Episode 48: Hearing God when feeling unseen, uncared for, abused, or overlooked.

Episode 48: Hearing God when feeling unseen, uncared for, abused, or overlooked.

Jul 14, 2024 | 0 comments

Episode Description:

Hagar’s story includes exclusion, oppression, jealousy, desperation, powerlessness, hopelessness, uncertainty, cruelty, humiliation, impatience, broken promises and flawed people. It is messy and chaotic. It is life. God met Hagar in the middle of her pain and abandonment. God meets us amid our sorrow, pain, brokenness, and desert experience. Join us in this latest episode of ‘Hearing God’ as we unpack all these truths and how Hagar met and experienced God.

Episode Notes:

Background to Hagar:

  • Genesis 16 & 21:8-21
  • Hagar means alien, and she was an alien/foreigner in Sarah and Abraham’s household. She was an Egyptian slave.
  • God had promised Abraham he would be the father of a great nation, but as years went by, nothing was happening. It looked like God wasn’t coming through on His promise.
  • Genesis 16:1 Sarah, Abrahm’s wife, had borne him no children. Sarah was impatient and desperate. She had been pulled out of her comfort zone, traipsed all over the countryside with Abraham, followed her husband where he went, and obeyed him. Sarah said to Abram – take my slave Hagar and sleep with her. Hagar conceived.
  • Genesis 16:4 – Once Hagar was pregnant, she despised Sarah and looked with contempt at her mistress. Hagar wasn’t the innocent girl in this. She’s not spotless.
  • Verse 5 – Sarah is jealous, scared, and losing faith in God and His promise, so Sarah takes matters into her own hands and blames Abraham. Fear can cause us to react in ways we wouldn’t normally – jealousy, anger, etc.
  • Verse 6 – Abraham wipes his hands of it and doesn’t take responsibility. Spineless. Abraham says, “Sarah, you sort it out. It’s your problem.” So Sarah abuses/mistreats her. Interestingly, Sarah & Abraham never call her Hagar but ‘that Egyptian slave’. She was nameless to them.
  • Hagar flees and runs away to die.
  • Verse 7 – an angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert. Talks with her to find out what she is doing.
  • Verse 9 – The angel of the Lord tells her to return to her mistress and submit to her. God will bless her with descendants too numerous to count, but the baby will be a son and live in hostility toward all his brothers. It is interesting to note yet again that in Deuteronomy 23:15-16, the legal code God gave the Israelites regarding runaway slaves was that they shouldn’t be returned to their masters.
  • Verse 13 – first person to name God – El Roi – You are the God who sees me. I don’t know if I would have said that after being told my son would live in hostility toward all his brothers. But it was based on her experience.
  • Hagar’s son Ishmael (means God hears)
  • The next we read of Hagar is in Chapter 21, after Sarah gives birth to Isaac.
  • At the celebration of Isaac’s birth, on the day he was weaned, Sarah noticed Hagar mocking her. Sarah saw the threat that Ishmael was to her child Isaac. When does protection turn to jealousy? She told Abraham to send Hagar away.
  • Abraham was greatly distressed as Ishmael was his son. God said not to be distressed; both sons will have offspring as a nation.
  • Verse 14 – Abraham gave Hagar food and water and sent her and Ishmael away.
  • They wandered until the water was gone. Hagar put Ishmael under a tree, and she went off as she couldn’t watch him die.
  • Verse 17 – God heard her crying, said open your eyes. I’ve supplied a well of water for you both. They then lived in the desert.
  • This second time she was sent away, it was a permanent exile. Both times, an angel of the Lord meets her and saves her.
  • The irony of Hagar’s story is that it flips the power dynamics of the Israelites.
    • The Israelites were a threat to Pharoah once they increased in number. Hagar was a threat to her mistress once she gave birth to a son.
    • The Israelites suffered abuse at the hands of their Egyptian masters. Hagar, the Egyptian, suffered abuse at the hands of Sarah.
    • The Israelites escaped from bondage under the Egyptians. Hagar ran away from her cruel mistress.

