Daily devotion – God speaking to you today.
When I was a new Christian, I so wanted to have God speak to me. I was pretty naïve at that time and immature in my knowledge of the Bible. I was always hearing people say, “God spoke to me…” and I used to wonder how God spoke to them. In what way did He, the Holy God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, communicate to these people?
As I began to read the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, we read of times when God declared His ways to His prophets and His people. Those amazing words, “Thus says the Lord…” echo throughout Scripture. The phrase “thus says the Lord” occurs thousands of times throughout the Bible, reminding us that God is not silent, but a God who reveals Himself and communicates truth to humanity.
But as I matured in my walk with God and began to read the Bible in an orderly fashion, in context, and book by book instead of haphazardly here and there, only then did I truly begin to understand how God speaks to us today.
God speaks to us through His Word, together with the work of the Holy Spirit highlighting verses, opening our eyes to understand them, and revealing their significance in our own lives.
In John’s Gospel chapter 1, John tells us that Jesus is God and that He is the expression, the very image of God in human flesh as the Son of Man. We see Christ living among us, speaking and acting in ways that declared He was truly God manifested in the flesh.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Later, the writer of Hebrews teaches us:
Heb 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.
As I began to read the Bible systematically and seriously, it was as if my ears and heart were both unplugged. With spiritual discernment growing, I found God speaking to me with volumes of truth, wisdom, correction, encouragement, and revelation through His Word.
Even now, as I prepare for Wednesday evening and Sunday morning teachings from Exodus chapters 2 and 3, I find myself writing copious notes as God communicates the life and power of His Word to my heart to know and declare.
The Bible is not merely a religious book filled with history and moral teachings. It is the living Word of God.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Do you desire to hear God speak to you? Not through an audible voice, but through His holy Scriptures? Then become a student of His Word. Read it prayerfully, study it carefully, meditate upon it daily, and the Holy Spirit will faithfully illuminate its truths to your heart.
You will soon discover that God has been speaking all along — and His Word is overflowing with His voice, His wisdom, His promises, and His love for His people.