Listen to and Follow Your Heart

The physical heart is one of the most important organs in your body. We do all sorts of things for our hearts, in the natural, to preserve, to strengthen, and to make sure they are operating at an optimal level. At the same time, what many people may not know is that we have a mental and a spiritual health that we must monitor, as well. But for the sake of this article we will be dealing with the spiritual. However, we (humans) are a three-part being created in the image and likeness of God. God is a three-in-one Divine being (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), not three gods. A plural unity, just like when a man and a woman unite in matrimony, the two people become one unit, not one person. Well human beings have a similar composition: we are spirit, soul and body according to 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul says “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There are many subjects in life that everybody can know about and/or master. But learning to listen to and to follow your heart is one of the most critical things that you’ll ever learn, because your spirit (the real you) is how you contact God and vice versa.

Spiritually speaking, our heart is our spirit. All of us are actually spirit beings walking around in an earth suit, a flesh body. There’s nothing to get all spooked out about, it’s just the reality of the matter. When a person dies, the spirit, or the real person, leaves the body to exist elsewhere. Remember, we were created in God’s image and likeness. God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and God breathed into man’s (mankind’s) nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). So the essence of God is who we are. The interesting thing about God is that He desires to have fellowship with humans, and that’s why He made us. We have numerous examples in the Old Testament where God communed and talked with people directly: God gave Noah explicit instructions on how to build the ark (Genesis 6); God called Abraham (Genesis 12) and made a covenant with him (Genesis 15); God spoke to Moses and commissioned him to deliver the children of Israel (Exodus 3); and God gave Solomon wisdom to build the Temple (1 Kings 5-8). These are just a few Old Testament examples of God speaking expressly to His people, and there many more examples. But we live in the New Testament under Jesus Christ; Hebrews 8:6 says that “Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” So how much more clearly and distinctly should we be able to access the counsel of God in our hearts if we have a better covenant and promises? Romans 8:14 says that “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” God communicates with us, and He leads us by His Spirit.

In the 21^st century, we are a society that is enamored with our body, our appearance, our scent, our food, how our body feels, etc. There’s nothing wrong with this, but these are external pamperings that we give to ourselves, and God is not as demonstrative about the outward, as much as He is the inward. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” A lot of people miss the intent here and use this Scripture to mean that women shouldn’t beautify themselves. That is pure fiction! Ladies, go ahead and keep it looking good. No man wants a tired, beat up looking woman with messed up feet. Peter was merely repeating what Jesus said about the outward appearance of the Pharisees versus their inward condition. Jesus said in Matthew 23:23-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” See there’s nothing wrong with the outward looking nice, but God is more concerned about your spirit and spiritual condition.

I am going to give you a few easy principles to follow to help you to spiritually discern and distinguish God’s voice from your own mind, and from the enemy’s subtle suggestions. This article is for people who want to fine tune their walk with God. People who just go to church and are saved, but don’t grow passed the initial act of salvation won’t pursue or encourage you to pursue the contents of this message. But if you are pursuing the contents of this message, it is a good indicator that you want more of God. God speed to you!