First Principle: God sees you.

  • You are not overlooked.
  • Two-way conversation. Calls God – El Roi, the God who sees.

Second Principle: God wants to speak to us personally.

  • Like Hannah and Mary, God spoke to them personally and not through their husbands, saying they would have offspring and their child would be extraordinary and have a unique destiny.
  • The angel of the Lord spoke audibly twice.
  • Every person is important to God.

Third Principle: God meets us where we are.

  • God met Hagar in the middle of her pain and abandonment.
  • God meets us amid our sorrow and pain in our desert. Like God met Moses with the burning bush in the desert, God met Hagar.
  • Don’t try to short-circuit God or take matters into your own hands. Like we know better than God – not a good outcome!!
  • God will sustain, love, and rescue us.
  • Sometimes, we are so caught up in our circumstances that we miss God and His best for us.
  • Don’t try to fulfil God’s will in your way. Wait on God.
  • God wants to reveal solutions to us that we can’t see.

Summary:

  1. God sees you.
  2. God wants to speak to us personally.
  3. God meets us where we are.

Prophetic activation:

Turn your heart and thoughts to Father God and ask Him –

  • “God, where do I need You to come through in my life at the moment?”
  • “God, where am I feeling desperate?”
  • “God, where do I need to feel seen, heard, or known?”

Time Stamps:

[1:30] – Gary & Jane share briefly how they have heard God this week.

[5:13] – Background to the story of Hagar.

[11:49] – First Principle: God sees you.

[18:36] – Second Principle: God wants to speak to us personally.

[21:02] – Third Principle: God meets us where we are.

[27:31] – Recap the principles.

[28:07] – Prophetic activation.

[29:10] – Gary & Jane both share a prophetic word for a listener.

[31:05] – Gary prays for you.

Resources / Links Mentioned:

Bible Verses Mentioned:

  • Genesis 16
  • Genesis 21:8-21
  • Deuteronomy 23:15-16

Connect with Gary & Jane:

Support the show:

  • Please share this podcast with someone who would value hearing from God.
  • Follow and leave a rating + review on your favourite podcast listening app.
  • If God is leading your heart to donate or support the show in any way, please visit https://buymeacoffee/garyandjanM Thank you so much.
Episode 47: Hearing God when we don’t see evidence of God at work in our life.

Episode 47: Hearing God when we don’t see evidence of God at work in our life.

Jul 7, 2024 | 0 comments

Episode Description:

I don’t want to be known as someone who couldn’t see God’s goodness. Do you? The story of Ruth in the Bible and how she encountered God is a reminder to focus on God’s goodness. The story of Ruth is also full of ‘coincidences’ – times when God chooses to remain anonymous. Join us in this latest episode of ‘Hearing God’ as we unpack all these truths and how Ruth heard and experienced God.

Episode Notes:

Background to Ruth.

