Summary: Being saved, or born again, is not the complicated action that many make it out to be. It say’s in Revelation 3:20, that the Lord stands at the door and knocks. All we really have to do is just open the door and receive Him into our hearts. Very simple! After that, it is our responsibility not to dwell at that initial salvation experience, but to keep exposing ourselves, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to what the Father wants us to become and to do. The purpose is actullay to become like Jesus.   Show Notes: When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and Jesus told him that he must be born again to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, he asked, “How can a person be born again?” That’s a question most people have in the beginning of their walk with God. Being born again is not logical to the human reasoning. The understanding only comes when you open up to salvation and His Spirit. Being saved, or born again, is not the end game. It’s just the beginning to becoming a mature son or daughter in the Lord, and it’s a lifetime process to become like Jesus. When we first get saved, or have an initial experience with the Father, it can be like going on a honeymoon with Him and it lights you up in your spirit. But the feeling can taper off after a while There really is no such thing in the Bible as a sinner’s prayer. All you actullay have to do is open up when He knocks on the door of your heart, and just receive Him in. After your salvation experience, at some point the enemy will try to convince you that you aren’t saved. That is the evidence that you are saved. We don’t have to be a professional at all to help guide someone to Jesus. All we have to do is encourage a person to receive Jesus into their heart. No big prayer or anything. This is happening so much in this season. If you don’t keep reaching into Him with the help of the Holy Spirit.   Quotes: Don’t try to justify with logic that which can only be attained and understood by faith. One is spiritual, the other is flesh. When you are born again, you are in the Kingdom. Actually, if we are alive and on the planet, we are in the Kingdom. We may not be connected through salvation by being born again, but the Kingdom of God is the domain under which God is the King. The evangelical church has made being born again the end game. If we are not careful, we get a lot of people saved, but we don’t get a lot of people established and in growing in their faith. We really make a point of that around here. When I was born again, I knew that something had happened. Because, when I would do something or say something that was out of the character of Jesus, I immediately knew it. And that’s a sensitive asset that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives, that helps guide us and connect us. Hopefully, we never lose that. No man comes to the Father unless the spirit draws him. The Spirit of God draws us to the Lord. We can either say yes or we can say no. You can’t find anywhere in the Bible that the 12 were even saved. They just began to walk with Jesus. All it takes is for you to just say, “Lord, I receive you into my life”. God is trusting the spiritual well being of these 8 billion people to you, and people like you. That’s a huge responsibility.   References: John 3:1-16 Revelation 3:20 Matthew 16:19   Takeaways: Being born again is not the end of the game for a Christian, but it’s just the first step in growing and maturing in God, so that we are able to have a close relationship with Him, and become like Him in our lives. It’s tragic for any Christian to just receive salvation, when there is so much to have and to be in God.

Summary: There are so many people who have accepted Christ into their hearts, but don’t attend church. Sometimes it is because of past bad experiences with church people. You can be a part of the Kingdom and not go to church, but if it is true that we are all compared to body parts, like Paul talked about in 1 Corinthians 12:12, aren’t we robbing the body of it’s wholeness if we don’t come together? Relationships become one of the focal points of His Kingdom because relationships are the adhesive that helps hold it all together. It’s so important to do all we can to maintain these relationships and not run away or break oneness when things get a little challenging at times. This holds true for both personal and church relationships.   Show Notes: Do you have to be in the church to get into the Kingdom of God? You don’t have to attend a church, or do anything. For leaders, to say that a person has to attend church automatically puts people who are doing fine into a bad place. We are encouraged in Hebrews to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. It’s important that we do come together, because there’s an exponential thing that happens. There’s a mindset out there that says, “I can find the Lord out in my deer blind, or at the fishing hole. I don’t need to go to church to do that”. I totally agree with that. You can. He’s everywhere. But some people just use that as an excuse for not showing up and going to church. If you get right down to that mindset, it’s selfish, because Christ refers to all of us as body parts. So, if you are a body part that’s not present when the body comes together, the body can’t totally function properly. How does the church and the kingdom relate to one another? The church is a facilitator: It’s the church’s responsibility to teach the Bible, the Word of God, and what it is saying. Its also responsible for presenting what God is still speaking in this present day. It’s to carry out the elements of the Kingdom, to teach and bring out the mysteries of the Kingdom. It’s a purveyor: It brings the good news about grace, the peace of God, the joy of the Lord, the power to overcome, and the intimacy of being in a relationship with the Lord It’s a distributor: The elements of the Kingdom are distributed to the people, to make the Gospel of the Kingdom simple and understandable, so that people who hear it can take it, understand it, sink their teeth into it, and find out how to work it into their lives, so that they can go teach it to others, as well. The Kingdom of God is relationships; first with the Father Himself, and then with one another. The more time you spend together, the more relational equity we have. If we trust one another, we are able to get down to the heart stuff. To help advance the Kingdom of God, give attention, time and prioritize your relationships. In relationships, problems usually arise at some point. So, we must make the relationship more important than the problem. It’s so important to submit to the process and, if necessary, get a mediator to help. To enter the Kingdom of God, you must be born again. That’s what Jesus told Nicodemus. If you are born again, you can see the kingdom through spiritual eyes, with the help of the Holy Spirit. When our hearts genuinely, authentically, want the will of God, it attracts the elements of God, His grace, and His favor.   Quotes: Most of the time, people have been hurt by church people. I don’t hear enough leaders talking about the body of Christ and their care, concern, and love for the whole body. That’s one of those things that has kind of been at the front of my mind all these years. People are looking for the perfect church. There is the perfect church for you, but when you get there, it’s not perfect, because it’s still full of imperfect people, myself included. But we are being perfected and conformed into the image of Jesus. Find somewhere that feels like home, where they’re teaching the Word. I think they need to be talking about the Kingdom some, and learning about the Kingdom. Some place where you’re encouraged to not just know about the Lord, but to actually know Him. That’s the key. That’s where the magic happens. That’s where you find your significance and your purpose in life. It’s in the relationship. If you make it a priority to hear Him, He will make sure that you do. He speaks through the still small voice, words of wisdom and knowledge, the prophetic word, tongues and interpretations, the elements, colors, and animals. I’m embarrassed that not enough believers, Christians, people in our own family here, that people will have a problem and they will turn and walk away and leave the relationship. God not only restores the relationship, but He makes it better and stronger.   References: Hebrews 10:25 Matthew 18:19-20 John 5:39 John 10:27 2 Timothy 2;2 John 3:1-21 John 6:44 Revelation 3:20   Takeaways: The Kingdom of God encompasses so much, and the church is an integral part of it. The church is a facilitator, a purveyor, and a distributor of all that God wants the world to have. Relationships are one of the main keys of what the kingdom is. They work like a glue to hold everything that God wants to do all together. Because relationships are so important, we shouldn’t cut and run when they get a little challenging, but rather do all we can do to maintain the relationships that God has given to us.

