Part 4: Following God’s Voice
A lifestyle is a manner of living that we choose, and if we think about this, we’ll understand that it is the most important choice we’ll ever make. When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, his spirit comes to live on the inside of us. This is the Holy Spirit, and John 16:13 tells us that the Spirit will guide us into all truth. He’s not going to speak on His own, but he will speak only what he hears from Jesus Christ. This is the communication system that God set up for us. Sometimes we hear an audible voice, but most often I believe we hear the Spirit in a way that is too intimate for words. He prompts us, quickens us, and sometimes we just know something because of what he has communicated to us internally. Our lifestyle choices are crucial because they can either help or hinder this intimacy we have with God.
When two people are in a relationship, they grow together as time seasons their union. They know each other so well that they can even finish each other’s sentences. There’s a communication that happens between the two that is beyond verbal communication. They have grown in their respect, admiration, and love for each other and this creates a lifestyle of intimacy that allows communication on a higher level.
God tells us in His Word that when two people are married to one another, in His eyesight they become one. They then function as a singular unit. He created relationships to teach us this important truth. The lessons of unity and oneness are the most impactful spiritual lessons that we can learn through our relationships with others. They help us glean a greater understanding of the intimacy God requires and expects from being in relationship with Him. He is our Father, and we are learning as His children to love and depend on Him as our total and complete Source.
Our relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ should be the strongest and tightest of any we have forged. We should be so close to God that we become very familiar with His voice and discern it from all others. It is a spiritual communication, and it is aided by the Holy Spirit that indwells us. Romans 8:16 tells us that the Holy Spirit joins with our human spirit and confirms that we are God’s children. It is the Holy Spirit that helps us grow in intimacy and helps us to develop our relationship with Heavenly Father.
The relationship that we share with God is on His terms, not ours. He chose us first. In John 6:44, Jesus Christ tells us that no one can come to him unless they are drawn by Heavenly Father. God’s mission for us is that we take on the nature of Christ and become like him. Romans 8:29-30(NLT) says, “29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.” God knew us in advance. He’s always known us and every detail of our existences. He chose us for the expressed purpose of becoming like His Son, Jesus Christ, because this is the very best that we can be. It is an awesome privilege and honor to be chosen by God, and it allows us to understand that He wants the best for us and in us. Through Christ, we can make it happen!
Although we come into relationship with God in a sinful state, not knowing how to please, worship, and adore Him, His plan is to help us grow. We accomplish this by studying His Word so that we increase in our knowledge of Christ. We also accomplish this intimacy by allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. The Spirit of God within knows God’s plan for our lives, and Philippians 2:13 tells us that He works in us to will and do of God’s good pleasure. We need to let him, the Spirit, continue his work by living a lifestyle of Christ, because this is the lifestyle that is drenched in God’s nature. This is a lifestyle that transforms us into the spiritual people we are meant to be.
We can clearly see that being in relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ will cause a lifestyle change. We are not in charge of our lives because accepting Christ means accepting that HE is Lord! Only he deserves this distinction. He’s our big brother, our Lord and Master, and he leads our lives. As the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20(NLT), “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” It is no longer about pleasing ourselves, but pleasing God. He is love, and therefore, pleasing Him equates to living a blessed existence of loving Him, others, and ourselves with an everlasting, quality love.
The dialogue that we have with God is essential to living a successful Christian life. The whole reason that any of us exist is because Heavenly Father wanted a family. He wanted children, and He chose us! Ephesians 1:5,11 says that He chose us in advance, even before He founded the world, and He adopted us into His family through Jesus Christ. He did this because He wanted to share His love and empower us to do all the good things that He planned for us long ago. He will lead and guide us to these ‘good things’ as we grow in intimacy with Him and follow the leading of His voice.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Building A Lifestyle of Intimacy with God: Part 4-Following God’s Voice”, written by JMack, 4theChristianMan.com© 2019. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.