Hearing God speak to me.

[Norman70]

Many people say they listen for God and sometimes they hear Him speak. I am 77 years old, and in my early 30's I had a personal experience which dissolved my agnosticism and brought me to know God exists but I did not hear Him speak. At 50 years old I married a Christian lady,, was baptised into her Church, the Seventh day Adventists.
But only today did I feel that God actually spoke to me about a worldly matter which was troubling me. He told me to stop drinking alcohol which I was having difficulty doing, even though my doctor has put me on antibiotics and told me not to drink.
The significance of this command from God was immediately brought to me by then having the realisation that although I have claimed that I love God ever since becoming a Christian, only now; today; did it come to me that if I really do love God I will do as He commands.
On my Christian journey, which I am finding long and hard; is this a promising spiritual development occurring in me?

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Hopefully Yes !

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Many people say they listen for God and sometimes they hear Him speak. I am 77 years old, and in my early 30's I had a personal experience which dissolved my agnosticism and brought me to know God exists but I did not hear Him speak. At 50 years old I married a Christian lady,, was baptised into her Church, the Seventh day Adventists.
But only today did I feel that God actually spoke to me about a worldly matter which was troubling me. He told me to stop drinking alcohol which I was having difficulty doing, even though my doctor has put me on antibiotics and told me not to drink.
The significance of this command from God was immediately brought to me by then having the realisation that although I have claimed that I love God ever since becoming a Christian, only now; today; did it come to me that if I really do love God I will do as He commands.
On my Christian journey, which I am finding long and hard; is this a promising spiritual development occurring in me?

Although I would not believe any inner voice telling me "new" doctrinal revelation, I do believe that the Holy Spirit can speak to our hearts to let us know what God wants us to do any any specific time.

But most of the time we are expected to use our own judgment concerning decisions we make. The Holy Spirit does not put a bridle on us or a bit in our mouths to direct us the way a horse or a mule needs to be directed. But there are specific times when God will say, "Do [such and such] now!" This is because there is a particular need to be met or a task that is to be undertaken that is out of the ordinary.

I have a friend who was told by the inner voice, "Go to [such and such an address right now!" He obeyed and found that the person who lived there was in the middle of a heart attack. He prayed, and the person's life was saved. If he had not have obeyed that inner command, the person would have died.

But if someone you don't know comes to you and gives you a prophecy, or a "word of knowledge" about yourself that you are previous unaware of, then don't listen to that person because there is the danger of that word containing a spirit of divination that will attack you.

But If the inner voice is telling you to stop drinking alcohol right now, then you need to obey it, and trust that the Holy Spirit will give you the strength to stay on the wagon. This seems like a specific command from the Lord, because He is foreseeing the danger and the possible tragic consequences if you disobey.

 

[splish- splash]

The Lord does speak yes, be it through dreams, conscience, visions etc. You could even hear this still voice giving you direction. I think It is safer though, to let him speak through his word.

 

[tturt]

It's wonderful when the Lord becomes more real to us.

Yes God still speaks and is developing spiritual development in you. When we hear something, we check it against Scripture. Also, anytime He tells us to do something, He gives the strength to do it. We have to look to Him each step.
Isa 41:10, Phill 4:13, I Tim 1:12, I Pet 4:11, Acts 17:11, I Cor 6:19, Psa 37:23

Dont agree with some interpretation of Scripture prsented earlier.

Some keep a journal of what they hear

 

[Reborn1977]

Many people say they listen for God and sometimes they hear Him speak. I am 77 years old, and in my early 30's I had a personal experience which dissolved my agnosticism and brought me to know God exists but I did not hear Him speak. At 50 years old I married a Christian lady,, was baptised into her Church, the Seventh day Adventists.
But only today did I feel that God actually spoke to me about a worldly matter which was troubling me. He told me to stop drinking alcohol which I was having difficulty doing, even though my doctor has put me on antibiotics and told me not to drink.
The significance of this command from God was immediately brought to me by then having the realisation that although I have claimed that I love God ever since becoming a Christian, only now; today; did it come to me that if I really do love God I will do as He commands.
On my Christian journey, which I am finding long and hard; is this a promising spiritual development occurring in me?

I would say definitely YES, and I thank you for sharing it!

 

[Norman70]

Discussion on the interpretation of the written words in the Bible has to be left to another forum, obviously. For me the Word of God (Jesus) is my spiritual connection with God, does that make sense in this forum?

 

[tturt]

Definitely. Jesus is the way. John 14:6

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Discussion on the interpretation of the written words in the Bible has to be left to another forum, obviously. For me the Word of God (Jesus) is my spiritual connection with God, does that make sense in this forum?

The trouble with "interpretation" of the Bible is that many who debate that are unable to just accept the clear statements in it, especially where there are clear requirements from God prerequisite for salvation, or clear guidelines about the difference between hearing God's voice and some other voice. (I am not saying this is you - I am just sayin' it in general).

There are many doctrines and practices in churches that are not found in the Bible, and when this is pointed out to them, they say, "This is just your interpretation". But I wonder how one can interpret something that isn't even there!

There is another one: "I [Jesus] am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father except by Me." I would say that is very clear and needs no interpretation, but there are some who would say, "Not necessarily so. That is just your interpretation."

Another one is, "My sheep hear My voice", etc. They take that verse on its own and use it to say that any voice that comes to them is the voice of Jesus; but they ignore other passages that show more clearly how the voice of God comes, and how He communicates with mankind.