Summary: As we read through the New Testament, you can find many places where both John the Baptist and Jesus talked about the Kingdom of Heaven and it being at hand and it is within us. This is why the church needs to be putting much more emphasis on it. The church and the Kingdom are very intertwined. One of the parts of the kingdom message is how important it is that we open up and allow the Father to come in to our hearts, and how He uses trails and challenges to refine and purify our hearts to become like Jesus. That allows us to see our walk with God as more of an adventure rather than just walking through life.   Show Notes: The reason we are doing this Podcast is to help people along and get moving in their walk with the Lord. When you listen to this Podcast, there’s a whole team of people who help us with this project, who do both the audio editing and the show notes. Also, none of this could have happened without an unnamed benefactor and some credit to the family right here at Trinity Fellowship, who have helped us flesh this stuff out for almost 35 years.   So, how does the church and the kingdom relate together? The church is not the kingdom, but it’s included in the kingdom.   My uncle, Jack Taylor, said this years ago, “When God said, Let there be light, the light started going in every direction at the speed of light, and it hasn’t stopped since God said that”. So, if you can believe this, that’s the domain, the King’s domain of which He rules, and it is an ever expanding kingdom. All we can do right now is speculate a little bit.   We can teach on the kingdom from now on, and never exhaust the content. That’s the most profound, broad, vast subject that there is. Don’t complicate with logic that which can only be understood and attained by faith.   Trials and testings are such an important part of any Christian life. There is redeeming value in the trials, the problems, the roadblocks, and all those things you go through in your life, because those things really figure into us being conformed into the image of Jesus and being refined like gold. That’s God’s plan for us.   Eric Metaxas wrote a book entitled, “Letter to the American Church”. In it, he talked about all these challenges that we go through in life, the ups and downs of mountains and valleys and all that. He called it the Abrahamic adventure.   If we could look at all these ups and downs, challenges, heartbreaks, and those kinds of things as an adventure, rather than looking at all of this as a negative thing, it would change all our lives in a very profound way.   Quotes: The Kingdom of God should be at the forefront of the mind of leaders who are leading the churches in this season. I think it’s that important.   The church is the answer for every negative thing that we see in the world. It’s more important than just a counterculture, or where people go and get a spiritual touch.     It’s the church’s responsibility to offset the darkness that exists in the world, with the light that comes from Jesus. It’s the only organism on the whole planet that God has given the authority and the power to cooperate with Him and co-labor with Him as He establishes His kingdom of the earth.   I get asked all the time where in the Bible is that sinner’s prayer. It’s not there. And, you would think that a principle that we’ve built the whole evangelical Christian faith on, is praying a prayer that we don’t find anywhere in the Bible. It’s kind of interesting. All we really have to do is open the door of our heart, and allow Him to come in.   The kingdom is the new frontier. I believe that this generation has the golden opportunity to see the Kingdom of God manifest in a greater way than any generation prior to now.   Everyone I know right now is undergoing extreme testing. He doesn’t test our faith so He’ll know where we are in terms of our faith. He tests our faith so we can know where we are. It’s kind of like one of those signs in a mall that shows you right were you are.   References: Matthew 6:33 Matthew 16:18-19 Revelation 3:20 Genesis 12:1   Take Away: If we can open up to this, the Kingdom of God is probably the greatest adventure that we can ever live. The Kingdom is so close to us right now, and it’s so important that the whole church start to teach and live it the kingdom now, rather than putting it off to some future event.

Summary: There are so many Christians who accept Christ as their Savior and get born again, but end up not doing much with it. They don’t understand that salvation is just the start of the game, and not the end of the game. To be a real player in God’s Kingdom requires much teaching and training, even to be able to wear a uniform, let along play in the game. That’s why we are not only to be born again and be baptized in water, but also we are to hook up with a church where you can grow and become everything that God wants you to walk in. Don’t miss God’s Kingdom, thinking it’s off in the future. Open up to it’s fullness now, and walk it out.   Show Notes: Books that Andy Taylor has written: “Reading Your Bible for all it’s Worth”, which is a very good way to help someone to start to learn to read their Bible. Also: “The Best Kept Secrets in the Kingdom”, which talks about getting a relationship with the Father and spending some time with Him. Salvation is just a matter of receiving Jesus; “Lord, I receive you into my life”. That’s all that it takes. After that, the Bible encourages us to be baptized in water. You will be able to tell that something is different when you get born again. When you do get born again, you can enter in and see the Kingdom of God, and you start getting spiritual eyes to see how the Kingdom is manifesting right now in the world. True words from God should start resonating with your spirit about the past, your intellect, your mind and emotions, which touches something deep down inside of you. That’s what the Word of God does, especially when there’s the anointing of the Holy Spirit on that Word. So, how do you then find a church? “God has determined our pre-appointed times and the boundaries of our dwelling”. Where you go to church, where you hook up and connect, is really, really important. Find a church that preaches the Bible. It’s ultra important that the church is talking about not just what you do, but teaches you who you are in the Lord, and teaches you about the Father. One of the key things that causes people to come to church and stay in church is that they start building relationships. The Kingdom of God is Relationships. They are able to connect relationally. It has to feel like you fit, and it feels like home to you. The Bible says that we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. You should really feel that the people are being encouraged to be together often. It should be a place where you are able to find and move in your gifting. Find a church where people understand they are being equipped for the work of the ministry. That is how the whole body takes shape. It needs to be a church where they’re at least talking about, and helping people to understand the Kingdom of God. Look for a church where they love to worship. God is looking for those true worshipers who worship in spirit and truth.   Quotes: Nicodemus came to Jesus at night because he saw something in Jesus, that going through the religious motions didn’t do for Him. He saw a life. Jesus told Nicodemus, “you must be born again or you can’t see the Kingdom of God”. The first thing that has to happen if we are going to get in the game is to have that relationship with the Lord. If you have not made a decision to receive Jesus as your Savior, and then make Him the Lord of your life, that has to happen before any thing else can happen. So, you have to be born again. Look for a church that sounds like they’re speaking your language, it resonates with your spirit and it just feels right, which is your spirit agreeing with what’s going on there. You’ll know; it just bears witness with your spirit. If all these aspects of a church are coming together for you, then you roll your sleeves up and learn how your gifted. We find those things out by just doing and learning to do ministry. Look around and see where there is help needed and step in, volunteer and help in that spot. Finding where you are not gifted is as important as finding out how you are gifted. The Kingdom of God exists in its perfection, in its fullness, and its completion, but it’s not manifested in the natural realm, the realm we live in, until we are obedient to the Lord.   References: Acts 17:26 Matthew 6:33 Matthew 24:14   Takeaways: Get in the game and stop playing around on the fringes of what God is doing right now in His Kingdom. Open up to what God is doing right now, and stop putting this off, thinking that there will be a better time to get in the game down the way. The Kingdom of God is now!

