God Speaks - Words - Part 6

There has been quite a gap between this and the last entry, but I'd like to welcome you back to the latest part of a series that I'm calling "God Speaks..."
Over these nine entries, I want to look at some of the ways that God speaks to us (it's not an exhaustive list of course - I'm sure others can add to it!). Because He does speak.  All the time.

Because God is real, because He loves us and because He is good - He speaks.
Usually, it's us (mere people!) that fail to listen or maybe fail to understand that it was God speaking to us.
I want to share from my own life, as practical examples, some of the ways God has spoken to me.  In all, I want to briefly look at these nine ways that we hear from God:

Dreams (click here to read this section)
Visions & Pictures (click here to read this section)
Through Others (click here to read this section) 
Angels (click here to read this section)
Bible (click here to read this section)
Words
Small Still Voice
Burning Bush
Audible Voice

Personally, I've experienced six out of these nine ways listed - and as we go through the series, I'll make these clear how that happened.  So, here we go with the next part!

Part 6 - Words

What do I mean by words - of course, we all speak with 'words' - the language might change from country to country, but around the world, people use words to communicate.  We've touched on the written word in the last section - the Bible - the inspired, written word of God (inspired through the Holy Spirit, written by people at the time of the events, often eyewitnesses, or soon after the events).  We'll cover words through audible means later.
In this section I want to look at what the Bible calls words - of knowledge, of wisdom....the list goes on.

You see, even in this 21st Century world we live in, God still speaks to us - more so than ever!  More people on the planet, means more people who God desires to have relationship with and therefore speak to.

This particular way of hearing from God, like all the others, can have a very instant impact.  Take a word of knowledge for healing, for example.  And this is something I've experienced first hand!

The Bible tells us we can do the things Jesus did.  It tells us to pray for sick people that they might recover.  It also talks about words of knowledge.  I've prayed for many people who are sick - I don't know the stats, but I know not all have got better straight away (far from it!).  But, I've also prayed for people following a word of knowledge, and in these cases, things work a whole lot differently.  People get healed.  Why this happens I do not really know.  Faith is certainly raised (though really, I guess, it shouldn't be - the Bible tells us sick people got better when Jesus laid hands on them, so really that should be enough).  Often, it isn't.
But, if I'm in a gathering of people, and God has highlighted something very specific to me (for example, arthritis in the left hip and moving down the left leg), and then someone happens to be there with that exact condition, why wouldn't God heal that person?  Does God need to brag that He can revel someones need and leave it at that? Is the faith raised in the sick person because they'd heard their condition mentioned?  Does the one praying, who has seen someone respond, feel more confident in their praying?  Well to answer these - God doesn't need to brag and yes, faith is raised for sure!

The above example actually happened when I visited a church in the Peak District many years ago.....even as I was sharing what God said to me, a lady behind me (she was singing in the worship band) shouted 'yes' with real joy - three people in fact responded to the call for healing from arthritis, though I prayed with just the one person - the 'yes' lady who had been standing behind me.  She told me she'd been waiting 17 years for God to give someone a word for healing about this condition - that's a long time of suffering, and why she needed a specific word, I'm not sure.  I'm sure she got prayed for regularly, but today, of all days, God had picked her out.  And God healed her.  The report back that week (I was passed on the news) was that she was totally healed. Praise God!

Words aren't always about healing - there are words of prophecy too.  These are speaking words over people that release destiny, bring encouragement, emotional healing, love etc.  In other words, they build someone up.  If you are left discouraged, downtrodden, or beaten up after being told a 'prophetic' word, reject it.  Walk away.  True, not all words we want to hear, but even challenging words can be brought in the right way - too often, it's just someones own opinion (or frustration!) packaged in 'thus saith the Lord" - oh, and while we are at this, it's YOU that speaks - use normal language, and your normal voice.  God, believe it or not, doesn't speak with King James English in the 21st century.

Be careful about bringing words regarding the following area, unless you are 'seasoned' in the gift (even then, I'd still say be cautious) and with someone else too: Who someone will, or won't marry.  I guess you could add to that births and deaths.  There are some who I'm sure can, it's just a difficult thing to bring.  God can show the person who they'll marry just as easily as tell a stranger - if we think it relies on our words only, we have a too small of an understanding of our great big God!

