And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. And He vanished from their sight. Luke 24:31
I know I write a lot about hearing the Voice of the Holy Spirit or hearing the Voice of Jesus within you — but I realize that first one must discern and recognize the Voice of God. How exactly is God speaking to you? Physical ears only? Many have difficulty recognizing His Voice. Many within the religious institutional system of Christianity have tried to teach that if you are ‘hearing voices in your head’ then you have mental issues and need to seek professional help. So let’s think this through.
Just as the demonically possessed and oppressed individuals can hear voices and even possibly see hallucinations — means that there is ‘access’ into a human brain via thoughts from the spiritual realm. Electrical stimuli within the brain are being manipulated for evil purposes. (Consider all the demonically possessed Jesus dealt with in the scriptures.) If that is evident — then God is not able to speak as well to the human brain? Some might say “Sure God CAN do that, but does He? He has given us His Word.” At which point the questioner means the printed book (Bible) in their possession. His “Word” is much much more that just that printed book. If you would actually read it and ponder it’s contents you would find that the Word is described as more than a printed book but … ‘living and active’. What did the first followers of Christ have prior to the gospels and the first century Christian writers? (What we know as the New Testament.)
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 1 Peter 1:23
That to me doesn’t sound like just a ‘printed book’. Is Jesus the ‘Word’? So is Jesus the Bible?
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. John 21:25
If the printed physical Bible is ALL that we completely need for spiritual life …what is the Holy Spirit’s function? How exactly does the Holy Spirit work within us? So does He just reside within us — but never does anything? How would He teach us? How would He remind us of what Jesus said? How would He comfort, and guide us? If communication is understood in the brain … what would be the logical way for the Holy Spirit to communicate with us? I understand that there are even more mysterious and deeper ways into the human soul and spirit. But eventually it must be processed by the mind of the individual for understanding.
Many times a ‘prophet’ (gift to the Body – Eph 4:12) can help a member of the Body begin to learn to recognize the Voice of the Holy Spirit with greater clarity within them. And teach the individual the proper ‘filter’ systems for discernment. The Holy Spirit will NEVER contradict the Word of God (this also means the printed Word), but will use it for confirmation to our hearts and minds. It takes awhile and continued relationship and communication between the individual and the Holy Spirit for an individual to begin to be able to recognize clearly His Voice within them. Two-way prayer is a big part of the process.
Paul speaks about many of these processes in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 14. All throughout Paul’s epistles you find find instructions and explanations on how the Holy Spirit works within us and communicates with us.
So isn’t it time to begin to recognize Him when He is speaking to you? If that is your desire then you need to ask Him to teach you and show you when and how He is communicating with you. If you’ve become slack in your practice of listening to Him .. do you think it’s time to repent and double your efforts at putting Him first in your life and obeying His Voice?