Summary: It's easy to compare sports with God's kingdom. Alot of us start when we are young and, just like parents who encourage us and cheer us on, the Kingdom is full of people that do the same, to see us grow and become all that we can be in God. It's just getting off the bench and getting in the game that makes all of this start to happen.    Show Notes: There's a time that we have to get off the bench and get in the game, but many are afraid to step on the court or field, especially when it comes to doing any type of ministry. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers were given to the church to build up, edify, and for equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. It's the job of these five fold ministries to equip you to go out and do the ministry to God's people. We're all being equipped for the work of the ministry. Opportunties come up if we are looking for them. Just be ready for it and open to it. Being pushy and manipualitve dosen't work. That's not God's way at all. Nobody likes someone who tries to push Jesus on them. That's a bas look on the whole body of Christ. Ministry is best done through relationships. That makes it a lot easier. Then, when you do feel the spirit of God leading you to so that, put it out there. Something like, I believe that God can fix your problem."So, what's the next step for all of us? The first thing is to lean into a relationship with the Father. From His standpoint, it's always been about the relationship. "You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but you are not willing to come to Me, that you might really have life." The way that you get in the game is to build that relationship with the Lord. YOu have to give Him some time, and I would encourage, really encourage you, to get in the Word. The church will never be the true church until we recieve and understand this thing about being equipped for the work of the ministry.    Quotes: There's a stigma associated iwth the word "minisrty." People think about standing up on a stage, giving thier testimony, preaching a message or sonething like that. It's one of those things in the Bible Belt, where we are so used to those poeple...the pastor and a few elders, doing all the ministry and the rest of us just sitting around. We are all called to mnistry. I always had the thought in my mind that when I would go to church, hear things and would sit through messages on Sunday morning, I didn't know anything at that time, but I took notes and took notes. But from the jump go, I was always in the mode of being trained, being raised up, being equipped for something. We have the mentality that only a few are called to the ministry. That's not true. Accoursing to the Bible we are all called. And if we get that, then the ministry gets outside the church service, out there on the golf course, at your palce of business and those kinds of places. We are made by God to be sensitive and to recieve information, input, leadership from the Holy Spirit. So we need to take Him up on that and ask for people to be healed, to be set free, for marriages to be put back together, all those kind of things. Get in the game and find out how you are gifted, vecause there are ways that you are gifted and anointed. That's a supernatural endowment from God and that helps you go far beyond what you could do.  References: Ephesians 4:11   Takeaways: It's not nearly as hard to reach out and bless people in some way as you think it is. The queastion is, "will you?" But we all have to get off the bench at some point, start connecting with the Father and letting Him lead us by His spirit to move in our anointing to bless others and see them have an experience wiht the Lord.

Summary: Pride is a very ugly thing, especially when it attaches to those who feel like they have received a lot from the Lord, or have accomplished much in the name of the Lord. The only antidote for pride is to have a close relationship with the Father, where you are spending time together, both communicating and listening to what He is saying to you.   Show Notes: It’s so important for people, especially church leaders that are buying into and are hearing this, and are getting confirmation from the Lord, to make adjustments to facilitate what it is that God is doing. That is going to be a challenge for many churches. If you are submitting to this process of listening to the Lord and are spending time with the Father, it’s likely you will get challenged by the enemy, because he doesn’t want you to succeed. Spiritual warfare is not a myth. It is real, and we can’t be ignorant of satan’s devices. This isn’t just useful information, but it is something we are going to have to do. The Kingdom Cowboy Podcast promotes the gospel of the kingdom that the Bible talks about, which most churches are not focusing on. So, leaders need to be pressing in and finding out what the gospel of the Kingdom really is, which some consider to be the new frontier. Desperation and hunger for the word of God triggers God’s voice to you. He will take you seriously at that point. We will be so desperate to hear God’s voice that He will start speaking to us, which He wants to do so badly. When you start growing in the Lord, it’s easy to start taking some of the credit, especially when you start getting compliments. If you point that immediately right onto the Lord, that’s one of the safeguards. True spiritual pride is the worst kind of pride. It’s like having bad breath; everyone knows you have it except you, and it’s ugly. God disciplines us, even though it can be painful at times, so we aren’t so prone to buy into pride and the consequences that follow. When it comes to pride, the Holy Spirit is faithful to point that out to you if you will let Him. When you do hear those things from the Holy Spirit that need to be adjusted or tweaked, then by faith, with the Holy Spirit’s help, let God touch your heart about those things. The Pharisees were great examples of pride, because they were “doing” the law, and that caused them to be prideful and puffed up.   Quotes: The Awakening is actually here, and it’s happening right now. So, the church in America should be adjusting, as no longer “business as usual”. God has a plan, and He’s working that plan. So, start paying attention to what is happening in your heart and what you are hearing from the Lord. Ask the Lord to show you what you need to do about this Awakening. The enemy knows how to attack and the only guarantee for us to not get swayed, and not get sucked in, is to walk in the spirit. You can do this. You’re geared to do this. You just have to train yourself to do it. You have the benefit of the Holy Spirit helping you, so just pay attention to what God is doing in you individually. People who are at greatest risk for pride are the people who are deepening in their relationship with the Lord and have made that the most important thing in their life. When you start communing, listening and interacting with God, then you light up on the enemy’s radar. And, when you get your focus on the Awakening, then you have become a threat to him. Jesus came to restore the relationship with God that Adam and Eve had in the garden before sin ever entered to picture.   References: Proverbs 3:5-6 Proverbs 16:18   Takeaways: It’s much easier to humble yourself than have the Lord humbling you. You will find that pride is one of your worst enemies, especially as you start to grow and mature in the Lord. The only way to avoid it’s trappings is to stay close in a relationship with the Father, and pay attention to what He is speaking and showing you.

