Today on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We're learning how to quiet our soul and hear the voice of God.

Today on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We're learning how to quiet our soul and hear the voice of God.

Can I tell you, when it comes to the presence of God and hearing God, it's about positioning ourselves close to God. It's about pressing into God. It's about leaning in, in worship. It's about saying to God, God, I want to be close to you. I need your presence. I want all that you have for me. There's a spiritual hunger that drives us close to the presence of God.

Can I tell you, when it comes to the presence of God and hearing God, it's about positioning ourselves close to God. It's about pressing into God. It's about leaning in, in worship. It's about saying to God, God, I want to be close to you. I need your presence. I want all that you have for me. There's a spiritual hunger that drives us close to the presence of God.

Welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe. Mark is the president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. And I'm Wayne Shepherd. Well, Mark, today we're beginning this two week series based on your book, What Now? How to Move into Your Next Season and newer listeners to Bold Steps may not have heard about this resource yet. Why don't you bring us up to speed on what this is all about?

Welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe. Mark is the president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. And I'm Wayne Shepherd. Well, Mark, today we're beginning this two week series based on your book, What Now? How to Move into Your Next Season and newer listeners to Bold Steps may not have heard about this resource yet. Why don't you bring us up to speed on what this is all about?

Yeah, Wayne, what I realize is that there are many, many people that are at a crossroads and they're asking themselves, I'm not sure what to do now. And so I wrote this book because this is a bit of a guide for people that are at crossroads, whether it's in their career, in their calling, whether they're considering a move, whether it's a stage of life. But it's subtitled How to Move into Your Next season. And this walks people through how, from a godly perspective, you can move into the next compelling season of your life, even though you may be confused right now or somewhat disoriented about what your next steps may be.

Yeah, Wayne, what I realize is that there are many, many people that are at a crossroads and they're asking themselves, I'm not sure what to do now. And so I wrote this book because this is a bit of a guide for people that are at crossroads, whether it's in their career, in their calling, whether they're considering a move, whether it's a stage of life. But it's subtitled How to Move into Your Next season. And this walks people through how, from a godly perspective, you can move into the next compelling season of your life, even though you may be confused right now or somewhat disoriented about what your next steps may be.

Well, this is so timely, so let's jump in right now. This message comes from the book of First Samuel chapter three. It's titled Quiet Your Soul to Listen.

Well, this is so timely, so let's jump in right now. This message comes from the book of First Samuel chapter three. It's titled Quiet Your Soul to Listen.

