Misunderstandings about hearing the Lord

[One 2 question]

Agree.
Have you had the experience where something on the page stands out to you?
As if God wants you to see something specific?

That can happen for me with anything. But I first noticed it with the Bible.

/

If I have to push play then it is not alive to be able to think and respond on it's own - and if you look at the next verse for context you will see that Heb 4:12 is talking about a person - and even in your verse (Heb 4:12 you can read that the word is able to think, judge, and have thoughts - so the word must be alive somehow and Jesus Christ is alive, but the Bible is not!!

The problem then is that some people are making an idol out of the Bible!!

People do that - they make idols! They take a piece of stone or wood and pretend that inanimate object is alive and so tell themselves "But is must be alive somehow.."

How foolish and silly such and thing is - and especially sense idolatry is exposed in the Bible and so especially is silly when the inanimate Bible is made to be an idol!!

When Jesus told the Jews - Jn 5:39,40 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

They were in fact making an idol out of the Scriptures by thinking the Scriptures were able to take the action needed to save them - instead of figuring out that Jesus Christ was alive and could speak, and He was the Word of God because He alone did and said only what the Father tells Him! He is able to divide your sould and spirit, joints and marrow, but the Bible can not think or take action.

His sheep hear His voice - we do that!! We His sheep do indeed hear Him talking to us via His Holy Spirit! So we can and do talk to Him about all the little things in our lives, because He never leaves us - so we really do hear His voice. Have you never ever heard about the small voice of the Lord? Did you never ever read about how the Lord speaks? Do you even comprehend that He is alive and well, because He rose again and sits on the throne as King over the Kingdom of God which is in our midst? You should have at least read that the Word of the Lord we preach is found near us, even in our mouth and in our hearts, so not in the pages of your Bible that you probably don't always have near you.

You read, but you don't understand. You make silly short comments, but they only show you don't know Him, and don't believe the very Scriptures you were searching! Did you not read:

Jn 5:46,47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.
“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Jesus explained this problem to the Jews, and John made a record of it. Still people make the same mistake today as they did then. They make and idol out of the Bible - so don't do that!

While the Scriptures should be read, they also need to be believed otherwise you will not seek Jesus Christ and His voice, so you will not find Him. So indeed; How are you going to believe His words if you don't believe that we can hear from Him personally, like is explained in the Bible??

The Bible is capable of giving you the wisdom to find salvation which is through Him, but that does not mean a person reading the Bible did find Him and His salvation!! It is the Spirit who gives us life by giving us His words to hear and so to believe in Him! But the words of the Bible are ink on pages and not spiritual words that we pick up in our mouth.

That is why MANY will try and tell Him on that day that they did things in His name only to honestly be told by Him that He never knew them - and then be sent to a place - hell - that is a sad sad ending for them.

So repent now while you can and turn to Him and let Him into your life by hearing from Him who is just standing at the door trying to talk back and forth with you!

Rev 3:19,20 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

I am telling you truly, that He has a voice which comes through His Holy Spirit to our spirit, so we can seek Him, find Him, talk back and forth with HIm, and we can do that about every single little thing in our live! I love talking to Him about my son's soccer team, because I tend to be a soccer dad along with being a Christian.

So many good times I have had talking with the Lord. I remember that time when my son was playing at APU and the Lord told me that they were about to bring in a player that would make a big difference, and a big blond fuzzy headed kid came onto the pitch. He did indeed make a big difference and they won the game. This kid went on to play in the MLS, helping Columbus to Championship, then was traded to San Jose where He made even a bigger difference helping them to the best record in the MLS. They even gave away big fuzzy blonde wigs once to honor Steven Lenhart, who indeed made a big difference - and I personally heard it first from the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The Bible didn't tell me that but the Lord can and will talk to you about all the little things in your life if you just quite pretending and start actually listening to Him!

Knowing the Lord makes life fun, interesting, and He will give you that knowing Him for eternity!! He is the living and active word of God if a person cares to believe in Him!

Well put. Thanks for spending the time to explain this. I can relate to it.

I too made the bible an idol and since repenting of this my relationship with my Creators has changed and revelation had to come through a new means.

It is a challenging thing to retrain my mind, the way I process things post bible days. But my beliefs, attitudes and how I live my life has changed for the better. I know I am so much more free to be with my Creators and be open to hear Them communicate in whatever way They choose.

 

[GRACE ambassador]

I too made the bible an idol

Precious friend, how can practicing All that The Bible Says, obeying God, make It an 'idol'?

