JanMary

2a. To testify is to declare the truth of what is seen or witnessed, heard or experienced. 2b. Holy Spirit teaches, and validates Jesus through the Scriptures, and through quickening the Word (Ramah: making it personal and alive to the individual's spirit). He testifies as He speaks personally to our hearts and minds of His love and care for us. He testifies through bringing to our minds the Word we've stored or memorized, as needed for comfort, deliverance, teaching, training, admonishing, and empowers our words as we are testify about Jesus to others. I remember the first time this happened to me...3 members of a door to door cult knocked on my door and wanted to give me materials about their religion which included their belief that Jesus is not God but a god. I "testified" about how having a personal relationship with Jesus, the Son of God whose Spirit now lives in me, transformed my life, and lifted me out of a pit of despair and hopelessness into Joy and a life of purpose and given me eternal life. The "trainee" up on the porch kept falling backward into the other two a step below him as I spoke about Jesus and shared how they too could know Jesus personally. They looked frightened and quickly left with their material. Later I read about Jesus speaking to those who came to arrest Him in the garden "fell backward to the ground".... I've experienced this myself several times as I've been prayed for in church as Holy Spirit does a deep work inside. 2c. He has graciously given me the gift of Evangelism, and I'm privileged to have many opportunities to share Him, with great joy! 2d. No. They were just the first. All believers are witnesses of His presence in our lives. I was a total wreck when He came into my life, from a childhood of violent beatings, and death threats from both parents and many other kinds of abuse, a two year abusive failed marriage, frequent anxiety attacks, no self esteem, and had just received a diagnosis of cancer, but was waiting for the biopsy results....(.My mother had told me "We will all die from cancer" when I was a little girl, so this was like waiting for a time bomb to finally explode in my body. Now I was in a second marriage with 2 children under 5 years and I was almost insane with terror as the lab lost the biopsy! Every day for 3 weeks a young woman named Mary, whom I didn't know personally, came to my house and prayed with me. (I think now she was an angle!)....one day she didn't come and as I was kneeling by my bed around noon, facing the glass door and bright sunlight pouring into the room, I was crying and nearly hysterical with teeth chattering fear. I told the Lord "I can't stand another day of this torture and terror".... I was suddenly surrounded by a brilliant light and opened my eyes to see what this was! The entire room was glistening with supernatural light. I turned toward it I saw Jesus standing in the bedroom doorway about 8 feet from me. I was STUNNED as He said "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD" then disappeared, leaving me enveloped in a warm cocoon of liquid Love like warm oil or thick honey pouring over me inside and out. I'd only been a believer for about a year and didn't know that His Words were scripture, but discovered later it is Psalm 46:10. I was such a dufus that in the moment He was gone, I said WAIT! YOU DIDN'T SAY I DON'T HAVE CANCER!" Later that day, the doctor called to say the lab had found the biopsy and there was no sign of cancer. I wondered for a long time why He would appear to me, and have come to believe that it was so I would never forget His Love and Presence.....knowing that my healing and deliverance from a life of abuse and terror was just beginning and I would NEED to remember as we faced my past together over many years.....He's a gentle and patient Teacher and Comforter and always gives us just what we need. How I love and praise Him for rescuing me, loving me and for the privilege of sharing His love with others.

Q1a Jesus told the disciples that He was going to ask the Father to send "another Comforter" Who is like Jesus in purpose, power and divinity, but unlike Jesus in form. b. Jesus was their "in Person" Paraclete, and as such was their Comforter, Guide, Teacher, Friend and their revelation of the Father, but in flesh. He said "If you've seen Me you've seen the Father...I and the Father are One. c. Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Triune God, so was able to replace Jesus in a more intimate and ever present way, living inside them. He fulfilled Jesus' promise to "never leave nor forsake" the believer. d. The disciples had access to Jesus just about constantly as they walked and talked with Him, ate with Him, drank with Him, laughed with Him, learned from His own lips and voice, had their questions answered, felt His touch and closeness....John laid his head on Jesus' breast at table, for instance. e. Holy Spirit would indwell them at Pentecost.