You see, I believe that sometimes God has to use disruption to get you to a season that maybe would take you a long time to get there, or maybe you would never go to God had to use disruption. I see it all through scripture. I see it in the Old Testament. I see it in the New Testament. I see it in my life. I see it now that God is doing a shaking, a disruption. He's interrupting our normal course of life, and in the midst of that interruption, I believe that God wants to speak to a lot of people. I believe there's course corrections that are happening. I believe there's some releasing of things that are happening. I believe there's some pruning that's happening during this time, getting rid of stuff in our life that may be needed to get rid of exposing some cracks in our life that have been there. But it took a crisis to reveal some of the issues that we have to deal with. And so as we transition to our next God season, our next chapter, the very first thing that I believe that needs to happen is that we need to quiet our soul to listen, and we need to ask ourselves this question, God, what are you saying? And how can I cooperate? I don't know about you, but it's really hard to find a quiet space these days. Am I the only one? Or is it hard to find a quiet space? I feel like we're so hyper connected that you know that phone is always there. People are texting me all the time. The other day, my son Grant, who was upstairs, he FaceTimed me from my from my own house. He's FaceTiming me in my own house. Hold on a second. Wait a second. Whatever happened to coming downstairs and saying, dad, I want to talk to you? There he is on FaceTime. I feel like you're hyper connected. It's so hard. And before we used to go and find places to get alone. Now those places are hard to go to. places are shut down. So many of us struggle with finding that quiet place. And, um, many people's minds have been agitated so much that it's hard to find a quiet place to listen. There's so much background noise. There's so much going on in our society. There's so much bad news, there's so much controversy, there's so much fighting and division and polarization. There's so much that's happening that people are agitated, their souls are stirred up, their minds cannot find rest. A lot of people are finding a really hard time to pause, to be quiet and to listen. And that's exactly what I want to talk to you about today. And I want you to take your Bibles and turn to First Samuel chapter three. First Samuel, Chapter three. I'm going to begin looking at verses one through ten of first Samuel chapter three, as we talk about the topic of how to get quiet enough to listen to God. I don't want you to miss what God is saying to you. It would be a tragedy if you went through all this disruption, and you just got onto the other side and said, well, I just want life to get back to normal. But you didn't learn a thing. You didn't hear from God. You stayed the same through it. It would be a tragedy if you did not allow this time to prune you, hone you, change you, prepare you for the next season. It tells us in first Samuel chapter three. The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, the word of the Lord was rare. There were not many visions. So let me set up the background for this. Israel is going through an interesting time. Eli is a prophet. He's older. He's got some sons that are helping him out. But his sons are ungodly. They're sleeping with women, getting drunk. Israel is in a bad state spiritually. A young boy by the name of Samuel is being raised, dropped off, to be raised, to be a man of God. He's got a story in of itself. How God opened up the womb of his mother. And Samuel is being raised to basically be a prophet. He's 13 years old. According to historian Josephus. So he's his voice is still changing. He's an awkward 13 year old away from his parents, trying to learn what it what his calling is, what his purpose is, what he's really meant to do. And it's an interesting time that Samuel lives in because it says, in those days the word of the Lord was rare. You know, when the Word of God is rare, when people aren't listening, the word of the Lord is rare. In other words, he's saying that it was rare that there would be a prophetic word from God. It was rare that the prophets would say, thus saith the Lord, and speak to the nation of Israel. It was rare that the word of the Lord would come. Why? Because the word of the Lord comes to people that are willing to listen. The word of the Lord is is abundant when hearts are soft and ready to listen. But when people are hard and not very open, when there is sin in the camp, then the word of the Lord is rare. Yeah. And it tells us that in first Samuel chapter two, verse 12, Eli's sons were wicked men. They had no regard for the Lord. Verse 22 says, Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all of Israel, and how they slept with the women who served at the entrances of the tent of meeting. In other words, they were so ungodly that they were actually serving in the things of God, but they were taking advantage of women that were coming to, to, to the tent of meeting. They were supposed to be holy men, men of God, prophets, but yet their hearts were far from God. It was a terrible time. It was a messy time. It was a dark time in the history of Israel. And then God decides to speak to a 13 year old boy. And I believe there's some lessons that we capture and learn about listening to God through the experience of 13 year old Samuel. And so if if you struggled sometimes with understanding and knowing the voice of God, if you are going through this season and you say, pastor, I really want to hear God. I want to be attentive to God, but I I'm just distracted and busy and and I'm, I'm agitated and finding it hard to listen. Then I think this message is for you, because I do believe that God wants to speak to you. So there's a six part process in hearing God, and I want you to understand these principles from the story found in First Samuel. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. First of all, when God speaks, expect him to get your attention by disrupting the normal. It tells us in chapter three, verse two, one night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see. Eli was an old man, a heavy old man. Not very. He hadn't taken care of himself. We know that from another part of Scripture. He was lying down in his usual place, it tells us, and the lamp of God had not gone out. It was late at night, basically. And Samuel 13 year old Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of the Lord was his. The here's this 13 year old boy away from his house, but he sleeps. Listen, he sleeps close to that which is holy. Don't miss it. He hasn't yet heard the voice of God, and he's not clear about what God sounds like. But he has positioned himself to be close to the presence of God. You see, maybe you haven't quite discerned the voice of God, and maybe you have a hard time listening. But I tell you what, here's what I know that when I want to hear someone, I get in a place where I'm close enough to them so that I can actually hear them. If you've ever been in a crowded place and there's a lot of noise, and my wife is trying to tell me something in a restaurant and I can't quite hear her, she's just shouting it out. And I say, what? What? Here's what I do. How do we solve that problem? All I have to do is get closer to her and say what, hon? I can't hear you. In other words, when I position myself close to someone, it's a lot easier to hear that person.

