HOw do we know we are hearing from God

[jkb52088]

Ok I am dealing with an issue that will completly change my life. Over the last several months I have been feeling desire to join the military. The largest sensation or "feeling" was actually in church. Since then I have dug deeper into scripture and prayer to hear from God. I am convicted that its ok to serve in the military, but is it for me? I have gained a huge passion for service over my life and I feel military is definately a huge service to God, country, and community. While in high school I thought I would join the military but because God had a different career plan I thought the desire to serve in the military would go away. The passion to serve in the military has grown and I am convinced its because I have been praying about this issue. BUT, how do I know its a conviction of the Holy Spirit and not my personal opinions and feelings getting in the way. And how do I know take those steps well assured its from God?

[jkb52088]

A background note about myself:

All my life I wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer join the Navy and be a fighter pilot. Now God has me in school training to be a choir director. At least with being an engineer there is a connection to military, but with being a choir director I don't see it. But the desire to join the Army National Guard in which I will be able to serve overseas, protecting our borders, or serving in my communty after a disaster has grown so much. I even think of the people I could minister to. But I still need help.

[livingwaters]

When and if you get an "unshakeable" peace about it...then, in my opinion, that will be God's way of telling you it's ok...until then, be still and wait on the Lord..continue in what you are doing...HIS Word tells us how important waiting on HIS timing is, as well!!! If we jump in on our own, it will usually not be done as well as if God had orchestrated it!!!

God bless

[jkb52088]

Well just to be honest I do feel very at peace with my conviction. I just want to be totally sure. But I also don't want to deny God.

[th1bill]

Well just to be honest I do feel very at peace with my conviction. I just want to be totally sure. But I also don't want to deny God.

... Being ex-military I am very firm on serving. Having served in combat I know the good that good men accomplish there. With what you have posted here I would advise that you join, soon.

[Bible2]

jkb52088 posted in message #1 of this thread:
HOw do we know we are hearing from God

Greetings.

We know that they are not hearing from God if what we are hearing
contradicts God's Word.

jkb52088:
The largest sensation or "feeling" was actually in church.

We can't always go by feelings, for "There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death"
(Proverbs 14:12).

jkb52088:
I am convicted that its ok to serve in the military

Christians do not wage physical battles, but spiritual battles: "For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).

Christians do not employ physical weapons against other people:
"for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword"
(Matthew 26:52); "though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after
the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds), Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to
the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Christians love their enemies and never employ any violence against
them: "Love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44). "Whosoever shall smite
thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:39).

jkb52088:
how do I know its a conviction of the Holy Spirit and not my
personal opinions and feelings getting in the way.

We always need to find out what our true motives are for our
wanting to do something. The Bible can help us do that: "For the
word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). "Search me, O God, and know
my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalms
139:23-24).

We can fool ourselves that we have only good motives for wanting
to do something, when in fact deep down our true motives may not
be so great.

[Bible2]

jkb52088 posted in message #2 of this thread:
All my life I wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer join the Navy and
be a fighter pilot.

What influences in one's life got one thinking about being an
aerospace engineer and joining the Navy and being a fighter pilot?
What did one hope to accomplish in these endeavors? What about
these endeavors set them above all other possible endeavors in
one's mind?

jkb52088:
Now God has me in school training to be a choir director.

How does one know that God wants one to be a choir director? What
influences in one's life got one thinking about being a choir director?
What does one hope to accomplish as a choir director?

jkb52088:
the desire to join the Army National Guard in which I will be able to
serve overseas,

Why does one want to serve overseas? Could one serve God as a
Christian missionary overseas, saving souls, instead of waging
physical battles against people, battles which usually end up killing
civilian men, women, and children?

jkb52088:
protecting our borders,

Why does one want to protect the borders of an earthly country?
Are not believers to be strangers and pilgrims on the earth? (1 Peter
2:11, Hebrews 11:13). Are they not to be looking only to the
heavenly country of New Jerusalem, and not to any earthly country?
"They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for
them a city" (Hebrews 11:16); "the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22). "Our citizenship is in heaven"
(Philippians 3:20).

