Are Those God's Instructions? (Pt.2) (308) - July 26 2025

This week we are continuing with Part 2 of 'Are Those God's Instructions?' This week we look at the idea of hearing from God, instead of following our own path. When we trust God, rely upon, depend upon Him, He can direct our paths. God wants to establish you in all your ways. We just need to decide if we are tired of our decisions in life and ready to be directed by the Great I AM.

This program covers the following Scriptures from the Amplified Classic version (AMPC): Proverbs 3:4-6, Habakkuk 2:1-3, Samuel 15:22, Psalms 119:72, Philippians 2:12-15, Exodus 20:1-17, Hebrews 11:1-3, Jeremiah 29:11-13.

Transcript

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) And welcome back to another episode of touchofgod.world. My name is Catrice and I'll be delivering the message for this week. This week we're going to do a continuation of Are Those Gods Instructions? Only this will be part two. And for you listeners who want to follow along, you can follow along with the amplified classic version. I'm excited about today. I am believing eyes will be opened. Having a relationship with the Lord and following his instructions are lifesaving and it's beneficial in so many ways. It saves time, saves money, and prevents mistakes. It's so important that we are following his instructions and that we know and are confident in what the Lord is telling us so we can follow his instructions. And so all may be well with us. Who doesn't want things to be well with them? So I'm going to give you some examples in my life of just times when I had followed God's instructions and how it turned out, which is exciting because I was just following and the Lord just really just made it turn out for good. My husband and I were living in a place that had a balcony and we always wanted to go out on the balcony. But for some reason, the entire time we lived there, we just never went out on the balcony. Well, it turns out that after we moved away from that place, we found out that all the balconies in this place, they were falling apart and collapsing. And had we gone out on the balcony, the balcony could have possibly collapsed on us. So just with that example, God is definitely life-saving. In another instance, I was trying to continue to exercise and every night I was determined and I would be walking and then all of a sudden I would get this strong feeling that I need to stop walking on the path that I'm walking on and move into the street. Now, I was just so ignorant at this time and I would just argue with the Lord and just be like, why? Why do you want me to move out into the street? So I didn't. The first time I heard that or I've sensed that, I ignored it and then it came on even stronger. Go out and walk on the side of the street, on the side of the traffic. Do not walk on the path or don't walk under the trees. I obeyed the second time because I was just like, wow, the Lord is really urgent with this message. I need to just take heed. Now, I want to remind you, I had no idea why he was saying this. I didn't understand it. I literally just did what he said out of obedience because I know that God is always right and he has not led me astray. Well, so the next week my friend wants to walk with me and we're walking on this path and it's daylight and lo and behold, we come by the same field, the same area and we notice these giant bugs and we look them up and they're poisonous all over the path, all over the field. I was so grateful to the Lord for telling me to go out into the street and walk in the street. I was so grateful that yet again, that literally was another life-saving experience that I went through and then I'll just tell you guys one more before we continue with are those God's instructions. With this last example, me and my family were going to, I guess you would call it an amusement park. It had like mini amusement park rides, roller coasters, that's the kind of thing that they have where I live and I was on my way out the door and then I felt this urgency, get a hat and I was just like, what? So I just obeyed. I went and I just packed an extra hat inside my bag. I wasn't planning on using the hat. I just packed it inside my bag and that's it, right? So me and some of my friends, we get on one of the mini roller coasters and we're going around the roller coasters. My friend had hair extensions in their hair and the hair piece came off and I instantly, because I was sitting in back of them on the ride, gave them this hat before anyone even noticed. No one noticed. Quickly, I gave them the hat and that helped them and it saved them from feeling awkward and once again, God came through. We were just so grateful and once again, you just look at God in awe. These are just examples of living your life to hear God's voice because God is just so important and when you can hear his voice, when you can obey his instructions, clearly you can just see in these situations that I even just told you about, literally life-saving. Not metaphorically, but literally life-saving. So I want to read to you Proverbs 3 verses 4 to 6 and it says, so shall you find favor, good understanding, and high esteem in the sight or judgment of God and man. Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways, know, recognize, and acknowledge him and he will direct and make straight your plain paths. Now come on somebody, that's exactly what the Lord did for me. I acknowledged the Lord that he was talking to me. I trusted in him. I was confident in the Lord and I didn't rely on my own insight or my own understanding because in my situations, there was no reason for me to do the things that I had chosen to do except for the Lord speaking to me, right? And we all want to get to this point. We all want to be following the Lord's instructions, not our own. In my example, with the poisonous bugs in the field, had I listened to my own reasoning about I don't want to walk on the side of the street, I don't want to walk on the side of the road where traffic was, I want to do what I want to do. And had I done what I wanted to do, I could have ended up in the hospital or possibly dead. So I know that there's value in listening to God, but I want you to know that knowing God's voice, listening to God's instructions is invaluable, especially during these times when just different things are happening. You need to desperately be wanting to hear God's voice and be wanting for him to direct your paths. So when you're in relationship with God, believe in the Lord, have faith in him, right? Just like it was saying in Proverbs 3, verses four to six, trust in the Lord with all your heart, right? We have to be confident in the Lord. You want to begin to know the Lord by studying his word, right? So when we study the word to understand who God and Jesus are and who they are not, we need to know who God is and who God is not. You need to have that understanding. So when