You see, I believe that sometimes God has to use disruption to get you to a season that maybe would take you a long time to get there, or maybe you would never go to God had to use disruption. I see it all through scripture. I see it in the Old Testament. I see it in the New Testament. I see it in my life. I see it now that God is doing a shaking, a disruption. He's interrupting our normal course of life, and in the midst of that interruption, I believe that God wants to speak to a lot of people. I believe there's course corrections that are happening. I believe there's some releasing of things that are happening. I believe there's some pruning that's happening during this time, getting rid of stuff in our life that may be needed to get rid of exposing some cracks in our life that have been there. But it took a crisis to reveal some of the issues that we have to deal with. And so as we transition to our next God season, our next chapter, the very first thing that I believe that needs to happen is that we need to quiet our soul to listen, and we need to ask ourselves this question, God, what are you saying? And how can I cooperate? I don't know about you, but it's really hard to find a quiet space these days. Am I the only one? Or is it hard to find a quiet space? I feel like we're so hyper connected that you know that phone is always there. People are texting me all the time. The other day, my son Grant, who was upstairs, he FaceTimed me from my from my own house. He's FaceTiming me in my own house. Hold on a second. Wait a second. Whatever happened to coming downstairs and saying, dad, I want to talk to you? There he is on FaceTime. I feel like you're hyper connected. It's so hard. And before we used to go and find places to get alone. Now those places are hard to go to. places are shut down. So many of us struggle with finding that quiet place. And, um, many people's minds have been agitated so much that it's hard to find a quiet place to listen. There's so much background noise. There's so much going on in our society. There's so much bad news, there's so much controversy, there's so much fighting and division and polarization. There's so much that's happening that people are agitated, their souls are stirred up, their minds cannot find rest. A lot of people are finding a really hard time to pause, to be quiet and to listen. And that's exactly what I want to talk to you about today. And I want you to take your Bibles and turn to First Samuel chapter three. First Samuel, Chapter three. I'm going to begin looking at verses one through ten of first Samuel chapter three, as we talk about the topic of how to get quiet enough to listen to God. I don't want you to miss what God is saying to you. It would be a tragedy if you went through all this disruption, and you just got onto the other side and said, well, I just want life to get back to normal. But you didn't learn a thing. You didn't hear from God. You stayed the same through it. It would be a tragedy if you did not allow this time to prune you, hone you, change you, prepare you for the next season. It tells us in first Samuel chapter three. The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, the word of the Lord was rare. There were not many visions. So let me set up the background for this. Israel is going through an interesting time. Eli is a prophet. He's older. He's got some sons that are helping him out. But his sons are ungodly. They're sleeping with women, getting drunk. Israel is in a bad state spiritually. A young boy by the name of Samuel is being raised, dropped off, to be raised, to be a man of God. He's got a story in of itself. How God opened up the womb of his mother. And Samuel is being raised to basically be a prophet. He's 13 years old. According to historian Josephus. So he's his voice is still changing. He's an awkward 13 year old away from his parents, trying to learn what it what his calling is, what his purpose is, what he's really meant to do. And it's an interesting time that Samuel lives in because it says, in those days the word of the Lord was rare. You know, when the Word of God is rare, when people aren't listening, the word of the Lord is rare. In other words, he's saying that it was rare that there would be a prophetic word from God. It was rare that the prophets would say, thus saith the Lord, and speak to the nation of Israel. It was rare that the word of the Lord would come. Why? Because the word of the Lord comes to people that are willing to listen. The word of the Lord is is abundant when hearts are soft and ready to listen. But when people are hard and not very open, when there is sin in the camp, then the word of the Lord is rare. Yeah. And it tells us that in first Samuel chapter two, verse 12, Eli's sons were wicked men. They had no regard for the Lord. Verse 22 says, Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all of Israel, and how they slept with the women who served at the entrances of the tent of meeting. In other words, they were so ungodly that they were actually serving in the things of God, but they were taking advantage of women that were coming to, to, to the tent of meeting. They were supposed to be holy men, men of God, prophets, but yet their hearts were far from God. It was a terrible time. It was a messy time. It was a dark time in the history of Israel. And then God decides to speak to a 13 year old boy. And I believe there's some lessons that we capture and learn about listening to God through the experience of 13 year old Samuel. And so if if you struggled sometimes with understanding and knowing the voice of God, if you are going through this season and you say, pastor, I really want to hear God. I want to be attentive to God, but I I'm just distracted and busy and and I'm, I'm agitated and finding it hard to listen. Then I think this message is for you, because I do believe that God wants to speak to you. So there's a six part process in hearing God, and I want you to understand these principles from the story found in First Samuel. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. First of all, when God speaks, expect him to get your attention by disrupting the normal. It tells us in chapter three, verse two, one night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see. Eli was an old man, a heavy old man. Not very. He hadn't taken care of himself. We know that from another part of Scripture. He was lying down in his usual place, it tells us, and the lamp of God had not gone out. It was late at night, basically. And Samuel 13 year old Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of the Lord was his. The here's this 13 year old boy away from his house, but he sleeps. Listen, he sleeps close to that which is holy. Don't miss it. He hasn't yet heard the voice of God, and he's not clear about what God sounds like. But he has positioned himself to be close to the presence of God. You see, maybe you haven't quite discerned the voice of God, and maybe you have a hard time listening. But I tell you what, here's what I know that when I want to hear someone, I get in a place where I'm close enough to them so that I can actually hear them. If you've ever been in a crowded place and there's a lot of noise, and my wife is trying to tell me something in a restaurant and I can't quite hear her, she's just shouting it out. And I say, what? What? Here's what I do. How do we solve that problem? All I have to do is get closer to her and say what, hon? I can't hear you. In other words, when I position myself close to someone, it's a lot easier to hear that person.

