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#Post#: 3257--------------------------------------------------
God Reveals Himself.
By: Runner Date: January 12, 2013, 3:43 pm
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I read this and thought of you George :-* Just one
man's opinion.
God Reveals Himself Through Conviction
In John 16:8 Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come and
that he would “convict the world concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment.” What is conviction in the biblical
sense? Biblical conviction is to be absolutely convinced of
something regarding God and spiritual things. Every Christian
first experiences this when he or she comes to faith in Christ.
We become convicted about our sinful state and who Jesus is and
what he has done for us on the cross and his resurrection. If
you are not convicted about Jesus then you are not a Christian.
As our Christian experience continues we will have
conviction from time to time about ongoing issues of sin,
opportunities to share our faith in some way, and issues of
obedience to Christ. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who is
working within us to make us more like Christ. Do you want to
understand what the Holy Spirit convicts us about? Read John
16:7-15. Everything you need to know is right there.
When God first spoke to me about his ministry calling
in my life I was deeply convicted. It was one of those
experiences when I could say that I knew, that I knew, that I
knew God had revealed his will to me. I then moved to the next
step which was to seek confirmation through others of what God
was doing. That brings me to our next point.
God Reveals Himself Through The Speech And Actions Of Others
My next step was to seek counsel from godly believers
about what I thought God had revealed to me. The first pastor I
talked with said very plainly, “I think that God has probably
called you to that ministry.” However, when I presented my
convictions to my wife, let’s just say that she wasn’t pleased.
She felt completely different. She was 180 degrees from where I
was. So I decided to be patient and wait. Years later, without
me saying anything to my wife, without me trying to convince
her, she went completely in the other direction, saying, “God
has called me to follow you wherever you go. If this is what
you’re convinced God is doing, then let’s go.”
In the book of Acts we see God using various people to
speak to others about what he was doing, or what he wanted them
to do, or what would happen. In Acts 11:28 “Agabus stood up and
began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a
great famine all over the world. And this took place in the
reign of Claudius.” Paul was used by the Spirit to convict the
Apostle Peter of his sin of favoritism when he said, “If you,
being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how
is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
(Galatians 2:14).
Even the great Apostle Paul sometimes heard God’s will
through others. In Acts 21:10-11, “A prophet named Agabus came
down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound
his own feet and hands, and said, this is what the Holy Spirit
says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who
owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
God Speaks Audibly
When Jesus was baptized, the Father spoke audibly for
others to hear. “A bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice
from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased; listen to him’” (Matthew 17:5). When Peter visited
Joppa, this happened to him: “A voice came to him, ‘Get up,
Peter, kill and eat!’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord, for I
have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.’ Again a voice
came to him a second time, What God has cleansed, no longer
consider unholy.’ This happened three times, and immediately the
object was taken up into the sky” (Acts 10:13-16).
God can and does speak audibly. There is nothing in the
scripture which precludes God from speaking in this way.
However, it is very rare.
God Reveals Himself Visually
This method was mainly used in the Old Testament
period, though it also happened in the New Testament period. In
almost every case when God appeared before someone they were
struck with overwhelming fear. This happened to Moses, Isaiah,
Ezekiel, and Daniel. In each case God was also revealing
something of extreme significance. God doesn’t appear to men to
make them feel good. In these cases something incredible was at
stake in Israel’s redemptive history. Even the Apostle John was
overcome in Revelation when God appeared before him.
As mentioned earlier, there are Christians who live in
very difficult countries, or countries where they are severely
persecuted, where Jesus appears to certain people to reveal
himself to them. There are, in fact, a great number of such
people. Sometimes he appears to them physically, but most of the
time he appears to them in dreams. This is an area where we must
be very careful. Dreams are utterly subjective. While the
scripture does present testimony about people to whom God
appears in dreams, it is not the most common of ways God speaks.
But he still does it.
For 16 years I have kept the following to myself,
waiting for God to fulfill something he said to me 23 years ago.
It is now happening. In 1996 Jesus appeared to me in a dream. I
won’t relate the whole thing here. Suffice it to say that it was
very disturbing. Toward the end of the dream, as he was leaving,
I asked him about my ministry calling to a specific area of the
world. I was in doubt. “Did you really call me to this?” I
asked. With a look of disappointment on his face he said, “Yes.”
My doubt had disappointed him, but he still confirmed that which
he had revealed to me eight years earlier. These kinds of
confirmations radically changed my life. Radically.
If the Lord were to ever appear before you, you can be
assured that it is for no small reason. Yet we should keep in
mind that this is exceedingly rare, even more so than God
revealing himself audibly. In fact, the scripture warns us about
how our own minds can deceive us in matters such as these
(Colossians 2:18).
God Reveals Himself Through Scripture
In our day this is the most important way that God
reveals himself. In fact, all other experiences must be measured
against the principles of scripture to be validated. Why?
We know that the Holy Spirit, God Himself, is the
author of scripture (II Peter 1:21). The Holy Spirit will never
reveal anything false or incorrect (Titus 1:2). Thus, anything
which God may say to us in any one of these ways must comply
with scripture. The Holy Spirit will never say or reveal
anything that contradicts what he has already said. If you feel
you have heard something from God but it doesn’t match
scriptural principles then you can be sure that God did not
reveal it.
There is also a warning here about using scripture to
confirm what you think God may be saying. While many people have
read the Bible and even read it daily, many people are also
ignorant of its context. We sometimes forget that the Bible was
written in cultures, and to cultures that are dramatically
different from our modern age. It’s literary forms and
declarations can be easily taken out of context so that we
misinterpret or use scripture outside the very thing is was
written to communicate. Some people approach the Bible in a
mystical fashion. Beware. Scripture is easily twisted, but it
can never be broken (John 10:35). My favorite example of this
kind of abuse is in John 10:10 where Jesus declared, “The enemy
comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” Some Christians think, based
upon that passage, that Satan comes to steal their money, or
job, or prestige, or possessions, and so on. Yet John 10:10 has
nothing to do with these things at all. Therefore, if you seek
confirmation of God’s will or word to you, be sure you are
reading scripture correctly.
Conclusion
I believe that God speaks today. He has spoken to me. He has
spoken to people I know. He is not a dead or silent God, though
He doesn’t alway speak when we want Him to.
He is sovereign.
#Post#: 3259--------------------------------------------------
Re: God Reveals Himself.
By: George Date: January 12, 2013, 5:33 pm
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I did enjoy reading this thread Helen, Thank you for posting.
"He is not a dead or silent God, though He doesn’t alway speak
when we want Him to.
He is sovereign"
Hallelujah!
#Post#: 3266--------------------------------------------------
Re: God Reveals Himself.
By: James Date: January 13, 2013, 5:15 am
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I have always like the story of Gideon.
One of the interesting things about Gideon is the fact that he
heard from God did not in deal with him still being afraid to go
through with what the Lord asked of him.
The most stricking thing is that if my memory serves me well
then God spoke by seven different means to Gideon, which
included the Angel at the wine press, the fleece, the dream and
interpretation given by the enemy, the people at the river
drinking as well as the direct word to Gideon.
James
#Post#: 3276--------------------------------------------------
Re: God Reveals Himself.
By: Runner Date: January 13, 2013, 11:43 am
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quote Jamesif my memory serves me well then God spoke by seven
different means to Gideon, which included the Angel at the wine
press, the fleece, the dream and interpretation given by the
enemy, the people at the river drinking as well as the direct
word to Gideon.
James
Never heard that one before...but I can see it could well be
so.. I must check it out...sounds like something Dave would
enjoy! :)
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