How does God talk to people?

[New_Spiritual_Birth]

Okay. These might be some of the stupidest questions you have seen in a while but I am still pretty new to the faith so please bear with me. What I understand is that God works in His people through the Holy Spirit. Am I correct?

I really don't care about the destiny vs free will debate. As far as I am concerned it is a non-issue. But there's something else that I was wondering about. What about self-doubt/lack of confidence and the various sins etc.? Who is working through us in those cases?

I have no idea if my questions made any sense but I would like to know the answers.

 

[PaladinValer]

God is speaking to us all the time. It takes discernment however to understand when it is God talking and also what He is telling us.

Furthermore, this is vital to know: God doesn't need to speak through just miracles. He speaks through secular means constantly. Again, we need discernment.

 

[Begonias]

Commanding scripture
Compelling spirit
Common sense
Counsel of saints
Circumstantial signs

 

[New_Spiritual_Birth]

Thank you both. Then where do our tendencies to make mistakes and commit sins come from? Is it completely separate from anything otherworldly/spiritual/religious/mystical?

 

[Begonias]

Thank you both. Then where do our tendencies to make mistakes and commit sins come from? Is it completely separate from anything otherworldly/spiritual/religious/mystical?

We live in a fallen world.

We have a sinful nature. We are always in conflict with following the ways of the world and the ways of Christ (flesh vs spirit).

 

[New_Spiritual_Birth]

That makes sense.

Finally what is the role of Satan/Devil?

Does he lead us to commit sin or he just tempts us using the weakness of the flesh world?

 

[Begonias]

Different people have different ideas as to the magnitude and power of Satan. It's important not to get things out of proportion, as this limits the power of the cross and resurrection.

If you are a new Christian, you may be under spiritual attack as there is nothing Satan hates more than people giving themselves to Christ.

Read the scriptures on the Armour of God as this will help and encourage you to resist evil.

 

[meinabox]

God is speaking to us all the time. It takes discernment however to understand when it is God talking and also what He is telling us.

Furthermore, this is vital to know: God doesn't need to speak through just miracles. He speaks through secular means constantly. Again, we need discernment.

For sure

 

[Begonias]

Different people have different ideas as to the magnitude and power of Satan. It's important not to get things out of proportion, as this limits the power of the cross and resurrection.

If you are a new Christian, you may be under spiritual attack as there is nothing Satan hates more than people giving themselves to Christ.

Read the scriptures on the Armour of God as this will help and encourage you to resist evil.

 

[meinabox]

That makes sense.

Finally what is the role of Satan/Devil?

To be the anti-Christ.

Adding to what Begonias said, whatever Satan's power may be, don't fear him.

God is always with you.
Nothing happens without His permission..
Everything has a purpose and time, designated by Jesus...
Just believe!!!

 

[meinabox]

By the way, Satan's role is to do things that provoke us into feeling a lack of confidence but if belief in the Lord is true, the Holy Spirit is always with you, giving you an exit.

 

[TomUK]

That makes sense.

Finally what is the role of Satan/Devil?

Does he lead us to commit sin or he just tempts us using the weakness of the flesh world?

I think as a Christians we are too quick to dismiss our own role in the choices we make. When we do good we attest to the spirit of God working through us and when we sin point the finger at the devil and say it was his fault. Let's not forget that Eve's first action after eating of the fruit was not to acknowledge her own sin but to point to the serpent - 'he made me do it.' Our choices matter.

If we are willing then God will strengthen us with his spirit and we will gradually mould us and shape us in his image. However when we (inevitably) mess up God's mercy is assured but we first need to repent of what we have done. Ask for God's help to do his will; ask for God's forgiveness when you follow your own path and not his.

Also reflect on these words of Paul in Philippians.
'Finally, beloved whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.'

 

[mark46]

We must be accountable for our actions. Jesus will certainly ask us for an accounting of our life. For me, it does little good to blame Satan or Adam's sin for the times when I make the wrong choices, and sin through action or inaction.

We are to ask God to guide us, we are to act as we think Jesus would have us act, we are to ask for Mercy when we make mistakes, and then we are to continue. The Christian life may be a difficult one; it is not a complicated one.

I think as a Christians we are too quick to dismiss our own role in the choices we make. When we do good we attest to the spirit of God working through us and when we sin point the finger at the devil and say it was his fault. Let's not forget that Eve's first action after eating of the fruit was not to acknowledge her own sin but to point to the serpent - 'he made me do it.' Our choices matter.

