Many people wonder how God speaks to me. How can I claim to speak the words of God unless I am able to discern the voice of God?
It took me awhile to be able to explain how I am able to separate the word of God from my own inner voice. The simplest way to describe the process is that everything—every thought, feeling, emotion, impulse, and experience– must be filtered through a knowledge of the written word of God. The noise must be filtered out. The “still small voice” can only be heard when all the static created by the world, the flesh, and the devil, is filtered out. Even then, it is not audible to our human ears, but is understood as a quiet whisper inside the heart.
Read the following verses of scripture:
(a). “After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12, NIV).
(b). “’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, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33, NIV).
(c). “I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand– I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people'” (Isaiah 51:13, NIV).
(d). “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20, KJV).
If you filter the above paragraph through these scriptures then you are able to get the basics of what I am saying about how God speaks to His people. Anyone can hear the voice of God if they tune their hearts to understanding the word of God communicated to the ancient prophets. The “noise” of the world must be filtered out through the truth of the Holy Scripture. The gentle whisper, consistent with the revealed truths of the Bible, is the voice of God.
Of course, God can speak to us directly using more dramatic methods such as personal visitation, visions, dreams, angelic visits, or an audible voice from heaven. However, these are rare and, more often than not, can be a counterfeit message sent by a fallen angel.
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1, NIV).
And when God speaks to us then we are accountable for being obedient to His voice. It is our divine responsibility to follow through with what He is asking of us. The more obedient we are to His commands, the more clearly we are able to decipher His messages to us.
“We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands” (1 John 2:3, NIV).
In my own life, I have learned the scriptures by reading and studying the Holy Bible and by listening to ministers who have received a word from God to share with other people. God has allowed me to share in the ministry of the gospel by teaching others the divine plan of salvation. God grants me wisdom that I might share the knowledge of His divine plan with others by using my spiritual gifts to His name’s honor and glory. God has allowed me to use my writing as a way to minister to other people.
Recently, God spoke to my heart through the writings of a special prophetic messenger of her time, Ellen White who received numerous visions, dreams, and angelic visitations. This is what she says about the spiritual gift of writing:
“The pen is a power in the hands of men who feel the truth burning upon the altar of their hearts, and who have an intelligent zeal for God, balanced with sound judgment. The pen, dipped in the fountain of pure truth, can send beams of light to dark corners of the earth, which will reflect its rays back, adding new power, and giving increased light to be scattered everywhere.”
I know that when God speaks to me that His desire is to speak through me to the rest of the world. He is also willing to use your talents to His name’s honor and glory. Tune your hearts to His word, and tell others of the wisdom that He imparts to you as His ambassadors of truth.
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” 2 Corinthians 5:20, NIV).
~Stephen Beagles