Handling The Word Of Life!

Amen.

 

[Cassandra]

Ok, you've got the Scripture which we are to study and do. How you can make an idol from a book which every word is God breathed, I have no idea.

Maybe if you are talking about setting stuff on top of the Bible, or making sure it's on top of stuff may be utilizing it as a thing of worship. But not the contents. One of my favorite Bibles is pretty shot, more heavily marked than others. It's not the book--it is what is in it.

I think the idolatry thing that is spoken here of with respect to the bible is a ruse to justify this: "now i can commune with My Creator' without anything else.
You can't have both? Why would you say the Bible is an idol, then when you know God never said that. He told us to Search it.

 

[St. SteVen]

Here you go.

Bibliolatry: Worship/knowledge of the book MORE than the author

/ @GRACE ambassador @Cassandra

 

[One 2 question]

Ok, you've got the Scripture which we are to study and do. How you can make an idol from a book which every word is God breathed, I have no idea.

This may not answer your question but its the best I can do right now.

For the most part of my life I had turned to the bible and studied it and lived my life by it. It was my source of knowledge that I depended on for just about everything in my daily life.

Whenever I wanted to know something I consulted it. What to do, where to go, who to interact with and even what to wear.

I turned to it before anything else to determine what I should believe, asking what did Jesus believe, what did Paul believe, Peter, John and anyone else in the bible.

Any opportunity I had to read, study, teach and live it I did.

It caused me to cut off just about everyone in my life except those who believed the bible, who lived by it or were making a concerted effort to live their life exclusivly according to the bible.

This practice caused me to become more and more isolated from others and not able to relate to the world around me. I only interacted with like minded, bible believing and bible practising Christians.

Any of my former friends and family who did not measure up to the bible's standard (canon) for living I shunned.

I always had a hard copy of the bible close at hand in case I needed to consult it at short notice and I had committed a good portion to memory to help me in my daily pursuit of holiness.

The bible had become my everything. I had no interest in anything else. I became obsessed with this book and it's contents.

Did I have a personal intimate relationship with the God of the contributors (authors) of this book? I'd like to think so.

I prayed to God though it was mostly to confess sin, to apologise for and repent of my dead works or any hint of unholiness (unbiblical thoughts, words and living).

I could not relate to others and became unrelatable. With the strict judgement, according to the bible, I judged myself and I judged others constantly until I became almost totally isolated in my holy cell, well that's what I thought it was.

After a mental breakdown of sorts, God graciously heard my cry for help. He opened my mind to see what I had done and who I had become.

In an attempt to become a walking living advertisement for the bible, maybe like the Pharisees, I had missed the most important thing, a Person, the Living Word of God Who become flesh.

For many years I continued to maintain a certain, yet lesser, fixation and dependency on the bible by reading other Christian material.

After many years I returned to a more strict exclusive adherence to reading, studing and living ONLY the bible.

A few years ago God, yet again, graciously revealed this old habit of going to the writings of the authors of this book, not their God. These contributors were pointing out and shouting, look to Him, go to Him, relate to Him of Whom we speak. Thankfully I did.

The penny dropped. I had made this book my first port of call, my go to, my source. It was revealed to me that I had developed a greater, stronger relationship to the bible than God Himself.

I had gained a broader knowledge about God but not a deeper relationship with Him.

The bible had become a replacement or substitute for God. Something that came between me and Him. It became an idol in my life. I worshipped it, I defended it, I consulted it and believed that by serving it I would gain peace, happiness, contentment, joy but I experienced the opposite for the most part.

Since I repented of this practice, and consulted God, apart from the bible, God has been revealing more of Himself than I ever received from the pages of the bible book. The precious truths He has shared by revelation not in the bible is quite incredible. I thank God regularly for the life I now live without the need of the bible.

This is my experience and I don't necessarily expect others to do as I have. In fact I would suggest people stay with the bible unless God tells you otherwise.

The bible is safe. Beyond it could be unsafe. One could be led astray by untested teaching. Living life outside the parameters of the bible can make one's life unpredictable.

The bible is more convenient, one person said to me. If I consult it when I'm seeking an answer to a certain question, I'll find either a specific answer or at least a principle to answer my question. He said it is quicker than going to God with a question which may mean I have to wait a long time for Him to answer me directly.
So stick to the bible. Don't complicate things.