What does one want to protect the borders of an earthly country
from? From poor people looking for a better life? Does one want to
make sure that they and their babies remain in cardboard shacks
in filthy shantytowns just on the other side of the border, so that
people on one's own side of the border can continue to live in luxury
and hoard billions of dollars in the bank?

jkb52088:
or serving in my communty after a disaster

Why would one have to join the Army National Guard in order to
serve one's community after a disaster?

jkb52088:
I even think of the people I could minister to.

If one wants to minister to people, could one serve God full time as
a preacher or a pastor or an evangelist or a Bible teacher (Ephesians
4:11-13) or in a ministry which helps the poor with their physical
needs? (Galatians 2:10).

[jkb52088]

Obviously you don't believe Christians should serve in a military, however, I am convince through scriptures that it is definitely OK, not sinning, and could be righteous. Hebrews 11 is about the heroes of faith as you may know. Hebrews 11:32-34 says "32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."

The Heroes of Faith that through God's will called them to fight a fight that need to be fought. How come then can't this be righteous in God's eyes for me to join the military and live these verses. Are you going to argue that this doesn't apply to me. I am not them and God can't use me! If God can use preachers and civilians to do his work, how come in your eyes can He not use a soldier like He has done and will do now. Why can this not be of God!

I don't want to turn this into a battle whether a Christian can join the military or not that is a personal conviction I just want to know how I can know I am being convicted by the Holy Spirit.

[jkb52088]

Why would one have to join the Army National Guard in order to
serve one's community after a disaster?

I never said one had to. I am from central Mississippi where Katrina hits home. You can't imagine what is was like hear unless you were. I was on the coast 2 days after landfall. I was 17 at the time and I served like you can't even understand. I had no bath for 7 days because I had no running water. I wore the same clothes several days in a row. I handed out food, ice, water, and anything else you can name. I don't mean you can't serve without being in the Guard. You sir are deceiving my words. But what I do remember was the Guards presence in the WHOLE State. If it wasn't for them some people wouldn't have had things or even had things taken away. They did a noble job that some people just can't, or in your case are not even willing to do.

What influences in one's life got one thinking about being an
aerospace engineer and joining the Navy and being a fighter pilot?
What did one hope to accomplish in these endeavors? What about
these endeavors set them above all other possible endeavors in
one's mind?



How does one know that God wants one to be a choir director? What
influences in one's life got one thinking about being a choir director?
What does one hope to accomplish as a choir director?

I know when I was wanting to be an engineer and in the Navy it was for selfish desires, but I know God has given me a passion for music than can only be Godbreath. I would have never in a million years changed my goals if it wasn't for God directing my path. If you want to judge what I am doing go right ahead I still am following God's will in my life or least trying my hardest which is what God wants from all of us.

[ConqueredbyLove]

I just want to know how I can know I am being convicted by the Holy Spirit.

You are doing great You just keep laying it before the Lord and believe that He will not lead you astray. One of my favorite Scriptures is ~let the peace of God rule in your heart~.

Here are some other verses I use alot and count on the Lord to not lead me astray

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths
Proverbs 3: 5-6

Your part: 1. Trust in the Lord ( Do you trust Him that He will indeed, lead you and will not lead you astray?) 2. Don't follow your own understanding. 3. In all your ways acknowledge Him - seek His will and direction.

His part: He will lead you and guide you. That is His promise to you if you do your part. He cannot fail you.

It's a slam-dunk

One more thing...convictions from the Lord are something He keeps bringing before us in a gentle yet firm way.

Leadings from the enemy or our own flesh are a nagging or a "I just gotta have it" type of thing...

[Bible2]

jkb52088 posted in message #8 of this thread:
How come then can't this be righteous in God's eyes for me to join
the military and live these verses.

Greetings.