  • Chapter 1: Famine in Judah. Elimelek, Naomi & two sons left Bethlehem and went to live in Moab. Elimelek died. The sons married Moabites – Orpah & Ruth. Deuteronomy 7:3 – don’t marry a Moabite. In Deuteronomy 23:3, “No Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, not even in the tenth generation.” It’s weird that the family would choose to go to Moab – it tells something of their attitude and relationship with God. Judges 21:25 (the last verse before Ruth) – Israelites didn’t ask God; they just did what they each thought was right.
  • Both sons then died.
  • Naomi heard that God had come to the aid of His people in Bethlehem by providing food for them.
  • Naomi sets out to return to Bethlehem. Both daughters-in-law go with her. Naomi is extremely bitter about her circumstances and strongly encourages them to return to their mothers. Naomi may also have been a tad embarrassed about having a Moabite Daughter-in-law.
  • Orpah returned home.
  • Ruth has a strong conviction to go with Naomi.
  • Famous verse 1:16 “Where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people. Your God, my God”
  • Verse 20 Naomi says, don’t call me Naomi but Mara because the Almighty has made my life bitter.” She blamed God and accused Him of bringing misfortune upon her. You can’t play with fire, do the wrong thing, and then blame God for the consequences!!
  • A perilous journey fraught with danger.
  • Chapter 2 – barley harvest beginning in the town of bread. Ruth took the initiative and went to glean the leftover grain after the workers had harvested the grain and around the outside of fields for widows/orphans. Leviticus 19:9-10 and Deuteronomy 24:19.
  • “Coincidence’ was Boaz’s field – guardian redeemer, Deuteronomy 25:5-10 widow must marry the nearest relative unless they take off their sandal and say no.
  • 2:8 – Boaz turns up at the exact time she is there and tells her to stay in his fields where she will be safe, otherwise may be violated. Boaz tells his workers to give her food and water and leave more barley for her to pick up.
  • Ruth has an extremely successful day 13 kgs/30 pounds – enough for 7 days for 2 people.
  • Chapter 3, Naomi decides Ruth needs to make a move to let Boaz know she is ready to marry again. Boaz was winnowing barley on the threshing floor, sleeping the night there for an early start. Ruth washed, put on perfume and her best clothes, and lay at his feet and uncovered them. Boaz woke up – spread the corner of your garment over me – ie marry me. Very symbolic.
  • Chapter 4 – Boaz says there’s another man closer in relation than me – 1st dibs at redeeming her. Guardian redeemer. Went to city gate. That man just happened to be there at that particular time (another ‘coincidence’). The man said, I would buy Elimelek’s field, but I don’t want to marry Ruth or Naomi. Took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz, so Boaz could marry Ruth.
  • Boaz and Ruth marry – the Lord opens her womb, and she conceives and has a son. Obed. Family line down to Jesus.

First Principle: Just because we can’t see God doesn’t mean He’s not working / present.

  • Even though there’s no mention of God in the book of Ruth, Ruth acknowledges the presence of God in 1:16-17 “But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
  • Tragedies don’t mean that God’s given up on you.
  • Ruth kept believing in God despite her circumstances. An encouragement to look to God not at our circumstances.
  • 2 Bible verses: Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
  • Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
  • God opens Ruth’s womb – Matthew 1 – genealogy of Jesus. Ruth had been married to Naomi’s son for 10 years but no children. Married Boaz and had a son Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of King David, the line of Jesus. I love how the Bible puts it in Ruth 4:13 “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.” Only mention of God in Ruth.
  • Story of redemption and God’s provision in so many ways. Ruth was empty, now full. Widow now married. Broken and no future to being in the genealogy of Jesus.
  • Naomi was bitter that God hadn’t helped her, but her family deliberately disobeyed God. Naomi couldn’t see God’s goodness. She was basically self-absorbed due to her painful circumstances, and that meant she was blind to how God was working. I don’t want to be known as someone who couldn’t see God’s goodness.
  • Our lens filter is often that which captivates our heart.
  • God chooses you in His story. You may feel that you don’t fit in, but God specialises in the broken, the hurting, the displaced, those who don’t fit in. God is always working behind the scenes.

Second Principle: God shows up in the everyday, often insignificant things, not just the miraculous.

  • We can have an active relationship with God regardless of whether we see Him.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
  • Hope is the practice of believing God’s loyal love is true for my situation. “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
  • In Ruth 3:18, Naomi encourages Ruth to sit still and wait. In a season of waiting, it is tempting to try and move things along.
  • Psalm 27:13-14 “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Third Principle: Ruth hears from God through coincidences.

