Tuning into Heaven's Wavelength - Simon Potter
Psalm 95:6-7: “Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will HEAR His VOICE” (quoted in Heb 3:7,15, 4:7). God is speaking today!
*I. God is BROADCASTING (Ps 95:7b). Clearly God is speaking. He spoke from the beginning (Gen 1:3) and He is speaking now. He has a voice and He speaks with a purpose, for He wants to be heard. Yet, not everybody is hearing what He is saying to them: “IF you will HEAR His VOICE.” Let's have confidence God is talking today. The question is: “Will we hear Him?” His voice comes to us in many different ways. That’s how much He wants to be heard! He talks to us through His Creation (Rom 1:20, Ps 19:1). He also speaks directly with us through dreams, visions and angels. And He speaks through the still, small voice. He speaks with us very personally. He desires to communicate with us. Built into us is a desire to communicate with Him. God is broadcasting constantly, but are we in a position to receive what He is saying?
*II. We have a RECEIVER (Ps 95:7a). God is broadcasting, and we have a built-in RECEIVER to hear from God! He made us in His image for fellowship with Himself. He made us to hear His voice. When we are born again, with our spirits made new - we are in a position to receive what God is broadcasting. Even if you are not a Christian, He is reaching out to reveal Himself to you all the time. Those signals are emanating from Him continually, reaching out to our hearts. Why do we know we can hear His voice? Ps 95:7: “He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand” – this speaks of a personal relationship! (also Ps 23:1-2: “The Lord is my Shepherd...He leads me beside the still waters.” Notice how personal this is! He is not hiding Himself from us; He hides Himself FOR us (Matt 7:7). It does not say: “Today, IF God is speaking to me.” No! it says: “Today, IF I will hear His voice.” God IS speaking to us today! The problem is not with Heaven’s radio station, but with my receiver! Perhaps we are waiting for God to speak to us in some extravagant, external way, but instead He has a better way to communicate with us – quietly, within our hearts. How often do we mistake what God is saying to us for our own thoughts? Sometimes we miss God's speech, as it comes to us so simply & gently. So often, God speaks to us, but we miss what He is saying, as we are not TUNED IN to His wavelength. The enemy lies to us that God is silent, distant, unconcerned with the details of our lives. But the truth is that He is intimately concerned with every detail of our lives, which is why He is so willing to speak to us at all times and circumstances. He is speaking to us, but are we receiving His voice? Are we hearing God, or are we so tense, nervous and agitated, that we can’t hear from God? There’s too much static!
In John 10, Jesus uses this image of the sheep and the true Shepherd, who cares for His sheep. We are His sheep (Ps 95:7), and “His sheep hear His voice” (John 10:3a). Don’t doubt that. We DO hear Him. "and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. And when He brings out His own sheep, He goes before them; and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice” (v3b-4). It’s so personal. He is leading us by His voice. Are we tuned in to His voice? We have a receiver in us, for the Holy Spirit lives inside us. He is built in to the centre of our being! v5: “they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” The devil likes to imitate God’s voice, but the more we are in God’s Word, we can be sure we know His voice, as we are familiar with it. His voice is in His Word! As we familiarize ourselves with His Word, we can build that confidence that we hear His voice. John 10:27: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
*III. Let’s turn the DIAL (Ps 95:6). God is BROADCASTING, and I have a RECEIVER. I am His sheep and I hear His voice. So why am I not hearing it? It may just be a question of TUNING! Fine tune the dial. Find the right wavelength and exclude the wrong wavelength. After all the activity of Ps 95:1-2, we come to v6: “Oh come, let us worship and BOW DOWN; let us KNEEL before the Lord our Maker.” In this moment, our bodies and flesh are IMMOBILISED. This agrees with Rom 12:1. As we do that, we are ruling out all that static that gets in the way and interferes with us hearing from God. We can just be still and know that He is God (Ps 46:10). So, God is BROADCASTING, and we can RECEIVE and hear His voice. Let’s TUNE OUT all the other voices & noises, and let’s hear from Him. Let’s trust Him! How do we do that? Let’s just bow before Him, and be quiet before Him. He is speaking. We can hear Him. Let’s not doubt that!