Q4 a. When Jesus said "I will ask the Father" he was speaking as a man with His deity laid aside demonstrating to us to pray and ask for the Holy Spirit. (ever our guide and example) 4b. The 3 in 1 function perfectly as One God, always in sync and agreement. An example that He showed me that love: In John it says the Father chose us and called us before the foundation of the world was formed, and gave us to Jesus as His love gift. In the fullness of time the Holy Sprit wooed us, softened our hearts and introduced us to Jesus. When we said Yes! to Jesus, He redeemed us, washed us in His blood, forgave us, and wrapped us in an ermine robe of His Righteousness and gave us back to His Father as His love gift. I love that we've been "re-gifted"..... They each have their role in perfect harmony and unity of purpose always loving and cherishing us.

3a. Every miracle was accomplished by means of the Holy Spirits' power upon Him. 3b. Jesus demonstrated to us how we are to live...and can live, in unity with the Father's will IF we surrender our will and rely upon Him to work on us, in us and through us. 3c. We learned in Romans and Corinthians that our flesh produces "no good thing" and that we are saved by grace...not works of flesh. The only results of our life and time here on earth which will have eternal value, are those things we allowed Him to do through us. Since we live and long for Him to be glorified both now and forever we delight in surrender to Him. 3d. Jesus is our only example for ministry! He always waited upon His Father for guidance....never rushed headlong did or said anything which would require an apology or a "do over". He was always perfectly honest, even if it offended the religious. He never "hinted" or manipulated, or coerced. He had no dysfunction to overcome, as we do, which is even greater reason for us to rely on Him....since so much of what we learn or have had done to us creates dysfunction in our actions and thinking and goes against His will and plans.

2a This indicates that Jesus limited Himself, setting aside His Deity to function on earth as a man...yet fully God, relying on His Father's wisdom, strength, and power in all things, every moment of His perfect life in order to redeem the human race. 2b. I heard a pastor say once that if one wanted to save ants that were about to drown, one would have to become an ant in order to reach them and communicate with them as they were able to understand. Jesus became a man...fully God yet fully man. He became like us and lived a perfect sinless life to save us...having laid aside His Deity and power....depending upon His Father every moment of His life. He demonstrated how we are to live...not in our own strength and wisdom, but in reliance upon His strength, wisdom, guidance and power.

1a Luke1:35: He announced His Presence to Mary, the chosen mother of Jesus, and told her that Jesus "will be great, eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High and will be given the throne of David. He will reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages and of His reign there will be no end. The Son of God. Mt 1:20 He confirmed Mary's visitation by announcing to Joseph that Jesus had been conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. Luke 3:21-22: He confirmed His Sonship to the Father through the visible sign of the Dove descending and lighting upon Jesus then the Voice of God spoke telling Jesus: You are My Son, My beloved! In You I AM well pleased and find delight!" (Quoting Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1 which the religious Jews would recognize and validating Jesus with God's own voice)

4a and b: The promise is of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh, and sons and daughters will prophesy, old men shall dream dreams and young men shall see visions. Even upon menservants and maidservants He will pour out His Spirit. (No "class" or race or gender or other favoritism.). He will show signs and wonders in the Heavens and on the earth, etc, and WHOEVER calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved and delivered. (all whom the Lord Calls!)

3a: God promised Messiah would come from the lineage of King David, and that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon Him..the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel might, and the obedient and reverential fear of the Lord and in Whom the Father delights. He will bring forth justice and right and will reveal truth to the nations. He further promises that Messiah has been anointed to preach the Gospel of Good tidings to the meek, the poor and afflicted, and to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the physical and spiritual captives and to open the prison and eyes of those who are bound as well as to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord..of His favor....and His day of vengeance upon evil, and comfort to all who mourn. References Isaiah: 11:1,2; 42:1, 61:1-2 3b. Jesus physical body was from Mary via King David's line...His blood is from His Father. ( as is true of all babies...the mother provides the womb and the nurture, while the blood comes from the father). Jesus fulfilled every prophecy of Messiah (still waiting for those involving His second coming) through His sinless life, his death on the cross and shed blood, and His Resurrection from the dead. He openly declared that "I AM" Messiah in the gospels.