Well, God spoke to a 13 year old Samuel and we can be confident he speaks to us today. That's our takeaway from the first half of this message from Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps. And Mark will return to continue the message in just a moment. But Mark, it's Monday. That means that The Bold Stepper Weekly reached our email box. At least those of us who have signed up for it already.

Well, God spoke to a 13 year old Samuel and we can be confident he speaks to us today. That's our takeaway from the first half of this message from Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps. And Mark will return to continue the message in just a moment. But Mark, it's Monday. That means that The Bold Stepper Weekly reached our email box. At least those of us who have signed up for it already.

Yeah, and some people may be saying, well, what is a bold stepper weekly? And it's our way, Wayne, of staying in touch with our listeners, giving a jump start to the week. And if you haven't signed up, you need to sign up quickly now because it's a great way to get your week going on the right path. You'll hear devotional thoughts. Sometimes it's just a ministry update of what's happening in my family. Oftentimes, there'll be a thought to get you going in the right direction as you start your week out.

Yeah, and some people may be saying, well, what is a bold stepper weekly? And it's our way, Wayne, of staying in touch with our listeners, giving a jump start to the week. And if you haven't signed up, you need to sign up quickly now because it's a great way to get your week going on the right path. You'll hear devotional thoughts. Sometimes it's just a ministry update of what's happening in my family. Oftentimes, there'll be a thought to get you going in the right direction as you start your week out.

Yeah, these are great little devotionals that come every Monday morning. You can sign up for The Bold Stepper weekly at Bold steps.org. We really are looking forward to having you get that every Monday morning automatically to your inbox. The Bold Stepper weekly. Thank you. Mark. Let's get back into your message now. It's titled Quiet Your Soul to Listen. And here is Mark Jobe.

Yeah, these are great little devotionals that come every Monday morning. You can sign up for The Bold Stepper weekly at Bold steps.org. We really are looking forward to having you get that every Monday morning automatically to your inbox. The Bold Stepper weekly. Thank you. Mark. Let's get back into your message now. It's titled Quiet Your Soul to Listen. And here is Mark Jobe.