I've been on the receiving end as well, many times.  A key phase for me was between the ages of 17-19.  As a 17 year old, I was picked out of a crowd of 2000 people by a gifted and recognised prophet in the UK - Gerald Coutes. He pin pointed some stuff in the present (stuff he couldn't have know but God) and then was very specific about stuff in the future - 17 years from then, in fact.  That was for when I was aged 34...(17 plus 17....but you can do the math...)  I turned 35 last Monday, so this is all very timely!
It was a lot for a 17 year old to take in whilst being very exciting - it was the first time such a direct and specific word had been spoken over me.  It opened me to the understanding that God actually speaks to individuals - it got me moving into this gifting too, but only after a second encounter.  You see, I walked away thinking "Wow, in 17 years time, things are really going to be happening for me....I can't wait to see what that will look like".  So I waited......
Flash forward nearly two years - I was now 19 and at my first Stoneleigh Bible Week, in the summer of 1999 (there were to be two further years before the two week event, which drew 25,000 each week, was finished in 2001).  I was in a 'seminar' with the theme being the supernatural.  A man named Andrew Davies (he would have been much younger than I am now, thinking about it!) was leading the meeting - and in a time of praying for people to step out in the gifting, shortly before I brought my first ever word over someone else, he came over to me.  He referred to the word from two years before (again, only God could have told him this - he'd never met me before, knew nothing of my history) and whilst affirming it, said God wanted me released in the here and now.  Wow.

I guess the last 13 years have been one adventure after another!

God speaks.  He wants to speak to you, to speak destiny, to show you his love and compassion.  He's desperate to speak to you, and for you to know him more.  Yes, people can misuse this gift, or make things up completely.  Let's not make the mistake of neglecting it altogether because of the potential danger, when the potential blessing goes way beyond anything this world has to offer.

Why not ask God to speak to you for someone else today - listen to what he would have you encourage them with and then go tell them!

Next up - The Small Still Voice

God Speaks - Bible - Part 5

Welcome to the latest part of a series that I'm calling "God Speaks..."

Over these nine entries, I want to look at some of the ways that God speaks to us (it's not an exhaustive list of course - I'm sure others can add to it!). Because He does speak.  All the time.
Because God is real, because He loves us and because He is good - He speaks.
Usually, it's us (mere people!) that fail to listen or maybe fail to understand that it was God speaking to us.
I want to share from my own life, as practical examples, some of the ways God has spoken to me.  In all, I want to briefly look at these nine ways that we hear from God:

Dreams (click here to read this section)
Visions & Pictures (click here to read this section)
Through Others (click here to read this section) 
Angels (click here to read this section)
Bible
Words
Small Still Voice
Burning Bush
Audible Voice

Personally, I've experienced six out of these nine ways listed - and as we go through the series, I'll make these clear how that happened.  So, here we go with the next part!

Part 5 - Bible

It's not just enough to say that the Bible is the word of God and therefore speaks to us.  Of course it does.  For me, that goes without saying.  But I'm saying more than that, which I'll get to in a moment.  
As a book, the Bible is fascinating, if you really give it the time to fully look into it.  True, for the beginner, it does seem like a challenge to even start to read - where to start? Many think, like with any novel, and start at the front - that's logical, and I certainly have done that.  Genesis and even Exodus are actually great story accounts covering huge periods of time - but by the time you get to the book of 1 Chronicles, you will almost certainly stop, if reading it like a book.  
One book.  And of course, in some ways, it is that - but it's also a collection of many books.
If you were reading it for the first time, I'd say to actually start much later on, in the New Testament, which is the smaller, second half of the book.  Read John's gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are the four gospels, and make up the first four books of the NT.  The book of John looks at the life and death of Jesus, the central character to the whole Bible.  And once you understand that, the Old Testament (OT) makes a lot more sense.  Yes, it's a whole collection of a lot of different books - but they all tell the same story - that soon, someone is coming!  Of course, we understand who that was from this side of history, but in the time these OT books were written (the last one was still 400 years before Jesus was born), they didn't know when it was about to happen.
Let me lay another thing to bed, which often gets said about the Bible, usually from people that haven't read it, or certainly understood it.  Having read the book cover to cover several times, and certain parts much more, the book holds together as a whole - it does not contradict itself, it is perfectly understandable, which is how it's meant to read. As a whole, it does communicate the same overall story - that a loving God, who loves us more than we can imagine, had to give his son to die for us, because nothing we could ever do could deal with the separation that existed between us and God - which the Bibles calls sin (which is an archery term for 'missing the mark').  If you fired an arrow, and it didn't hit the target, you'd shout 'sin' to notify people that you'd missed the mark.
When we do things that hurt others (not to mention hurting God) we sin - even when it doesn't hurt others, only ourselves, it is still sin.  God's plan for us is so amazing, that when we do what (only) our own hearts want, we miss the mark.
Anyway, back on to the subject.  What I meant by the above was that as a book the Bible is so much more than just ink on paper (or letters on a screen if you are reading your Bible on a tablet!)  Because it's inspired by God, it has the power to speak to us.