2a. The Lord anointed the 70 leaders/elders with the Holy Spirit. b. They all prophesied and sounded forth His praises and declared His will. (I love in 11:29 that God demonstrated that He is not limited to being in one place at a time, by anointing Medad and Eldad who were not with the 70. c. In V 11-15 Moses was clearly exasperated and worn out from this rowdy, undisciplined and whining group, and from carrying the burden of them all by himself. When he heard the 70 elders rejoicing and realized he was going to have their assistance in leading the people, he longed for all of the people to receive the gift of the Holy Spirt....and to be in sync with God's plans and purposes for this miserable journey. (They were at odds with just about everything Moses instructed them to do....kind of like us before our wills are surrendered to His Lordship).

1a. The primary purpose is to anoint the selected individual for the service God has chosen for them to fulfill, and to empower and embolden them for their service. It seems that He often called and anointed them in front of witnesses to give them credibility in their "neighborhood" or circle of influence. (Jesus said "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house. Mt 13:57) 1b. It "seals" their relationship as personal, powerful, and "peculiar" (in a positive sense). In David's case He beseeched God to not take His Spirit away from him. It validated them as God's "own and chosen" for His special and specific purposes. It gave them "acceptance and favor" with God. It also made clear to each one their main purpose for having been born/created for that specific time and place.

1. His faith IS astounding, given that he may have had no previous knowledge of or dealings with Jesus....his faith seems to be based totally on his observation of Jesus' during their hours together side by side in their agony and he was convinced that Jesus indeed is God! 2. The thief received forgiveness of all sin, and eternal life, and the comfort of Gods' Presence beside him unto death...and beyond. 3. I love this question! It caused me to realize that the thief's faith was a gift of comfort to Jesus! After all of the rejection by those who should have recognized their Messiah, and the ridicule and taunting by those at the foot of the cross and the other thief who railed at Jesus,....to experience the joy of a new believer must have been a huge comfort and for Him.

1 & 2. I remember leaving church on Good Friday, as a young girl, feeling furious that "those people" killed our lovely Jesus! It wasn't until I was born again at age 30 that I realized I was just as responsible as the Roman soldiers, those who cried out to spare Barabbas instead of Jesus, Pilate and all of the others and that my sins of scarlet were nailed to the cross with Him and that only through His hideous suffering, shed blood, death then resurrection was I washed clean of all sin, past, present and future then raised to eternal and abundant life with Him! 3. Jesus' prayer was for "the whole world" from that day forward, "that whosoever would believe on Him would be saved!" I love that our Father gave Jesus the comfort of a new believer, hanging beside Him, condemned for being a thief, who was also included in His prayer.

1. To seek counsel from those who are more mature in the Lord shows wisdom and humility in that we are wanting to learn from their experience and history with the Lord, both from their mistakes and their growth! My mentor shared mistakes she made early on without a mentor and those helped me not make the same mistakes! 2. A spiritual mentor was not only valuable but critical for me, as we were immediately thrown into "deep water" and crises as new believers...My mentor gave guidance, encouragement and support which kept me from "sinking into the mire". She prayed for me, spent time with me, involved me in learning to pray for others with compassion, answered questions about the Bible, but also showed me in the Bible how to find answers for myself. She taught me how to listen for God's voice. She showed me in times of trouble that "He brought me here and how to rest in Him until in His timing and wisdom He would bring me out again." She prayed for me and with me. She was like a "stake the sapling tree is tied to until it can stand on it's own in the strong winds". Her mentoring enabled me to know how to mentor others as I grew in Him. She knew when to step back and let me try my wings but I knew she was nearby if I "crashed". 3. The danger is that others may give us a good answer, but not THE answer we need from God. There is also the danger of becoming dependent upon someone rather than upon the Lord. I've learned as a mentor it's time to step back when one Is "running to the phone (to me) rather than to the throne". Or one wanting the quick fix rather than putting in the time to seek out His guidance and wisdom. 4. We eventually grow enough to stand on our own and gain confidence in our ability to hear from God....and the "stake which supported us is no longer needed"

1. Our desires may be motivated by the flesh and totally against the will of God for our life. In surrendering them, the Lord may change them to fit His plan for us, or He may change our desires completely! 2. If we fail to surrender them, they may continue to motivate us to pursue them to our detriment, and away from Him into a backslidden condition. 3. When we hold onto sin, preferring it to intimacy with Him we lose the ability and more than that, the desire to hear His voice.