Summary: So many Christians today are focused more on what they know conceptually, rather than what they have actually experienced in a real relationship with God, the Father. That’s why God puts us through trials and testing (if we allow Him to), to form us, shape us and perfect us into our true identity in Him. The big questions are, how badly do we want this relationship with Him? And, how deeply are we going to allow Him to work this within us? If the answer is “YES”, start paying attention to where you are spiritually and start submitting to the process.   Show Notes: There are many indicators concerning the Awakening happening, if you are aware of them, such as many people coming to the Lord, and many salvation's in our house, our neighborhood, this region and in the world. Things are happening in third world countries, even at a greater rate than in America. That is embarrassing, because America is founded on Christian values. God is after our heart. He won’t take it. It must be given to Him willingly. So, the safest and most productive thing you can do right now is to open the door of your heart and say, “Lord, have at it”. We are being conformed into the image of Jesus, both individually and corporately as the Body of Christ is shaping up, which is this Awakening. Everything is being shaken; the financial system, political system, school system, education, business and commerce, but it’s not a thing to be discouraged about. Start looking with kingdom eyes, because God is causing a lot of this to happen. Christians are so used to letting others do their thinking for them, and just taking things as they come. That’s why we have to shake ourselves of our passivity and go to the Father for His understanding of what is happening. Jesus is standing at our door and knocking, but we have to get up and let Him in. God is very serious about perfecting His bride, which we are becoming. Judgment, change and repentance all start at the house of God, and that starts with its leaders. As we grow in God, it is easy for an element of pride to creep into our spirits. That’s why spending true time with the Father becomes such a safeguard for us.You never have to stand in line with Him. He always has the time for you. It’s not what He tells you or shows you. The prize is actually HIM.   Quotes: Since 1984, I have believed that there was a time coming where the church would be as powerful and as full of agape, unconditional love as what I have seen depicted in the Bible. Now, I’m starting to see the Kingdom of God emerge at a level like I’ve never seen before. If the true church doesn’t rise up, and rise up quickly, the human race is in for some dark times. Four years ago, I wasn’t hearing about the Awakening from anybody. Now we’re hearing it and it’s happening all over, and you don’t have to be extremely spiritual to pick up on it. The Awakening is here, but the church is asleep, so it’s time to wake up and pay attention to what God is doing and saying to your own heart. There is a trend where a lot of people are going through some of the hardest things they’ve ever been through in their life. God is dealing with our imperfections and our inconsistencies to mature us in Him. If we submit to the process, it shortens the duration of the test. “Count it all joy, when you fall into various trials”. These hard things that we go through in life are designed by God to perfect us by revealing our strengths and weaknesses.   References: Hebrews 12:27      1 Peter 4:17      John 1416 Philippians 2:5       James 1:2         Philippians 3:13 Revelation 3:20     John 3:20         Romans 8:28   Takeaways:   God wants to shape us and form us into the image of His Son. He uses trials and tests to make this happen, if we are willing to open our hearts to His perfecting process. The actual prize in all in this is not what He shows us or what He speaks to us. The actual prize is Him, and the enjoyment of just being with Him.

Summary: It is really important that the church wakes up to what God wants to bring on the earth at this time. The Awakening is happening now, just like what happened when Jesus came on the scene with the religious organization of that day. We can all be partakers of this Awakening, but we must shake off the old traditions that have been holding us back. It’s through our opening up to being born again and being baptized that we are able to see, and start experiencing, this new Awakening and the Kingdom of God that is springing forth on the earth.   Show Notes: The church should be a moving, changing, evolving organism, but unless a church has apostolic influence somewhere along the way, they’ll set up camp, and that’s where they will stay. That’s who they will be. That’s why we need the five fold ministry operating. We baptized more people in 2023 than we had probably baptized in any 5-6 year stretch. Other churches in our area are experiencing the same thing. That is one of the big signs of people coming into the Kingdom of God. Tradition is not a bad thing unless it’s standing in the way of what God wants to do. For instance, in Jesus’s day, religious tradition wasn’t just a bad thing, it was the most evil thing there was. It was what was hindering Jesus from doing what He was supposed to do. In baptism, we identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. We go under that water immersed, and we come out of the water to a new life. So, water baptism is really important. John baptized with water, but Jesus baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Awakening is not here in it’s fullness yet. It’s going to depend on what the church does with it. So Leaders, wake up, get your focus on the Lord, and listen up. At that point, He’ll give you instructions and what, how, when, and who, and all that, to do in your house. It’s going to look different everywhere.   Quotes: The ministry of the apostle sees where the church needs to go and has a good understanding of where the church is now; and then God gives practical steps on how we get from where we are to where we’re going. Sometimes it takes a real blast of some kind to get the church off high center, but I think that’s happening in today’s church atmosphere. There’s one church. We are all part of it in Christ. There’s neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male or female; and we can carry that on to Baptist or Pentecostal. So, we are all one in Christ. If you want God to do something in your church, first off, let Him start to do something in you. And if everybody will do that, then this Awakening won’t be just one or two people. It’ll be that whole body of Christ. God wants the Awakening to last all the way until Jesus comes back, but it depends on what the church does with it. So the church has to come out of its traditional mindset, elements of tradition that is keeping us from being what God wants us to be. The Word says to believe and be baptized. That was what signified someone who had made a decision in their heart to trust and follow Jesus, so the first step of obedience that we take is to be baptized. The Awakening is God moving on the hearts and spirits of mankind. Your purpose and your life wont’ be fulfilled until you lock onto what God’s purpose for your life is.   References: Galatians 3:28 Acts 1:5   Takeaways: The Awakening and the Kingdom of God are coming forth, whether we are aware of it or not. That’s why it is so important for the spiritual leaders of this day to wake up and get focused, so that they are able to bring their groups into this new day that the Lord wants to bring now.