So how has it spoken to me?

I said I wanted to go beyond the basic fact that the Bible speaks to us in general.  One thing I don't go in for (though of course there are always stories where this worked!) is what I'd call 'Bible lottery' - this is where you say to God "OK, I need you to speak to me now, so I'm going to open up my Bible and see what you have for me" and then you just open it up, and point your finger randomly on a verse and take that as His answer.  I will literally now do this with my Bible, and then copy in the verse that it gives me (it will be funny if this turns out to be a really encouraging and timely word!)  Here goes;

Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord in the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

The above verse was from 2 Chronicles 1:6 and was literally where I pointed to once I'd opened, without looking, onto that page.  Unless I was really praying about how many offerings I should make (in which case, I think this would have been quite a challenging word!!) it really isn't much help.

What has helped, and has happened so much more frequently, is to regularly read the word of God, working through whole books, and therefore reading one or two chapters a day.  Within the normal, daily reading, it's been amazing how often the verses I've just happened to get up to for that day are exactly what I needed to hear.....more than just coincidence when it happens time and time again.  Is it that God knew, on that particular day in my life, that I'd get up to that particular chapter, and therefore inspired it to be written in such a way....

The other way (and combined with hearing God speak in another way - words - which is the subject of the next entry) where I've heard from God, is through getting a certain verse suddenly 'appear' in my mind.  This could be in a number of ways (everyone of us is different!).  Maybe some numbers appear, or the whole reference.  In my most bizarre example, it was a general sense - I had the book Luke and the numbers 1 and 3.  Now, this happened when I was in my late teens - still living at home, in the suburbs of London.  While not the city centre, it certainly is not the countryside.  Wildlife, while not completely invisible, is lets say, quite rare.  I had been praying about how and when God wanted to work with me.  About where I was headed.  I'd had words and desires about healing, and stepping forward in things.  God had spoken to me through others about the nations.  So I was seeking God on this particular evening (it wasn't late), worshiping with some music playing, when I felt the Luke reference and the numbers.  I turned to Luke 13 (which seemed to make sense) and started reading.  I kept reading - and later on, this is exactly as it happened....
When I got to verse 31 (those two numbers again!), whilst reading in my head, outside there was a noise.  And as the words of that verse were going through my head, my brain was obviously processing what it was hearing.  As I finished verse 31, about to start verse 32, my mind caught up and told me that the noise outside was a fox. Instantly, I read this in the following verse:

He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’

It was the encouragement I needed for that moment.  What was funny, and totally without my choosing, was whilst playing hockey in England, for my Cheshire based team, my two shirt numbers were first 13, then 31....It's as if God was reminding me of what He'd spoken to me that day, as I made the move to Manchester, and ahead of future moves overseas.

A few years before that, I also found great encouragement as I was just starting to process the call to the Russian speaking world, with that map of Asia that appeared before my eyes, when reading the book written for me....As a Tim (which is short for Timothy) the book 2 Timothy I always take to be To Timothy.  Paul starts the letter:

To Timothy, my dear son.

I like that truth!  It was particular gripping when later in chapter 1 it said:

You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me

Here I was, processing that same calling, reading that the people God had called me to for salvation, again were listed here as having deserted God!  I identify a lot with 'young' Timothy, and though not as young now as I once was, always took encouragement from Paul's letters to that young leader.

