18 June 2014 by Donna Uning CM –
After a healing rally the night before, Ps Peter Truong and his wife, Ruth from Hope Church Brisbane, Australia, shared about the importance of hearing the voice of God at the First Baptist Church, Kuching recently. They are currently in Kuching for a few teaching meetings and healing sessions with the church and other places.
John 10:3,
“The sheep hear his voice; and calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
“We have a good shepherd, amen! Jesus is leading us to a green pasture, to a place of rest and blessing!” he called. We live by His voice. It is important to hear the voice of God and not sin against God; we need daily guidance.
Matthew 4:4,
“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Psalm 119:11,
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Psalm 23,
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures …”
“One of the blessings of being a Christian, God is always leading us to good things,” he said telling, “Follow Jesus.” Sometimes we get discouraged. “When God told me to go to Vietnam, I was when? When? When?” he recalled. “Guess what? At the right time, God led me to Vietnam. Now, I’m living there with Ruth,” he said. God knows best, right? Through that time of waiting, God is leading us.
“Christianity is about relationship,” he said, adding, “God is always leading us to good things.” It is not about rituals, not about routines. It is about knowing the person of God; amen? The Bible said our God is not an idol – with eyes that cannot see, mouth that cannot speak, ears that cannot hear. “God can speak, God can hear,” he added. “Our main purpose in life is to know God,” he reminded.
“I love Him and I want to spend time with God,” he said. “He loves me and He speaks to me; He says I’m His son, I love it,” he said adding, “I love Him and I want to have a relationship with God.” How does God speak? Through the Word of God.
Psalms 119:130,
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
“The more we read the Word of God, the more we have light,” he said. When you’re confused and in the darkness, just open the Bible. God speaks from Genesis to Revelation. “Read from beginning to end, once a year,” he advised, telling there are many Bible programs to follow. God gives us direction and understanding. “When you read God’s Word, He will give clarity,” he added, telling, “When you make a decision, always come back to the Word of God. There are always answers in the Word of God.”
“He can speak through anyone,” he continued. God speaks though your parents, colleague at work, through your boss, your leaders in church and your pastors in church. “We need to be willing to listen and be humble,” he said, especially when we believe we made mistakes and felt God speaks to everyone but us.
The pastor told that he has five spiritual leaders that he’s accountable to; whom he reports to in what he does. “Do you have a spiritual leader? We all need a spiritual mentor,” he said telling, we need more spiritual mothers and fathers in the church to help guide us. That’s a great blessing. He also challenged the church to step up and be the next spiritual leader. Can we be like that? Can you help others know God? He asked reminding the church to continue to be accountable. People need decisions about finances, businesses, relationships etc.
“In the big decisions in life, we should ask one another,” he said. When we make decisions – on the positive side, we have less trouble in life; and on the negative side, there are a lot of consequences.
“Find someone or a few people who are wise and really love God, with a lot of experience and have spiritual maturity who can help and encourage one another,” he said, “Because these decisions affect them for the rest of their lives.”
How many do you believe God speaks through circumstances? “My mom had no idea where Australia was,” he told, but God led her to make a decision to go to Australia. When God closes one door, God opens another good door. For every Christian, there is always a good door, he said.
Sis Ruth continued with the meeting sharing how God speaks through visions. She shared some testimonies during their visits to Bangkok and Singapore recently.
Acts 10: 9-10,
“About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.”
“When we share the visions, they encourage the people and increase their faith,” she said, telling, “Whatever God puts in your heart, just be confident to speak it out. It may have no meaning to you, but it will encourage the people.”
Ps Peter also shared how God speaks to him through dreams. He was in Australia at the time and God told him to go to Singapore. After telling his parents about it, they encouraged him to go. “God provided finances for me to go and I was in Singapore for one year,” told Ps Peter, who left a week after the dream. He joined Hope Church and learned about church planting and how to start cell groups. When he returned to Australia, he started a cell group in university and then started a church. “Isn’t that awesome?”
Acts 10:11-13,
“He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
“You know that vision that Peter had about the animals He asked him to eat? Peter is not Chinese and he doesn’t eat most of the animals and things like intestines. But God said eat because he wants to reach out to the Gentiles,” he said.
“The main way God speaks to us is through the spirit man. Our body consists of three things, body, soul, and spirit,” he said. “We are a spiritual being and God is a spiritual being,” he added telling, “We have the same frequency; that’s why we can hear from God, just like Digi to Digi.”
Mark 2:8,
“Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?”
We have access to God 24 hours; we are in the same wavelength as God, he said. Jesus can pick up when the Pharisees were thinking negative about Him.
Hebrews 4:12,
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Job 32:8,
“But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.”
“God gives us understanding through the spirit of God,” he continued.
1 Corinthians 6:17,
“But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.”
“Hallelujah! We are one with God in the Spirit!” he called, “We can hear from God.”
Romans 8:14,
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
“At our salvation, our spirit becomes alive,” he said, “And we become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit.” When you were baptized in the Holy Spirit, you are overflowed with joy and peace. “That’s the Holy Spirit flowing though us,” he said. But when you sin against God, your spirit is grieved and saddened because the Holy Spirit is speaking to us.
Does God want to speak to us? How many have that question in your heart? “God, are you speaking?” he often asked. Sometimes, our parents have an effect on us as well. Ps Peter talked about his father, who is a quiet man. “So, I thought God was quiet too,” he said. It took him awhile after becoming a Christian to know that God is not quiet and not speak only when he was in trouble.
“I had to change that mindset. God is love, He desires you, and He cares. I have to learn about the Father,” he added. God spoke to Abraham; He spoke to Moses to build the Tabernacle, and through the person of Jesus.
Hebrews 1:1-2,
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”
What is our primary source of hearing the voice of God? Jesus! “Focus on what Jesus says,” he said. Some people focus on hearing angels and prophets, but these can go wrong.
“God is the one who initiates communication; and gave us the Holy Spirit,” he continued.
John 14:16 & 26,
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” and “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Psalm 46:10,
“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Prepare ourselves to hear God’s voice and get closer to God. “It is hard to hear from God and worry at the same time,” he said. “Worship is humble,” he added.
“The thoughts that God flows to you, put it down on paper, tab or iPad,” he said. “Let it test; if it is God, it will come to past,” he said. You need to recognize the voice of God and test it out. It needs to be confirmed by two to three people; and by the Word of God. “I didn’t just pack my bags and go to Vietnam,” he said, “I need to read the Word of God and let God confirmed to me.”
John 14:21,
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
“The more we obey God, the more God speaks to us. The children of Israel walked for 40 years in the wilderness because they were disobedient. So, we need to obey God. He will not speak to you a new thing if you did not obey Him the last time,” he said.
How many of you hear the voice of God and you doubt? He asked. “The devil wants to discourage us. We need to believe, trust and be confident that God speaks to us,” he said telling, sometimes we make mistakes and it is okay to make mistakes. Learn to exercise hearing the voice of God.
You know when you hear the voice of God, you feel peace, you feel God’s love and you feel excited. He will give you strength and power to do it even if you don’t know how to do it, he told. “If you don’t have God’s peace, don’t do it. If it doesn’t exalt or glorify Jesus, don’t do it. If it’s not from the Bible, don’t do it. If it’s not the fruit of the spirit, don’t do it. If it doesn’t bear good fruit, don’t do it,” he said. These are the ways to discern the voice of God.
Pastor Peter and Ruth Truong ended the session with exercises and ministry time. They are International Healing Evangelists from Hope Church Brisbane and Peter Truong Ministries. Hope Church Brisbane is a member of Hope International Ministries. They currently live in Vietnam.
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