If Paul turned up at the church in Ephesus where someone was reading his letter, would they attempt to keep reading or expounding or trying to understand what Paul was trying to teach them? I don't think so. They would've stopped and greeted him. Then let him teach them directly. Would he refer to his own letter? Maybe. Maybe not.

Same with God for me. I put the writings down and make way for God to speak to me diectly. Will He refer to what He had expressed through others in the past? Maybe. Maybe not.

 

[Naomanos]

This is my experience

I'm glad that you said this, because it's truth. Not everyone will experience what you did or view the Bible and how lived life the way you did.

I certainly don't view the Bible the way you did. I don't isolate myself and consult the Bible for everything that I do. I don't need to. I have read the Bible, several times through, and God gave me a brain and a conscious. I use brain to remember what I read in the Bible along with my conscious to guide my way.

There are some people who want God to micromanage them. According to them, they ask him what to wear, if they should tie their shoes, what to eat for breakfast, etc. In my opinion that's way too much, but if that's what they want to do, go right ahead. I don't need to be micromanaged.

There are Christians who are like me, there are Christians who are like the above and everything I'm between. Everyone, does their walk differently and no one won't tell someone who is being micromanaged by God to stop or that their doing it wrong. It's their walk and they can choose how tonwalk that walk.

Those like me and those in between, aren't doing our walks wrong. God speaks to us in different ways based on us, not based on how someone says He should. This is where Karl gets it wrong. He says his experience must be everyone else's experience, not allowing for God to well, be God. Karl says we must do Christianity His way. This is wrong.

Karl has said all he has said here across multiple forums and he has many that agree with him, and many that don't. He never once allows for someone to have their own relationship with God, to do their walk with God how they choose. He insists that his way is the only way and all else is wrong.

So thank you again for saying "this is my experience" as not everyone has the same experience and not everyone has the same walk with God.

 

[Pearl]

When I was in hospital a couple of years ago I didn't have my bible with me. I spent a lot of time praying though, for every single person who came on that ward from patients to cleaners and tea ladies and obviously nursing and medical staff. It was as if I was absolutely in the right place, a place God wanted me to be and it felt almost like I was on a retreat.

Anyway the reason I started this post was to say that during those few days God showed me that my bible was not as important as my personal relationship with Him. I could know my bible and it wouldn't save me. It is knowing Jesus that does that.

 

[Naomanos]

When I was in hospital a couple of years ago I didn't have my bible with me. I spent a lot of time praying though, for every single person who came on that ward from patients to cleaners and tea ladies and obviously nursing and medical staff. It was as if I was absolutely in the right place, a place God wanted me to be and it felt almost like I was on a retreat.

Anyway the reason I started this post was to say that during those few days God showed me that my bible was not as important as my personal relationship with Him. I could know my bible and it wouldn't save me. It is knowing Jesus that does that.

This is true, but I for one get to know Jesus through the Bible. I learn of Jesus through the Bible. He speaks to me through the Bible. I still have a relationship with Him, but it's not going to be the same as your relationship with Him.

This is why I said not everyone has the same experience or same walk.

 

[Raccoon1010]

Satan likes to pretend to be God. There has been much on discerning the voice of the true God. I won't keep repeating posts for everyone that wants to start the same thread. But we know it's God if a prediction comes true. Also we have the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). But simply hearing a spiritual voice is not a confirmation that you are hearing from God.

 

[Pearl]

This is true, but I for one get to know Jesus through the Bible. I learn of Jesus through the Bible. He speaks to me through the Bible. I still have a relationship with Him, but it's not going to be the same as your relationship with Him.

This is why I said not everyone has the same experience or same walk.

What you say @Naomanos is so true. Even two people who are very close, like husband and wife, will have different experiences. That's why each of us have that personal relationship with Jesus that is so much more and so much better than mere religion.

 

[Cassandra]

This practice caused me to become more and more isolated from others and not able to relate to the world around me. I only interacted with like minded, bible believing and bible practising Christians.

Any of my former friends and family who did not measure up to the bible's standard (canon) for living I shunned.

This was neither God doing this, not the Bible. Jesus would not ask you to do that.
Luke 7:34.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

That, too, is in the Bible.
The Bible didn't do that to you either. that is what you did.

 

[One 2 question]

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

Matt 10:34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set[a] a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’

That, too, is in the Bible.

The Bible didn't do that to you either. that is what you did.

You are right. I did this, I made the bible my idol. And I was the one who removed this idol so I could make the Living God my everything.

I have not looked back and I am very grateful for the changes that this act has brought to my life.

I chose to make the bible an idol. I chose to remove it.