So, how has the Bible spoken to you?  Maybe you are new to it - I encourage you, to talk with someone about it, maybe read it with someone from time to time that can explain what is coming up.  If you are stuck with where to start, read John, or read Luke and then Acts.  Both those two books were written by a doctor named Luke, and give an account firstly of the life of Jesus, and then following his resurrection, the life of the early church.  It's a fascinating adventure story - but better than that, it's true!  And years later, it's as true and helpful today as it's ever been!

Thanks for reading - this series will continue next with how God speaks through Words.

God Speaks - Angels - Part 4

Welcome to the latest part of a series that I'm calling "God Speaks..."

Over these nine entries, I want to look at some of the ways that God speaks to us (it's not an exhaustive list of course - I'm sure others can add to it!). Because He does speak.  All the time.
Because God is real, because He loves us and because He is good - He speaks.
Usually, it's us (mere people!) that fail to listen or maybe fail to understand that it was God speaking to us.
I want to share from my own life, as practical examples, some of the ways God has spoken to me.  In all, I want to briefly look at these nine ways that we hear from God:

Dreams (click here to read this section)
Visions & Pictures (click here to read this section)
Through Others (click here to read this section)
Angels
Bible
Words
Small Still Voice
Burning Bush
Audible Voice

Personally, I've experienced six out of these nine ways listed - and as we go through the series, I'll make these clear how that happened.  So, here we go with the next part!

Part 4 - Angels

This is the first of the nine that I can't say I've personally (yet!) experienced. I do believe that I have seen an angel, on at least one, maybe two, occasions.  But they didn't say anything to me very profoundly, so this time I'm not going to draw examples from my own life, but reflect through the stories of others the very real way in which sometimes God chooses to send a messenger to us to share some news.

It's November.  Soon it will be Christmas.  All around the world, in many countries, little children will be rehearsing for the Christmas nativity.  Many of these will dress up in white and play the part of angels.  The Angels that brought 'good news that will cause great joy for all the people.' 

In this one story alone, the angels appear on many separate occasions.  There is the first appearance to Zechariah (Luke 1:11-20), then to Mary (Luke 128-38).  This is followed by the Shepherds (Luke 2:9-15).

I like the verse in Luke 2:21 that says: "On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived."

Angel in Greek means messenger.  As we see here, the message was clear and understood!

And it tells the overall theme - the theme of this series - God speaks!

Angels appear throughout the whole Bible - from the Old Testament, when we are told they appeared from anything such as a donkey to a night wrestling with Jacob, all the way through to the New Testament - as like with Jesus' birth, so it was with his death that angel's were there to share the news - first that he was no longer in the tomb and once again when he'd ascended to heaven.
Each time passing on the message - the Saviour of the world has come.  He's not dead - he's risen and now is reigning.

King's of the world have come and gone - they have ruled with power and reigned for maybe fifty years (if they were lucky!).  Jesus came and ruled with love, and reigns for eternity.  The contrast is clear - and angel's were central in bringing this important message home.  The world needed to be clear - The King had come!

Now let me say one more thing about angels.  The world famous singer Robbie Wiliams once sang a smash hit song "I'm loving angels instead."  This is not their role, nor are we to focus on them.  They are messengers, and by spending too long in conversation about them, we forget the message - that Jesus is the Christ.  He is God.  That anyone who believes in Him, can have eternal life.
People love the spot light.  We (often) love to be centre stage - and yet, on our own, we cannot solve the issue of sin and death that we are born into. The message of Christmas, and then 33 years on at the first Easter, is that the spotlight is not on us - it's on Jesus.  And what Jesus did was done once and for all.  Our part is nothing - it's all about what he HAS done - past tense. No need to continually pay anymore - He paid once and for all.  It cost him his life but He died for you.  It really is finished!

And it's a rather amazing message to have been given to us - where-ever you first heard it from!

Next up - how God speaks to us through the Bible....

