the Christ child to Egypt, to fill it, to go to Samaria, to Paul, not to go to certain areas of Asia to preach. When he spoke to Ananias, to go minister to Saul, et cetera, we see it was always to the point. When God speaks to you, you can expect him not to be repetitious, but rather direct. God does not have to take several tries to make himself clear. He's the master of communication and he knows his sheep and how to speak to them so that they don't miss the point. The third point, very interesting. How many of you know God sounds like the Bible? Yeah. Many of times we don't hear God because we're not opening up the Word. Because when you open up the Word, God is more than able to speak to you and God desires to speak to you through the Word. Because the Word of God is alive. It's God breathed and is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Every time you read the Word of God, God speaks to you. God sounds like the Bible. You know, a person who's a piano tuner. A lot of piano tuners, when they move around, they definitely have an excellent year for music, but they carry a tuning fork with them. Many of the times they carry a tuning fork with them to ensure that what they hear coming from the piano is in tune. By comparing what they hear to the pitch of the tuning fork, they can tell if the note is on or off. The Bible is like that tuning fork. We are different voices, but even though we may have been saved for years, we still must always compare what we hear to the tuning fork of the Bible. To ensure that we are not heeding the voice of the stranger. If we will study and meditate on the Word of God, we will know it's the Father's voice. For the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible is the same Holy Spirit that lives in us. Just like the two disciples traveling on the road to Emmaus, the Lord revealed Himself through the Scriptures. Jesus tells us that if we search the Scriptures, we will find that they testify or support what He says to be true. When you hear something, it's very important, it's very important that it resonates in your Spirit, and it's very important that it aligns with the Word of God. Be it a prophetic Word. Be it a prophetic Word. Even what I'm saying to you every Sunday in Church, go back and check the Scriptures. In the Bible we see what people spoke, they were told to go back and check it out for themselves, that what was said was true. The problem is we allow ourselves to listen to voices, and some of those voices are so depressing that we go, some of those voices are so depressing that it does something to us that's so bad and we don't know how to get out of it. The problem is why it does something to you that's so bad is because it doesn't align with your Spirit. And what you need to do is go back to the tuning fork, which is the Word of God, and see what the Word of God says about you. The Word of God will not depress you. The Word of God will bring correction, will convict you, but in love, not condemnation. I had a very interesting senior leader messaged me at 2.30 in the morning early on in this week. He was burdened to pray for me, which is great. A lot of people are burdened to pray for me and I really appreciate that. He was burdened to pray for me and then he released the Word. So God gave me this Word to release to you. The Word was hemorrhage. So maybe you're struggling, maybe you're struggling physically or spiritually, but this Word, I felt this Word, you know, and I didn't know how to say it, but I really felt this Word is for you, hemorrhage. I replied back the next day and I said, I appreciate you praying for me. Thank you so much. This Word doesn't resonate with me. This Word doesn't resonate with me. Listen, let me tell you, sometimes, you know, out of politeness, we allow people to speak things that are not meant to be spoken into our lives. God has given you a thought, you had to cut it off then and there. Be very careful of who you allow to lay hands or who you allow to lay hands on you. You don't know what people are carrying. And many a times, it's not the enemy bringing it on. It's you inviting it into your life. God sounds like the Bible. Read your Bible. God is the voice of the Spirit, not the five senses. God is the voice of the Spirit, not the five senses. In order to hear God's voice, you must understand that He is a Spirit and those who worship Him, which would also include fellowship with Him, must do so in spirit and in truth. We live in a world that is governed by the five senses. We live in a world that is governed by reasoning. But God does not commune with man on this level. The Holy Spirit communes with our Spirit. That is why so many people cannot hear the voice of God. They are so sense and reason driven. They have no idea where to listen for the voice of God. You know, when God speaks to you at times, it does not make sense. It does not make sense. When God tells you to do something at times, it does not make sense. Trust fills the gap when you don't understand. So what you need to do is trust anyway. Trust anyway. When the angel came to Mary and said, "You're going to have a child." It's true, you know, at times, I mean, she must have been thinking how is it going to happen? She said, "No, my life will be scarred." But trust fills the gap when we don't understand. Many at times, God has spoken a number of things to me that have been beyond my wildest thinking. But I've gone ahead. There have been