1. The flesh: You deserve to have all that you desire because you're Gods' child! Everyone else has....(whatever you don't have). 2. The world: Does God really love you when you're having to go through such hardship and pain? You're sure He's really there? Really who you think he is? 3. The devil: I'll give you what you've been longing for but there's a little short cut to have it! I gave a vivid example on Q2 of how Satan deceived me! Appearing as an angel of light, he promised me what he'd heard me talking about wanting, and which God had promised me, and said It's yours right now, then gave specifics, like the date, etc. I didn't realize it was Satan or a fallen angel until it was obviously a lie and I looked like a nut-job because I'd told family and friends. (I'm still waiting for what the Lord promised and it's been 30 years! He never fails to perform His Word, and He promised it will bring Him Glory, so I wait with patience!) 4. When we don't know the scriptures we're vulnerable to which ever voice speaks to us because there is no plumb line with which to measure it! Had I known the scriptures when the angel of light appeared to me I'd have been suspicious! I'd have recognized that what he "promised" was a compromise to what I'd been praying about and to what God had promised, and that "It's yours right now", is not usually the way God works....waiting is God's great teaching method to train us in patience, perseverance, faith and trust in Him. I'd have recognized that the Lord never appeals to or appeases our flesh! His Word reveals His character, and other voices will differ from His character and will appeal to our flesh, pride, impatience, greed, and ego.

1. I certainly have! Because I had to learn to recognize His voice from "what I wanted to hear" and from our enemy's voice, and the well meaning voices (or not well meaning voices) of others. It has taken time and discernment to know it's Him I'm hearing....and I still double check. 2. The mistakes teach us to discern and to test the voices we hear. That training teaches us to KNOW HIM, and His ways, and to desire to spend time in His Presence where we are transformed! It taught me to shut up about it until I am certain I've heard His voice and then only to glorify Him if sharing with others. It has taught me to "triple check" that I've truly heard from him if I feel led to share something for someone else prophetically. The mistakes taught me humility and how much I have to learn. One huge mistake was when I was a new baby in Christ and was awakened one night thinking we'd left the kitchen light on, so got up to turn it off and was met by a "beautiful angel of light" standing there. I was stunned by the beauty and assumed it was Jesus! I was told a time frame I'd been longing to hear from the Lord, but had not yet heard, so was gullible to those words. "He disappeared" and I went back to bed elated that I'd heard from God and had a visitation from Him!" It wasn't until the "word" didn't come to pass that I knew I'd been lied to! I was embarrassed because I had shared the experience and what I was told, with others. As I got to know the Lord, I realized that the "angels" words filled me with "**** of the eyes", stirring up feelings of greed! I'd grown up in an area dominated by cult members whose church started with a "visitation" from what I now know, was this same angel of light! It has helped me to pray for them and their deception, and especially for family members still bound by the cult's deception. I thank the Lord for this painful lesson in discerning His voice and learning to listen only to His voice and the peace and security which accompanies it!