the counterfeit come or you're listening to someone's telling you, let's say you're going to a church that's corrupt or a place that's and they're just speaking to you to get money out of you or to manipulate you in some way. And unfortunately, this is a reality during these days, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Okay? So study the word of God to understand who God is. Learn his voice by knowing his nature and character. You learn that by reading the word. Let's go to Philippians four, six to seven. It says in this verse, do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything by prayer and petition, definite requests with Thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. So we need to be talking to God. We know that God knows everything, but it's saying right here in Philippians four, make your requests known to God. So if you're trying to get results, but you have not petitioned the Lord, you want to make sure that you're following what the Bible says, not what I'm saying, but you look up these verses. That's why I'm giving you these verses. So you are following what the Lord is saying. We're going to go ahead to Habakkuk two, verse one to three. This is Habakkuk and he's talking to the Lord. He says, Oh, I know I have been rash to talk out plainly this way, God, I will, in my thinking, stand upon my post of observation and station myself on the tower or fortress and will watch to see what he will say within me and what answer I will make as his mouthpiece to the perplexities of my complaint against him. And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may be able to read it easily and quickly as he hastens by for the vision is yet for the appointed time. And it hastens to the end fulfillment. It will not receive or disappoint though it tarry wait earnestly for it because it will surely come. It will not be behind on its appointed day. So this is Habakkuk talking to the Lord. He's apologizing at the beginning of just speaking so rashly, but God is so gracious, gives him instructions, tells him to write it down to make it plain. Right. And he tells him that it will surely come to pass. So this is wonderful. And this is also something precious that you can take from the Bible because these are God's promises and you can use it for yourself. So we're going to go ahead and move on to the next part. And it's the importance of obedience. We're going to go to first Samuel 15 verse 22. This is Samuel the prophet and he's talking. Samuel said, has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams. So God wants us to obey him. So when God tells you to obey him, you are to obey him. But when he tells you to make a sacrifice and he's telling you that you want to make a sacrifice. So we want to always just be doing what the Lord is telling us to do. And it's much easier than us trying to figure things out. Right. We want to just listen to the Lord and we don't have to do anything else. And it makes life so much more easily. Right. Do exactly what the Lord tells you to do. Once you're used to hearing his voice and you know that it's him speaking to you, you can walk in obedience. Knowing God and being in relationship with the Lord is very important. We're going to go ahead and look at Psalms 119 verse 72. And this is David talking to the Lord. And he says to the Lord, the law from your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. So this is David's way of saying your word, O Lord is so precious to me. It's more precious than silver or gold. Can you imagine so many people are wanting money right now and there's nothing wrong with money. But when you know that God's more valuable than money and you can seek his face, nothing can replace God's word. Because like I had said in the beginning, God kept me from death multiple times and money couldn't have bought me out of that situation. Money couldn't have paid for me to know in advance that I was in danger. And this is why the value of God is more precious than silver and gold. So let's just go ahead and move on. So Jesus dies for our sins and he paid the price for your healing so that you may have life abundantly. So Jesus picked disciples simply because he wanted them to know their authority in Christ. The Lord wants the same thing for everyone today, for you, for me, for everyone who's listening, everyone on this earth. God wants that, right? But you must receive it. Study the word, hunger for the Lord. No one can do it for you. We can guide you, we can talk to you, we can pray for you, but it is you at the end of the day who has to do the work. You have to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. In Philippians 2 verse 12 to 15, this is exactly what it states. It's Jesus speaking to his disciples and he says, Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed my suggestions, so now not only with the enthusiasm that you would show in my presence, but much more because I am absent, work out, cultivate, carry out to the goal and fully complete your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling. Self-distrust with serious caution, tenderness of consciousness, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ. Not in your own strength, for it is God who is all the while effectively at work in you, energizing and creating in you the power and desire both to will and to work out for his good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. Do all of these things without grumbling and fault finding and complaining against God and questioning and doubting amongst yourselves. That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated children of God, without blemish, faultless, unrebukable, in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation, spiritually perverted and perverse, among who you are seen as bright lights, stars or beacons shining out clearly in the dark world. So we can see right here that God is giving us instruction. When we take heed to his word, when we're obedient, that we're seeking him, we're wanting to follow what he is saying, we're reading the word and right there, more instructions for us to follow. So we're seeing that the more we read the word, the more we're aware of who God is and what he wants us to do. So when we look around, there's no reason to say, God, what do you want me to do? Because when you're always in the word, he's always giving you instructions and when you're praying, God is constantly giving you a download. Let's discuss how to learn to be in Christ, to follow his instructions and not our own. So where are God's instructions located? These are just some of the topics that we're just going to go over really quickly. Where are God's instructions located? What are God's instructions and directions? How do we find the Lord? How do we know the Lord is talking to us? How can the Lord guide our lives? Well, for the first question, where are God's instructions? God's instructions are in the Bible. And the