 

[Karl Peters]

Oy vey!

That is not what that scripture means. Do some hear the sound of the wind when born again, sure, buy it doesn't mean it happens all the time.

I've been born again, didn't hear the sound of the wind when it happened.

The sound of the wind was an example

Well then - let us just look that the Scriptures and see if they back up hearing words from the Lord or not:

Jn 10:3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

That verse seem to sure indicate that His sheep hear his voice!

Let look for another - perhaps His voice is not in "words"?

Jn 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Well, it looks like that verse surely says that the Spirit give us His words!!

There has got to be something more though, right?

Is 30:21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Oh - that verse explains it is 'words' and supposedly whenever we turn to the right or to the left - but maybe that is not for now - huh?

Rev 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Ok - that really looks like He is indeed just standing there knocking with His voice now, but maybe that is for a single time or two and not everday?

Heb 3:7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,

Heb 3:15 while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”

Wow - it is for that day call "Today" - but then if it was why then do so many Christians not speak about hearing HIm, "Today"?

Mat 3:15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'

Look - I too often have a problem when dealing with other Christians - and the problem comes from the fact that I personally hear the Lord talk to me everyday, via that small voice of His. I testify about this, but I find people are just not willing to except my testimony. Yet I don't think what I testify to is all that controversial, but they seem to think any talk of hearing from the Lord our God "Today" is controversial - which is shown because they usually don't argue over what I said He told me, but rather the fact that I say He told something - anything!

If I explain that the most common thing He tells me is, "Karl, I love you." is that really surprising that God who is love would tell me such and thing regularly?

What about some of the others things I posted as Him saying on this thread, like:

"The Lord asks me to preach the Word, and that to mean that we (all people really) need to seek Him and that to hear what He personally has to say to us! That means that we, each of us, should personally know Jesus Christ because we talk back and forth with Him. We each you be able to hear His instructions to us, personally, and that in words which we find in our mouth and hearts. That is the Word of God we are preaching (see Romans 10)"

Which is how I started the OP - Is it really so unexpected that the Lord our God would want His people to seek HIm personally to hear what He has to say to them? Could there even be something in the Bible about that?

Ps 81:13 “Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!

Well - there it is right there written in the Bible that He wants His people (Christians) listening to Him!!!

I went to church yesterday, because the Lord asked me to go to the Saturday night service this week. And the praise and worship time was fantastic! I could feel the Spirit moving, and I hear the Holy Spirit bringing me words from my Lord Jesus Christ. He was telling me that He was going to do some healing tonight, and He emphasized it to me several times. It seemed great until the preacher that night got up and started by calling the Bible the Word of God and saying He was going to bring the "Word"!

I got news for Him, "The Word" came down during the worship!! The pastor did not bring the Word, the Holy Spirit did!!!!
Then the pastor start telling everyone that our destiny was determined by out Character. So that if we did everything right we would achieve our destiny.

I got what he was trying to say, and I don't totally disagree, but is really our Character or our listening to the Lord personally and doing what He tells us that brings us to our "Destiny"?

Was not Moses a murderer, and yet because He listen to the Lord God used Him to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, right?

I know I still get plenty of things wrong, and yet from knowing the Lord He had me open up a Christian bookstore for Him, which I never ever would have done based upon my character!!! He had to personally tell me to quite my job as a retail manager, 10 am one morning. Then He brought thunder and a snow storm where it almost never snows, while I was talking to my pastor at the time to get some confirmation that I should go by what I believe I heard from Him. And the Lord didn't stop there - He also had a falling star to appear while I was later talking to my son about whether I should do it. Then that same night He told me to go to my mom's to spend the night, and He had me run out of gas, because He had prior to that had me but a car where the gas tank always showed full and trust Him to tell me via His small voice to tell me when to get gas) and He had been faithful about that except for that night, when I had to run through the snow to get to the gas station. And that gas station was changing shifts and told me it would be 7 minutes (not 5 or 10 but 7) so I ran across the street to the other gas station where a lady who saw me getting gas in my gas can, to get into her car and she would take me back to my car because the Lord had told to her to help me (so there are people 'Christians' who do hear from Him like me) and He shows me that when He needs to!

Yet trying to explain this to the Christian church in general is a problem!! So it is true with too many: "THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,

And that needs to change, does it not!!

 

[Naomanos]

Well then - let us just look that the Scriptures and see if they back up hearing words from the Lord or not:

Jn 10:3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

That verse seem to sure indicate that His sheep hear his voice!