1. Gideon asked for a sign, I believe as confirmation, since God's voice was new to him and what he was told was unfathomable to Gideon! 2. The difference, in my opinion, is that confirmation is reassurance that we did hear His voice. Testing God, is unbelief and demanding He prove something! 3. No, I don't believe He minds. In fact He did this for me this morning. One of my brothers received Christ last Friday night after a conversation we had following his renouncing the cult he had been in. Sometime Sat or Sun he suffered a massive stroke and sat paralyzed, unable to speak or call for help in a recliner until Monday afternoon! (Three years ago after open heart surgery he died and his then wife wanted to disconnect life support since he'd thrown a blood clot. I prayed and asked the Lord if this was his time to go, and heard "Pat will live and not die, but will declare the wonders and glories of God".) I called, and she relented and left him on life support. In the morning the Lord brought him back to life. During the 3 1/2 months he was in the hospital, he died a second time after aspirating food into his lungs! The Lord brought him back a second time from life support and a tracheotomy. He was then told he would not be able to talk because of the way the trache had to be done. (He must have a voice to declare the wonders and glories of God...and he got his voice back and was back to a normal life on Friday, free from the cult and the abusive wife and painful marriage of 12 years as a new babe in Christ!) When he was brought into the emergency on Monday they said he would not survive this stroke and in front of him discussed doing no life saving means. That night I reminded the Lord of what He said about Pat declaring His wonders and glories, and He spoke again that Pat would be healed. It's been a week and through dozens of praying friends, church prayer teams, and family he has shown steady improvement. Last night his Blood pressure shot up again, is paralyzed on his right side, and was not looking good. I faltered ....and in fear forgot everything the Lord had said, when I heard "they've done medically all that can be done, he's going to be moved to a care facility. I cried in despair! I forgot that the Lord said last week, "Fear Not, for I Am with you, Be not dismayed (I WAS paralyzed with fear) for I Am your God. I will strengthen you, I will uphold you and Pat with My Righteous Right Hand!" Isaiah 41:10. This morning I said Lord, I'm afraid they will just "warehouse and forget him". I'm far away and can do nothing but pray. Will you reassure me that He's in your hand completely and that I really heard from you! He led me to Psalm 41 and read "The Lord will protect him and keep him alive; he shall be called Blessed in the land and will not be delivered to the will of his enemies! (Satan!) The LORD will sustain, refresh, and strengthen him on his bed of languishing....You O Lord will turn, change, and transform all his illness. An evil disease, they say, is poured out upon him and cleaves fast to him; and now that he is bedfast, he will not rise again.! (This is what the doctors spoke over him believing he would not live through the night, in his hearing!) By this I know that You favor (Pat) and delight in him because his enemy does not triumph over him." I felt no rebuke for asking....only Our Fathers loving arms holding me and comforting me...as He reminded me "I AM SOVEREIGN OVER ALL", and His reassurance that no matter how hopeless this looks, He is going to raise Pat up to newness of life IN HIM! He WILL YET DECLARE THE WONDERS AND GLORIES OF GOD! 4. Demanding he give "Signs" to prove He is God, I believe would greatly displease Him! Note: It's been several weeks since I answered this Question: After the time in the care center, the Lord called Pat home to heaven. We are sad and missing him but rejoicing that the Lord intervened after the heart surgeries, or he'd have died without salvation had his wife removed him from life support, either of the times he died. So now he is in Heaven and we will be reunited one day! Because he left her, our family will be spared the indignity and pain of her cult's funeral, since she is no longer in control of his life. And God did raise Pat up to newness of life IN HIM...however short it was in his time here.

1. No wonder pride is one of the 7 things God says He hates. (Proverbs 6:16-19) It's so ugly, deadly and stupid! Pride is a deception of how we see ourselves and deals with the deep heart motives and thoughts. Pride says "I'm right and God is wrong." When our thinking is twisted by pride and arrogance we are unlikely to be open to hearing anything from God (or from anyone else for that matter) because we think we are just fine and already know everything! 2. When we recognize pride in ourselves, confession and a cry for help is the solution. We're told to humble ourselves...much less painful than having the Lord humble us, I've learned. Renewing our minds as we read scripture helps us to see our true condition and need for Him every second of every day!