Can I tell you when it comes to the presence of God and hearing God, it's about positioning ourselves close to God. It's about pressing into God. It's about leaning in, in worship. It's about wanting his presence. It's about saying to God, God, I want to be close to you. I need your presence. I'm pressing in to to be close to you, to to hear your voice. I am I am taking steps to draw near to you God, because I long to hear you. I want all that you have for me. There's a spiritual hunger that drives us close to the presence of God, and it tells us that then the Lord called Samuel. It's in the middle of the night. He's laying down the ark of the Lord is there. Then the Lord called Samuel. And listen, it says in verse verses four and five, Samuel answered, here I am. And he ran to Eli. And he said, here I am. You called me. But Eli said, I did not call. Go back and lie down. So he went and lie down. Here's what I want you to understand. When God speaks to us, he gets our attention by disrupting our normal. He interrupts our normal. Now, Samuel did not recognize the voice of God. He thought it was Eli calling him from the other room. He didn't recognize the voice of God, but he recognized the disruption. He knew that he was being called and spoken to. He his normal, had been disrupted. Eli didn't normally call in the middle of the night. There was a disruption that took place. And can I tell you this? Often times God gets our attention through disruption. It's, uh, Saul on the road to Damascus that gets Interrupted. It's, um. It's the way of God to disrupt us, so we'll listen. It's his way of getting our attention. And I believe there's a lot of people being disrupted right now. And so when life is being disrupted, I believe that you need to say, Lord, here I am your servant, and I'm listening. Number two, write this down. When God speaks, you will need to learn to distinguish his voice from other voices. Verse six says, and again, the Lord called Samuel. A 13 year old Samuel got up and he went to Eli again, and he said, here I am. You called me. And Eli said, my son. Eli said, I did not call you. Go back and lie down. Here's what I want you to know. God was speaking to Samuel, but Samuel was not acquainted with God, close enough or deep enough to recognize the voice of God. He knew something was happening, but he couldn't recognize the voice of God. He couldn't distinguish the voice of God or the voice of the Spirit of God from the voice of other people and other things in his life. And maybe you feel that way. Maybe you say, pastor, I just, you know, I'm reading the Bible and a thought comes to my mind and I'm wondering, is this God? Is this myself? Is this the devil? You know, is this is this some something in my imagination? And you say, I can't quite tell what is God? What is not God? How do I know it's God that's saying this? Or. Or if it's something on my own, how do I distinguish the voice of God? Well, I believe that there's a couple filters given to us in Scripture that help us distinguish the voice of God. Let me give you four filters that I try to filter the voice of God through number one through his written word. It was F.B. Meyer that said the written word is the wire along which the voice of God will certainly come to you. If the heart is hushed and the attention is fixed. Can I tell you something? The way God speaks to us is through His Word. It's the inspired, infallible, inerrant word. It's God breathed. It's the breath of God. When the Word of God. That's why when I get up on Sundays and preach, I don't preach out of just any book, or I don't preach out of philosophies that sound intellectual or good, or the latest self-help book. No, I go straight to the Word of God because it's the Word of God that has power to change our life. It's the Word of God that's been inspired and breathed of God. And the Bible says that His word does not come back void. The Bible says that his word is like a double edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit and joints and marrow. It's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, the Word of God. When I begin to preach the Word of God and break it into its context and deliver it, it's the power of God that awakens the spirit inside of you like nothing else can do. And it exposes your heart, it encourages you. It creates a avenue by which the Holy Spirit can deposit encouragement to your heart. Rebuke, correct. Instruct, change you. It brings enlightenment to the soul. It brings transformation, transformation to people's lives. It is the vehicle that healing travels on, and it is the way that salvation comes to people. There is power in the word. And so I simply want to say, first of all, that there is no way that God ever speaks to you that contradicts his word. And I've had people come to me in the past and say, you know, the Lord spoke to me. I always get a little nervous when the Lord spoke. Speaks to people out of context. If someone says, the Lord spoke to me, I and and when it goes against the written word of God, I know that was not God. It's always the word. If anything that you feel God is asking you to do or impressing on your part if it contradicts Scripture. A principle of Scripture. If it goes against Scripture, I can guarantee it is not God. You go to Scripture, you go to Scripture to confirm the Word of God. By the way, Psalms 119 105 says, Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Can I tell you why some people don't hear from God as much as they should? Because they're not in the word. Oh, I know I'm stepping on some people's toes here. You say? I just don't understand my wife. Well, listen, if you never talk with your wife, you're not going to understand her. I just feel like we're distant. Yeah. If you're not listening and talking, you're distant. I feel like God never speaks to me. Yeah, because God speaks through his word. I can guarantee you that if you open the Word of God with a prayerful heart and a sensitive heart to God, saying, Lord, speak to me as I get into your into your word, and you meditate and you think and you pray and you pray through Scripture, not just reading for intellectual gain, that God will speak to your heart through His Holy Spirit, because this is the living word. The second filter, though that I would use is the filter of godly counsel, especially if it's a decision you're making and you're sensing that God is prompting you to do something. Proverbs 1310 says, pride only brings quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Proverbs 15 verse 22 says the plans fail because of a lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. I would run things by people that are discerning people and making sure that if you're sensing that there's a prompting from the Spirit of God, that there's godly people speaking into it.