times when I haven't, and there have been times when I've... A lot of times when I've gone ahead, and at the end, it just made so much more sense. It just made so much more sense. You know, you can have the Bible all figured out with your head and not even know the author. You can have the Bible all figured out in your head and not even know the author. You know, the enemy knows Scripture, yeah? But the enemy does not believe in God. Same way we can just know Scripture. It can be head knowledge, but we may not know the author. It's one thing to know the Word of God, and it's the other to know the God of the Word. It's one thing to know the Word of God, it's another to know the God of the Word. You are in God takes time. We in this microwave generation would much rather have some five-step program or three-key solution, which we can apply while we drive down the highway, down the road, or while we put on our makeup and do our hair. But actually, but to actually get quiet, be still and wait on the Lord takes time. God wants to speak to us. He delights to see us slow down and listen to him in our spirit. Romans 8, 16 says, "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. You know, just as a natural Father is pleased to have a child that stops what he or she is doing to listen to him. The same way our Heavenly Father is pleased when we listen for His voice. Any confirming sign or even a prophetic word you would get must always confirm what the Holy Spirit has said to your spirit. Your spirit and lines up with the Word of God. If it does not line up or confirm with your spirit, just ignore it. Just ignore it. The second last point is God's voice is peaceful. God's voice is peaceful. You know, let me say this. There are issues that come up in our everyday life that we ask the Lord for is leading on, that will by principle be in the Bible, but not explicitly. There are things that in our day-to-day life we want God's leading, we want God to tell us. And those situations will be in the Bible, but not explicitly. Let me explain it. For example, someone wants to buy a car. He may ask, he may ask God, God, should I go to the Mazda dealer or should I go to the Ford dealer? God, I want to buy this car. Should I go to the Mazda dealer or should I go to the Ford dealer? The Bible is not going to have a verse that says, "Thou shall buy from the Ford dealer only." Did not enter Mazda. No. No. That's not how God speaks. No. You are a rash driver. You need to ride a cycle. No, that's not how God speaks. Is God interested in the small detail? Yes, he is. God is interested in the small detail and I appreciate those people who pray prayers like these and seek God in situations like these as well. I appreciate it. It's great. And God is the God of small details like this as well. But the Bible will give you guiding principles. The Bible will give you guiding principles on how to make a fair deal and show you that the Lord will provide for you. I have a peace about it. As to which dealer you must, as to which dealer you need to go to, you know where you need to go to, you will have a peace about what you need to do. You will have a peaceful voice that will lead you on. Isaiah 55 verse 12 says that we will be led forth by peace. If you are ever in a situation where you feel this driving pressure to make a decision, my friends, let me tell you that is not God. If you are pressured into making a decision, it is not God. Every time God leads you, you will not have 99% peace, you will have 100% peace. Even if you, I always stop people, even if you have 99% peace, don't do it. Let God's peace be your guide and let it be 100%. Every time God leads you, it will be peaceful. Notice that he leads, not pushes. He leads the sheep, not pushes. Whenever you feel pushed into something, take two steps back and wait on God. Whenever you feel pushed into something, take time to wait to hear from God. God is not in a turmoil. He is not anxious and he does not panic. Therefore you will never find him speaking to you that way. His voice may be stern at times, but it will always have a note of peace. God is not double-minded. He does not speak something to you one day and next week he changes his mind. If you say, "Take this job," and tomorrow he says, "I am so sorry, Clinton. I made a mistake. Don't." I don't know what was I thinking. I wasn't in the moment. There are so many other prayer requests on my list and I have to deal with the whole world and I just made a mistake. No, no, no, that is not God. God does not change his mind. I love it. I love how people, how many of you love playing Uno? A lot of us love playing Uno. You know, but a lot of people in church, they play the God card. And when you play the God card, you can't say anything after that. You know, a lot of people come to church and they say, "The Lord told me to come to this church." Two weeks later, you don't know their name or you step on their toes and say, "God told me to leave this church and to go somewhere else." I've experienced it more than anybody else. They'll say, "God told me to come to the church fast, so we love you." Two weeks later, they'll share the same sentence with the knife at the back. No, no, no, God told us, "This is not the church for you. Go somewhere else." Who are the earring? Because I know that God is not the author of Confusion. James 1A tells us, "A double-minded man is unstable. A double-minded man and woman is unstable in all his own