God still speaks to His people

I've shared these stories with some people before, but I would like to take the next few posts to write down and testify to how God has spoken to us in specific ways at one time or another in our lives. Please be sure to share your experiences if you feel led, because God speaks to his people all the time and it's important to tell others about it to encourage them... It's not bragging. It does not make us religious freaks. We are just telling the truth and testifying to God's "realness". 

We are a very distracted generation... It's true. There are not many people that can actually say they haven't walked into a wall, or something similar, because they were looking down at their phone. So, I want to point out that most every time we have heard God speak specifically, we have been in a fairly quiet place or intentionally seeking God... And the phone was put away. 

On a side note, God speaks to us every day. The Holy Bible is God (John 1:1). Although I am sharing just a few of the specific examples of where God spoke to us personally, God is very alive and active in His Word (Hebrews 4:12). Read It.

Ok, the first experience I would like to share is short since I've already talked too much.

I was at a retreat with my church, Casa Del Alfarero (Potter's House), the very first year we came to Guatemala (October 2009). Since I didn't know much Spanish, honestly I didn't expect to get too much out of it. Wow was I wrong. God speaks our language. I guess I had forgotten that. 

The very first few minutes of the retreat, Ms. Anita Marroquin hung a banner with Isaiah 54:11,12 on it and said, "Someone needs to hear this today." Of course I couldn't read it on the banner, so I got my Bible and read it and God said, "These verses are for you today." As I read the words, I felt God's love towards me in such an amazing way that I started ugly crying before the retreat had even begun. The verses on the banner spoke to a specific situation in my personal life, and although I was comforted in an unexplainable way, I was also greatly concerned for my kids' well-being at the time. The truth is, I wanted to go back to Alabama. God had given me promises just a couple moments before that He would take care of me, but I argued that He couldn't take care of my kids... So God says, "Keep reading." Isaiah 54:13 says, “All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace.”  Why do we argue with God?

Later on in the retreat, we talked about the prodical son. The leaders put rings on our fingers like the dad did in the story, and since I didn't understand hardly anything that my leader, Dinora Leytan, said at the time... as she slid the ring on my finger, God took that moment to say, "I will never leave you." I believed Him too. I've since had a gold ring made with the words "God is with me" on it, and I never take it off as a reminder that God will never leave me. 

God spoke a whole lot more in that retreat too! During those three days, I began to let God change my heart towards our home in Guatemala. Shamefully, I fought a lot more after that, but God is faithful, loving, and very merciful. He keeps working on us.