Can I tell you when it comes to the presence of God and hearing God, it's about positioning ourselves close to God. It's about pressing into God. It's about leaning in, in worship. It's about wanting his presence. It's about saying to God, God, I want to be close to you. I need your presence. I'm pressing in to to be close to you, to to hear your voice. I am I am taking steps to draw near to you God, because I long to hear you. I want all that you have for me. There's a spiritual hunger that drives us close to the presence of God, and it tells us that then the Lord called Samuel. It's in the middle of the night. He's laying down the ark of the Lord is there. Then the Lord called Samuel. And listen, it says in verse verses four and five, Samuel answered, here I am. And he ran to Eli. And he said, here I am. You called me. But Eli said, I did not call. Go back and lie down. So he went and lie down. Here's what I want you to understand. When God speaks to us, he gets our attention by disrupting our normal. He interrupts our normal. Now, Samuel did not recognize the voice of God. He thought it was Eli calling him from the other room. He didn't recognize the voice of God, but he recognized the disruption. He knew that he was being called and spoken to. He his normal, had been disrupted. Eli didn't normally call in the middle of the night. There was a disruption that took place. And can I tell you this? Often times God gets our attention through disruption. It's, uh, Saul on the road to Damascus that gets Interrupted. It's, um. It's the way of God to disrupt us, so we'll listen. It's his way of getting our attention. And I believe there's a lot of people being disrupted right now. And so when life is being disrupted, I believe that you need to say, Lord, here I am your servant, and I'm listening. Number two, write this down. When God speaks, you will need to learn to distinguish his voice from other voices. Verse six says, and again, the Lord called Samuel. A 13 year old Samuel got up and he went to Eli again, and he said, here I am. You called me. And Eli said, my son. Eli said, I did not call you. Go back and lie down. Here's what I want you to know. God was speaking to Samuel, but Samuel was not acquainted with God, close enough or deep enough to recognize the voice of God. He knew something was happening, but he couldn't recognize the voice of God. He couldn't distinguish the voice of God or the voice of the Spirit of God from the voice of other people and other things in his life. And maybe you feel that way. Maybe you say, pastor, I just, you know, I'm reading the Bible and a thought comes to my mind and I'm wondering, is this God? Is this myself? Is this the devil? You know, is this is this some something in my imagination? And you say, I can't quite tell what is God? What is not God? How do I know it's God that's saying this? Or. Or if it's something on my own, how do I distinguish the voice of God? Well, I believe that there's a couple filters given to us in Scripture that help us distinguish the voice of God. Let me give you four filters that I try to filter the voice of God through number one through his written word. It was F.B. Meyer that said the written word is the wire along which the voice of God will certainly come to you. If the heart is hushed and the attention is fixed. Can I tell you something? The way God speaks to us is through His Word. It's the inspired, infallible, inerrant word. It's God breathed. It's the breath of God. When the Word of God. That's why when I get up on Sundays and preach, I don't preach out of just any book, or I don't preach out of philosophies that sound intellectual or good, or the latest self-help book. No, I go straight to the Word of God because it's the Word of God that has power to change our life. It's the Word of God that's been inspired and breathed of God. And the Bible says that His word does not come back void. The Bible says that his word is like a double edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit and joints and marrow. It's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, the Word of God. When I begin to preach the Word of God and break it into its context and deliver it, it's the power of God that awakens the spirit inside of you like nothing else can do. And it exposes your heart, it encourages you. It creates a avenue by which the Holy Spirit can deposit encouragement to your heart. Rebuke, correct. Instruct, change you. It brings enlightenment to the soul. It brings transformation, transformation to people's lives. It is the vehicle that healing travels on, and it is the way that salvation comes to people. There is power in the word. And so I simply want to say, first of all, that there is no way that God ever speaks to you that contradicts his word. And I've had people come to me in the past and say, you know, the Lord spoke to me. I always get a little nervous when the Lord spoke. Speaks to people out of context. If someone says, the Lord spoke to me, I and and when it goes against the written word of God, I know that was not God. It's always the word. If anything that you feel God is asking you to do or impressing on your part if it contradicts Scripture. A principle of Scripture. If it goes against Scripture, I can guarantee it is not God. You go to Scripture, you go to Scripture to confirm the Word of God. By the way, Psalms 119 105 says, Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Can I tell you why some people don't hear from God as much as they should? Because they're not in the word. Oh, I know I'm stepping on some people's toes here. You say? I just don't understand my wife. Well, listen, if you never talk with your wife, you're not going to understand her. I just feel like we're distant. Yeah. If you're not listening and talking, you're distant. I feel like God never speaks to me. Yeah, because God speaks through his word. I can guarantee you that if you open the Word of God with a prayerful heart and a sensitive heart to God, saying, Lord, speak to me as I get into your into your word, and you meditate and you think and you pray and you pray through Scripture, not just reading for intellectual gain, that God will speak to your heart through His Holy Spirit, because this is the living word. The second filter, though that I would use is the filter of godly counsel, especially if it's a decision you're making and you're sensing that God is prompting you to do something. Proverbs 1310 says, pride only brings quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Proverbs 15 verse 22 says the plans fail because of a lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. I would run things by people that are discerning people and making sure that if you're sensing that there's a prompting from the Spirit of God, that there's godly people speaking into it.

