The Father’S Heart: Hearing His Voice and Feeling His Presence

Copyright © 2013 Caleb Plumb.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-1590-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-1589-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-1591-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013921039

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/26/2013

This book is dedicated to my best friend and true woman of God - my wife Melanie. She has loved me deeply when I was at my best and has fully forgiven me when at my worst.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to my heavenly Father for lifting me up and giving me strength to keep writing this book.

Thank you to the Joyners and Wheats who helped finance this book.

Thank you to my wife Melanie, Patricia Hill, the Bergerts and the Plumbs for editing The Father’s Heart.

Thank you to my dear friend and big brother in the faith Dick Speight for truly introducing me to the Holy Spirit and giving me guidance in writing a book.

Thank you to my children for providing wonderful stories to share.

Thank you to the members of Encounter Christian Church who have endured my teaching over the years as the Lord has been revealing His heart to me.

Thank you to my parents Tom and Margery Plumb who taught me that Jesus loves me and pushed me to serve Him with all my heart.

Thank you to Dale Hawkins whose love and example as my youth leader inspired me to be more like Jesus at a very crucial time in my life.

FOREWORD

I have known Pastor Caleb Plumb for seven years as a trusted friend and beloved shepherd in our city. Caleb is a man after God’s own heart. He lovingly shares life and ministry with his wonderful wife Melanie; serving his children as wise, tender, and playful father. Caleb faithfully oversees the adventures of a young church. They are becoming more rooted in the Father’s love as they share Caleb’s passion for His presence, the lost, and refugees.

I remember the first time I met Caleb at our Tuesday pastors’ prayer meeting. As this younger pastor fell on his knees and began to pray out with all his heart, the fear of the Lord began to fill the room and the love of the Lord began to fill our hearts. I said to myself Who is this guy? When he opens his mouth the Lord fills it!

There shall be no foreign god among you;

Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

I am the Lord your God,

Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

"But My people would not heed My voice,

And Israel would have none of Me. Psalm 81:9-11 NKJV

Sadly, many people around you do not want to heed His voice and want none of Him. Therefore, they are starving for love and drowning in sin. They need to feel His love and hear His truth through you, so they will one day seek after and find Him, experiencing His presence and hearing His voice. You have been led to Caleb’s book to ignite a deeper hunger in you; so you will seek and find all of the Father’s heart with all of yours.

It is not lost on me that great grace came through Caleb to the brethren at the pastors’ meeting that day, since we were, in fact, meeting at a church building named Grace Brethren! Grace is unmerited favor with the Father through the death of Jesus for our sins. Grace is also the unmerited companionship of the Holy Spirit for us as brothers and sisters of Jesus. We experience the Father’s presence and voice because of the death of Jesus, and through the companionship of the Holy Spirit. It is the Lord’s deep desire for you to become His constant companion; to hear and obey His voice and to have all of Him—the fullness of His presence in each present moment!

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11 NKJV

I pray that great grace will come to you through this book; that Caleb’s heartfelt testimony and sound scriptural teaching will help you open yourself to His joyful presence and guiding voice like never before; that others will experience the Father’s heart through you all the days of your life. Enjoy!

Richard F. Speight, Jr.

Author & Pastor

Come Rest Ministries

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

CONTENTS

Introduction

RESTORATION

Chapter 1   Closer Than You Think

Chapter 2   Come Away with Me

Chapter 3   Encore

Chapter 4   Hand in Hand Before the Throne

Chapter 5   The Father’s Fire

Chapter 6   Tree of Life

INTIMACY

Chapter 7   Bridge to the Father

Chapter 8   Early Morning Encounters

Chapter 9   Hunger for the Presence

Chapter 10   Intimate Friendship

Chapter 11   Nail Scarred Hands

Chapter 12   The Feet That Bring Good News

TRIALS

Chapter 13   A New Trail

Chapter 14   Hearing His Voice and Feeling His Presence

Chapter 15   Learning My Place

Chapter 16   Open Tomb

Chapter 17   Pillar of Fire

Chapter 18   The Valley

BLESSINGS

Chapter 19   Baptism of Glory

Chapter 20   Father’s Hand

Chapter 21   Dream House

Chapter 22   Impact of the Father

Chapter 23   Ultimate Gift

Chapter 24   Wisdom and Understanding

About the Author

Endnotes

INTRODUCTION

The Father’s Heart: Hearing His Voice and Feeling His Presence.