God Speaks - Through Others - Part 3

Welcome to the third part of a new series that I'm calling "God Speaks..."
Over these nine entries, I want to look at some of the ways that God speaks to us (it's not an exhaustive list of course - I'm sure others can add to it!). Because He does speak.  All the time.
Because God is real, because He loves us and because He is good - He speaks.
Usually, it's us (mere people!) that fail to listen or maybe fail to understand that it was God speaking to us.
I want to share from my own life, as practical examples, some of the ways God has spoken to me.  In all, I want to briefly look at these nine ways that we hear from God:

Dreams (click here to read this section)
Visions & Pictures (click here to read this section)
Through Others
Angels
Bible
Words
Small Still Voice
Burning Bush
Audible Voice

Personally, I've experienced six out of these nine ways listed - and as we go through the series, I'll make these clear how that happened.  So, here we go with the next part!

Part 3 - Through Others

God puts people around us because he knows it's not good for 'mankind to be alone'.  He knows we need companionship, friendship and someone to talk to. Yes we need our own space, but we were made for relationship. And one of the key reasons why is that God will often speak to us through those that are around us.  Sometimes in a not so obvious way - at least to the other person. Sometimes directly through the other person.  So in this post, I want to look at the vital role that someone else plays in hearing God for you.

Acts 13

13  Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Whatever the channel, it's God who speaks to us, through the Holy Spirit.  We  know that, of course.  In the passage above from Acts, it's in a group setting (though Barnabus and Saul/Paul were also present) where God makes it known, through the group, that He wants these two men set apart for the work that He is calling them into.

From this, and from my own experience, we see two common principles at work - firstly, it's good for others to hear from God for us.  Secondly, it will confirm and fit with what we ourselves are feeling.

I would be very cautious if I was speaking with someone and they told me someone brought a word over them that cut across everything they felt or were doing, and didn't fit with anything else God has said about them - even contradicts it.  

Because of this (and I'm not saying the above situation cannot be God speaking!) I would go as far as to say, if this happens to you, you are well within your rights to note it (let's not treat prophecy with contempt) but shelve it, until maybe something further comes.  Ultimately, if it is God and you haven't gotten the message the first time round, He'll let you know again...and again.  He is God, after all.  If something comes from 'left field', and from a source you are not totally familiar with, you are right to weigh it carefully and wait on God.

But when something comes that confirms what God has said to you, or comes from three or more unrelated sources saying the same thing, then you had best get on with what God is saying to you!  

The golden rule for bringing words over others (and the same applies for you receiving them as well) is to ask - is it Encouraging, Comforting, Strengthening?  This is especially true for when you are just learning to grow in this gifting.  For that reason, don't look to bring directional words to early. What I mean by a direction word is anything about who someone will marry, maybe life moves or situations, dates etc.  You get the idea.

A recent example to highlight this was the three prophetic words that came out BEFORE October 3rd seemingly confirming that San Francisco was about to be destroyed by the worlds most powerful earthquake ever recorded. On the surface of things, it seemed they added up - three sources (check!) saying the same thing (check!) from reputedly seasoned people who'd had a proven track record (check!).

And yet it would seem the words were confirming a destructive, hate filled God was bringing his judgement and annihilation to Northern California as punishment for something.

But this doesn't sound like the loving God of the Bible that I personally know.

And so it proved.  Granted, had I been in San Francisco that day, having read what I read, I think I honestly would have found things to do somewhere else - say New York.  But chatting it through with a friend, who spent a lot of time in California and loves the city of San Francisco, he opened my eyes to the continued sense of words that seemingly confirm California is doomed, and yet contrasts that with the character of God.

Such a destructive word is neither encouraging, comforting nor strengthening!

In Tallinn, we're seeing the encouraging beginnings of a growing prophetic culture within the core team of the church plant.  Every time there is a visitor with us, we make time to pray for them, to bring prophetic words and speak God's blessing over them.  It's great hearing the guys and girls speaking words over people they don't know, but I do, and how spot on these words are!  This is what we love to do!

Two key words were spoken over me early on in my life, one confirming the other, with each having a very profound impact on me.  These were by Gerald Coates and Andrew Davies and if you click on their name you see a little as to why.
Both took the risk in bringing a word over a stranger.  Both actually dared to talk about times.  Interestingly enough, when Gerald brought his word over the then 17 year old young man I was, it was mainly about 17 years time from then - over the 34 year old self that now writes this post.  So I am particularly interested in why this year of all is any different from the rest.  I guess we wait and see!
Crucially, both were encouraging and very shaping.  They brought release and growth, as well as a personal awareness of God himself working in me - He is after all the personal God!  What might have been a distant, far away 'relationship' was suddenly made powerfully alive and very personal.