1. When we obey without understanding, we are demonstrating faith in His faithfulness and trust in His wisdom, knowledge, love and sovereignty. That has taken some time for me to learn that what I think the reason might be doesn't matter. What matters is obedience. 2. Understanding sometimes comes afterward when we see "the why" in His command. When I heard "GO NOW" that day alone in the car in the isolated wilderness, I had no understanding of why, but after I obeyed instantly and was safely out of the mans proximity, having looked into the face of evil as we passed, I understood that God was rescuing me from harm or death. Over the years of walking with my Lord, I've learned that when He gives a command it's important and vital to obey or He wouldn't be speaking to me about it! When I was brand new, however, I was driving past a house and heard "Stop and tell them that I love them"... it was the house I had just read about in the paper that their teen age son and his older friend had been arrested for the murder of the friends parents and grandfather. There was a car parked in front and I was too embarrassed to stop and said I'll tell them on my way home from the store when they're alone. On the way home there were two cars, so I passed by without stopping. A week later I was miserable thinking about what they must be going through and told the Lord how sorry I was that I disobeyed Him and heard "Call them". After finding their number I called and explained that the Lord had spoken to me to stop and tell them He loves them but I was too embarrassed to stop since they had company. Mrs. Barker said "People stopped and called for a few days, but we're all alone in this now. We needed to hear it more today than last week when others were around" She thanked me profusely for calling. I learned something that day. Sometimes when we're new and learning and are disobedient we get another chance. I learned also that because He knows everything, He knew I would not obey at once and extended grace to me and to the Barker family to finally say and for them to hear His love for them. (But I don't rely on 2nd chances anymore!)

1. Seeking to hear God's voice apart from relationship is to keep Him at arms length and out of our "business". Then one can pick and choose what is done with what is heard. To desire relationship requires both give and take...speaking and hearing...on both participants! We can "hear" others and not have an intimate relationship...which involves heart and soul to be involved, which is especially true with relationship with our God. 2. When we hear God's voice, nudges, impressions implies openness, ONENESS, intimacy and relationship. When He speaks to me in whatever manner that He does, I am warmed by His love and in AWE...that Almighty God, Creator of the Universe and all that exists has singled me out for a private conversation! How special we are to be His children in a loving relationship!!! 3. He is a gentle Father and never presses Himself on us which would be overwhelming and stifling, even frightening. Once we know He is there and desires relationship with us, He waits for us to desire more and more of Him. If He did all the work I may have become passive. Pursuing Him is how we grow...by asking, seeking and knocking and is how our hearts of stone are changed to desire His heart and His desires. He is the perfect parent....no dysfunction or power plays on His part regardless of how messed up we are when we come to Him. He draws us out by drawing us closer in a safe and tender manner. 4. Paul is a perfect role model of relationship with God...having been changed from a hater and murderer of Christians, and from an arrogant religious zealot and keeper of the law, into a humble and loving father to those he mentored. His life was turned upside down and inside out when He encountered Jesus...and all pride, selfishness, and law keeping was turned into humility, total reliance upon God, with such revelation of grace (having the Person of Grace, Jesus, mentor him for 14 years in the Arabian desert) that he became the teacher of grace. Paul had not one shred of self left...he was totally and completely "sold out" to God and unashamed of his relationship with Him to the point of risking it all unto imprisonment and death. Every time I read Paul's letters I'm challenged and inspired to surrender more fully to my Lord to the end that my life will bring Him glory!

1. Eli told Samuel to go back and lie down and if God speaks again to answer in this respectful and humble way:" Speak Lord for your servant is listening" 2. Yes great counsel...Samuel had heard his name being called, but had no idea that it was God calling him. Eli was introducing Samuel to the living God. (Sad that Eli in the past had HEARD the voice of God but did not LISTEN to what he was told) I'm thankful for the dear elderly woman who took me under her wing and mentored me as a new babe in Christ...and for helping me learn to pray by involving me in prayer for others and to learn to hear from the Lord...and not just hear but to listen and obey. (The Lord gave me a visual "picture" of our relationship...I was a little sapling and she was the sturdy stake holding me upright in the wind.... He showed her when to release me when I was able to lean on Him) 3. The significance was that Samuel now had understanding that God was calling him into intimate relationship. No more just going through the motions of temple duties like a "janitor or maintenance Personnel" but he was to understand that he was a servant of the living, speaking, personal God. Eli was still to be his mentor (for the short time being until the Word of the Lord regarding Eli was fulfilled) but was no longer going to be his "Superior"....Eli was being removed as the "middle man" between God and Samuel.

