Are you spending time with the Lord? Is your communication open with the Lord? How do you know if what you are hearing is from him or not?

Hello everyone and welcome back to another blog post.  We are going to continue with the devotional "What happens when women say yes to God."  So for today's devotional we are going to talk about your communication with the Lord.  Do you have an open relationship with him? How do  you know if what you are hearing is from the Lord or is not?  These are questions we will be answering today.  Now as always this is from my personal devotional time with him and I'm sharing with you all, what I have written in my journal, that I do every night.  I have decided that I wanted to dedicate at least 15 mins to an hour with him every night. I do this at night, like around 11pm, because my toddler is usually in bed, and my husband is normally doing something else...so this is my time where I can just be fully into the word and hear what he has to say to me.
Now as always with my devotional, if you are not a Christian and choose not to read this, that is ok...again I am not trying to convert anyone...however as always I will be praying for you.  If you are a Christian I hope that as always these devotionals bless you and encourage you in every way possible.

Scripture:
  -John 10:3-4
     "The gatekeeper{Jesus}, opens the gate for him, and the sheep{you and I}, listen to his voice.  He{God}, calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." {They know his voice because they spend time with him.}

My thoughts:
 We are God's sheep and all he ever wants is for us to trust him with everything we have.  He wants us to have an open relationship with him, and be willing to follow what he has in our lives.  He is not some evil villein who is trying to hurt us, but he's an amazing, lovable God.  When you spend time with him, when you set a time in your day, to just emark on a journey with him and fully try and understand what he is telling  you, you will be filled with this feeling that you can not shake off.  When you hear from the lord, and he wants you to do something, it will be something you can not just forget.  You will hear it in a message at church, at home, at an event...etc...He will not let you forget what he wants you to know, and by searching in his word, praying a lot, and hearing it from other messages, you start to learn that its from the lord and not from you.  If God is telling you to do something, it will not go against anything you believe, it will not go against your parents, and it will line up with scripture.

My Reflection:
  -Lord, I learn that if I spend time with you; if I take time out of  my busy life, to just be with you, then I can learn to hear from you.  By spending time in your word, I will learn more about who you are and I will learn to recognize when you speak to me.  By spending time in your word, I will recognize your voice.

Prayer:
  Lord thank you for giving me a wonderful day.  Thank you for teaching me that if I am going to learn to recognize your voice, I need to spend time with you.  For your word teaches me that when we go to seek you, we will seek you with our whole heart, and once we seek you with our whole heart, then and only then, will we find you. Jeremiah 29:13.  Thank you for your love and willingness to wait for us and me. Amen.

Notes from the book & From me:
  *The way we recognize his voice is by knowing him.  When we know him, we can tell if what we are hearing and feeling is from him or not.

  *5 questions to determine if what you(I) are hearing is from God or not.
         1) Does what I'm(you) hearing line up with scripture?
                  -Read Romans 12:2
         2) Is it consistent with God's character?
                  -Read Galatians
5:22-23-Fruits of the spirit
         3) Is it being confirmed through messages you(I'm) hearing from church/studying in my(your) quiet time with the Lord?
                  -Read John 10:3-4
         4) Is it beyond me?
         5) Would it please God?
My notes:    -King David wanted to follow God’s plan.  He wanted to seek God out and have God show him the path or plan he should go down.  These are the words from David.  He wanted to be guided by God and led by his truth.  It shows that David was humble and he was able and wanted to be taught by God.  David knew that God was his savior and only wanted the best for him, and David knew that he was the one who created the path that David will eventually take.  In Psalm 25: 4-5 he writes:

  “Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you” 

Question/Reflection of the day: Goes back to the tile....

     - Are you spending time with the Lord? Is your communication open with the Lord? How do you know if what you are hearing is from him or not?

That is all for now...God bless