Ears To Hear # 66

CLEAR IMPRESSIONS 

         “Why does Gwen write these articles?”, you probably ask. I must remind myself from time to time. 
         One of the reasons, is that I believe strongly God wants His children to know Him, and be able to carry on a personal conversation with Him. In order to do this, they must first learn to hear His voice in their spirit. If you don’t need this information, there may be someone in your life who does, and I pray it will be helpful to explain to them one of the many ways, we hear from God.
         When I chose to surrender my will for His, and prayed for years that I could be a vessel for His love to flow through, this seems to be His choice. It is not at all the way I expected, but I have never had as much confidence that I am doing what He has planned for me to do. I hope this answers our question to some degree.

HOW TO KEEP
CLEAR IMPRESSIONS

         The Holy Spirit gave me the word “Clear Impressions” this morning. And with that word, He gave me the desire to try to explain it to someone who may not know what I mean. It could be helpful to someone who is seeking to hear from God more clearly.
         The following works for me. If you have not found a better way, you might be prompted to try this.

FIND A QUIET PLACE

         It may seem impossible in the habitual routine of your present life style. And you may not have a desire to hear from God, or feel you have a need. But, for those who do, I continue with this word.
         The Christian Appalachian Project sent me a calendar and I couldn’t get away from the picture. Nor could I deny the great truth in the words of Mother Theresa in her words written below the picture. 
         She said, “We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the Friend of Silence.” Isn’t that beautiful?

I have found this Silence and Pray you have too.
HOW TO STAY ON TRACK OF A
CLEAR IMPRESSION

         I won’t take the space to tell you right now how to enter His presence. If you have ever been there, you know how to get there. You know how to find Him in Silence.
         Often while reading His Word, praising Him, or just asking Him a question, you may receive a word from the Holy Spirit, like I did this morning, that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with where your natural thoughts were taking you. His ways are higher and He is taking you somewhere of more importance.  You are delighted by receiving a word from Him and quite willing to follow. This word is a Clear Impression.
         At this point you gladly release all other thoughts to capture the sweet, refreshing TRUTH of something you know He wants to show you or teach you. The Holy Spirit now has your attention.

RELEVANCE

      

         I can relate this to the pictures I edit on my computer, as I adjust them to the highest level of clarity I can find. My favorite button to push is  “Auto Correct.” It sharpens and edits the picture much better than I can.
         Surely you see the significance of this; just letting the Holy Spirit clarify the picture of His Word to you: no shadows, no ifs, ands, buts. Just the pure Word of God being revealed to you from His Spirit to yours.
         You sense pure truth in your spirit and can relate what you are hearing to what you have read in God’s Word. The Spirit and the Word come together for you in a real sense. The Word and the Spirit become one for you.

LEARNING PROCESS

         I think this must be a learning process; something we must practice to develop. I’m not sure. But, in the days when it seemed I had no time left over for fellowship with God, I could not receive “Clear Impressions” so easily. There were too many distractions.
         However, today is different. Praise God! When a clear impression comes to me, I recognize it, and go with His Flow. It frees, delights, directs, and restores my soul daily.
         Tasting what a “Clear Impression” is like, makes it easy to release all other thoughts. I know He has something of excellence to serve me at that time. It’s Fresh Bread.

FRESH IMPRESSIONS ARE
 EASY

         “Fresh Impressions” are easy to receive and we do not have to struggle to bring them to pass. They just come. And they can become a life style of hearing from God all through the day…once the Holy Spirit has our attention. We learn to recognize when the impressions are coming from Him and not our own thoughts. They are clear and do not take us off-track.
         EXAMPLE: In the middle of writing to you, I felt a clear impression that said, “Call Jan now!” No panic. No worry. Just “Call Jan, now.”
         So I did, and went right back to writing.
         I hope this helped someone today in their conversations with our Friend of Quiet Places.