1. His Word says He is always speaking! The Heavens declare His glory! The stars sang while He created and they still sing. Job 38:7 (I've heard a recording of their music ...(Louie Giglio.) He doesn't always speak to us to "DO" something. He has spoken when I've been awed by a gorgeous sunset and "I painted it for you. Thank you for noticing and thanking Me for it". He let me know that He delights when we "notice Him" when we're awed by His creation and His handiwork, or when we see or receive healing, or however He chooses to "speak". He speaks when we read His word...for instruction, for inspiration...knowledge. He can speak through a hug! (one of our pastors walked by my husband who isn't a "hugger" but felt led to reach out and hug this darling man. After the hug the pastor told him he'd prayed that morning " Lord I really need a hug this morning. Will you have an older man give me a hug that a father would give his child?" God spoke love to him in that hug. He speaks to me of His majesty when I look up at the sky and see countless stars, and remember Ps 147:4 and Isaiah 40:26 that every star is numbered, named, counted, known and created by our God and how much more precious are you and me to Him. He spoke to me through an immobilized dragonfly once when He was "speaking to me to rest and abide in Him" but I wasn't listening...when the dragonfly didn't move for over 3 hours but hung by his tongue from a flower until I had to notice and ask What is this Lord? Are you trying to get my attention? Then I heard; "Feed on Me, REST in Me, Abide in Me"....then the dragonfly flew away. (He knows I'm a visual learner...made me that way....and that "picture" spoke a thousand words to me when I couldn't "hear" any other way.) 2. If we aren't hearing Him I think it's because we're not "tuned in"....not expecting to hear....maybe not wanting to hear (been there....thank God that was only once and I learned I should have wanted to hear and listened...would have been spared much pain and regret). Maybe for some it's ignorance or not understanding the fact that He does speak and that we can hear. I've found He is extremely creative in HOW He chooses to speak! He has spoken to me through my children at times! 3. If we aren't ever hearing from Him, or need to hear and haven't yet, my thought is to get quiet. Set aside some time for seeking His face (not his hand). One other thought: If you've never heard from Him, ask Him to speak to you in His Word, until you recognize His voice...He may be protecting you from hearing "another" voice of deception until you're more familiar with His word and His character and ways. One other idea that was given to me by my spiritual mom many years ago when I said I don't know what to do about this. She said: Instead of waiting for a new word, go back to the last thing He said and do that!" (Turns out that is exactly what I was supposed to do, but hadn't done it because it wasn't to my liking.) If we ignore what He's spoken, my experience is that He stops speaking until I obey or hear His previous word.

1. Yes, many times. 2. I should be asking "What do you want me to Do? Say? Pray? Provide? 3. One of the most fun ones was when I was going to a Kathryn Kuhlman crusade years ago and felt a nudge to invite one of my neighbors. (I was very new in the Lord then and thought I could ignore the prompting because I didn't want to invite her because she was a Catholic and I thought she would be offended to be invited to something not Catholic). So I put it off and put it off, ignoring the nudges. The day before the event I got more than a nudge...a command to invite her, so I did. She wanted to go!!!!! When we got there we heard beautiful singing as we found our way to our seats! When we could see the front, the entire Choir was Catholic Nuns! (tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor!!!!) It was a beautiful service of worship, a wonderful inspiring message, and many visible miraculous healings! At the altar call, she made no visible sign that she was praying, and didn't go to the front to be prayed for, so I thought it was a "seed planted" for another time. On the drive home she casually asked "Does it count that I prayed to receive Christ, but didn't go forward to be prayed for?" I almost drove off the road as I happily explained that it was enough that her heart responded to His invitation and that He heard her prayer and she is now His beloved daughter. The most recent was a nudge regarding a young man who works at our nearby drug store dressed as a woman. I learned his name and chatted with him whenever I went to that store. One day I felt strongly to go there but thought how weird...(my nephew died that morning and it was the morning after the recent massacre in Las Vegas). When I got there I couldn't find what I needed and he helped me find it. He brought up the horror of last night in Las Vegas, and we chatted. I noticed no one else was in the store! I followed Holy Spirits lead and shared Christ with him, and he received Him with joy. A week later when I went back, he led me to a quiet place and said: "When you came in last week I didn't tell you, but I had prayed that morning and asked God to send someone to me, and He sent you! (I was thrilled to have obeyed and wished I could afford to buy him a Bible!) Several weeks ago I was cleaning out a book shelf and discovered a Bible I had forgotten. It has a concordance in the front on various subjects. Then the nudge, take it to him. When I gave it to him he said I'm interested in healing....how do I find those verses? I showed him the concordance in front and there were all of the scriptures on healing on one page for him. I just realized all of Question #2 is what happened: What do you want me to Do? Say? Pray? Provide? How I thank and Praise our precious Lord who died to save the whole world....whosoever may come..... and uses us to be His hands, feet and heart and voice to those around us...even when we resist!