• According to Titus 3:5, Christians have become clean spiritually “according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit changed us and now resides in our hearts (spirits). Be conscious of the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life, even if it doesn’t feel like He’s there, He’s there.
• It is an absolute necessity for you to be an avid hearer of the Word of God on tape, on CD, or reading the Word aloud to yourself. I liken this principle to the frequency on the radio. Radio signals are traveling through the air at all times, but we don’t hear them because we can’t hear on that level. So we need a receiver to get the signal. Once the receiver gets the signal, we fine tune the radio channel and maybe move the antenna a bit, and we can enjoy the message being transmitted. Our spirit works the same way. We have to train our spirit to hear on God’s level and do things His way. Remember Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” What’s interesting is that God speaks in line with His Word, but He may or may not be quoting a Scripture, per se. Once you start to train yourself to hear God’s voice you’ll see what I mean. For example, the other day I was in traffic and was running late for a meeting. But I needed to make a stop and pick up some documents for the meeting before it started. I didn’t have time to stop and I got frustrated. Suddenly I heard the Spirit of God say, “She’ll bring them to you.” I didn’t know that I was meeting a woman, so I just went to the meeting. When I arrived a man and a woman came to facilitate the meeting. We all introduced ourselves, and the lady said, “Oh, these documents are for you.” I thanked her and smiled because I trained myself to recognize His voice, and it gave me a peace. That situation let me know that God truly does care about the small details of our lives, as well as the larger things.
• Make strong confessions of faith based upon God’s Word. Say what you want, don’t say what you have. If you call and whistle for your dog to come, he will come to you. If he’s not there you don’t say “the dog isn’t here, hey, the dog isn’t here!” He’ll never come to you. He’ll probably look at you like you’re crazy. Don’t confess the negative, but confess the positive. Romans 10:17 says that “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” So when you hear and/or speak the Words of faith, what you hear registers in your spirit as faith. The Words are faith and your spirit knows this because that’s where the Holy Spirit dwells. So every time you hear faith, your spirit will recognize it. It doesn’t matter who’s saying it. This will help you to discern God’s voice in situations in your personal life. You must know that God always speaks faith, and your spirit will become accustomed to that frequency of faith, and you will eventually have no doubt when God is speaking to you. Do like Romans 4:17 which teaches us to “call those things which do not exist as though they did.” Say what you want to have, don’t say what you have, if what you have isn’t in line with God’s will. Do you understand the principle? If you need to read this a few times, please do. You’ll grasp it. If you already have lack, speak abundance. If you are already sick, speak health, healing and wholeness. Call what you want to come into existence. In the beginning, God saw darkness, but He said, “Let there be Light,” and the light appeared. I have a whole list of Scriptures that I have fashioned into personalized confessions to help you to train your spirit to recognize God’s voice. Anyone who emails me and requests it, I will send it to you, free of charge.
• While you’re training your spirit, begin to obey the voice you hear even in the smallest instructions. I talk to people that I have never met on the phone everyday, and now when I hear their voice I instantly recognize who they are because of repetition and the frequency of the repetition. That is key! Just do it by faith; it works in the natural and in the spiritual.
• Build up your spirit through prayer (Jude 20).
• Build up a spiritual sensitivity to God through fasting. There is no New Testament instruction for fasting, Jesus only said “when you do fast.” In other words, no one should dictate to you when you should fast, that’s between you and God. Jesus fasted, and He is our example, so let Him guide you on fasting. But there are many Old Testament examples of fasting in Esther, Ezra, 2 Samuel and other incidents where the people of God were consecrating themselves to God’s purpose through fasting.
• Spend quiet time, alone with God. You can pray and talk to Him, but give God an opportunity to speak to you in return. Wait and Listen to His voice. Jesus in John 10:27 said “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” If you belong to God, Jesus said that you know His voice, so say what He said. Say “I know God’s voice and I follow Him.”
• Don’t talk to unbelievers and unbelieving Christians about spiritual matters like: hearing God’s voice, prayer, fasting, consecration, holiness and other things because if they are carnal and not spiritual, they may mock what you are doing and try to discourage you from pursuing God’s will for your life. This isn’t to say that you have to alienate yourself from people, because Jesus fraternized with sinners. But Jesus said in Matthew 7:6 (Amplified Bible) “Do not give that which is holy (the sacred thing) to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before hogs, lest they trample upon them with their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.” In other words, there’s no reason to waste your valuable time and information on people who won’t appreciate it.
• Surround yourself with strong Christians who will support you and help to build you and your faith. Invest in sound materials that will enhance your growth and walk with the Lord.
• If you hear a voice and you still aren’t sure if it is God or not, judge the voice by asking yourself if the voice is asking you to do something immoral. The enemy definitely won’t encourage you to tell someone about salvation in Christ. Now the enemy may tell you to go preach the Gospel in the middle of the highway, so by using common sense you know that isn’t God. God saved your spirit, but he didn’t remove your common sense. Remember that!
• You’ll know when it’s your feelings as opposed to your heart because your mind will change a few times, you’ll try to rationalize wrong, you won’t have peace about it, and it’ll be like your trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. You’ll just know that something isn’t right. If you get that feeling don’t move. Just wait for that peace. When God’s doing it, it flows. If there is a little bit of opposition from people with what you’re doing and you have peace about moving forward, follow your heart. That’s what we’re learning to do, follow our hearts, because that’s where the Holy Spirit resides in us (the Church). He’s not in the building, He dwelt in the Temple in the Old Testament, but now, we are His Temple, the Christians are the Church (1 Corinthians 6:19).
  

Follow these steps and give yourself sometime to grow in them. You won’t master this over night, but with practice you will become more sensitive to God and become more aware of His presence. Be patient, God’s not going anywhere. He’ll lead you and guide you, if you let Him. By reading this article and pursuing these insights, this proves that you’re growing already. Godspeed! Stay tuned for the next article on being filled with the Spirit.