How do we practise hearing from God better?

As a Christian you want to experience spiritual growth, joy, happiness, and God’s blessings overall. All this may not be possible if you do not know how to practice hearing from God. The ability to hear from Him better depends on how much you are willing to take time to listen. There must be total surrender of your thoughts, will and purpose to Him. It also requires a deeper and closer relationship with God. You must diligently seek after His righteousness and lean on the scriptures for guidance.

Taking time to listen
In the same manner that Jesus took time to listen to God’s next plan for Him, and what God requires of Him, we can also follow this example. Generally, as Christians we tend to do a one way communication with God. We do all the talking and we do not give Him a chance to speak to us. We do not practise moments of silence in order to hear what His plan is for us. During our quiet time is an opportune time to restore the two way communication with God. Make your supplication known to him and wait for answers.

His answer may be yes, no or wait. In some of our situations He will answer within a short period, while in other cases you will have to wait on Him. Patience is therefore required in the process. We must always be willing to accept when the answer is not what we are expecting as God knows what is best for us. It is important to note that we sometimes hear from God through situations in our life and from other persons conveying a message to us. Therefore we must be attentive and recognize when this is happening.

Total surrender
Giving up our self-will and allowing God to take full control and direction of our lives, is one of the most difficult part of the Christian life. We always believe that we know what is best for us. The interesting thing about surrendering ourselves to Him is that He tends to take us through a journey combined with the bitter and the sweet. Not many persons are able to persevere in such circumstances. When the bitter part of this journey tests our true abilities and trust in God, some persons end up quitting in the process, and lose out on His blessings.

If we insist on holding on to what we want and not what is God’s will for us, then He will allow us to have our way; but we must accept whatever consequence may follow. It is only through surrendering every aspects of our lives to God that we are better able to hear from Him, and in hearing from Him, act on what He desires of us. We must demonstrate that we are willing, before God is able to use us for His Purpose. One way to help us in the surrendering process is fasting. Making this sacrifice of giving up something, intensifies your focus on Him, and shows that you are serious in allowing Him to fulfil His purpose in you.

Relationship with God
Establishing a growing relationship with God is essential in hearing from Him better. This principle is simple when we compare it with our own personal situation. In your relationship with persons you interact with on a regular basis, it is obvious that the person with whom you have a closer relationship, whether it is your spouse or best friend, this individual is the one you are better able to understand and would be willing to share any experience or information. So is the reciprocal relationship with God. The closer and deeper this relationship is the more you are able to maximize your returns.

Pursue God’s righteousness
It is seeking after God’s righteousness that He will increase His favour towards you; and scripture supports this (Matthew 6:33). We may fall out of grace sometimes, therefore we need to confess our sins regularly and ask for His forgiveness to improve or restore the communication link. He will hear and grant your requests, according to His will for you. The law of living is simple, what you put in is what you get. The more you give the more you get. The more you do His will and seek Him the more He will hear you, and the more He will extend His blessings to you.

Studying His scriptures
The only way we are able to know and understand what He requires of us, and to know how to better hear from Him is through His scriptures. They serve as guidance in your daily living. His words provide wisdom and insight. Familiarity with the scriptures provides a means of meditation and draws us closer to Him

Same sex marriage in the US

Same-sex marriage now legalized across all States in the U. S. Full story below courtesy of the Huffington Post.
Imminent fall of a world power? What victory?… when the truth is that: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Sodom and Gomorrah rings a bell?…
Now hear this: “Extending the right to marry protects families and “without the recognition, stability, and predictability marriage offers, children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser,” the justices wrote.” … and this…”Changed understandings of marriage are characteristic of a Nation where new dimensions of freedom become apparent to new generations,” the majority wrote. Hmmmm…Freedom!

Re-affirming this truth:”Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Words of wisdom – Proverbs 14:34.

The Huffington Post writes:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Friday [26/6/2015] that it is legal for all Americans, no matter their gender or sexual orientation, to marry the people they love.

The decision is a historic victory for gay rights activists who have fought for years in the lower courts. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia already recognize marriage equality. The remaining 13 states ban these unions, even as public support has reached record levels nationwide.

The justices found that, under the 14th Amendment, states must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognize same-sex unions that have been legally performed in other states. Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. In a rare move, the four dissenting justices each wrote an opinion.
The lead plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges is Ohio resident Jim Obergefell, who wanted to be listed as the surviving spouse on his husband’s death certificate. In 2013, Obergefell married his partner of two decades, John Arthur, who suffered from ALS. Arthur passed away in October of that year, three months after the couple filed their lawsuit.

Obergefell was joined by several dozen other gay plaintiffs from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee who were fighting to be able to marry and to have their marriage recognized in every state in the country.
In the majority opinion, the justices outlined several reasons same-sex marriage should be allowed. They wrote that the right to marriage is an inherent aspect of individual autonomy, since “decisions about marriage are among the most intimate that an individual can make.” They also said gay Americans have a right to “intimate association” beyond merely freedom from laws that ban homosexuality.

Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy. These five justices were in the majority in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

Extending the right to marry protects families and “without the recognition, stability, and predictability marriage offers, children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser,” the justices wrote.

The majority concluded that the right for same-sex couples to marry is protected under the 14th Amendment, citing the clauses that guarantee equal protection and due process.

In his dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, argued that same-sex marriage is not endorsed by the Constitution. “Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits,” they wrote. “But do not celebrate the Constitution.”

Scalia, in his own scathing dissent, complained that the majority opinion lacked “even a thin veneer of law.” He quipped, “Who ever thought that intimacy and spirituality [whatever that means] were freedoms? And if intimacy is, one would think Freedom of Intimacy is abridged rather than expanded by marriage. Ask the nearest hippie.”

The country’s views of same-sex marriage have transformed since 2004, when Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay couples to wed. In 2013, the Supreme Court began chipping away at the country’s legacy of discrimination against same-sex couples when it struck down part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented same-sex couples whose marriages were recognized by their home state from receiving the hundreds of benefits available to other married couples under federal law.

In its opinion, the majority recognized the profound cultural shifts in marriage views, citing both the Chinese educator Confucius and the Roman philosopher Cicero. The justices noted how marriage has been transformed from a union arranged by a couple’s parents for financial reasons to a voluntary contract, and from a male-dominated relationship to an agreement where women have “equal dignity.” These changes, the majority wrote, have strengthened the institution of marriage.

“Changed understandings of marriage are characteristic of a Nation where new dimensions of freedom become apparent to new generations,” the majority wrote.

President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to support marriage equality when he came out in favor of it in 2012, the same year that the Democratic Party made it part of its platform for the first time. On Friday, Obama called the ruling “a victory for America.”

The Republican Party and its slate of 2016 presidential aspirants, however, remain opposed to same-sex marriage. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) support a constitutional amendment protecting states that want to ban marriage equality.

Some conservatives have advocated for a civil disobedience effort against a Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage. However, officials in red states told The Huffington Post recently that they are prepared to implement the decision, going so far as to ready gender-neutral marriage licenses and set later office hours. Gerard Rickhoff, who oversees marriage licenses in Bexar County, Texas, said that if same-sex couples are discriminated against elsewhere in the state, “Just get in your car and come on down the highway. You’ll be embraced here.”

As the majority wrote in its opinion, the petitioners’ “hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the
eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/26/supreme-court-gay-marriage_n_7470036.html#