In one section of the book, Dr. Charles Stanley gives a refrence to a Poet named Francis Thompson, a former opium addict who wrote about his encounter with Jesus Christ (the Lord).
He described God as a "hound of heaven", who chased him down every street and alley of his life and mind until he surrendered to Christ and finally found peace.
"If you run from God, He will follow; if you avoid Him, He will pursue; if you hide from Him, He will find you."
"And when we begin to wander from the course He has set for us to live, He will go to great lengths to get our attention. All too often, the Lord's wisdom (voice) becomes muffled by the clamor of our daily life. Sometimes we start out with God's agenda but get so far ahead of Him that we can no longer hear His voice. Preferring to do things our own way, we lose contact with our only true Guide."
Learning how to tune our hearts and ears to be attentive, receptive and responsive to God's voice, will provide the light we need to shine and show us the way.
We can recognize God's voice by understanding why He is trying to communicate with us and exactly how He communicates with us.
"God's objective in communicating with us is to transform our mind and heart in a way that conforms us into the image of His Son Jesus and for us to express His love to the world (sharing Jesus). (But we can only express his love ... when we are able to experience his love!)
God speaks to us primarily in four ways -- (1) through His Word (the bible), (2) through His Holy Spirit, (3) through another person, and (4) through the circumstances in our lives."
God will do whatever it takes to get our attention because He loves us and desires us to know Him in a way that produces great joy, peace, love, and direction in our lives. He has a plan for your life and He knows the only way you can fulfill that plan is with Him and through Him.
His love for you never changes, it never leaves you, and will never fail. Turning your attention to Jesus Christ, to God, in Prayer ... is the first step to removing the static that stands in the way of hearing his voice clearly.
First, we must Seek Him ... and then He will "heal our land" and show us the way He desires us to go.
[2 Chronicles 7:14]
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
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