  • Chapter 2:3 “As it happened…” she ended up in Boaz’s field, that field, that day, that particular time. God-incident. Another coincidence at the city gate with the guardian redeemer just happening to come along.
  • Love this statement: A coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.
  • In the story of Ruth, we see God bringing people in and out of her life, directing her life, shaping the course of her life. The same with our lives. Perhaps you’ve never stopped to consider the major role God has had in your life through certain events.
  • Four women are named in Jesus’ genealogy – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. Foreigners, tainted pasts, broken women. Testimony of God’s grace, love and acceptance for everyone.

Summary:

  1. Just because we can’t see God doesn’t mean He’s not working / present.
  2. God shows up in the everyday, often insignificant things, not just the miraculous.
  3. Ruth hears from God through coincidences.

Prophetic activation:

Turn your heart and thoughts to Father God and ask Him –

  • “God, is there an area in my life I feel a victim in or I’m bitter or I’m looking at it through the lens of disappointment?”
  • “What are Your thoughts on that God?”
  • “God, what response would You love me to take in relation to this?”

Time Stamps:

[1:07] – Gary & Jane share briefly how they have heard God this week.

[6:28] – Background to the story of Adam and Eve.

[13:30] – First Principle: Just because we can’t see God doesn’t mean He’s not working / present.

[20:06] – Second Principle: God shows up in the everyday, often insignificant things, not just the miraculous.

[22:08] – Third Principle: Ruth hears from God through coincidences.

[24:09] – Recap the principles.

[24:42] – Prophetic activation.

[25:47] – Gary & Jane both share a prophetic word for a listener.

[28:07] – Gary prays for you.

Resources / Links Mentioned:

Bible Verses Mentioned:

  • Ruth Chapters 1-4
  • Deuteronomy 7:3
  • Deuteronomy 23:3
  • Judges 21:25
  • Leviticus 19:9-10
  • Deuteronomy 24:19
  • Deuteronomy 25:5-10
  • Isaiah 55:8-9
  • Jeremiah 29:11
  • Matthew 1
  • 2 Corinthians 5:7
  • Hebrews 11:1
  • Psalm 27:13-14

Connect with Gary & Jane:

Support the show:

  • Please share this podcast with someone who would value hearing from God.
  • Follow and leave a rating + review on your favourite podcast listening app.
  • If God is leading your heart to donate or support the show in any way, please visit https://buymeacoffee/garyandjanM Thank you so much.
Episode 46: Hearing God before and after being disobedient

Episode 46: Hearing God before and after being disobedient

Jun 30, 2024 | 0 comments

Episode Description:

When we create, we partner with God and His creativity is expressed through us. Creativity can be a fantastic way of hearing and experiencing God. Join us in this latest episode of ‘Hearing God’ as we unpack Adam and Eve’s story in the Bible and how they heard and experienced God, both before and after they disobeyed Him.

Episode Notes:

Background to Adam & Eve

  • God created man in His own image.
  • God put man in the Garden of Eden and put him to work to care for it. God gives specific instructions: He commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
  • God brought all the living creatures to the man and asked him to name them.
  • Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. This speaks of intimacy with the Lord God. Nothing was hidden between God and man.
  • Chapter 3. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” Notice he didn’t challenge the man who had directly heard from God. For the woman – it was second-hand knowledge. But the man was there with her and could have stopped her!! The woman correctly replies, “We may eat fruit from any trees in the garden but must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, or we will die.”
  • Serpent challenges: “You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
  • The woman saw the fruit looked great and would give her wisdom, so she took it and ate. She gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Thus, the man abdicated his responsibility.) Then the eyes of both were opened, and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
  • We then read the interaction between God and Adam and Eve after they had disobeyed God’s command.

First Principle: God reveals Himself through creation.

  • One of the ways we can hear God is through creation – His creation and also when we create.
  • We are called to co-create with God.
  • Genesis 2:19-20 God brought all the living creatures to the man and asked him to name them.
  • God created us and thinks we are great. Our identity comes from God.
  • We were created in God’s image – that’s probably the most profound revelation. We are in the image of God.

Second Principle:  We can hear God.

