We live in a time when communication has become a monster.  Unless we choose to live in a wilderness and hide under a shrub, we are surrounded with information and opinions and noise.  Always lots of noise.

Actually, even if we hide under a shrub, we will need to be certain we have no cell phone, iPod, other MP3 or whatever electronic devices with us.  Otherwise, we will have carried all the noise with us.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I love music. And I’m always interested in good information (even if it’s bad news), and I like to be entertained as much as anyone.  But enough is enough.  I find that I am always looking for time away from the noise.  I need time to think for myself, to sort things out and to grow.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I value the voice of God.  Now, I know that may sound strange, even to some very sincere and committed Christian believers.  But the voice of God is not supposed to be a strange thing for those who know the Lord.  It is part of what we have in Jesus Christ.

First of all, I need to make one thing clear: God speaks to all people, not just to “really spiritual” Christians. While the world is largely carried away with its dogma of psychics and the myth that some folks are more naturally tuned in to so-called spiritual or mystical things, the Christian does not need to be so deluded.

God is not “far away” or accessible only through some very special channel, some specially-gifted person, or whatever.  He is right here, all around us and communicating to us all the time.

God’s voice is always available to anyone.  The problem is we are not listening.

Because of the curse of sin that came upon the entire human race (as a result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve) makes us disconnected from God, spiritually.  We are spiritually dead to God because we are all born into the world as sinners.

Through the spiritual re-birth offered us in Jesus Christ, we can be made alive spiritually.  As spiritually dead sinners, we are blind and deaf to all things of God.  That’s why Jesus told Nicodemus (a very religious man who was still spiritually dead), “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:16,  NKJV)

No matter how wonderfully the power of God may be displayed on the earth, or how powerfully He speaks, we cannot see or understand it so long as we remain separated from God.  The Apostle Paul, writing to Christians in the first century, said much the same thing: “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”  (1 Corinthians 2:14,  NKJV)

When a human being is truly born again (not a religious ritual, like joining a church or being baptized, but the real spiritual birth that comes through believing Jesus Christ), they are suddenly able to both “hear” and understand what God is saying.  Like a newborn infant, they suddenly have ears and eyes into the true spiritual realm.

It takes time, of course, for us to begin to truly understand the teaching of the Lord.  Like any newborn, we are not suddenly all-knowing, but simply able to see and hear and take hold of the promises and warnings of God.  If we give regular attention to what God is saying to us, we will learn much faster than if we continue to ignore the Lord as we did before we were made alive in Christ.

The problem here is that old habits can be hard to break.  Before a person is made alive to God through faith in Jesus Christ, he or she is tuned in to all the communication of other people.  Without God, we entertain ourselves with largely the meaningless music, stories, ideas, arguments, and concerns of the world around us.

I say these are “largely meaningless” simply because they lack the perspective of God’s truth.  The concerns and problems and questions raised may be real enough, but without God, we can never get through the fog to the real answers to meet any of the needs.

If we continue to follow the old channels of communication and entertainment, failing to break away from the common noises of the world, we will slow down our own progress in Christ.  How can we hear the voice of God — or learn to understand what God is saying — if we neglect time alone with Him?

As vital to spiritual growth and maturity as church meetings and activities  are, we will not grow much in the Lord unless we actually walk with Him each day.  The Lord Jesus Himself is our Teacher (Matthew 23:8), our Shepherd, our Savior.  We need Jesus Himself, and not just a nice religion that is based on some of His ideas.

God has not made any of this difficult for us.  Everything we need to know about the Lord, about spiritual truth, about eternal life and spiritual rebirth, everything we will ever need to understand in our Christian walk is spelled out for us in the Holy Bible.  The “voice of God” will never reveal anything to us that is not easily and clearly seen in the Scriptures.  God will not give us a “new revelation” of the truth that somehow makes old or outdated the eternal truth of His Word in Scripture.

The Word of God stands forever, and it is faithfully recorded and kept for us in the pages of the Bible.  And since we know that God does not change His mind or His Word (otherwise, all the promises of God would become weak and even void), we know that what the Spirit of God says today is what the Spirit of God has always said from the very beginning.

What we need, then, is simply to give the Lord some time alone with our hearts.  We need to spend some time away from the TV, the radio, the music players, meetings and parties and discussions, the movies, magazines, newspapers, computers and the Internet — away from all the noises of this world — in order to get God’s message down inside of us.  We need to know what the Lord has given to us in the pages of Holy Scripture.  And as wonderful as godly teachers are, we need to see and hear for ourselves what God is saying in the Bible.

As newborn babes, we will (hopefully) often be hand fed by good Christians all around us.  But we need to learn immediately how to be alone with the Lord Jesus and to receive His good teaching and counsel.  Otherwise, we can only blame ourselves if we are somehow led astray by others.  We need Jesus, and not just some pleasant ideas about Him.

Is God speaking to you?  Yes, He is.  Everyday. Do you hear His voice?  Do you know His will for your life?  Are you following Jesus, or are you content with religion, content to follow the advice and teaching of others who are (hopefully) getting something from the Lord each week on your behalf?

God wants the church to function as a body, where each member brings and contributes whatever the Lord has given them in recent days.  We are all to participate in the blessing of the whole group.  We are all to bring something good, something to encourage and help our brothers and sisters in the Christ.

No one is supposed to contribute money alone.  If we are working, we will all have a little money to give to those in need, or the work of the Gospel in other places.  But money is not what faith is about (regardless of what you hear or see on TV).

The real wealth of the church (which is all true believers in Christ) is spiritual.  We are all to have something spiritual from the Lord to contribute to the whole group when we meet.  That living gift that the Lord has given to each of us is for the blessing and encouragement of all.  When we take the time to hear God’s voice each day, we will have something vital and meaningful to share with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

My goal, then, is to spend less time engulfed in the noise of this world, and more time alone in the Presence of God, allowing the Holy Spirit to make His Word alive to me and in me.  My goal is to spend more time each day listening to the voice of God.