ways." And as we all would expect, these unstable people are tossed to and from... Sorry, my throat's getting dry. These unstable people are tossed to and fro from every wind of doctrine. From every wind of doctrine. You know, God is always stable. He does not change. God is always stable. He does not change. Like Jonah, if he has spoken to you, you will find the message will not change unless you carry out your part. God is not in a turmoil. He's never anxious and he does not panic. Therefore, you will never find him speaking to you that way. His voice may be stern. I said, "His voice may be stern, but there will always be a peace that surpasses all understanding." God's voice is personal. God's voice is personal. The voice of the Father will sound very personal, for he is your heavenly Father. He will call you by name and relate to you on your level in conjunction with your interests. To a French man, he will speak in French. To a fisherman, he will relate to him about fish. To a farmer, he will relate to him about farming. To a computer wizard or a computer geek, he will speak to him and relate to him about computers. It does not have to be King James English. God is not going to speak to you in King James English. He knows exactly how to reach out to you and he will reach out in love and he will reach out as a father. It does not have to be King James English. Jeremiah 29.11 makes it very clear that you are very much in his thoughts and he is personally interested in your future. John 10.27 says, "My sheep hear my voice." God calls us personally and he also leads us that way. This is the headwater. This is the headwater of our salvation. To have a personal relationship with God. To have a personal relationship with God where we can clearly hear his voice and have a time of intimate fellowship with him. God speaks in various ways. God spoke in a very different way today, this morning, to Nitin, while he went for his final exam. It was amazing. God knows exactly who you are. He created you. He knows what you love because he put those desires in you and he knows what he needs to do for you because he wants the best for you. You know, many a times God speaks to me in crazy as well. God knows I love shoes. He will speak to me at times through advertisements, of brands, of shoes, sometimes be Nike, just do it. No, I'm not joking. I'm being very serious at time and crucial decisions. And I have many other desires, many other things that I love. God knows you inside out. He knows how to speak to you and he will speak to you that way. All that you need to do is listen up, listen up. And if you feel it's not God's voice, take a step back and wait on God. If you feel it's not encouraging, it's not bringing edification and it's not bringing comfort, cut it out. Be a prophetic word. Today we have more people in the office of a prophet than we have pastors. Every person wants to be a prophet. Some are PRO, PhD, some are PRO, FIT. You know, everyone wants to be a prophet. But let me say this, all of us over here may not necessarily have the office of a prophet, but all of us over here can prophesy. Because we all have the ability to hear the God. We all have the ability to hear the voice of God. And you know what? God is always speaking. So if God prompts you something to share with somebody, if you need to go and counsel someone, if you need to take counsel from someone with that word, go and take counsel from someone. But if you feel that word is encouraging and will bring encouragement to somebody, go and release it prophetically. But shut out those voices that need to be shut out from your life. The voice of God is life-giving, not life-taking. Amen. Father, we just come before you today. And we just thank you. We know, Lord, that I've just listed six or seven, but there are so many ways you speak. But today God, we ask, Lord, that you would open up our hearts, you would open up our ears and our spirits to be able to hear your voice clearly. Lord, we desire to hear your voice. We desire to walk in your ways. Let it not be about us or our ways, but let it be always above everything else. So Lord, we ask today, Father God, that you would activate some, I pray, Lord, in the name of Jesus, that today, Father God, I pray for an activation, a supernatural spiritual activation in the spirit that you will unlock anything and everything that prevents us from hearing your voice. Unlock anything and everything so that we as your children, as sons and daughters of the kingdom, would be able to hear your voice clearly. The voice that heals, that blesses, that strengthens, that encourages, that gives hope, and that gives peace. You would be able to listen in your voice every single day throughout the day in Jesus' name. And I just pray, Father God, that even through this week, you'd bless every person, that every person would be able to hear your voice in their workplace, on the road, in the metro, wherever they may be, whether you want to speak to them personally, or whether you want to speak to them personally. Whether you want to speak through them for someone else, we pray, Lord, that the voice of life would be heard, would be received, and would flow through us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you for joining us and listening with 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 need to do is key and hope DXB and you will find us there. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