*I. God is BROADCASTING (Ps 95:7b). Clearly God is speaking. He spoke from the beginning (Gen 1:3) and He is speaking now. He has a voice and He speaks with a purpose, for He wants to be heard. Yet, not everybody is hearing what He is saying to them: “IF you will HEAR His VOICE.” Let's have confidence God is talking today. The question is: “Will we hear Him?” His voice comes to us in many different ways. That’s how much He wants to be heard! He talks to us through His Creation (Rom 1:20, Ps 19:1). He also speaks directly with us through dreams, visions and angels. And He speaks through the still, small voice. He speaks with us very personally. He desires to communicate with us. Built into us is a desire to communicate with Him. God is broadcasting constantly, but are we in a position to receive what He is saying?
*II. We have a RECEIVER (Ps 95:7a). God is broadcasting, and we have a built-in RECEIVER to hear from God! He made us in His image for fellowship with Himself. He made us to hear His voice. When we are born again, with our spirits made new - we are in a position to receive what God is broadcasting. Even if you are not a Christian, He is reaching out to reveal Himself to you all the time. Those signals are emanating from Him continually, reaching out to our hearts. Why do we know we can hear His voice? Ps 95:7: “He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand” – this speaks of a personal relationship! (also Ps 23:1-2: “The Lord is my Shepherd...He leads me beside the still waters.” Notice how personal this is! He is not hiding Himself from us; He hides Himself FOR us (Matt 7:7). It does not say: “Today, IF God is speaking to me.” No! it says: “Today, IF I will hear His voice.” God IS speaking to us today! The problem is not with Heaven’s radio station, but with my receiver! Perhaps we are waiting for God to speak to us in some extravagant, external way, but instead He has a better way to communicate with us – quietly, within our hearts. How often do we mistake what God is saying to us for our own thoughts? Sometimes we miss God's speech, as it comes to us so simply & gently. So often, God speaks to us, but we miss what He is saying, as we are not TUNED IN to His wavelength. The enemy lies to us that God is silent, distant, unconcerned with the details of our lives. But the truth is that He is intimately concerned with every detail of our lives, which is why He is so willing to speak to us at all times and circumstances. He is speaking to us, but are we receiving His voice? Are we hearing God, or are we so tense, nervous and agitated, that we can’t hear from God? There’s too much static!
In John 10, Jesus uses this image of the sheep and the true Shepherd, who cares for His sheep. We are His sheep (Ps 95:7), and “His sheep hear His voice” (John 10:3a). Don’t doubt that. We DO hear Him. "and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. And when He brings out His own sheep, He goes before them; and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice” (v3b-4). It’s so personal. He is leading us by His voice. Are we tuned in to His voice? We have a receiver in us, for the Holy Spirit lives inside us. He is built in to the centre of our being! v5: “they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” The devil likes to imitate God’s voice, but the more we are in God’s Word, we can be sure we know His voice, as we are familiar with it. His voice is in His Word! As we familiarize ourselves with His Word, we can build that confidence that we hear His voice. John 10:27: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
*III. Let’s turn the DIAL (Ps 95:6). God is BROADCASTING, and I have a RECEIVER. I am His sheep and I hear His voice. So why am I not hearing it? It may just be a question of TUNING! Fine tune the dial. Find the right wavelength and exclude the wrong wavelength. After all the activity of Ps 95:1-2, we come to v6: “Oh come, let us worship and BOW DOWN; let us KNEEL before the Lord our Maker.” In this moment, our bodies and flesh are IMMOBILISED. This agrees with Rom 12:1. As we do that, we are ruling out all that static that gets in the way and interferes with us hearing from God. We can just be still and know that He is God (Ps 46:10). So, God is BROADCASTING, and we can RECEIVE and hear His voice. Let’s TUNE OUT all the other voices & noises, and let’s hear from Him. Let’s trust Him! How do we do that? Let’s just bow before Him, and be quiet before Him. He is speaking. We can hear Him. Let’s not doubt that!