When God speaks, we must learn to distinguish his voice from others. That's just one of the practical applications we can take from today's bold steps. Message with pastor, author and Moody Bible Institute President Mark Jobe. We'll continue this lesson tomorrow, so be sure to join us right here. And if you ever want to revisit a previous message, or check out Mark's book that goes along with this series called What Now? How to move into your Next season? Just go to our website at bird-stamps.org. And speaking of books, right now we're offering a very special resource from the authors who join us in the studio now, Ron Diehl and Gary Chapman, about how to navigate the complexities of blended families.

When God speaks, we must learn to distinguish his voice from others. That's just one of the practical applications we can take from today's bold steps. Message with pastor, author and Moody Bible Institute President Mark Jobe. We'll continue this lesson tomorrow, so be sure to join us right here. And if you ever want to revisit a previous message, or check out Mark's book that goes along with this series called What Now? How to move into your Next season? Just go to our website at bird-stamps.org. And speaking of books, right now we're offering a very special resource from the authors who join us in the studio now, Ron Diehl and Gary Chapman, about how to navigate the complexities of blended families.

So, Ron, you have a powerful metaphor in building love together in blended families where you say that blended family couples swim in a different ocean than first marriage couples. Can you explain what you mean by that?

So, Ron, you have a powerful metaphor in building love together in blended families where you say that blended family couples swim in a different ocean than first marriage couples. Can you explain what you mean by that?

Yeah, there's a few more sharks in the blended family waters, and they come out of nowhere, and it's the form of a co-parent in the other household where your children are moving back and forth between. Or it has to do with pain of the past that is getting in the way of the bonding of the present. That's another thing about the ocean. The waters are cooler. It's harder to warm up in these waters. Take, for example, a child. Just because a stepparent knows that a ten year old's love language is physical, touch does not mean that the stepparent on day one can hug that child the same way that the biological parent can. Mhm. So it's a cooler temperature in that relationship than it is with the biological parent. So the stepparent has to move in gently. They have to figure out the physical touch that the child can receive or respect. So we say pace with the child. So maybe it's a fist bump. That might be the physical touch that the stepparent can accomplish on day one. We hope and pray over time that because of their gentleness, that eventually the child will warm up even more and the waters will warm up and they'll be able to swim even more closely to one another. But in the beginning, you've got to just pace with the child.

