Greetings in the name of “Abba” (Romans 8:15) and in the name of Jesus Christ – THE Crucified and Risen Saviour! What a ‘foggy’ morning here in St. Thomas…but the sun is still shining behind all the fog and I believe that it is going to be a good day! Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to reveal himself to you in a way that you can experience, understand, and respond to.
“Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from that start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.” John 6:63-65 The Message. These words were part of my morning devotional reading and they were highlighted by the phrase: God wants to breathe a word into your soul. Wow! although God has spoken , He wants to speak to us personally. I have been in several settings of late where we were encouraged and equipped with teaching on and enabled to “hear the voice of God” speaking to us. We even did some exercises to activate the process…and many of us “heard God speaking a word into our soul.”
I was reminded of a quote by A.W. Tozer: The Bible is the written word of God, and because it is written it is confined and limited by the necessities of ink and paper and leather. The Voice of God, however, is alive and free as the sovereign God is free…. God’s word in the Bible can have power only because it corresponds to God’s word in the universe. It is the present Voice which makes the written Word all-powerful. Otherwise it would lie locked in slumber within the covers of a book.
Thus, I understand that there is a huge difference between reading a select Bible passage and ‘hearing’ God speak those words in a personal way. For example, there is a marked difference between reading: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want – and ‘hearing God speak to me in a life situation: There, there little one – I am the One who looks after you…I have got all your needs covered…I am in control! The word of God is “logos” – a general and all-inclusive word, but another word of God is “rhema” – a specific and strategic word that has practical application to the hearer.There is a difference, at least to me, between ‘reading the word of God’ and ‘hearing the Spirit speak that word to my soul and spirit’.
May you be blesse as you allow God to ‘speak’ his word to you!