Summary: This teaching on the Awakening is both practical and simple. It is bound to bring changes to what the church has been used to doing for so long, and none of us should miss it. Therefore, the church, especially its leaders, must wake up, or the churches they are pastoring and leading could very well miss what God wants to do in this hour.   Show Notes: The Lord has given Andy the ability to speak to a group where everyone in the group feels like he is talking directly to them. This podcast series starts out with just two people talking, and then is handed off to others who have different roles to help produce this, but if there is anything good about this podcast, it’s the Holy Spirit doing that. We all are gifted in different ways and it’s up to each of us to figure that out, so we can find our place and how we fit into the whole body. There are so many folks around who can throw a lot of stuff out there that is so deep spiritually that no one can understand, but the Lord spoke this recently, “I’m about to bring the prominence to simplicity that it has always deserved”. When asked if the church is ready, I have to say, “NO, not even close”. But it seems to be coming closer.   Quotes: When I read the word, study the word, when I hear someone else teach or preach, it needs to be practical, something that people can sink their teeth into and then find an easy way to apply that to their lives. The Lord has given me a gift of simplicity, to take something pretty complex and break it down and make it simple. I want to be a good steward of what God has gifted me in, and allow the Lord to use that. In my time with the Lord, I’m just saying, “God, I don’t know anything”. I’ve learned a lot, but I don’t know how to get us to the next place, to the next level, to the next juncture. It’s got to be the Lord and we have to be desperate for that. Is the church ready for this Awakening that’s here? The Lord showed me that the church is asleep. I’ve spoken to groups outside of here about the Awakening, but it’s almost like it falls on deaf ears sometimes, because the church in America, and maybe around the world, is stuck in doing the same things that we’ve always done. I’m not criticizing, but now’s the time to change what we are doing. God always does it with unlikely people and unlikely groups. God loves to use the unqualified to do the impossible. We are just living proof.   Takeaways: God wants to bring about new ways of thinking and new ways of doing things. A good portion of the church worldwide is not readily getting that, because they are too used to doing things the way they always have. God is using the message of the Awakening to literally wake up the worldwide church to what He wants to accomplish now, and not put it off for some future time.

Summary:   The church is not just a building. “The church is an ever changing, ever evolving, supernatural, called out and victorious kingdom family of like minded believers in Jesus, working together and known for their love for one another, bonded together by the common thread of agape love and the unity of the Holy Spirit, who are commissioned and empowered by the Father with the authority to propagate and spread the good news by communicating and demonstrating signs and wonders to the world, and to carry out the perfect will of Jesus, to co-labor with Him as He establishes His Kingdom in the earth”. It is the Body of Christ, a many membered organism that carries out the full will of the Father.     Show Notes:   The most important question to ever be imposed to anyone is, “Who do you say Jesus is?” Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus’ reply was, “And on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”. God’s method of building the church is to build it through people. When we are talking about the Kingdom of God and about the Awakening, we are talking about an emergence of all these conditions that we see in the world, both the negative side and the positive side. But you have to look with spiritual eyes to see what He’s doing. Many people are wishing that Jesus would get down here and rapture us out. That may happen, which could be wonderful, but then we would miss spiritually what I believe is happening right now, and what has been escalating for the last few years. At times, the church as it is now has hurt people and has not been the beacon of agape love that it is supposed to be. The legalism has made people feel like they couldn’t measure up to other’s expectations.   Quotes:   The Church is the body of Christ. It’s a many membered organism that carries out the full will of the Father, just like Jesus. We are the body of Christ, His hands and His feet. Jesus said that by God’s own design, He won’t reach over the church today, or anytime, and do what He’s given the church the authority and power to do. The church is not the kingdom, but the church is responsible for cooperating with God and Jesus to see the Kingdom come. The Bible never once refers to the church as a destination, a building or anything like that. In fact, after the day of Pentecost, it was 300 years before there was actually a building known as the church building. It’s always been about the people. For the guy who says, “I don’t need the church. I can be out on the pond with my fishing pole or out in the woods and that’s my church.” If that’s your mindset, if that’s your opinion about how that works, then it’s totally selfish, because you’re denying the fact that you are handpicked for this generation. There’s no biblical reference for living the Christian life outside the community of believers. That’s why the church is that important. There is a community, somewhere, of believers that God wants you to be a part of, where you begin to find your place, your area of gifting and anointing.   References:   Matthew 16:13-18 Acts 2 Ephesians 4:12 1 Kings 19:18   Takeaways:   The true church is the Body of Christ. It has been charged with cooperating with the Father and Jesus, to help bring about God’s Kingdom. The church is not a place, but it’s a body of people who want to bring forth all that God wants to do and accomplish here on earth. And, today, it is in the process of coming forth.

Summary:   The Awakening and the Kingdom of God already exist and are moving, but it takes a real spiritual awareness to see it manifesting in the earth at this time. As God’s people, all it takes is a desire and an obedience to see it start happening more every day. When Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray, He was loosing His Kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. That means we don’t have to wait until we die to experience it, but we can start experiencing it right now, here in the earth.     Show Notes:   In Andy’s book, The Best Kept Secrets of the Kingdom, he brings out 20 keys that will help to get a realization of the Awakening and what it’s about. This book was written with the regular guy in mind, with short chapters that can easily be read in a short time. The Awakening is happening at this very moment. If we are in tune with things that God is bringing (things like the Damar Hamlin situation on the football field, the Asbury Kentucky gathering, and the Michigan Wolverine football team- where 70 players got baptized this last year), we can begin to see that there is so much more to come as this Awakening progresses. What is happening in India and Iran looks different that what we are seeing in America. Preparation on our part is so important at this time, because the Kingdom of God is coming with you, or without you. Everything is changing, and that’s hard for people who are in a religious mode. Today is just like what happened when Jesus was alive here on earth. The religious people were stuck in their traditions, and Jesus was bringing change. When God starts to talk to you about the Awakening and the Kingdom, lean into it.     Quotes:   The Church is going to be a glorious organism (not an organization), which will have the answers for all of the negative things that we see our in the world right now. The Kingdom of God already exists in its fullness and perfection, but it hasn’t completely manifested, or emerged into the natural realm. Every time we forgive someone, pray for someone, or every little thing you do, the Kingdom of God is manifested in the earth. As we give God access to our heart, He begins to do the work that needs to be done. He is conforming us into the image of Jesus. The Body of Christ is never going to be what it is supposed to be, until all of us find our place in the body and function there. When we do that, there’s a supernatural anointing on us that’s above and beyond anything that we can do. The Church is not the Kingdom, the Church is the facilitator of the Kingdom.       References:   Matthew 6:33 Revelations 3:20 Ephesians 4:11 Matthew 16:18     Takeaways:   God is moving and manifesting His Kingdom on earth right at this moment. However, as His people, we need to wake up and start connecting with the Father to be able to see it and start experiencing it right now.

