I have a heart to teach. God placed it there, and He has been developing it for a while. This semester, He has opened some new doors to develop it even more. I'm teaching a class at church called Leaders on Fire*, which is a really wonderful look at the foundations of our faith, our relationship with the Lord, His heart for discipleship, His love, His Spirit, etc. I'm so excited to see what God does through it. When I took the class last year, it really flipped my perspective on so much of Christianity and brought me into a new place of freedom in my walk with the Lord.
I'm also teaching an Ignite Group*. In both, I taught about Hearing God's Voice this week. It's funny because it is such a foundational message, but is one that I see missing in almost every Christian circle I've ever encountered.
Jesus told us that His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27). He stood up to the enemy by declaring that "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matt 4:4). Here the greek word "Rhema" denotes the living, spoken word as apposed to the concrete written word ("Logos"). This means that as Christians, our life does not come by reading the written word of God (in fact, Paul tells us in 2 Cor 3:6, that "The letter kills, but the Spirit brings life"), but when we read the written word and the Word Himself (John 1) draws the letters off of the page and places them into our hearts, it becomes the Rhema (spoken) word. So much of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is based in this spoken, living, active Word. It goes beyond just the revelation of Scripture (although it always brings greater depth to the truthes that are written there), it is life itself. Hearing God's voice (what He is saying for right now, today, about you and your idenity in Christ, about others and your ability to bless them, etc.) is so foundational to living.
I've recently begun really enjoying reading the meanings and connotations and origins of the words in Scripture. "Rhema" is derived from "Rheo", a word that suggests the idea of pouring forth. That reminds me of Jesus' words in John 7:38, that "Rivers of Living Water will flow within [whoever believes in Me]", which also reflects the meaning of two Hebrew words. In Hebrew, two common words for prophet also reflect the idea of water: "Naba" is a word that literally means to 'bubble up'. This denotes the feeling of a natural spring flowing from within. In ‘Naba’ a person fixes their eyes on Jesus and tunes into spontaneous flow. The second word, the Hebrew word for false prophecy, is "Ziyd." It literally means to ‘boil up’. So instead of it bubbling up naturally it is cooked or boiled up by effort. In ‘Ziyd’ a person fixes their eyes on the desires of self and devises a word or a vision.
When we don't know how to hear God's voice, we often feel the need to cook up words to feel relevant. The heart behind it could be so good (to bless, encourage, challenge, etc.) but if the word is rooted in my own thought, and not in the Voice of the Father, then it is ultimately just that; but if we learn to hear God's voice, we can speak words that bring life where it wasn't before, we can encourage with supernatural encouragement, and reveal truth where lies have previously clouded reality. It's beautiful.
Basically, hearing God's voice has become natural to me, but as I was teaching the other day, the Lord spoke to me and brought a lot of conviction.
I realized that when it comes to my World Race squad, I've shied away from getting to know them. I naturally tend to make judgements about people, and I didn't want to get to know them based on the way they presented themselves on Facebook (because that's not real, and I don't want to meet them having already decided things about them that aren't real). Then God said, "I appreciate that sentiment, but there is a better way. Ask me how I see them. See them with heaven's eyes. See what they could be. Believe in what I believe about them." WHOA. Okay God, what do you want to say?
So as people came to mind, I started messaging them with the words God spoke to them. They all told me that it was exactly what they needed to hear, that it was the perfect time, the perfect truth. Thank you Lord! That's not me! That's You jumping at the chance to minister through someone who makes himself available. You are so good! I want to choose Your better way every time.
You're the best, Jesus!
Caleb
* I go to a church called Catch the Fire, so all of our names are "firey": Ignite Group, Leaders on Fire, Burning nights of worship…even Little Sparks kids ministry! 
Haha. I love it. God is a consuming fire and His eyes burn like fire and His Spirit manifests as a flame, and I want to be more and more firey every day! I want to be His Burning One! Come Lord! Burn in me!