The Bereans, when they searched the Scriptures to validate what Paul was preaching, did not seek to get some interpretation of them. They wanted to see if Paul's teaching coincided with the clear statements that they could see written in them.

The only valid way of "interpreting" Scripture is by taking the Greek, or Hebrew and interpreting it into English and establishing that the English version is consistent with them. Otherwise it has all to do with basic exegesis and comprehension.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

The only valid way of "interpreting" Scripture is by taking the Greek, or Hebrew and interpreting it into English and establishing that the English version is consistent with them.

Actually, Jesus and Yochanan the immerser and others all agree in Scripture that no man can understand anything unless it is granted (revealed) to them by the Father from heaven.

The meaning of "interpret" has been co-opted/ into a misnomer/ for how many hundreds or thousands of years now ?

What you are describing is better said to be translating or translation, entirely different from the "interpretion" (stating God's Meaning at God's Time as God Directs)
which God says may not be done apart from His Own Inspiration/Revelation to someone...

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Actually, Jesus and Yochanan the immerser and others all agree in Scripture that no man can understand anything unless it is granted (revealed) to them by the Father from heaven.

The meaning of "interpret" has been co-opted/ into a misnomer/ for how many hundreds or thousands of years now ?

What you are describing is better said to be translating or translation, entirely different from the "interpretion" (stating God's Meaning at God's Time as God Directs)
which God says may not be done apart from His Own Inspiration/Revelation to someone...

Reliable interpretation of Scripture is not achieved by any kind of "inner voice". It is achieved by accurate exegesis, where the person writing it is identified, the social and religious culture he lived in, his intention in writing it, and how his readers understood it. It is actually putting oneself into the "moccasins" of the people he was writing to at the time. Unless we understand that, we can never come to a reliable interpretation.

But that is not all. There is another stage which we call hermeneutics. This is the process of determining whether a passage of Scripture is applicable to believers in our present time (21st Century). We have to determine whether a passage of Scripture is written for us or to us. If it was written for us then it is there for our education and learning, not as direct instructions to you that we should do the same thing. For example, Judas got depressed after betraying Jesus and went out and hanged himself. This is not to say that we should go and hang ourselves when we get depressed. The other one is where Joshua killed the inhabitants of Canaan because of their wickedness, and possessed their land. It doesn't mean that we should go around killing unbelievers because of their wickedness.

Even the Scripture: "These are my thoughts toward you, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29), cannot be directly applied to us, because it was spoken specifically to the Jew in captivity, that they will not end up like that, but they will have a future in the plan of God. But even then, because many Jews died while in captivity, that verse would not have applied to them because they did not have the advantage of it.

I have given these examples to show that we have to use our brains and the appropriate interpretive skills to really understand a Scriptural passage and know whether it can be applied to modern believers, instead of listening to some inner voice. The Bereans used their exegetical and hermeneutical skills to establish from the Scripture to ratify Paul's preaching as the truth. John tells us to test every spirit to establish that it is of God. This is an instruction written directly to us, to use our brains, and test anything that comes to us by searching the Scriptures to establish that what is being told to us by anyone, or some inner voice, is actually the Holy Spirit and not some other spirit that is not of God.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

No. Not by power (man's effort, strength, tools, anything of man),
nor by might (of mind or of flesh or of will),
but
By My Spirit Sayeth the Lord.

 

[Norman70]

Disaster! Yesterday I was so very low I said to my wife, "What the hell. Be damned to God. I am going to have a brandy." And I did. The love of God never entered my thoughts, only the love of brandy.
Will my sins be forgiven? Can I get back to God?

 

[Norman70]

I am not sure God gave me this action, or told my wife to do it. Anyway, she placed a Gideon's Bible by my side in bed. It had been given to me when I was in hospital for a skin graft. The second morning after admission I lay wondering how many days would it be before surgery, when a doctor came and told me that they were coming for me in half an hour. I lay on my back praying and put my right hand down onto the Bible which I had placed on the bed by my side.
Since my disaster by drinking, and nearly blasphemous to God, I have lain in bed on my back and constantly prayed for forgiveness. I also play Freecell solitaire and chess on my smartphone, at an easy level so I always win. This relieves stress, takes my mind off my troubles. When I win (always) I relax, put the phone down in my left hand and my right hand falls on the Bible.
I find this very comforting and encourages me to read some Scriptures (the Gideon's Bible has some very helpful suggestions at the beginning of the book). My wife is pleased, she doesn't like me to use the phone so much to pass the time away, she thinks I should try to read more of the Bible, but what I do seems to be drawing me closer to Jesus. Am I just being silly?

 

[Norman70]

My last two posts contain three questions. Will my sins be forgiven? Can I get back to God? Am I just being silly?
I would really appreciate anyone's views. BTW, I have not had any more brandy etc. I am trying hard to get back to God.

 

[Norman70]

Answering my own questions (but I still hope to read the views of other Christians) I do believe my sins will be forgiven, I will get back to God - in fact I do not think I ever forsook Him - and I hope and pray that I am not being silly.
However, I still have a problem. Does God only want my love? What about works, and what about spreading the Word (belief in Jesus as God)? I am old and infirm and can only talk and write, but my views on Christianity are not mainstream (see my posts on Christian Anarchism). I believe God wants me to pursue spreading the Word in this manner, but in RL my views are highly criticised and I am told to be silent by other Christians.
All I can do is share my ideas through the Internet (not in this forum of course). Am I doing right by God or is the devil guiding me?