And that is why God often speaks through others.  If this is not your experience, maybe you need to change churches.  If you can make it over to Tallinn, come and hang out with us one Sunday and let the team speak destiny into your life!

God Speaks - Visions & Pictures - Part 2

Welcome to a brand new series that I'm calling "God Speaks..."
Over these nine entries, I want to look at some of the ways that God speaks to us (it's not an exhaustive list of course - I'm sure others can add to it!). Because He does speak.  All the time.
Because God is real, because He loves us and because He is good - He speaks.
Usually, it's us (mere people!) that fail to listen or maybe fail to understand that it was God speaking to us.
I want to share from my own life, as practical examples, some of the ways God has spoken to me.  In all, I want to briefly look at these nine ways that we hear from God:

Dreams (click here to read this section)
Visions & Pictures
Through Others
Angels
Bible
Words
Small Still Voice
Burning Bush
Audible Voice

Personally, I've experienced six out of these nine ways listed - and as we go through the series, I'll make these clear how that happened.  So, here we go with the next part!

Part 2 - Visions & Pictures

Have you ever read about something, maybe a painting or sculpture, but then only really understood it once you saw what it was you were reading about with your own eyes.  Suddenly it became real - you understood it in a different way.
Sometimes it happens the other way round too - you might watch a film, but only when you read the book did it really come alive (books have a way of doing that, which is why I love writing them!).
God speaks to us in a number of ways, and each way has its own use for communicating what it is we need to understand.  And that's important to remember. We need to hear in different ways at different times, to understand what we need to understand.
The purpose of all spiritual gifts is to communicate something.  God's heart for us.  His plan for us.  His intention for our lives.  His warning to us (maybe) but certainly His best for us.
The writer of many books of the New Testament, Paul, was a man who had visions.

Acts 16:9

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

This resulted in movement!

Acts 16:10

After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Wow - no waiting around there then.  Why?  The vision had been so clear - this picture of a man in Macedonia begging Paul to come and help - that Paul knew it was God, and was able to act on it straight away.  Sometimes it takes longer for this to happen, as I'll get to in a moment.

Later on, we hear about another vision Paul has:

Acts 18:9

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.

This time, instead of resulting in instant movement, the vision (we are not told any more of what it looked like, or what else happened) was used to bring a confirming word to Paul, that brought peace and an encouragement to press on with what he was speaking about.

For me, maybe not necessarily as vivid as with Paul, the visions and pictures I've had have also brought clarity.  As an author, I am a very visual thinker, but what has marked out these visions as being from God, was their sudden and deliberate interruption across my normal thought pattern.  And it's something you certainly learn to pick up upon in time as being authentically God.

When God first spoke to me about going to the former Soviet Union, the map that appeared before my eyes was so random and outside anything that I was thinking about (or even remotely interested in!) at the time.  Instantly I knew it was God.  And what was about to happen, which probably in real time was only happening in a matter of seconds, was going to radically shape the rest of my life.

On the map I was looking at (with my eyes closed) I saw it covered in, what looked like, five forests, three along the top and two underneath (similar to how the 5 Olympic rings are).  As I looked, in my minds eye, into the detail, I became aware that these were not trees but people, and at that moment of revelation, heard a voice (again, I assume this was in my head, not audible) telling me "These are people for salvation - go!" and the map rolled up, just like someone screwing up a piece of paper.  At that precise moment, the same voice said that I was to move to Manchester (from London) the following year and do the year team.  That was August 3rd, 1999.

It was actually nine years, nearly to the day, before we landed in Russia, as a direct response to that vision.  I'd just spent eight years in Greater Manchester, at Stockport Family church, growing in the things of God, growing in leadership.  My time there was indeed a great stepping stone to Russia.  By following in obedience, I learnt many things that I needed to know, that I guess I would not have learnt staying where I had been.

And by doing the year team, it put me in contact with a certain young lady named Rachel - who just months after meeting her, was to become my wife. Had I done the year team but not moved, I would not have met her.  God is in the detail - and He speaks to us, through different ways, to communicate that to us.