Summary:   God the Father wants so much to talk to us, but we have to have a real desire to hear what He is speaking. It takes time and a discipline to slow down long enough to connect with Him and learn how to enjoy His presence. In this podcast, we have been given some really practical steps on how to come into His presence, eliminate the distractions that come to keep us from hearing Him, and discover that it’s not the answers that He has for us, or the things we think we need from Him. The greatest discovery comes when we come to the realization that He, God our Father, is the real prize, that He is all we really need.     Show Notes:   We think it’s important that you hear the Lord, and there are a lot of practical things presented here that we can do to get our hearts and minds into a place where we can hear Him well. The rule of 100 (this stands for 100 hours divided by the number of days in a year, which comes out to be 18 minutes per day) was devised to help all of us focus on a particular discipline to improve our skill. This really holds true when we are seeking the Father to hear Him speak to us. Distractions are the biggest hurdle we experience when trying to hear the Father speak to us, such as our phone or our watch. When either of them ring, your mind automatically turns to them. Here are some practical things to do when trying to hear God speak to us. Make it a priority in your life. Practice gratitude.  A great starting place is to leave your phone and/or watch in another room when waiting on the Lord. Keep a note pad close, to jot down things that you think God is saying to you.  This is something that you have to want to do, because you have to take the time to do it. If this becomes a desire and drive for you, when you start to get a taste of Him you will want more. Because of our desire to hear from the Father and all that God is beginning to do in the world, the enemy sees the move of God escalating, emerging and growing, so he will do all he can do to distract us. It’s so important for us not to fall for his tactics of distraction. Hebrews 12:27 refers to everything that can be shaken will be shaken. So, when we see Him shaking the financial system, banking system, school system, and human system, then we are not moved by it.     Quotes:   If you spend 100 hours a year working on a particular discipline by practicing it 18 minutes per day, you will be within the top five or 10% of people in the world with that knowledge and understanding. If you are not hearing the Lord, the chances are pretty high that the problem is not on His end. Most of us have gotten pretty good at hearing the Lord on the run as we go through our day, but there’s so much to be said for taking a time where it’s just designated for hearing the Lord. Any good communication is two way; talking and listening. I have learned that to listen has been more beneficial to me than the things I need to ask for. When we spend time with the Father, it’s not the thing that the Father gives, does, or says. The real prize is His presence. There is a shaking going on right now and at the same time, there is an awakening. Think about what happened with Damar Hamlin at a Buffalo Bills game in the NFL. Another one is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that happened at Asbury College in Kentucky.     References:   Psalms 100:4 Isaiah 5:20 Hebrews 12:27     Takeaways:   We are discovering that it’s not what God can do for us, or the things that we think He wants to talk to us about. The testings and discipline that He puts us through, and the time that is required to eliminate the distractions so that we can really connect with Him, are to create the bottom line. The bottom line is that we discover that God Himself is all that we really wanted all along; to be with Him and to just enjoy His presence.

Summary: God, our Father, has a great desire to talk to us and commune with us. The problem for us is getting to a place where we are able to hear Him. This podcast is geared to help us get to that place, by using simple tools like the Calm App to teach us how to get past and/or eliminate distractions that keep us from really hearing what He has to say to us.     Show Notes: God speaks in all kinds of ways, if we can get our receptors out there and pay attention. The key to this is putting a real priority and a high value on hearing the Lord. When you start listening to these people talking about health, fitness and nutrition, so many of these folks put a pretty high value on meditation to help you into those disciplines. And we aren’t talking about Transcendental Meditation, spirit guides, or those kinds of things. Meditation has gotten a bad reputation among Christians, because of these Eastern philosophies, but it is spoken of at least 20 times in the Bible. Using the keys on the Calm App helps you get mindful and helps you to get in the moment. If you set some time aside to get with the Father, don’t you think it’s important enough to do all you can to eliminate distractions, like your phone, watch, or other things that tend to pull your attention away from Him? The Calm App takes you through different steps, like deep breathing and relaxation by focusing on different parts of your body, which helps us on how to discipline our mind and deal with stress, so that a lot of these distractions can be eliminated. The Calm App also guides you in your meditations by using calm music like ocean waves.     Quotes: What we are going to talk about today are distractions that will cause you to miss some of the biggest things that you could have for your life. It’s not hard to hear the Lord, but a lot of people struggle with just the thought of that. First off, make it a priority to get your heart and mind into a good place when you are going to take this time to spend with the Lord. It’s just possible that what the Lord wants to speak to you is more important than your Instagram, your Snap Chat, or your Facebook feed. So, those things are really, really distracting. Do you want to sit and talk to the Father, or do you want that time with other people?     References: 1 Peter 5:8     Takeaways: This podcast offers some great tools to help us when we are trying to spend time hearing from the Lord. It really points out how much distractions can rob us from getting into a place where we are able to hear Him and what He wants to speak to us. The enemy uses distractions against us. Because of that, we have to make it a real priority and have a drive to push those distractions out of the way, so that we can be successful in our walk with Him.

Summary: When it seems like God has withdrawn from us or is being silent with us, it is seldom because He is mad at us or that we have done something wrong. As we get deeper into our relationship with Him, He starts speaking to us in various ways. But when we go through a time of not feeling His presence or hearing His voice, we can start to get very introspective. It is likely that God just wants you to get closer to Him by spending time with Him and/or spending more time in the written word (the Bible). We all have to remember that the most important thing is not what God says to us or what He gives to us. The most important thing is HIM, and just enjoying His presence, being with Him.   Show Notes: When we start entering into a relationship with God, He wants to speak and commune with us in many different ways. A lot of Christians tend to experience a small still voice when God speaks to them. It is a voice that you hear in your heart and mind, but you don’t hear it with your natural ear. There are, however, some people who do actually hear the audible voice of God. When it seems like God is silent toward you at times, it is so easy to think that you have done something wrong, and are being punished for it. In most cases, that is not true at all. When you are in a time of not hearing God that much, it’s so easy to think that you have to get busy and do something, when all the time God just wants you to stop and just enjoy His presence. Asking God when you really, really need to know something isn’t bad, but you might find that when you go to the Lord without an agenda, and you are not there for anything, your list of wants and needs greatly decreases. “I’m just here for You, Lord”.   Quotes: The average person out there who doesn’t go to church, when they hear someone talking about hearing God, they can automatically think that the one talking is hearing the audible voice of God. Sometimes God will withdraw the tangible evidence of His presence and His voice to cause you to draw closer to Him. Let’s not forget that God does speak to us through the written word, and maybe that silence is to drive us back to the Word, back to the Bible. As we grow and deepen in our relationship with the Father, these are some of the things that we begin to understand, that even if we have messed up, He still wants to talk to us.   References: Hebrews 13:5 John 11:27 Isaiah 55:8-9 Romans 12:1   Takeaways: As we grow in our relationship with the Father, we start to sense Him and hear Him more. We get used to feeling Him close to us, but there are times when He seems to withdraw His presence and His voice from us. When this happens to us, it is natural to think that you have done something wrong, or made God mad you in some way. Most of the time, that’s not the case at all. In most cases, God is just pulling us into a deeper place with Him, and is wanting for us to press into the written word (the Bible) more.