The verses of Hebrews 11:32-34 are about believers under the Old
Covenant of Moses, who were allowed to attack and kill their
enemies. Under the New Covenant of Jesus, believers can no longer
attack and kill their enemies: "Ye have heard that it hath been said,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you"
(Matthew 5:43-44). Under the New Covenant of Jesus, believers
can't take revenge or even defend themselves when attacked: "Ye
have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth
for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
also" (Matthew 5:38-39); "for all they that take the sword shall
perish with the sword" (Matthew 26:52). "Dearly beloved, avenge
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written,
Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19).

jkb52088:
The Heroes of Faith that through God's will called them to fight a
fight that need to be fought.

The fights under the Old Covenant of Moses needed to be fought
because it was about believers possessing an earthly country: "And
ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for
I have given you the land to possess it" (Numbers 33:53). But under
the New Covenant of Jesus, believers are to be "strangers and
pilgrims" (1 Peter 2:11) on the earth, focusing on the heavenly
country, just like the believers did who were before the Old
Covenant of Moses: "they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a
country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from
whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have
returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an
heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for
he hath prepared for them a city" (Hebrews 11:13-16), "the city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22). "Our
citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20).

So now believers no longer fight against flesh and blood people: "we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). Now believers
no longer employ physical weapons: "For though we walk in the
flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down
of strong holds), Casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians
10:3-5).

jkb52088:
I just want to know how I can know I am being convicted by the
Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit instructs believers through the scriptures: "All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the
man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works"
(2 Timothy 3:16-17). But the scriptures are not a matter of personal
conviction insofar as "no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20). So if we personally misinterpret a
scripture as a go-ahead to do something which is now forbidden to
believers, that go-ahead is not from the Holy Spirit, but only from our
own desire, which we need to examine and determine what its true
motivation is.

[Bible2]

jkb52088 posted in message #9 of this thread:
I don't mean you can't serve without being in the Guard. You sir are
deceiving my words.

Rest assured that there was no deception (or any other ill will)
involved, for these were the words which were replied to: "But the
desire to join the Army National Guard in which I will be able to serve
overseas, protecting our borders, or serving in my communty after a
disaster has grown so much". Note that the "in which I will be able"
can reasonably be construed to apply not only to serving overseas,
but also to protecting borders and serving in one's community after a
disaster. That is, it could reasonably be construed, with no deception
(or any other ill will) involved, that one meant that joining the Army
National Guard would make one able to serve in one's community
after a disaster.

Please do not take any of the replies to one's posts as a personal
attack against oneself which one must defend oneself from, but
rather as simply a series of friendly questions intended to help one
to test one's conscious motives for wanting to join the Army
National Guard. One might remain open to the possibiliity that one
might have underlying, unconscious motives which may not be
based on scripture, or on a desire to help one's community after a
disaster, but rather on something else (undetermined at this point)
which requires that one join the military, as opposed to, say, serving
one's community (even one's whole state) after a disaster as a
civilian employee of FEMA.

jkb52088:
I know when I was wanting to be an engineer and in the Navy it was
for selfish desires

When one says selfish desires, can one be more specific? For it's
possible that without one even realizing it the same desires may now
subconsciously be prompting one to join the Army National Guard,
but one may be only aware of altruistic desires which one's conscious
mind has come up with in order to justify to oneself embarking on the
means to the goal of the hidden, selfish desires.

jkb52088:
I know God has given me a passion for music than can only be
Godbreath. I would have never in a million years changed my goals if
it wasn't for God directing my path.

If one believes that God has changed one's goals from things which
only joining the military could satisfy, into goals which music can
satisfy (such as the worship of God), how does this belief jibe with
one's other belief that God may now be directing one into the military?

jkb52088:
If you want to judge what I am doing go right ahead I still am
following God's will in my life or least trying my hardest which is what
God wants from all of us.

Honestly, there is no judgment, for what young man has never
wanted to be a fighter pilot? But if we are to determine God's will for
our life, we do need to ask ourselves some hard questions about
what may be our true, underlying motives for wanting to do
something.