If we are willing then God will strengthen us with his spirit and we will gradually mould us and shape us in his image. However when we (inevitably) mess up God's mercy is assured but we first need to repent of what we have done. Ask for God's help to do his will; ask for God's forgiveness when you follow your own path and not his.

Also reflect on these words of Paul in Philippians.
'Finally, beloved whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.'

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

The devil made me do it is never a prudent approach. Agreed. But I think it is healthy and important to remember that Satan is ever-present in our lives. He exists in drugs, in the media, in technology, in inappropriate contentography, in movies, in temptation, in so many places. Right now he is fighting a war with Our Lord and is doing quite well with internet inappropriate contentography, meth, heroin, pre-marital sex, cohabitation, making marriage a thing of the past, aborting a child before it can even get a chance to breathe, in trying to blur the roles of sexuality, and he's pitting us all against each other culturally very well. Satan's motives and strategies must be considered, guarded-against, and taken seriously. Ultimately it is WE HUMAN BEINGS who take the bait and we are able to say NO to him. But like Sun Tzu says in "The Art of War," to know your enemy is to know yourself. Satan's most effective approach is to MIX LIES WITH THE TRUTH. It is my observation that most dangerous theology contains good intentions. I think women's ordination, not to beat a dead horse, is a good example. One can rationalize abortion with "hey, the kid will grow up in poverty and around drugs and gangs anyway" rather than try to make the streets safer and help mom out after delivery. One can rationalize internet inappropriate contentography saying, "hey, inappropriate contentography doesn't hurt anyone. Instead of raping an innocent woman, these sex-crazed men can make their perversion a solo activity in the safety of their home!" Cohabitation, which is a gross afront to God, can be rationalized, "hey, let's see if we're sexually compatible! Let's see if we get along? Better to make sure it works beforehand than to get into a marriage and get divorced!" Or with homosexuality, "hey, they're nice people and heck, our sins in our daily lives are probably worse than sodomy. If we're opposed to their sexual preferences, it's like slavery or racism! Let's fight for civil rights!"

Each time Satan takes our good nature, the desire to be prudent or cautious, caring, or afraid to step on toes, or our pragmatism, and he operates on that agenda to mix it with sins. And we buy into it. Most theological and ecclesiological sins and turf wars we're having in 2011 in Anglicanism and other communions are related to this aspect of mixing good intentions with evil IMHO.

And blaming Adam and Eve isn't great either. But it's important to reflect on the First Sin to put our salvation history together and have it be meaningful. Seeing how death entered into the world helps us to see the glory of how Our Lord smashed death right back. But dwelling on Adam and scapegoating him for our foolishness is a lame enterprise!

 

[GA777]

God talks to us through dreams/visions/through our consience. Sometimes someone keeps failing in a particular place for example because God doesnt want him there but elsewhere. He can talk through the bible, and sometimes implants thought in our head...

But I know one thing for sure, and it is that when someone prays more generally, God talks to him more. He talks audibly very rarely tho. and talks in other ways mostly (like the ones mentioned).

And Satan can only tempt us, but is always us who love the sin, because we are selfish and greedy most of the times and careless about how god feels, that' why we do it. The more someone gets closer To God , the further he goes from sin. If we really loved our creator, we would have never thought of sinning. The true saints sin very rarely, so it is us who sin and not Satan who make us sin.

My 2 cents.

 

[mark46]

The devil made me do it is never a prudent approach. Agreed. But I think it is healthy and important to remember that Satan is ever-present in our lives. He exists in drugs, in the media, in technology, in inappropriate contentography, in movies, in temptation, in so many places. Right now he is fighting a war with Our Lord and is doing quite well with internet inappropriate contentography, meth, heroin, pre-marital sex, cohabitation, making marriage a thing of the past, aborting a child before it can even get a chance to breathe, in trying to blur the roles of sexuality, and he's pitting us all against each other culturally very well. Satan's motives and strategies must be considered, guarded-against, and taken seriously. Ultimately it is WE HUMAN BEINGS who take the bait and we are able to say NO to him. But like Sun Tzu says in "The Art of War," to know your enemy is to know yourself. Satan's most effective approach is to MIX LIES WITH THE TRUTH. It is my observation that most dangerous theology contains good intentions. I think women's ordination, not to beat a dead horse, is a good example. One can rationalize abortion with "hey, the kid will grow up in poverty and around drugs and gangs anyway" rather than try to make the streets safer and help mom out after delivery. One can rationalize internet inappropriate contentography saying, "hey, inappropriate contentography doesn't hurt anyone. Instead of raping an innocent woman, these sex-crazed men can make their perversion a solo activity in the safety of their home!" Cohabitation, which is a gross afront to God, can be rationalized, "hey, let's see if we're sexually compatible! Let's see if we get along? Better to make sure it works beforehand than to get into a marriage and get divorced!" Or with homosexuality, "hey, they're nice people and heck, our sins in our daily lives are probably worse than sodomy. If we're opposed to their sexual preferences, it's like slavery or racism! Let's fight for civil rights!"

