A recent devotional from Sarah Young in Jesus Calling (September 24) began as follows:
You are a letter from Me, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God – on the tablet of your heart. Because you are one of My followers, the Holy Spirit is in you. He equips and empowers you to do far more than you could ever do on your own. So don’t be intimidated by challenging circumstances or tough times. The third Person of the Godhead lives inside you!
This message reminded me of a sermon I shared at Covenant on October 25, 2020 titled What Is Your Conscience Saying To You? Today’s message to you is a summary of that sermon as I believe it relates to Sarah’s message in Jesus Calling.
We often talk about how and if God communicates with us.
Does God speak to me?
How does God speak to me?
How do I know that it is God speaking?
How can I speak to God? That one is easy, answer is through prayer.
To see how God speaks to each of us, let us turn to His Word.
Romans 2:15 – in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.
Here we see the word conscience. What is our conscience?
Definition of conscience – an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior.
From where do we get our conscience? Obviously it came from God who designed us completely.
Biblical definition of conscience – the soul’s warning system, which allows humans to contemplate their motives and actions and make moral evaluations of what is right and wrong.
Conscience is not only a way to judge and convict ourselves when we do something wrong, but our conscience can also provide us a sense of comfort or even celebration at times when we do something that pleases God. Have you ever had goosebumps? What are goosebumps? Why do you get goosebumps?
When you’re cold, or you experience a strong emotion, such as fear, shock, anxiety, or even inspiration, goosebumps can suddenly pop up all over the skin. They occur when the tiny muscle located at the base of each hair follicle contracts, causing the hair to stand on end.
But what really causes this involuntary body response and does it serve a purpose?
There is no clear explanation of where goosebumps come from. I found this explanation on the Guideposts website:
I have a theory that you won’t find in the Bible. I think that goosebumps come from God.
Think about it. We rely mainly on our intellects as we navigate our way through life, largely ignoring the mystical, the unexplainable. Then comes a special and unexpected happening—a baby’s coo, an extraordinary piece of music or touching story, and our bodies react independent of the intellect: chills, tears, a lump in the throat, or goosebumps.
Maybe in these moments God is bypassing our brains and going straight to our hearts, saying, “Pay attention. This is where you find Me.”
Have you experienced the hair standing up on your arms? Or unexpected tears? How did you perceive it? What other kinds of signs do you think God sends?
Romans 13:5 – Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
We are to remain faithful to God and to keep a clear conscience before Him, not merely to avoid punishment from civil authorities.
2 Corinthians 1:12 – For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.
True believers have a confidence in their belief and are proud of how they live their lives in service to Him. In order to work as God designed it, the conscience must be informed to the highest moral and spiritual level and the best standard, which means submitting it to the Holy Spirit through God’s Word. The conscience is a divinely given warning device that reacts to sin and produces accusation and guilt that cannot be relieved apart from the work of Christ.
1 Timothy 1:5 – But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
God created man with a conscience as his self-judging faculty. When we violate that standard, our conscience produces guilt, which acts as the mind’s security system that produces fear, guilt, shame, and doubt as warnings of threats to the soul’s well-being.
These scriptures from God’s Word, all show how God speaks to us through our conscience, both to alert us and praise us. I firmly believe the more we speak to Him seeking answers back from Him, the more we hear from our conscience. Scripture shows that we can harden ourselves to close off our conscience to hearing from Him. But true believers will open their hearts and minds to hearing God speak to them today and often so that we may draw nearer to Him, and remain close to Him every day of our lives on His earth, and then remain with Him through eternity.
So coming back to the questions asked at the beginning of this message:
Does God speak to me? Yes
How does God speak to me? Scripture says through our conscience.
How do I know that it is God speaking? Discomfort over our feelings of guilt…. Or goosebumps for our feelings of joy!!
So pray… and ask… and pray and ask some more…. And He will answer you!!!
Cindy and I had a great trip visiting our children and grandchildren but it is also great to be home again. Have a very blessed weekend! Hope to see you all at Covenant this Sunday!