Part 1 .Does God speak to us other than His Word?

[Chuck7]

I didn;t want to hijack the other thread so I decided to move Chad's comment here..


Also, as I said before, God is no respecter of persons. Therefor, itonly makes sense to me that if He were to speak directly with one Christian, He would speak directly with all--and if He did that, why would we have the Bible?


Yes sir..we have gone over this before..I'm leaving for the stand real soon..I'll be meditaing on this all morning and jotting down scripture that I know Christ will give me while I'm sitting there without a Bible..He gave me a few this morning as I awoke..I knew the conversation was going to go this way..I'll be ready with some answers and hopefully some game as well.I love how you Church of Christ boys make me use my Bible..being serious here.
God bless,
C7

[Chuck7]

OK ...hunting was nice..I was guarding a scrape and 2 rubs..nice rubs. I did hear some crashing in brush..I used my grunt call and the noise stopped. Next time the grunt stays home..

I thought of about 5 real good verses Chad , then I discussed the topic with my wife who's theological ideas are somewhere between yours and mine. Although she is a Christian she questions everything and has no faith in man whatsoever. NO MAN..

Diffently if you have already made up your mind that God only speaks by His Word...as you quoted that Hebrews verse..."that was once for all."..As far as written scripture ..I agree 100%.

But may I ask you how do you beleive the Holy Spirit works in one's life today in 2007...in reference to the following verses.

Romans 8:8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.


Col;.1:27To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Eph. 3:16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Acts 2:and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.



ohn 3:5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.


Please commit on what you beleive the Holy Spirit is...how he works in your life..
I have more to come but I like learning in small chunks so we can learn it better ..I've got deeper thoughts when we get through the basics.

[Leafrivermac]

Okey, I was just fixing to respond to your first post and now I see that you have touched on much in a second post.
Yes, I believe that thru the Holy Spirit we have a relationship with the Lord. I'n my experiance tho I have seen folk get into error, and make pretty big mistakes thinking that God was giving them some "inside information".
I'm fixing to hit the tree stand so this is just a "IMO" post. There are several things that can get in the way of our "reciever" tho. Things like ego . . .wanting to be looked up to, power, vanity. Also, what we want to be true can be pretty strong in one at times. Actually, all of our emotions can play on us strongly.
I believe that everything that the Lord had to say . . .that is to be shared . . .is in His Word. The Holy Spirit will lead us to His Word.

[LBR]

Thanks Chuck--I appreciate your insight. 'Course you know me....

Ok, in the verses you listed there's nothing that plainly says that God is going to speak to us directly, one on one. Hebrews does say it plainly--in the past, God spoke to His people through the prophets, but now speaks to us through His Son.

I don't claim to know exactly how the Holy Spirit works--I just know that a Christian will have it inside. My thoughts are that it is going to be similar to your concious--you'll know what you should do, you'll feel guilty if you don't do it, and you will want to do the right thing. As far as there being a little voice inside your head telling you where to go, what to do, etc.,.......no, I don't believe that's how it works at all, and I have seen no scriptural evidence that it does work that way with Christians.

What are your thoughts on Hebrews 1:1,2 ? How about the examples we are given? Do we have any examples of New Testament prophets? Are we even told of prophets in the Old Testament who didn't have a higher calling than their own livelihood? If we had a voice in our head telling us what to do, how could anyone get steered in the wrong direction? Why wouldn't we all have the same beliefs?

Finally, can you name even one question you could ask that is not in one way or another answered in the Bible? If you can't, why would you need anything else? If the Bible is complete and perfect, why would anyone need anything more?

Chad

[Chuck7]

I don't claim to know exactly how the Holy Spirit works--me neither..but you have me looking for answers..that will be my focus while hunting this year..I put a hook in the tree so I can carry a pack with my Bible in it..I just know that a Christian will have it inside.Not sure if "it" is the proper term.[X(] My thoughts are that it is going to be similar to your concious--I agree..you'll know what you should do, you'll feel guilty if you don't do it, and you will want to do the right thing. As far as there being a little voice inside your head telling you where to go, what to do, etc.,.......no, I don't believe that's how it works at all,..ok I do..but will be seeking God for scriptural proof.and I have seen no scriptural evidence that it does work that way with Christians. Well, it looks like you've set my deer stand studys up for me this year.

What are your thoughts on Hebrews 1:1,2 ? How about the examples we are given?

