God Speaks!

During a conversation after the Sunday morning service at Calvary Chapel Sydney, I was asked a pointed question:  "Do you believe that God still speaks to people today, for instance, just like He did to Moses at the burning bush?"  After thinking I replied in the affirmative:  God has not changed, neither is the way He communicates with people.  Though He does use the Holy Spirit to speak to us personally through He Word, He certainly can speak through dreams, visions, or even spoken voice.  God is not limited to speak to us in the ways which we might expect.  It is God's choice how He speaks to us, and most certainly He has spoken to us all through His Son, Jesus Christ.  He is our Mediator, Intercessor, and Savior.

How wonderful it is to know that we need not rely on a certain church official, a particular rabbi or priest, or a holy man or woman to decipher and tell us what God is saying to us.  From the very beginning, God spoke directly to Adam before his fall.  It was because of sin that God instituted the covenant of His Law with Israel, appointing and anointing priests to serve before Him.  They were a type of Christ in that they were the mediators between the people and God.  The king himself would consult with God through them, to receive guidance from the King of Kings.  Now Jesus has become our High Priest, and has become sin for us in offering Himself freely to atone for the sins of the world.  By faith we receive forgiveness through His shed blood, and we enter into the New Covenant established upon Christ and grace.

But God, in His great wisdom, did not leave us without personal help or comfort when Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father:  He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers so we might be empowered, exercise spiritual gifts, and be taught all that Jesus desires to tell us.  Jesus told His disciples in John 16:12-15:  "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."  Whether God speaks to us audibly from a burning bush or through His still small voice within our hearts, He still speaks with all the authority and power of an infinite, Almighty Creator and Ruler of All.

As a friend of mine and dear brother in Christ enjoys saying, "God doesn't need me."  This blog is not required for you to grow spiritually in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.  These writings are simply a means to encourage you to seek God more.  May this blog never be a substitute for a real relationship with God!  Know that you do not need anyone to draw close to Christ except Him.  Now some have stretched this into error, and would claim that because only Christ is needed they do not need to be involved and serve in a church fellowship, adhere to sound doctrine, or labor to be profitable for the glory of God.  God has given us each other to gird us with strength, to preserve unity, to sharpen one another, to be an encouragement, and to pray and serve together for God's glory.  The fact remains that Jesus must be our All in All, and we ought to preserve that place of all honor and glory for Him alone!

God still speaks!  Have you heard Him lately?  I tend to hear well only when I listen.  I encourage you to take some time today to seek God and listen for His voice.  And when He DOES speak to you in the night hours or calls your name as He did Samuel, say "Speak LORD, for your servant hears."  (Then don't roll over and try to immediately go to sleep.)  What He tells you be faithful to speak and live out.  Praise God that He still speaks, and may His people be faithful to listen and obey!