  • Audibly talked with Adam and Eve. Two-way conversation. They heard from God and spoke directly to God.
  • They heard God walking in the garden.
  • Cool of the day. Some say it was wind, sounding and feeling like what happened at Pentecost in Acts 2:2. It was more like they felt His presence.
  • Psalm 29:5-9 talks about the power, strength, and majesty of the sound of the Lord. It uses imagery of the sound of the Lord acting upon nature like a powerful storm.
  • God wants to be personally involved in our life. Speaks of God desiring relationship.

Third Principle: Nothing is hidden from God.

  • There is no shame in God. God made the first move towards them.
  • Don’t try and do things in your strength. They sewed fig leaves to cover themselves.
  • God ended up covering them in skin to cover the shame they felt.
  • They became all-knowing – they knew they had done wrong by eating the fruit.
  • The lens through which we perceive God is through which we will hear Him – grace or judgment.
  • God placed Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden with everything they needed. Food, work, companionship, fellowship with God, freedom of choice, and boundaries. God desires a relationship with us, and the best for us.

Summary:

  1. God reveals Himself through creation.
  2. We can hear God.
  3. Nothing is hidden from God.

Prophetic activation:

Turn your heart and thoughts to Father God and ask Him –

  • “God, what creative gifts have You given me?”
  • “What would You love me to know about these gifts or this creativity?”
  • “What else do I need to know about Your creativity, God, as it’s expressed through me?”

Time Stamps:

[0:35] – Gary & Jane share briefly how they have heard God this week.

[4:23] – Background to the story of Adam and Eve.

[9:26] – First Principle: God reveals Himself through creation.

[13:26] – Second Principle: We can hear God.

[18:47] – Third Principle: Nothing is hidden from God.

[23:52] – Recap the principles.

[24:18] – Prophetic activation.

[25:29] – Gary & Jane both share a prophetic word for a listener.

[27:50] – Gary prays for you.

Resources / Links Mentioned:

Bible Verses Mentioned:

  • Genesis 1-3
  • Acts 2:2
  • Psalm 29:5-9
  • John 10:3, 14, 27

Connect with Gary & Jane:

Support the show:

  • Please share this podcast with someone who would value hearing from God.
  • Follow and leave a rating + review on your favourite podcast listening app.
  • If God is leading your heart to donate or support the show in any way, please visit https://buymeacoffee/garyandjanM Thank you so much.

Episode 45: Hearing God with Kathryn Yaxley

Episode 45: Hearing God with Kathryn Yaxley

Jun 23, 2024 | 0 comments

Episode Description:

Kathryn Yaxley is a guest on this episode of the Hearing God Podcast. Kathryn and her husband Peter are good friends of Gary & Jane. They operate a ministry called Kingdom Presence Ministries that equips people to hear God and grow in their journey of hearing God. Listen to Jane and Kathryn’s conversation as they chat about Kathryn’s healing journey, how she first recognised God speaking to her and several powerful examples of actioning what she thought God was saying to her, especially in her thoughts. Kathryn recently wrote the book “Threads of Hope Knots of Pain”.

Background to Kathryn:

  • Married to Peter and lives in Poatina, Tasmania.
  • Written a book and reflective companion journal: Threads of Hope Knots of Pain.
  • Run equipping workshops and reflective healing retreats.
  • National and international ministry – Kingdom Presence Ministries.

Topics discussed with Kathryn:

  • A brief history of how Kathryn became a Christian and her early Christian Walk.
  • The first time Kathryn recognised God speaking to her.
  • How Kathryn best receives from God.
  • A memorable time of Kathryn receiving from God for someone else.
  • A short piece of advice for our listeners in relation to hearing God for themselves.
  • The first time Kathryn heard God in her thoughts, and how she weighed it up – did it line up with God’s character, was it like something in the Scriptures/ something Jesus would do, does it break any commandments of Scripture, and is it something Jesus would like me to do?