[divaD]

Obviously you don't believe Christians should serve in a military, however, I am convince through scriptures that it is
definitely OK, not sinning, and could be righteous. Hebrews 11 is about the heroes of faith as you may know. Hebrews
11:32-34 says "32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson,
and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

You can't compare all of those to the US military. Those were saints that served the most high God. The US military does not serve the most high God. While there may be Christians in the US military, the US military is in no way Christian. My advice would be, if you want to join the military, then do so. Just don't give God the credit for your descision.

[jkb52088]

The reason I believe this is God inspired is because I was no longer pursueing or even thinking about military service. I assumed since I was going into music under His direction that I would never again decide to join the military. But sitting in church listening to sermon I felt what I believe was only the Holy Spirit calling upon my heart. I began praying to God to reveal to me what His plan was. Tugging at my heart was military service. Thats how I explain it. No one has told me to serve. I wasn't wanting to serve. It just happened. I began reading scriptures, praying, and searching places like here to help with this decision. I believe I am going in the right direction, even still after debates.

To Bible2: I am sorry if I become defensive, but it seemed to me just because I said I would be able to serve with guard you made it seem that I was saying that is the only way I could serve was through the guard.

You also say that because we are of the New Convenant we should not go by the rules of the Old Testament. Well I guess we should through it out. It is no good anymore?! Thats seems to me what you are saying. If not please explain. I know I have read somewhere and I think Paul wrote that we are to look to what would be the Old Testament for guidance. The New Covenant is about salvation. Salvation was only achieved by following the rules, and God knowing that as humans we can't follow all the rules put in place the sacraficial lamb to cover the sins(disobeying the rules). The New Covenant is Jesus becoming the sacraficial lamb therefore we do not have to have a yearly sacrifice to cover our sins. Jesus is the eternal sacrifice. We are not bound to follow the rules but that doesn't mean we just through them out. God gives us these rules to glorfy Him.

Can our God who can do anything not use an army that is not for Him to do His will? Prime example: Historically Alexander the Great helped pave the way for Christianity to spread throughout the would. When he conquered basically the would He spread a language that would one day be spoken all most on the entire planet. The New Testament is written in that language. An ungodly man did God's Will without even knowing it.

God calls people to be doctors, lawyers, dentist, preachers, phsycologist, and anyother occupations, but it seems to me what you are saying is that God will not call people to serve in a military anymore. He can't do that? Give me a break. Are we as a nation not to have a military? We are supposed to be submissive to our authority with is God install. As Americans are we to just let any militant group come in an take over, and then be submissive to them? And then to the next group. I don't believe that those scriptures are telling us to be passive and let people walk all over us as Christians. That is what you are leading me to believe you are saying. Even Jesus with righteous anger cleansed the temple and made things right. He was not ever walked over, but was also able to keep those commandments He was giving.

The passion for joining the military and serving my country is ever as much comparable to my passion for music. Never in a million years would I have chose the path I am on. Its only God! If it was up to me I would be graduating soon with an Aerospace Engineering Degree from MSU and soon after start training as a pilot in the Navy. But instead I will be graduating with a Music degree and joining the National Guard and following God's call on my life the whole way. And Yes I will Give God the credit cause He is the only one who could direct my path in this way. And if it is not Him I guess I am following Satan. I CANNOT AND WILL NOT BELIEVE THAT AT ALL!!!! FOR JESUS CHRIST IS MY SAVIOR AND LORD AND I FOLLOW HIM!!!

[jkb52088]

You can't compare all of those to the US military. Those were saints that served the most high God. The US military does not serve the most high God. While there may be Christians in the US military, the US military is in no way Christian. My advice would be, if you want to join the military, then do so. Just don't give God the credit for your descision.

I never compared them to the US military. I am comparing them to me. I am no where near as close to God as they were, but I seek His will for my life just as they did. Can God not choose me to serve in a military like they did. I never said the US military is Christian but can't it be used for the gain of Christ. And yes i will credit God for my decision. He has lightened my path.