Hebrews.1:1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Amen ..
2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, Yes...and Chad, some of the early church folks only concerned Christ actual words as God's Words...and not Paul's. Do we stop at the Son's Words or do we recieve the Apostles as well. I beleive you recieve the entire New Testament

whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;


Do we have any examples of New Testament prophets?Yes we do ..would you like them? they are in the book of Acts..Are we even told of prophets in the Old Testament who didn't have a higher calling than their own livelihood?lost me on that last question.99 IQ here[&o]If we had a voice in our head telling us what to do, how could anyone get steered in the wrong direction? Why wouldn't we all have the same beliefs? I also pondered that this morning..Brother Chad..I do not go around looking for voices.My mind was fixed on hunting this mornign and making sure I didn't forget anything and getting into the stand as quiet as possible and high as possible. After 4 hours of meditating on this I came up with something brother Leaf brought up ...There are several things that can get in the way of our "reciever" tho.Leaf..

I beleive Leaf hit it right on the head..When we are Born Again we have the ability to connect to God..or as Leaf said RECIEVE ..that is the key. We need to be at a place where we can recieve ....Jesus himself fastedfor 40 days...The Acts church fasted ..we pray..we come out from amongst and be ye separate.them etc...But this is why some seem to have more of a relationship than others..THIS IS WHY THE CHURCH IS STRUGGLING IN 2007. ...THEY ARE NOT CONNECTED TO THE POWER SOURCE!!


Finally, can you name even one question you could ask that is not in one way or another answered in the Bible?I agree brother Chad..While thinkingaboutyou this mornign I thought about God's Word being the HUB ..communion is a spoke..fellowship is a spoke...etc. etc. etc..Everything mustcompliment th eWord of God..agreed.If you can't, why would you need anything else?These are some personal resons why that I've had in my life..to no know if you should go to the mission field or not...toknow if it's God's will to adopt a certain child or not...to know if my wife and I should do the youth group...start a Bible study.....move out of state....buy a certain car...where to give our offerings...how to answer some of these post.....how to correct my students.....how to effectively teach my special ed kids....how to comfort my wife...how to pray...


Another thought...when the message is being preached...{ "And no man can cometo the Son but the Father draw him"}..How does the sinner get to the alter..?

If the Bible is complete and perfect, why would anyone need anything more?
The Word says we need the Paraklete ..Greek word for Holy Spirit...which means works along side of..I guess Jesus thought we would need a helper


C7

[sachiko]

If God doesn't speak to us, what would be the point to praying for guidance?

[Chuck7]

Amen Stephanie...and much more can be said on this subject. God also spoke through anass once..talking about an animal here.

Numbers 22:28And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

[sachiko]

I never had any exposure to religious faith before I met my husband. And he never, ever pressured me. But I followed his example and many times in the past year, I prayed for guidance. My prayers were answered every time. I found out that my husband was praying the same prayers I was.

[Chuck7]

Amen...a husband and wife make a super powerful prayer team...Peter talks about that in the Word..

[LBR]

Paul, and the rest of the apostles, were directly taught and/or inspired. They were a tool used to give us the written Word. 'Course the apostles were endowed with the ability to do a lot of things that nobody else could, or has been able to do since.

Are we even told of prophets in the Old Testament who didn't have a higher calling than their own livelihood?

Sorry I wasn't clearer on that one. What I meant was, each and every example we have of a prophet, or anyone who spoke directly with or recieved instructions directly from God, had a purpose much higher than just their own life. I understand that should be the way of every Christian, but these people all served a very specific and important purpose in fullfilling God'splans.

God gives us free will and the ability to make our own decisions. As I've said before, we aren't puppets on a string. We are allowed to make good decisions and bad ones--however, even if we make bad ones, we'llfind a way to make it through. God takes care of the flowers and the birds, and I'm sure they don't ask what to do next.

The sinner gets to the altar by simply making the decisionto obey. Christ calls to everyone through His word.

Sure,WE need help, WE need guidance--and I believe God gave us everything we need in His perfect Word. It's simply up to us to use it properly. It's like an instuction book for life. Ever try to do something very complicated, that you have never done before, without instructions? Who's fault is it when we don't read them?

Praying for (and recieving) guidance is not the same thing as a voice in your head, or a dream, or whatever,telling you just what to do. If we had that, again, why would we have such confusion? Why would anyone struggle? Why would some get it, and others not? Why does practically every different belief claim to get some sort of direct guidance other than the Bible--and there still be so many different beliefs?

Finally, tossing all logical explanations aside, we get back to the original point:there's no scripture that simply says God will speak to us directly anymore, as in a one-on-one conversation, or as the ass spoke to Paul/Saul, or as the burning bush spoke to Moses, orin dreams as Daniel had. To the contrary, Hebrews 1:1,2does specifically tell us just the opposite--in times past God spoke to His people through the prophets, buthas now spoken to us through Christ. Until I see scripture that tells me otherwise, that's what I have to stick with.

Chad