How big is your concept of God? Is there anything He can’t do? What is He limited by? Is He limited to ONLY using words / scriptures from the Bible? Is the Bible the ‘end all’ when it comes to God for you? Did God quit speaking once the Bible was written? What do you think about the first and last verses in the Gospel of John?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
And the last verse…John 21:25?
“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
Sooooo… the Bible existed BEFORE it was written? So the ‘Word’ might mean MORE than just the 66 written books bound by leather? From the last verse of John there seems to be quite a lot more that wasn’t written.
Do a study on the differences between logos and rhema. These Greek words are translated “Word” in our English. Learn which ‘Word’ (logos or rhema) is used in what scriptures. Learn what it is to encounter the ‘living Word’. Is Jesus still alive? Can you still encounter Him? What portion of Jesus are are you most likely to encounter on a daily basis? Maybe the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit limited in your life? Why? What boxes or constraints have you limited Him to? What ‘Word’ is our faith tied to? Our spiritual armor has our only offensive weapon which is the ‘Word’, what kind of “Word” is it? Just the Bible? Or is there more to it?
Don’t misunderstand me, the Holy Spirit EXPLAINS the scriptures to us. He VALIDATES the scriptures to us. He REMINDS us of the scriptures. He IS the Teacher of the Word. So what exactly am I getting at? Relationship. Can you have a relationship with a …book? IS the book …living, breathing? Sure you can learn a ‘book’ and try to understand it. It would definitely help to know the author of the book if you had questions as to what the writer was trying to explain or tell the readers. Read 2 Timothy 3 for what Paul says about scripture. Honestly I’m all about reading the Bible — again and again and again — preferably in different translations. AND learning how to translate from the original languages. Biblehub is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to dive into the original languages.
But so many put God in a box and like to keep Him there. Then they feel better about themselves, and can justify all sorts of wrong thinking. Cessationist churches and pastors are all about limiting God into their nice little boxes. They like being the substitute Holy Spirit for you. But the Holy Spirit IS GOD. Nice try trying to limit Him. Is He actually living INSIDE of you? So how exactly do you interact with Him? How do you two converse? Have you ever attempted to converse with Him. I guarantee you …He WANTS to converse with you.
The Holy Spirit is about conviction in your life. Not just once, but daily IF you let Him. It isn’t just about your ‘devotional time’ that He is limited to — unless that’s all you give Him. The Holy Spirit is also about inspiration, comfort, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self control, and hope. He is the One with the Three. He is NOT the step child of the Trinity.
Be brave — ask Him to speak to you. If you haven’t asked Jesus to baptize you with the Holy Spirit — maybe you should begin there.
What boxes have you put God in ?