more that you read the Bible, the more that you grow in the Bible, you're going to learn to hear God's voice. And once you hear God's voice, you're also going to notice the Holy Spirit, which is the helper that God sent. The next question, what are God's instructions? God's instructions are all over the Bible. Like for example, in Exodus 20 verse 1 to 17, it's a list of the 10 commandments. That's something that you can read on your own time. Just dedicate yourself to reading the Bible daily so that you can find more and more instructions to guide you in life. We're going to go ahead to Hebrews 11 verse 1. So this is talking about faith and all the things that we mentioned before. And when we were talking about Proverbs 3, 5 to 6, trusting in the Lord, having faith, and we're reading the Bible, all of this is faith. And we desperately need faith on this journey with the Lord. And so I'm going to explain to you why we need faith and what faith is, right? So Hebrews 11, by faith we understand that the worlds during these successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose by the word of God so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible. So the word of God framed this world. Do we completely understand that right now? No. But if the word of God framed this world, that means the word of God framed us because we're in this world, right? We're a part of this world and everything that you look around at, God framed the world. God created this world. So that alone lets you know that the word is pretty powerful. And if that word of God framed the world that we're living in, the word of God can frame our lives so that we can have better outcomes and have life more abundantly. How do we find the Lord? In Jeremiah 29 verse 11, it says, for I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord. Thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil to give you hope in your final outcome. God wants to give you hope in your final outcome. Just like my examples at the beginning of this message that God gave me hope in my outcomes by telling me what to do. I surrendered to the Lord. I didn't lean on my own understanding. I acknowledged him in all my ways and he definitely helped me with my past, helped me with that section and it worked out for good. So in Jeremiah 29 verse 12, then you will call and require me as a vital necessity and find me when you search for me with all your heart. So I'm going to pause right there because God is giving us some pretty important things here. And sometimes when I'm just listening to just different things or even on my own journey, I didn't understand everything about the Lord, but the more you read, the more you learn. And as you're learning, you're understanding there's requirements here. There's things that God wants us to do, right? We learned about obedience. We're learning about trusting in the Lord. We're learning that he has a good outcome, but even here it says, then you will call upon me and you will come and pray to me. So God is saying there's actions that we have to do. We have to call upon him and we have to pray to him. He'll hear us and he'll take heed. So there are things that you have to do. Sometimes the image of God is, God, I just want money, make the money appear. And that's just an example of something that somebody would want. But we see here in everything, God has a plan and he has a purpose and he's working out everything. He's telling you how, just like in the example in the beginning where he told me what to do and how. Walk on the side of the traffic, do not walk on the pathway and under the trees. So we have to be obedient and we have to read his word to know that we have to call to him. It's us who takes an action and we need to be praying. We're not just sitting and existing, but we have to be reading his word daily and praying because it's a relationship. You're talking to God, God's talking to you. So verse 13, then you will seek me, inquire for, and require me as a vital necessity. So you need to be seeking God. You need to require him. That means you feel like you can't live without God. You need to know what he's saying at every moment, more than you're eating, more than you're breathing, more than you're sleeping, because things are going on and you need to hear God's voice. You need to be desperate for it. I can't be desperate for you. Your family members can't be desperate for you, but you need to be desperate for you. You need to seek God. You need to be fasting and praying and daily doing the work and doing what God told you to do. You notice in these verses, it says you will come and pray to me. You will call to me. You will seek me. You will inquire and require of me. God made it personal. He said you. He didn't say your mom. He didn't say Aunt Sally. He said you. You will require and need him. We're going to just start winding up here because this is a very important note to just start winding down on. There are things that we have to do. There's actions that we have to take. You're not going to know what to do if you're not reading the Bible. If you're not reading the Bible and you're not praying, then this is the process, right? You go to work. You get a job. They train you. They tell you what to do. They show you how to get the outcome, how you're going to get your paycheck. If you don't do those things at your job, where you're working, you're not going to get that paycheck. You're not going to get the results that you want, no matter how nice looking you are, no matter how perfect everyone thinks you are or how perfect they think you're for the job. If you're not doing the work, you're not going to get the results. Nothing is going to make that different except you following the instructions that are laid before you so that you can get the results. The thing is, somebody else can't do it for you. Many times in different situations, I know people have asked me to fast for them or to do certain things and they don't understand that fasting is so they die to their flesh. If I fast and I'm praying for them, I'm dying to my flesh so that I have communication with God and I can talk to God. But if they're not doing it, then they're the ones who are lacking discipline in their lives, lacking a prayer life, and lacking relationship with the Lord. And God doesn't want that. I mean, he sent his son here and he loves you guys and he wants more for you. But the question is, do you want more for yourself? So right now, I'm just going to pray for you guys. I just thank you, Lord, so much for just touching each and every person within the sound of my voice, God, that you would bless them, that you would uplift them. I pray that this message was encouraging so that they have God's instructions. They can begin to walk with the Lord and have relationships and be excited about meeting with the Lord early before the sun rises to spend time with him and to seek his face. Be blessed. Amen.