Spiritual Senses #8 – Hearing the Future to Perform God's Will

Trees, 2013

A Spiritual Kingdom

“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice…” (Rev. 1:10 NIV). Thus began the revelation of Jesus Christ to his servant John. Sometimes, the Spirit will use the sense of hearing to catch our attention before the Lord reveals his will.

I began my daily walk from the office to an Episcopal cathedral a few blocks up the street, where I usually spent my lunch hour in prayer. Suddenly to my left, I heard a loud gun shot coming from the roof of a parking lot. As I looked up, I saw a Caucasian man in blue Bermuda shorts. He was intently looking over the edge of the rooftop to the street below. Then he jumped!

Somebody called the police. They covered his lifeless body with a sheet. In church that day, even though I was traumatized by the incident, I cried and prayed for this stranger. Yes, he was dead; but obviously God wanted somebody to pray for him—and that somebody was me. Regardless of what we’ve been taught to believe—that once death comes it’s too late to pray for that person—God is God, and he makes exceptions. For this man, God had “mercy on whom he will have mercy” (Rom. 9:15 KJV).

God lets us hear the future so we can perform his will. I’ve learned that the more we trust God as his Spirit leads, the more we come to realize that words like “mercy”, “patience”, “kindness”, and “love” are less like feelings or ideas—and more like actions!

Next time: Hearing in the Present with Cultural Roots in the Past

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Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved; and from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge 1769. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Senses #7 – Hearing the Future

A Spiritual Kingdom

palm 2013

Sometimes, the Spirit lets us hear the future before he reveals it to our sight.

I was young in the Lord and new to speaking in tongues—eager to learn all I could about the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4-11 NIV). One day I was thinking about Jesus and what he did for me. Then, the sound of somebody blowing a trumpet intruded on my thoughts. What is that? I followed the sound—not because it was loud—but because the notes were flat! It seemed to come from the storage under the house. As I came upon the storage, the trumpet playing stopped.

I was so excited. I hurriedly blurted it to my sister, who was also new in the Lord. But I had erred badly. In my excitement, I said that I heard the sound of trumpets made by angels and the sound was heavenly.

The weekend came—and with it a surprise. In a large bin under the house, my young nephews “found” my dad’s old trumpet stuffed among his other things. They began to blow the trumpet and yes, there were many flat notes played that day! Though I tried to tell my sister that this was the sound I had heard earlier in the week, she looked at me annoyed and angry. “You said it sounded like angels! Like heavenly music! This isn’t it!”

Spirit let me hear the future, but the lesson was, “…consider carefully how you listen” (Luke 8:18 NIV). When Spirit decides to gift us, we have the responsibility to be faithful to convey what we see or hear. Since I was young in the Lord, his grace covered my ignorance and my sin.

Now that I am more experienced in spiritual workings, I am careful not to abuse or misuse his gifts. I wish to be found faithful in the service he has entrusted to me.

Next time: Hearing the Future to Perform God’s Will

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Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Senses #6 – Sight: Seeing that Life is for the Living

A Spiritual Kingdom

K-Bay, 2013

Because the Spirit is life (John 6:63), spiritual senses come alive as the Spirit determines:

My daughter was in high school when she heard that her friend had disappeared from home. Since they were close, my daughter asked if there was anything I could do. We prayed that she would be found and returned safely home.

Not long afterwards, her family placed flyers of her around the town. My daughter saw one of the flyers and called it to my attention. When I looked at her photograph, I was stunned to “see” that she looked alive! How could I tell?

Her picture on the poster “moved”—like heat waves that move on hot pavement. Although she was smiling in the picture, it seemed like someone had super-imposed her real smile upon her photograph. She looked happy!

Puzzled, I said to my daughter, “She’s fine. I think she ran away and is with friends”. A week later, the police found her at a friend’s house.

No doubt, Christians who are reading this are thinking “psychic”. If that’s your faith, then you have what you believe.

As for me, I only know God the Father, His Son Jesus, and the workings of the Holy Spirit. That is my faith and I will not be moved.

Next time: Hearing the Future

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Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge 1769. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Senses #5 – Sight: When Sight and Feeling Work Together

A Spiritual Kingdom

Shower trees, 2013

All things work together for good, even spiritual sight and uneasy feelings:

The company flew me to the island of Maui. We were working on finalizing a health care brochure focused on Hawaiian women. I had only one more woman to interview that morning.

Getting a rental and driving up-country Maui was easy and hassle-free. The highway took one route from the airport and then curved alongside a little boat harbor to my right. It seemed like a friendly, welcoming place for a drive. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. The boats were neatly tied to their slips. Quite a picturesque scene!

After the interview was over, one of the women asked if I knew how to get back to the airport. I smiled and said, “Yes, thank you”—thinking I would just double-back the way I came. But it’s as if she didn’t hear me. She called out directions to my retreating back. I waved “Thank you!”, and left.

As I approached the road that would return me to the boat harbor, I stopped for a red light. In the time that I waited, I visually took in the harbor, the boats, and even the sky, now tinged with gray. Suddenly, I was alert. Something was wrong! The harbor looked strange, ominous, and abandoned. When the light changed, instead of turning left to the harbor, I continued straight. Shortly afterward, I saw the sign, “Airport”.

What happened? A warm and inviting setting had just turned cold and lifeless before my eyes, producing a feeling of unease. I couldn’t deny a double witness. Spirit was saying, “Don’t enter the harbor” (Acts 16:7 NKJV), and I listened!

Next time: Seeing That Life is for the Living

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.