Psa 28:1 A Psalm
of David. Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if
thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
Psa 28:2 Hear
the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands
toward thy holy oracle.
As Bible-believing Christians, we pray with an
expectation that God hears AND answers prayer.
How does He do this? How does He
speak to us in such a way that we know it is Him? We know it is through the Bible, God's
written Word, but what about revelation?
Unfortunately today in some Christian circles, some people are hesitant
to pay attention to anything that is "spirit" related because they do
not believe it is of God. They believe
it must come straight from the Bible, which it does, yet without a revelation
from God how can they know in their heart that God is speaking to them?
What God speaks will always be consistent with His Word
and with His character, but how do we know it is of God unless He reveals that
it is from Him? I would add that God is
not limited to the WAY He communicates with us.
He spoke to Adam and Eve before there was ever a written word. God also spoke through the prophets. Jesus taught using only the Old Testament,
and most of what He did was new, although He had fulfilled prophecy in doing
the miracles through the words of Isaiah.
The miracles were a surprise to everyone, and when He rose from the
dead, even the disciples didn't believe it was Him until He revealed to them
that it was Him. There was no New
Testament as a written word until the disciples and Paul the apostle wrote it
down. Much of Jewish history was oral
only, passed down through the generations.
Then the men who wrote the Bible were also "inspired" by God
Himself to ensure that when we read the Bible, the penmanship of man does not
interfere with the words of God.
We must be careful that we are not so cautious that we
become religious or ritualistic and rigid when it comes to hearing from
God. Before we are saved and become a
child of God, we may read the Bible over many times and yet we do not hear from
God - we don't hear and we don't understand because our spirits are not made
alive or connected to Him. In I
Corinthians it says that the "natural" (un-regenerated) man CANNOT
receive the things of the Spirit of God because he is spiritually
discerned. So we must not be fooled just
because someone who claims to be a Christian simply reads the Bible, yet they
have no life-giving, or inspired revelation from God!
1Co 2:11 For
what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned.
Without the revelation of the Holy Spirit, we have no
understanding of the things of God. In
these last days where there is more and more deception, we must not only read
the Word WITH understanding, we must always be ready to listen for the Lord to
speak to us, to reveal His will and what He wants us to do, or what He wants us
to know. Then we must act on it.
Before I was truly saved, I had a "knowledge"
of the truth, but it had not changed my heart.
I had never heard the Lord speak to me in my spirit, so I didn't have a relationship with Him. I didn't even know He wanted to have a
relationship with me. I just thought
that I was supposed to be a "good" person and try to live as best as
I could according to my limited understanding.
I think this is what many people think.
They think that all you have to do are good works and avoid the really
bad things like stealing, lying, killing, and not hurt anyone, and so on. It
was only after I responded to the Lord to repent for my sinful life (sin as
defined by God - anything that misses His righteous perfection) that my HEART
changed. Then a great realization sunk
in deeply in my spirit - only Jesus is perfect and only through accepting Him
into my heart could I achieve a clean slate and be declared righteous by God. Then all of the Scriptures became clear to me
because I had Jesus in my heart to teach me His Word. I had entered into "relationship"
with Him and my spirit became "alive" to the things of God.
So after we are saved, this relationship must continue to
grow and flourish so that we become mature in the things of God. But if our hearts are closed, we will no
longer be open to learning of Him or growing in our relationship with Him. Also, it is imperative that we grow in our
faith. Reading the Word AND listening,
and obeying, increases our faith:
Rom 10:17 So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Jas 1:22 But be
ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Jas 1:23 For if
any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass:
Jas 1:24 For he
beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of
man he was.
Jas 1:25 But
whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being
not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in
his deed.
Today, the Lord has a message for us:
Heb 3:15 While
it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the
provocation.
Let's keep our ears and hearts open to Him and listen to
what He has to say to us. And if after reading this, you question your own
standing with God and you doubt that you are a Christian (according to what the
Bible says), please go to this link.
You will find a few simple steps to how to become a new person in Christ.
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