1. The nudges were vague in regard to how to proceed... A Yes or a No, but nothing concrete.( I'm thankful that as believers we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit unlike David who had to rely on the Urim and Thummim, and we have a built in GPS, (Guide, Parent, Savior, Savior) who can be counted on to give us clear direction if we get quiet and listen for the next step. 2. When David needed more than a yes or no answer he received a full battle plan. When we get nudges, in my opinion I believe the Lord is saying, "Stay Tuned....listen Up....there is more to come, so don't run ahead of Me, proceed with caution until you hear the plan from me." He wants relationship with His children. If He'd wanted robots where He could just press a button and they would do His bidding, He would have made robots. Promptings encourage us to engage with Him on an intimate level of seeking and listening.

1a. Yes, His promptings have been for me. Some of the promptings have required me to really listen, meditate on, and pray because it wasn't what I wanted to hear or what I "expected" would be the direction or timing. But I've learned He is never ambiguous! He wants me to know and follow His guidance more than I might want to know or follow it. 2. No's? He alone knows the future! He alone knows what is best for me. He alone knows what His plan is for my life. He alone knows my weaknesses which might sway me to follow the wrong voice or direction. So a No is critical in keeping me on HIS path for my life, or out of dangerous waters I may have waded into in ignorance. A NO is confirmation that I am being led and guided by my loving Father and not just drifting through life willy- nilly. 3. Yes. Frequently, because I'm old! We have a long track record of walking together. The most recent one was 2 days ago and dealt with my flesh! I wanted to share something with another whom I thought needed encouragement and a warning, involving a deception on someone's part that we are both in relationship with. Seemed innocent to me, but I felt a check in my spirit every time I wanted to pick up the phone to make the call. So I prayed..."is this the wrong thing to do Papa? It seems warranted to me. I would appreciate a "heads up" if I were my friend." I "happened" to be reading in Exodus that morning and when I read Exodus 23:7 the words leapt off the page like in neon: " KEEP FAR FROM A FALSE MATTER, AND BE CAREFUL....." I almost laughed out loud! "Ok, I get it! I will let you give any warning needed and will keep the deception to myself...you are so good at this stuff, You don't need my help!" 4. What happened? I felt immediate peace of mind. I was relieved from feeling "false responsibility" for something that was really troubling me....until I heard His No. I remembered that He is able to give the other person a warning or discernment if it's needed since we're all believers in this scenario. And with me "butting out" the deceiver can be dealt with in His perfect way or not at all if He chooses. Ps 46:10" LET BE, BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!" (He doesn't need my help to run the Universe!) 1b. I remember a time when I was a brand new Christian....only a few months old in the Lord, and He was beginning my "training" in discerning of spirits, having grown up in a place surrounded by cult members in a false religion. I was in a store in San Francisco with friends who were enjoying looking at all of the imported "stuff." I was not comfortable and didn't know why....I felt all prickly inside and as we went further into the store I felt more and more out of sorts and wondered what was wrong with me! Finally at the back of the store my friends had moved on and when I passed a "Dutch door" (bottom closed and top half open) I was on full alert almost nauseaus! I turned to look into the door and saw dozens of idols and false gods from Asia and India that had been worshipped but discarded due to a broken finger (on one) or a chip out of the face or other "injury" so were thrown out and replaced. They were all for sale as ART OBJECTS! That was a lesson I've been thankful for many times. Not all art objects are that...many have been objects of worship somewhere and the demon power still inhabits them or clings to them.