Summary:   God created everything for one simple reason; to have a people that He can love, commune and talk with, and have a close relationship with. There has never been a more important time than now to develop a relationship with the Father and learn His voice. Having a drive to be close to Him and making it a priority in our lives makes God happier than any of us can understand at this point.     Show Notes:   It’s so important to make it a priority if we want to hear God. The secret is getting in the mode of listening for Him to speak to you. The first thing I always tell people on the subject of hearing God is to learn to relate to God as Father, which sets everything else in proper perspective. The love that the Father has for us and the relationship that He wants to have with us is probably the very most important thing in life. God loves it when you take the time to be with Him and come without an agenda. That allows the Lord to tell you what your agenda should really be. That’s hard for some people, because they have all these things that they really feel like they need to hear the Lord on. There’s coming a time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken. That’s why now it more important than ever to get a close relationship with the Father, and learn to hear His voice and what He wants to speak to you in this season that we are in spiritually.     Quotes:   “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. So that just says that the sustenance for our life really comes from the things that God says. I’ve been on a mission to help people know that they can hear God. I think you can make trying to hear God too hard. It’s really pretty simple. One of the most important things is to stay in the mode. I’m a huge proponent of taking time where it’s just you and Him, but we can also hear God on the run, in our daily lives. I told the Lord recently while waiting on Him that He always shows up. In a still small voice He told me, “I never show up. I’m always here. You’re the one who shows up”. There’s never a time that God doesn’t have time for you. Anytime you want to get together and spend time with the Lord, He’s always game for it. There’s never a bad time for it. It’s always a good time.     References:   Matthew 4:4 John 6:44 Romans 3:23 Romans 6:23     Take Away:   There has never been a more important time than now to develop a relationship with the Father and learn His voice. All that God created boils down to one thing; that He have a people that He can love, can commune and talk with, and have a close relationship with.

Summary:   Coming into an ability to hear what God wants to say to us should be one of the greatest things we ever reach into the Father for. Any good conversation should be two sided. Always talking and never listening won’t get you very far in your walk with God. It’s not our pastor’s or shepherd’s responsibility to go and get a word from God for us. We have to develop an ability to hear from Him for ourselves, and the directions He wants us to take.       Show Notes:   We are encouraged to pray to the Lord, but we need to also listen. Listening is a tough skill to learn. A good conversation should always be two sided. It’s natural for people to want their opinions heard, so they tend to talk over others. But when you’re listening to the Lord, who are we, to talk over Him? One of the biggest challenges when trying to hear God are distractions and how to deal with them. As we keep reaching in to hear Him, the blessings, favor and power of God start to come through. A key to help you with these distractions is worship. Just start telling the Lord that you love Him, praising Him and showing Him adoration, which calibrates your heart and lifts you up into a better place. Andy learned early on as a shepherd to encourage people, especially younger ones, who expected him to tell them what to do concerning situations, to go to the Father themselves for their direction, rather than having him tell them. This caused them to connect and interact with the Father.   Quotes:   I believe there’s a steady flow of information pertaining to us, about us, coming from the throne of God all the time. So we need to learn how to get into a place where we can hear that. When you start to hear the Lord and see the blessing, favor and power of God in the things that He says, it really helps. We learn through repetition and leaning into that relationship with Him. We learn the sound of His voice and the ways He speaks to us. It’s learned behavior. People think that the holy guy, the pastor, the shepherd, apostle, prophet, or evangelist is the one who is supposed to hear God. My responsibility is to tell you that you can hear God as well as I can. God would rather talk to you about you than He would like to talk to someone else about you, which makes sense from just a purely logical position.   References:   Hebrews 13:5         Take Away:   It’s not the responsibility of your pastor or shepherd to go to God for direction for your life; it’s your responsibility to hear God and to know what He wants you to do, and where He wants you to go. To do this, you have to learn to listen for His voice and allow Him to speak to you, as you commune with Him. Being able to hear His voice is one of the most treasured things you can ever have from the Father.

Summary:   God longs to have sons and daughters that He can commune with, who can be functional contributors to what He wants to bring forth. He is doing everything He can to draw us in close enough so we can hear Him speak to us. There are many ways that He speaks, and it so very important that we take the time and stay close enough to Him to hear Him. The problem is not whether God is speaking or not, it’s whether we are listening or not.       Show Notes:   Andy’s book, “Reading The Bible For All It’s Worth”, is written in bite-sized format, with each chapter being three to four pages long. You can read very few pages and get little keys to help yourself understand the word. This is important because you’re not going to enjoy the Bible if you don’t understand it. Andy recommends the New Kings James Version of the Bible because it’s easier to read than the King James Version, but he found it to be really, really true and close to the King James Version. It’s so very important that we understand that God wants to speak to us and He communicates to us in a wide, wide variety of ways. The more you make it a priority to hear God, the more it will happen. Going to the Father with no agenda is so much better than going to Him with a long list of things you want Him to do. Rather, just come in and say, “Here I am, Lord”. God tells us everything that we need to know, in precise timing. Andy suggests that we should approach our time with the Lord that way. There are times when God, even though He is always with us, seems to get lost for a season where you don’t feel Him. By doing that, He helps us to draw closer to Him.   Quotes   If you stop and think about it and boil it down to the simplest element, it’s your relationship with the Father. God is what He is, but Father is who He is. Knowing He is Father is not the same as knowing Him as Father. Dads want to talk to their kids, they want to communicate. I believe there’s a steady flow of information from the throne of God, from God toward us, about us, and to us all the time. So I get tuned in, get into the Spirit, pay attention, and start learning the ways that God speaks to me. This could be the greatest move of God that there’s ever going to be, and, you know, time will prove whether we’re right about that or not. The worst thing that can happen in our household is if that doesn’t happen. To me, if it doesn’t, our people just got over prepared. People who pray hear God better than people who don’t. Recently I said to the Lord, “You always show up”, and He said in a still small voice, “I never show up. I’m always here. You are the one that showed up”. Sometimes people are not hearing what God is saying because He’s not saying what they want Him to say. We have to understand that everything that God says to us brings life.   References:   Matthew 6:5-6 John 10:27       Take Away:   The Father is doing everything He can to draw is in close enough so we can hear Him speak to us. There are many ways that He speaks, and it so very important that we take the time and stay close enough to Him to hear Him. The problem is not whether God is speaking or not, it’s whether we are listening or not.