Yeah, there's a few more sharks in the blended family waters, and they come out of nowhere, and it's the form of a co-parent in the other household where your children are moving back and forth between. Or it has to do with pain of the past that is getting in the way of the bonding of the present. That's another thing about the ocean. The waters are cooler. It's harder to warm up in these waters. Take, for example, a child. Just because a stepparent knows that a ten year old's love language is physical, touch does not mean that the stepparent on day one can hug that child the same way that the biological parent can. Mhm. So it's a cooler temperature in that relationship than it is with the biological parent. So the stepparent has to move in gently. They have to figure out the physical touch that the child can receive or respect. So we say pace with the child. So maybe it's a fist bump. That might be the physical touch that the stepparent can accomplish on day one. We hope and pray over time that because of their gentleness, that eventually the child will warm up even more and the waters will warm up and they'll be able to swim even more closely to one another. But in the beginning, you've got to just pace with the child.

Mhm. That's so good and so true. So true. Well you know I.

Mhm. That's so good and so true. So true. Well you know I.

Think that's one of the things that I really discovered as we were doing the research on all of this is the fact that, you know, you do have to incrementally speak those love languages. So fist bump, you know, then the pat on the back and, and eventually you get around to the hug. But you've got to build that emotional bond that was not there from day one. You know, when you became the stepparent, they became the stepchild.

Think that's one of the things that I really discovered as we were doing the research on all of this is the fact that, you know, you do have to incrementally speak those love languages. So fist bump, you know, then the pat on the back and, and eventually you get around to the hug. But you've got to build that emotional bond that was not there from day one. You know, when you became the stepparent, they became the stepchild.

I just talked with a blended family this past week, and they were working through some of the very dynamics that you're speaking about right now. So thank you so much.

I just talked with a blended family this past week, and they were working through some of the very dynamics that you're speaking about right now. So thank you so much.

So we would be happy to send you a copy of this bold step gift today. When you give a gift of any amount to support bold steps, do that by giving us a call at 800 D.L. Moody or give online at Bold Steps. Org. You can also send your gift and request for building love together in blended families by writing to us. Our address is bold. Steps 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Now, if you've been blessed by Mark's teaching and you'd like to join our team of loyal supporters, we invite you to become a bold partner. As a bold partner, you help bring these gospel rich messages to others just like you. You'll also benefit from receiving exclusive resources available only to bold partners. So join the team today by going online to Bold steps.org or call us at 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. And by the way, if you ever like to hear these Bible teachings while you're out on the go, perhaps on a work trip or even during a workout. You'll definitely want to subscribe to our podcast. You'll find us on most of the major podcast apps by searching for bold steps with doctor Mark Jobe. Don't forget to click subscribe while you're there and leave us a message and a five star review to help others find the program. Also, did you know that you can find videos of Mark's teachings even more bold steps content on our new Bold Steps app. Whatever your interests, you'll find both long and short form videos that speak to relevant topics and issues in your daily life. Open up your favorite app store today and download it for free. I'm Wayne Shepherd. That's all the time we have today, but be sure to come back tomorrow when Mark continues this message titled Quiet Your Soul to listen. That's coming up Wednesday right here on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.

So we would be happy to send you a copy of this bold step gift today. When you give a gift of any amount to support bold steps, do that by giving us a call at 800 D.L. Moody or give online at Bold Steps. Org. You can also send your gift and request for building love together in blended families by writing to us. Our address is bold. Steps 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Now, if you've been blessed by Mark's teaching and you'd like to join our team of loyal supporters, we invite you to become a bold partner. As a bold partner, you help bring these gospel rich messages to others just like you. You'll also benefit from receiving exclusive resources available only to bold partners. So join the team today by going online to Bold steps.org or call us at 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. And by the way, if you ever like to hear these Bible teachings while you're out on the go, perhaps on a work trip or even during a workout. You'll definitely want to subscribe to our podcast. You'll find us on most of the major podcast apps by searching for bold steps with doctor Mark Jobe. Don't forget to click subscribe while you're there and leave us a message and a five star review to help others find the program. Also, did you know that you can find videos of Mark's teachings even more bold steps content on our new Bold Steps app. Whatever your interests, you'll find both long and short form videos that speak to relevant topics and issues in your daily life. Open up your favorite app store today and download it for free. I'm Wayne Shepherd. That's all the time we have today, but be sure to come back tomorrow when Mark continues this message titled Quiet Your Soul to listen. That's coming up Wednesday right here on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.