5 Tests for “Is This God?” – Test 2, Part 2

In the last post about hearing God, I touched on the fact that God’s voice will be consistent with His character…but it is important to know that His voice will be consistent with His true character, not necessarily our perception of His character….

In my case, in my early life into young adulthood, my image of God was that of a rather aloof “big policeman” in the sky.

But gradually I formed a different image of Him, formed as I read the His Words to me, the Bible. Being led by the Holy Spirit to put aside all previous perceptions and to read the scriptures with fresh eyes, I began to experience the depth of His love for me (and all people), and I began to see myself in the middle of the greatest love story ever told; the greatest love story of my life…

And this is what I was leading into in the last post…even if you know the written Word, and even if you “know” God’s character, this knowing must be based on absolute Truth, not our perceived “truth”.  I mention this because Satan plays on these wrong perceptions, indeed he is the instigator behind these perceptions being developed in the first place!  And we know from the temptation of Jesus that Satan will use the very word of God to try to trap us into his schemes…

How can we know if our perception is based on a misunderstanding of His nature of on truth?

• We can ask Him to show us!
• We can examine scriptures that assure us of His great love for us (John 3:16 and Romans 8 are two powerful ones)
• We can commit to pleasing Him alone and walk away from trying to please men  (which  causes us to skew our own perceptions so that we can “fit in”)
• Commit to focus on God’s covenant love for us – that does a lot to start exposing places in my heart where I have a wrong perception {even now} – did you know that His covenant love is mentioned 4 times more often than His anger in the Scriptures?  Yet my personal wrong perception is that He is angry/disappointed/indifferent towards me…so glad He has shown me the truth, and always is willing to peel back another deep layer of that lie when it is exposed!

Today, as I was in the midst of writing out this post, I received an email devotional (The Voice of the Lord) which highlighted a phrase found in several places of Scripture, and I saw something in this phrase for the first time.  It is a verse containing words that God is speaking – and I sense a powerful pull to His heart of love in understanding this phrase…the following is my processing of the devotional:

I, even I, am He who comforts you (Isaiah 51:12 NKJV).

These words open the fourth of seven consolation passages from Isaiah that accompany the weekly Torah readings after Tish’ah Be’Av (the 9th of Av).  This date symbolizes Israel’s exile to Babylon in all its bitterness and loss. Even though their turning away from God has resulted in these consequences, He remains present in their lives…He is busy about restoring hope and extending encouragement to His people.

{The following is an exact copy from the devo…}  The Lord says anochi, anochi (I, even I) to underline the fact that He will personally comfort his people. This exact Hebrew phrase is unusual in Scripture, appearing only here and in two other passages where such strong emphasis is required: “I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11 NKJV), and “I, even I, am He Who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25 NKJV).   All three of these encouraging and consoling passages speak of God’s personal comfort, expressed through mercy, salvation, and forgiveness. {Underline mine}.

 I can hear His voice reverberating through my spirit:

“I, even I, am He who comforts you…”

I pray you hear it too…

Others in the series:
“Is This God” – Test 1
“Is This God” – Test 2, Part 1