Prophetic activation:

Think about something you’ve experienced this week; it could have been a good thing or a moment of challenge that you haven’t unpacked with the Lord yet. Write down briefly (dot points) what happened for you. Then ask this question, “Lord, what do You want to say to me about that event?”. Journal the flow in response to what might come and see what the Lord says to you.

Time Stamps:

[0:51] – Jane introduces Kathryn Yaxley.

[3:12] – Kathryn shares about her book “Threads of Hope Knots of Pain”.

[8:42] – Jane & Kathryn share briefly how they have heard God this week.

[12:31] – Kathryn shares how she became a Christian.

[15:26] – The first time Kathryn recognised God speaking to her.

[15:44] – Kathryn shares how she best receives from God.

[17:49] – Kathryn shares a memorable time receiving from God for someone else.

[19:56] – Advice Kathryn would give anyone wanting to hear God.

[21:51] – An example of weighing up what you hear.

[26:26] – Prophetic activation.

[27:37] – Jane & Kathryn both share a prophetic word for a listener.

[29:58] – Kathryn prays for you.

Resources / Links Mentioned:

Bible Verses Mentioned:

  • Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Connect with Gary & Jane:

Support the show:

  • Please share this podcast with someone who would value hearing from God.
  • Follow and leave a rating + review on your favourite podcast listening app.
  • If God is leading your heart to donate or support the show in any way, please visit https://buymeacoffee/garyandjanM Thank you so much.

Episode 44: Hearing God when you are called to be a Courageous Leader

Episode 44: Hearing God when you are called to be a Courageous Leader

Jun 16, 2024 | 0 comments

Episode Description:

Are you in a leadership position and desperately need God’s help? Do you need God to give you a strategy for the way ahead? Do you need courage for something you are facing? Join us in this latest episode of ‘Hearing God’ as we unpack Joshua’s story in the Bible, how he was repeatedly told to be courageous and not afraid, and the unusual strategies God gave Joshua.

Episode Notes:

Background to Joshua.

  • Moses had liberated the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians. The Israelites had wandered around the wilderness for forty years and were about to enter the promised land, but Moses was prevented from entering due to not trusting God completely at one time.
  • Joshua was first mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 17:8-15. Moses asked Joshua to choose some men and fight the Amalekites. Moses went up to the top of a hill and prayed. When he held his arms up, the Israelites won. When he lowered his arms, the Amalekites won. So Aaron and Hur put out a stone for him to sit on and hold his arms up. The Amalekites were completely wiped out. (The Lord is my Banner.)
  • Numbers 13:16-33. Moses chose 12 men to go into Canaan / the Promised Land, spy it out, and bring back a report about the land, people, towns, city walls, soil, trees, produce, etc. Caleb and Joshua were the only ones with a positive report. The others incited fear and said don’t go. Caleb and Joshua said the Lord is with us.
  • Numbers 27:12-18, the Lord told Moses to lay his hands on Joshua and bless him as the new leader –a man in whom is the spirit of leadership.
  • Deuteronomy 31:1-8. Moses spoke to all the Israelites and said Joshua will lead you into the Promised Land. Moses was about to die and said Joshua would cross over ahead of you. In verse 6 and again in verse 7, he repeats, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you.” When repeated – pay attention!!

First Principle: We can hear God and still be afraid.

  • Joshua told numerous times to be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you.
  • The first thing Joshua does is to tell the Israelites to get ready to cross the Jordan River in 3 days. Meanwhile, he secretly sends two spies to spy out Jericho, the nearest town, up on the hill. They find a prostitute named Rahab and stay with her. The King of Jericho sent men to tell her to send the men out. She said they had already left and hid the men on her roof. The men promised to save Rahab and her family if they were in her house, and a scarlet cord was hanging out the window.
  • Crossing the Jordan River, Joshua did exactly as God commanded him. River flooding but dried up in that spot so they could cross over.
  • Then, a man from each of the 12 tribes would take a stone and pile it up as the memory stones. Joshua 2:6 – In the future, when your children ask you what these stones mean, you can tell them of the miracle.
  • Joshua then proceeds to circumcise every male (as everyone who had been circumcised in Egypt had died in the wilderness, and no-one born in the wilderness had been circumcised.) It was a great time to attack the Israelites, but the neighbouring Kings were afraid as they saw how God was with them and heard the reports about how the Jordan River had dried up until the last of the priests had stepped out of it.