I had already started writing this book when an email dialogue with a friend revealed perfectly what this book would be about and so solidified for me why it needed written. It started with my quick reply to the friend’s mass email that then allowed him to share a burden on his heart. He shared a burden most of us carry, or have carried, at some point in our life. It was unclear to him whether God had any direction at all for his life. Even as a pastor, I have felt this burden. I’m nearly certain you have felt this burden, or are feeling it, as well.

The email dialogue continued. My friend eventually shared some specific decisions he needed to make and for which he would like to have God’s direction but didn’t feel he was getting it. His current frustrations reminded me of a similar time in my life several years ago where the Holy Spirit led me to study the vine and the branches passage in John 15. It had brought peace and joy to me then. I thought perhaps it could do the same for my friend so I recommended the passage to him. I didn’t hear angels whispering in my ear. I didn’t feel the tingling of the Holy Spirit. I didn’t even consider my recommendation a prompting of the Holy Spirit. To me, I was just sharing some wisdom from my personal experience and was hoping my friend would benefit from it. God, it turns out, had something bigger in mind.

My friend was without a Bible when he got my recommendation to read John 15 and only had his Kindle available. Fortunately, he had purchased and was able to download a Kindle Edition Bible. When he opened the Bible, it automatically opened to John 15 but not at the beginning of the chapter. He started reading anyway and immediately, he said, the verse seemed familiar. He had started at verse 11 – "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. The rest of what he told me about his experience convinced me this book needed written: This might be sad that I’m saying this, but, I believe this is the first time I have felt or recognized that God was speaking to me directly when I read that verse."

My friend had heard from God. Personally. Specifically. For the first time. Ever. He had sensed God’s presence in his own spirit. Had in fact the Holy Spirit prompted me to recommend John 15 to my friend? Had the Holy Spirit miraculously opened his Kindle Bible to the middle of John 15? I don’t know. This book isn’t about answering those questions. Had God given my friend all the life direction he needed in that one moment? Had God helped my friend make all his currently pressing decisions? No. But answering those questions is not why I wrote this book either.

What is so amazing is that the God who spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still speaks today. The God who whispered to Elijah through the still, small voice and the God after whom David chased still longs to communicate with His children in a personal way. God doesn’t change!

Later I reminded my friend that he had emailed me several months before this out of the blue. He said I had come to mind during the day and he had felt led to pray for me. He lives in a different state and we do not communicate that often. Little did he know how badly I needed his prayers on that very day. This proved to me that the Father had been speaking to my friend through the Holy Spirit but he just had not yet learned to recognize His voice. I believe it’s safe to say the Holy Spirit is whispering loving guidance to our hearts every day. John 16:13 (NIV) says, But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

The goal of this book is to awaken the lost and believers alike to the reality of the presence of God. I am by no means an expert in this field. This book is simply a collection of my personal experiences and scriptures. Over the years, it has helped me to hear others testify to hearing God’s voice and feeling His presence. I believe before Jesus Christ returns, He longs for the Church to know His presence is real and personal. He promises in John 10:10 that He has come that we might have a full, abundant life. But He also says the enemy is working hard to steal that from us.

Later in John 10:27 (NIV) Jesus says, my sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I believe this is one of the greatest keys to receiving the full and abundant life He promises. My prayer is that this little book, in big ways, might help you more and more to hear the Father’s voice and to feel His presence!

–—Section I–—

RESTORATION

CHAPTER 1

Closer Than You Think

Jeremiah 31:1-2 (ESV) At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people. Thus says the LORD, The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness — Israel, when it went to find its rest.

My children have discovered a trick. When they were younger, if they were asleep as the van arrived home, I would carry them into the house. Now as they have gotten wiser, they will sometimes pretend to be asleep hoping for the same treatment.

Pulling into our driveway after small group one night, I noticed my son was indeed pretending to be asleep. He was trying his luck as it were. Everyone exited the vehicle. I circled around to his side of the van and watched to see what he would do if he thought everyone left and he didn’t get his free ride. I stood just outside the van window as he continued his sleeping act. Finally, he opened an eye to quickly glance toward the driver’s seat. When he saw I wasn’t there, he assumed I had gone into the house and left him to fend for himself. Little did he know, I was actually closer to him than if I had been in the driver’s seat.

He lifted his little fist and gently hit the armrest on his seat in disappointment. His dream of being held by his father and lifted to his destination appeared hopeless to him now. Just then, he glanced enough to his right to catch a glimpse of me. He immediately jerked his head back to a sleeping position and closed his eyes. His dream was back. His hopes renewed. His father had been closer than he thought.

If there is one message I feel the Lord