Summary:   It’s through being born again, reading the Bible, allowing the Holy Spirit to come along- side as our helper, and using the measure of faith that God has given, that we are able to grow, become mature in the Lord and find our significance in the Body of Christ. For most of us, it’s not being religious about reading the word, but it’s about enjoying what we are reading that makes us reach in for more.     Show Notes:   Andy talks about the first book that he wrote, Reading Your Bible For All It’s Worth. Most people prefer to read books with shorter chapters so they can feel some sense of finality without having to read 25 to 35 pages to get there. Most of us really want to hear from God, and one of the key ways is through reading the Bible. To be able to understand the Bible, it’s very important that you be born again. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and starts to give us the mind of Christ, because the Spirit of God lives in us. He’s always there to help and comes along side of us. We all have been given the same measure of faith, the same measure of faith that Billy Graham has. It’s whatever you do with that faith that dictates whether it grows, or whether it lays there dormant. You have to use it or it has no effect in your life. Quotes:   God’s gifted all of us in certain ways. One of the ways God has gifted me is to take some pretty complex scriptural issues and make them really, really simple. So that’s what I’ve done in the book. So my book, Reading Your Bible For All It’s Worth, has no chapter more than three to four pages, so you can pick it up anywhere, thumb through it and find a tip that will help you. People are not going to read their Bible if they don’t enjoy it. If we are going to find our significance and find our place where we can function in the Kingdom of God, we have to get into the word until the word gets into us. When we get this awareness brought on by the Holy Spirit that we need to be born again, then it’s a simple matter of just receiving it. Most people have a spot in their life where they really felt like God drew them. No man comes to the Father, unless He draws him. It’s not our doing, it is the Father’s doing through Jesus with the help of the Spirit. All we have to do is just cooperate with the plan of God. References:   Romans 12:3 Romans 10:17     Take Away:   “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). It’s only by us enjoying God’s word and desiring to grow and become what it says, are we going to mature and find our place to function in the Body of Christ.

Summary: Learning to read and grasping an understanding of the Bible opens up that ability to start hearing God’s voice, the reality of becoming one of God’s sons and coming to know God as Father, and not just about Him. So you can see how the Bible becomes the gateway to just about everything that God has for us.   Show Notes: • Andy explains how he started reading the Bible. • He prefers the book of John as a starting place because it refers quite a bit more regarding the Father than the other three gospels. • Andy has made hearing from God a huge priority for many years. • He encourages beginners to not to read a lot at one time. Better to read just a chapter at a time. • We are encouraged to meditate at times on the word, in that you just read to let it sink in a little. • Understanding that God is Father and starting to relate to Him as such sets every other thing, both spiritual, and non spiritual in perfect perspective.   Quotes: • After being asked questions, I’d look in the Bible, I’d look, look, look, look, look. That’s how I learned my way around the Bible. • I think it’s really, really important that you get an early-on understanding of grace and the new covenant is that you start in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but first in the book of John. John refers to the Father quite a bit more. • All scripture is given by inspiration from God. • I’ve never heard the audible voice of God, but that’s not the only way that God speaks. He’s got all kinds of ways of speaking to us. And one of the key ways is the word of God. • The word says that the Holy Spirit is our teacher. And He lives in us. He quickens and makes alive the words that we read • Prepare your heart, get in the moment and deal with the distractions. • When we hear God, you gotta at least assume that there’s more to it than what you first understand. • Learning to come into our sonship is one of the key elements of the Kingdom life. • A key thing in the kingdom life is learning that we’re a handpicked son, which is not gender specific.• A key thing in the kingdom life is learning that we’re a handpicked son, which is not gender specific.   References: Book by Dallas Willard, “Developing a Conversational Relationship with God”. Romans 8:14 Acts 17:26 Galatians 4:6   Take Away: Learning to read and grasping an understanding of the Bible opens up that ability to start hearing God’s voice, the reality of becoming one of God’s sons and coming to know God as Father, and not just about Him

Summary:   It’s having a relationship where you start to hear the voice of God, and the many ways that the Father can speak to you. It’s so important to set aside quiet time, where it’s just you and Him. There is no substitute for getting to know the Father through spending time with Him, to learn His voice.     Show Notes:   When we should make it a priority to spend time with the Lord. It’s just making time with Him and focusing on Him with no agenda. When starting out having quiet times with the Father, it better to do it in short increments of time, where you can really focus on Him. The more you practice these things, the easier it gets to get past the distractions and really focus on the Father. In Philippians 4:8, it talks about meditating on things that are pure, lovely, noble right, admirable and excellent. God can and does speak to us in so many different ways in including our circumstances, audibly, dreams, and visions,a word of wisdom and knowledge, but the two that stand out are that a small still voice and through God’s written Word. When starting to read the Bible, you don’t have to read a lot. Find a place with some words that Jesus spoke would be great.   Quotes:   I don’t have a certain set time or day that I spend time with Him, but I do have some times during the week, several times during the week. If we experience nothing more than His presence when spending time with the Father, that’s enough. When reading the word, start with some of the words of Jesus would be great. It’s always just you and Him. That’s the kind of commitment that God has made with us. And He’ll never leave us nor forsake us... Don’t over try. Meditate, think and get in the moment and just listen. It’s simple.   References:   Philippians 4:8 Hebrews 13:5-6 Matthew 24:24 Proverbs 3:5       Take Away:   God is always here with us. It’s up to each of us to give Him time where He can speak to us and guide us every day. There is no substitute for getting to know the Father through spending time with Him, to learn His voice.