For our part, we need to obey.

We first started talking about our move to Tallinn in 2011, after God once again spoke to me through another vision whilst at home in St Petersburg (in January 2011).  It was much the same as the time mentioned above - it broke clearly across my natural thoughts, gently making known it's message. Though there isn't always the feeling of gentleness when you start to think about the consequences of yet another move to a new country!  But we'd learnt the lesson of obedience.  Trust God and He will guide your path.

So we've seen, whether from the Bible or our own experiences, God speaks through Visions & Pictures.  

Do you need to hear from God about something?  Maybe He'll speak to you this way soon!  If you ask Him, just be prepared to follow what He shows you.

Next up we'll look at how God speaks through others.

God Speaks - Dreams - Part 1

Welcome to a brand new series that I'm calling "God Speaks..."
Over these next nine entries, I want to look at some of the ways that God speaks to us (it's not an exhaustive list of course - I'm sure others can add to it!).  Because He does speak.  All the time.
Because God is real, because He loves us and because He is good - He speaks.
Usually, it's us (mere people!) that fail to listen or maybe fail to understand that it was God speaking to us.
I want to share from my own life, as practical examples, some of the ways God has spoken to me.  In all, I want to briefly look at these nine ways that we hear from God:

Dreams
Visions & Pictures
Through Others
Angels
Bible
Words
Small Still Voice
Burning Bush
Audible Voice

Personally, I've experienced six out of these nine ways listed - and as we go through the series, I'll make these clear how that happened.  So, here we go!

Part 1 - Dreams

We all dream, I remember being told.  It's only (if you are like me!) that when you sleep soundly, you don't remember them!
And God can speak through dreams.  What I'm not saying is that all dreams are from God.  No - there is a huge difference!  Sometimes it really is that cheese you ate before going to sleep making you dream those strange dreams.  
The Bible tells us in loads of places that God gives people dreams - Joseph is a key character that himself had dreams - both for himself, and also he was able to understand them for others.  I've actually done an entry a few years ago on Joseph and his dreams (a series I've not yet finished, oops!).  You can read that exciting entry here.  Here is a snippet from that entry:

Coming back to the story, when you look at what has happened to Joseph, at the hands of his own brothers, it might lead you to ask the following questions;

Did God abandon him to his dream? As if to say, having revealed something to Joseph, did God stand back and take His hands off the matter?

When God speaks through a dream, I believe you know about it.  It's unmistakeably different.  It might be confusing, at first, but if it's really from God, it'll become clear.  God is the God of clarity, not confusion.  Like Joseph, you might be able to work out the meaning yourself.  Or like Pharaoh, who himself had a troubling dream that he knew he needed to know the meaning of, someone else is able to come and bring that clarity (which was, in that case, also Joseph).
At times, I've prayed for dreams (maybe I should start again).  And God has powerfully, once, spoken to me through a dream.  I had this dream one night in St Petersburg back in December 2011, at a time that I needed real clarity, and first mentioned it here in an update (it's in the paragraph third up from the end).  Here is another snippet:

I was at a window and saw a tornado in the distance going to the right and into a harbour. Then I went back to the window and saw a tornado heading my way, as if to just pass in front, before suddenly I was engulfed in it and the room I was in was just being messed up - I was screaming out but no one could hear me. I was hurting too. After 2 minutes (why this amount I don't know, but it represents a small amount of time with a clear end) it passed and things became calm. I could then get the help I needed.

What this dream fully means, I do not know

This dream had a double meaning and was not fully understood, as I was to find out, until a few months later.  You can read about that here (this entry got the most comments and is currently the third most read blog entry).
The key is, that a 'God-Dream' brings faith and clarity, or revelation and warning, to a situation.  It brings an outcome.  Most dreams are just our mind processing information.  But allow God to speak to you when you are asleep, and anything really is possible.

Acts 2:17

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

This verse reminds us that because God's Spirit has been poured out on all people, one result is that we will 'dream dreams'.  It also mentions visions, and that's the next topic in this series, coming soon.

As we go through the series, if you also have testimony of God speaking to you through a dream or anything else, please feel free to leave a comment and share this with others.

I hope you enjoy this mini adventure through the various ways God Speaks...