Why God Speaks

Southern Living

Why God Speaks
Dr. Charles Stanley

James 1:23-25

God is not one to speak in generalities. When He whispers from the pages of Scripture or confronts through a friend's words, the Father directly addresses issues in His children's lives. With that in mind, let's look at His three goals for communicating with believers—namely, for us to:

1. Comprehend the truth. God wants us to learn His ways and principles, to recognize our own frailty, and to identify the needs of others. He does more than offer this as head knowledge—He makes truth applicable to our lives. For example, the Lord assured Paul that His strength was sufficient to carry the apostle through anything (2 Cor. 12:9). Circumstances taught the apostle that God's Word was true.

2. Conform to the truth. Our lives are shaped by our belief system. What we hold as true influences our thinking. In turn, how we think affects our character, conduct, and conversation. God is determined to mold His children into Christlikeness so that they reflect His gospel to the world.

3. Communicate the truth. Every child of God is called to make disciples (Matt. 28:19). Believers can know the Lord and walk in His light but still fall short of this expectation. We must share the gospel by sharing God's truth with others and explaining how His words played out in our lives.

Notice that each goal builds on the one preceding it. Christians are a light reflecting God's glory to this world. We shine brightly by being attentive to God's voice and following His will. And when someone takes an interest in the source of our light, we are prepared to share the good news of Christ.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit http://www.intouch.org/.

Reason for the World - Matthew West

A Poem Inspired by this song
by Kool Christian Girl

Another tear falls
From your eyes and your broken heart
The pain seems never ending
Your questions unanswered
You miss your daddy
You miss your best friend
You miss your smile
The way things used to be.

You cry out:

God do you hear?
My breaking heart
Do you see?
My falling tears
Are you really there?
Do you even care?

You've been trying to be strong
Trying to hide away your pain
Hoping things will get better
If you put on a fake smile
And keep walking away like everything's ok...

But now you're here
Standing all alone
Forgetting what He's done for you
Now you're slipping, slowly falling, sitting down
Crying out letting the tears fall from your eyes
With no one to catch them they hit the ground...

The lies are creeping in
With darkness surrounding you
Pain growing stronger by the second
With each beat of your heart the pain sinks in
You realize how much you miss your dad
How much you miss your friends always being around
How deep the pain really is
But He's looking into your eyes.

You're all alone
And you're lost in your pain
That cuts so deep, a bleeding heart underneath your pretty smile.

The darkness of your past
Haunts you while you sleep with no escape
From the pain or the lies
You begin to cry...

God do you hear?
My breaking heart
Do you see?
My falling tears
Are you really there?
Do you even care?

Well let me tell you
Broken heart,
He's been there all along
Watching you, breaking for you,
Waiting for you to come home
And run into His arms
Even with your breaking heart.

Do you want to be loved?
Do you want to be healed?
Are you willing to reach out again
Trusting He's there
Believing in His love
And when you keep crying, calling out
He'll be there and He'll answer you
In your darkest night He'll hold you in His arms.

When you hope
This hope won't disappoint you
When you your trust in Him
Never losing the hope of a child within you..

Do you hear?
The voice inside
Whispering I love you
You realize you're not alone
But caught up in the war
But someone has stayed by your side
In the darkest night, through all the pain
He's been fighting with you,
Fighting for you
Fighting for your heart.

So once more
With a little more hope
You cry out again:

God do you hear?
My breaking heart
Do you see?
My falling tears
Are you really there?
Do you even care?

Jesus was there all along
He saw your heart break for the first time
The weight of your sin on your shoulders
And He'll stay next to you when it breaks for the thousandth time
And you feel the weight of your sin once again
He'll take your hand and He'll lead you home once again
Into His loving arms of grace.

Tears fall
Healing comes
Hope is there
These hands around you
Have always been holding you
A love you can't explain
Floods your heart
Breaks your chains and sets you free.

Don't be ashamed
Because of your hurt
Because of your tears
But let Him hold you and heal you
Let His love come into your heart.

No longer do you have
Sit all alone, sitting in your shame,
Sitting in your darkness
Because He has come to set you free
Heal all the pain inside your heart
That's been building up, day after day
Month after month, year after year.

Tonight let Him set you free
Let Him heal that pain inside

Now you sing out with joy inside your heart:

God I know You hear
The sound of my breaking heart
Every time it breaks
I know you see
Every falling tear
That falls from these eyes of mine

You're reaching, reaching up
Trusting that He's reaching back down to you
To wipe your tears away...

Look into His eyes
And let His love and His mercy
Wash over you once again
Feel His presence over you, filling up your heart.

His love is so deep
No matter how far you go
His love will lead you
His truth will guide you
Just reach our for His hand.

He loves you
No matter what...