Let look for another - perhaps His voice is not in "words"?

Jn 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Well, it looks like that verse surely says that the Spirit give us His words!!

There has got to be something more though, right?

Is 30:21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Oh - that verse explains it is 'words' and supposedly whenever we turn to the right or to the left - but maybe that is not for now - huh?

Rev 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Ok - that really looks like He is indeed just standing there knocking with His voice now, but maybe that is for a single time or two and not everday?

Heb 3:7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,

Heb 3:15 while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”

Wow - it is for that day call "Today" - but then if it was why then do so many Christians not speak about hearing HIm, "Today"?

Mat 3:15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'

Look - I too often have a problem when dealing with other Christians - and the problem comes from the fact that I personally hear the Lord talk to me everyday, via that small voice of His. I testify about this, but I find people are just not willing to except my testimony. Yet I don't think what I testify to is all that controversial, but they seem to think any talk of hearing from the Lord our God "Today" is controversial - which is shown because they usually don't argue over what I said He told me, but rather the fact that I say He told something - anything!

If I explain that the most common thing He tells me is, "Karl, I love you." is that really surprising that God who is love would tell me such and thing regularly?

What about some of the others things I posted as Him saying on this thread, like:

"The Lord asks me to preach the Word, and that to mean that we (all people really) need to seek Him and that to hear what He personally has to say to us! That means that we, each of us, should personally know Jesus Christ because we talk back and forth with Him. We each you be able to hear His instructions to us, personally, and that in words which we find in our mouth and hearts. That is the Word of God we are preaching (see Romans 10)"

Which is how I started the OP - Is it really so unexpected that the Lord our God would want His people to seek HIm personally to hear what He has to say to them? Could there even be something in the Bible about that?

Ps 81:13 “Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!

Well - there it is right there written in the Bible that He wants His people (Christians) listening to Him!!!

I went to church yesterday, because the Lord asked me to go to the Saturday night service this week. And the praise and worship time was fantastic! I could feel the Spirit moving, and I hear the Holy Spirit bringing me words from my Lord Jesus Christ. He was telling me that He was going to do some healing tonight, and He emphasized it to me several times. It seemed great until the preacher that night got up and started by calling the Bible the Word of God and saying He was going to bring the "Word"!

I got news for Him, "The Word" came down during the worship!! The pastor did not bring the Word, the Holy Spirit did!!!!
Then the pastor start telling everyone that our destiny was determined by out Character. So that if we did everything right we would achieve our destiny.

I got what he was trying to say, and I don't totally disagree, but is really our Character or our listening to the Lord personally and doing what He tells us that brings us to our "Destiny"?

Was not Moses a murderer, and yet because He listen to the Lord God used Him to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, right?

I know I still get plenty of things wrong, and yet from knowing the Lord He had me open up a Christian bookstore for Him, which I never ever would have done based upon my character!!! He had to personally tell me to quite my job as a retail manager, 10 am one morning. Then He brought thunder and a snow storm where it almost never snows, while I was talking to my pastor at the time to get some confirmation that I should go by what I believe I heard from Him. And the Lord didn't stop there - He also had a falling star to appear while I was later talking to my son about whether I should do it. Then that same night He told me to go to my mom's to spend the night, and He had me run out of gas, because He had prior to that had me but a car where the gas tank always showed full and trust Him to tell me via His small voice to tell me when to get gas) and He had been faithful about that except for that night, when I had to run through the snow to get to the gas station. And that gas station was changing shifts and told me it would be 7 minutes (not 5 or 10 but 7) so I ran across the street to the other gas station where a lady who saw me getting gas in my gas can, to get into her car and she would take me back to my car because the Lord had told to her to help me (so there are people 'Christians' who do hear from Him like me) and He shows me that when He needs to!

Yet trying to explain this to the Christian church in general is a problem!! So it is true with too many: "THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,

And that needs to change, does it not!!

You still do not understand that people hear from the Lord in different ways. That everyone walks with the Lord differently. That not everyone does things your way.

That's okay. I know the truth and you do not have to believe me for that truth to stand.

 

[Karl Peters]

Matt 10:34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set[a] a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’




You are right. I did this, I made the bible my idol. And I was the one who removed this idol so I could make the Living God my everything.

I have not looked back and I am very grateful for the changes that this act has brought to my life.

I chose to make the bible an idol. I chose to remove it.