In Genesis 34, read when the son of the Hivite King raped Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, Dinah’s brothers convinced all the Hivites to get circumcised and they would allow intermarriage etc. Three days after all the men were circumcised, and while they were in a lot of pain, two of Dinah’s brothers attacked and killed every male in the city.

Second Principle: We can hear God in numerous ways.

  • Episode 4 – the different ways God communicates with us.
  • God spoke verbally to Joshua but also gave him visions. Joshua 5:13 Joshua looked up and saw a man standing with a sword and realised he was an angel from the Lord.
  • How often do we not recognise it is God?
  • God said to march around the city once with all your armed men. Do this daily for six days. On the 7th day, march around the city seven times with the seven priests at the front of the ark blowing trumpets of ram’s horns. When you hear them sound a long blast, have the whole army give a shout, and the wall will collapse.
  • Joshua told the Israelites not to defile themselves with any idols – otherwise, they will be destroyed. Achan disobeyed by taking some idols. The next time they went to war, the Israelites were badly defeated. Joshua cries out to God as to the reason. God replies because Israel sinned by taking some idols. Found Achor had some hidden. Stoned Achan and all his family and animals and possessions and burned and buried them in the Valley of Achor. (Valley of despair redeemed to a door of hope)

Third Principle: God gives us strategies.

  • Joshua 8 – The Israelites destroyed Ai with an unusual strategy of luring the army out and ambushing from behind.
  • Joshua 9 is where Joshua forgot to ask of the Lord and was deceived by the Gibeonites. They wanted an alliance with the Israelites and pretended they were from afar. They had worn and patched sandals and clothes, mouldy bread, and old cracked and mended wineskins. They went to Joshua and said please make an alliance with us to save us from the surrounding countries. Verse 14 – the Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Made a treaty and realised it 3 days later.
  • The sun stands still in Chapter 10. Five surrounding Kings joined forces to attack the Gibeonites. Joshua had to go to their help due to the treaty. Took them by surprise near dawn, they fled, and the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them and killed them. Joshua said, “Sun stand still”. Verse 13 – the sun stood still and delayed going down about a full day until the nation avenged itself on its enemies.

Summary:

  1. We can hear God and still be afraid.
  2. We can hear God in numerous ways.
  3. God gives us strategies.

Prophetic activation:

Turn your heart and thoughts to Father God and ask Him –

  • “God, is there an area of my life where I need to be courageous and not afraid? What is that? What would it look like to be courageous in that area?”
  • “What else do I need to know about that, God?”

Time Stamps:

[0:37] – Gary & Jane share briefly how they have heard God this week.

[4:17] – Background to the story of Joshua.

[7:05] – First Principle: We can hear God and still be afraid.

[12:41] – Second Principle: We can hear God in numerous ways.

[16:37] – Third Principle: God gives us strategies.

[21:09] – Recap the principles.

[21:41] – Prophetic activation.

[22:45] – Gary & Jane both share a prophetic word for a listener.

[24:34] – Gary prays for you.

Resources / Links Mentioned:

Bible Verses Mentioned:

  • Exodus 17:8-15
  • Numbers 13:16-33
  • Numbers 27:12-18
  • Deuteronomy 31:1-8
  • Joshua (specifically Joshua 1:1,6-8; 2:6; 5:13; 6; 7; 8; 9:14; 10; 23-24
  • Genesis 34

Connect with Gary & Jane:

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