Each time Satan takes our good nature, the desire to be prudent or cautious, caring, or afraid to step on toes, or our pragmatism, and he operates on that agenda to mix it with sins. And we buy into it. Most theological and ecclesiological sins and turf wars we're having in 2011 in Anglicanism and other communions are related to this aspect of mixing good intentions with evil IMHO.

And blaming Adam and Eve isn't great either. But it's important to reflect on the First Sin to put our salvation history together and have it be meaningful. Seeing how death entered into the world helps us to see the glory of how Our Lord smashed death right back. But dwelling on Adam and scapegoating him for our foolishness is a lame enterprise!

 

[Rurik]

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ - Acts 2

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors... “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God. -Jeremiah 31

 

[newarkpbi]

Personally it is in my own belief that god is not talking to us but he is spiritually talking to us, he is with us all the time and we can pray to him when we need his help, it is good to have somebody watching over us.

 

[Jeffersonian]

Scriptures!
Through His Spirit.
Through His People
Though His Church.

 

[wayseer]

I have been thinking over the content of the above posts and feel somewhat uncomfortable. It seems we get stuck with cliches and jargon when trying to explain just how God works. To me this is unsatisfactory.

Although dissatisfied with what is written above I'm not too sure how to go about explaining what it is I am trying to say. So, I'll give it a go in the hope others might cotton on.

We get 'stuck' I think because we fail to understand how the biblical texts work. I know I can descent easily into a quagmire of theory here but is this what we have to do to get 'unstuck'? I don't think so.

One of my biggest hurdles I faced in doing theological studies was - just where is God in all of this study. It seemed to me God goes missing at such times which leaves me in a place which is little more than the sterile landscape of academia without any spiritual compass.

It was something of relief when an Orthodox priest led us in lectures on the Church to 500. Here was someone who talk theology and encompass God at the same time. What gives I thought? What is this guy doing that is so different?

It was not our lecturer so much - but his topic - he was passionate about the Church Fathers.

So I have done a bit of research on my own and one of the things I have found is that the Church Fathers constantly speak of the scriptures in the same context as the Apostles. This is no coincidence. But when the Fathers speak of the 'scriptures' they don't mean the NT - they mean the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. And then inevitable link those 'scriptures' with the apostles. I had not picked up on this earlier. Here is an example of what I mean -

Then He set forth in types beforehand that which was to be; now in very truth He has brought us out from the cruel service of the Gentiles, and a stream of water in the desert has He made to flow forth in abundance from a rock; and that rock is Himself; and has given twelve fountains, that is, the teaching of the twelve apostles. (Ireneaus - The Demonstration of the Apostles Preaching: 46).

Ireneaus links the story of Moses with living water from a rock in the desert with the 'teaching of the twelve apostles'.

The point which I think is significant is that Ireneaus is not concerned with the 'historical' Jesus but the Christ of faith - a faith that already exists in the texts as the 'Word'.

This is not a matter of playing metaphorical games either. Ireneaus, and I suggest the rest of the Fathers, are drawing attention to the fact that the message of the apostles was 'according to the scriptures' - a phrase first penned by Paul and one which became incorporated into the Nicene Creed.

'According to the scriptures' became something more that literary text - the phrase was Christ. The scriptures were not 'pointing at Christ' as I had earlier thought, but 'contains' Christ.

Therefore the question we really must ask ourselves is - what is the 'teaching of the apostles'? And to answer that question we need to go to the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. Here is Christ speaking. We really don't need dreams or visions or visitations, or even the NT - Ireneaus probably did not have one.

The mistake I had been making in my studies was trying to exegesis scripture rather than explaining (teaching) Christ. The object of study is not to understand scripture - it is to understand Christ.