We can make the Bible an idol, but that does not mean we should remove it - we need for it to be in the proper place in our lives, and that is as a textbook that the Lord, as our Teacher, uses it at times!!!

In fact did we not read:

2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

So while it is not used to be God, it is used for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness!!!

In fact have you not found out from listening to the Lord our God, Jesus Christ, who is our Teacher, that is exactly how He uses it!!!!!

He of course uses a lot more than just the Bible to teach me - because there is a lot more than is in the Bible to talk about, isn't there?!!

I remember one day when I was reading a fairly complicated book about the Cosmos, write by a scientist who studied the stars, and I did get what he was trying to explain in the book, so I asked the Lord and the Lord of course responded to me questions!

The Lord started off by explaining that the writings in that book were not exactly right, yet then went on to explain to me what that author was trying to explain.

It should not be a surprise to anyone that God is a whole lot smarter than you to anyone, so He can help you understand things!!

And I tell you that one area He helps me a lot which is dealing with my wife!! This is a great bit of info I am giving you right here if you care to believe in the Lord!! If you have a wife and have troubles at time, the very best way to handle it is to quickly get help from the Lord!!

Of course, to get help from Him with your wife you have to believe in Him enough to seek Him and hear instructions from Him - so I would get to practicing using your spiritual senses pronto! But if you have been telling yourself, according to your own understanding that your understanding of the Bible will get you by, good luck with that!

 

[Karl Peters]

You still do not understand that people hear from the Lord in different ways. That everyone walks with the Lord differently. That not everyone does things your way.

That's okay. I know the truth and you do not have to believe me for that truth to stand.

I understand perfectly well that God can use all kinds of ways to communicate with people - but do you walk up to a stranger and ask for directions by playing a game of charades with them or do you just asked them in words if they know how to get where you want to go?

Silly people - God said preach the Word to mean listening to Him for the words He personally has for you, because that is the fastest easiest way to get your answers, your teachings, your instructions, and your encouragement from Him!! And did you not read in your Bible that faith comes from hearing a word from Him???

Rom 10:16,17 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?”
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ

And so even the words He speaks you is the way He has chosen to give you the faith that saves you!!!!
His "words" (not the other means of communication but His words) give you life!!

Jn 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Just keep telling me how you say you follow the Bible and keep getting reproved by that same Bible!! It is good for reproving you!

 

[Karl Peters]

What you say @Naomanos is so true. Even two people who are very close, like husband and wife, will have different experiences. That's why each of us have that personal relationship with Jesus that is so much more and so much better than mere religion.

YES!!!

 

[St. SteVen]

people hear from the Lord in different ways.

I agree.
And I think what is being challenged by most here is that we expect others to ONLY hear they way we do.
That, and an encouragement to be OPEN to hearing God in ways that we haven't heard before.
There are even practical aspects to gain from the experience of others.

/

 

[Naomanos]

I understand perfectly well that God can use all kinds of ways to communicate with people - but do you walk up to a stranger and ask for directions by playing a game of charades with them or do you just asked them in words if they know how to get where you want to go?

Silly people - God said preach the Word to mean listening to Him for the words He personally has for you, because that is the fastest easiest way to get your answers, your teachings, your instructions, and your encouragement from Him!! And did you not read in your Bible that faith comes from hearing a word from Him???

Rom 10:16,17 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?”
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ

And so even the words He speaks you is the way He has chosen to give you the faith that saves you!!!!
His "words" (not the other means of communication but His words) give you life!!

Jn 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Just keep telling me how you say you follow the Bible and keep getting reproved by that same Bible!! It is good for reproving you!

I am not being reproved by anything. This is your walk with God and it is not my walk with God. It is different and that is okay.

 

[Karl Peters]

You still do not understand that people hear from the Lord in different ways. That everyone walks with the Lord differently. That not everyone does things your way.

That's okay. I know the truth and you do not have to believe me for that truth to stand.

We don't hear from the Lord in different ways!!

The Holy Spirit takes the words from Jesus Christ and He speaks them to our spirit!!

That doesn't mean that He doesn't go over different things with different people!

And it doesn't mean that God can not use different ways to communicate with us!

Still we hear all hear from the Lord in the exact same way!! And that is via His Holy Spirit speaking to our spirit, which is why it is written that the Word is found near us, in our mouths and hearts!!

It is why saying the word of God is found in our Bible is wrong - because that was God speak to other people in the past and them writing it down, and not Him talking to you personally!! He can talk to you, and you should be listening to what He says about your Bible, but not just about your Bible but about all things in your life, right?