I recently read an article suggesting that the current spiritual worship experience is leaving many people touched by God's presence in the moment, yet seemingly unable to live daily in conformity to Christ. They are lacking the how-to’s.
When David and I were born again during the revival of the '70s, our foundation was built upon the Word and the Spirit. A common teaching was, “Without the Word, you blow up. Without the Spirit, you dry up. You must have both”—and that daily.
It is with this thought in mind that I wanted to add one more Good Word, in our study of knowing God's will.
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son...”
Hebrews 1:1–2
Since Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Word that proceeds from the mouth of God, and the express image of God, we can then be assured that as we read the written Word of Scripture, we are seeing and hearing the will of God.
As we approach our daily reading of the Bible, we do so with the prayer found in Ephesians, beginning in 1:17. We ask for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, and that the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened so that we might know the hope to which we are called, i.e. the will and purposes of God.
We read with an expectation that something will be revealed to us through the Holy Spirit, as we see in our Scripture verse today: “God... has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”
His words are spirit and life. They are alive. They are powerful, and they penetrate to the division of soul and spirit, discerning the thoughts and intents of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). Verse 13 continues with the sobering awareness that no one is hidden from His sight, but that we are all naked and exposed before Him to whom we must give account.
This may be one of the primary reasons we do not attend to the Word. It is the revealer of the heart. It searches the depths of soul—mind, will, and emotions—and spirit, continually illuminating what is within the heart of man: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Yet it does not do this for the purpose of condemnation, guilt, or shame, but for life!
Unfortunately, the devil works to make us feel condemned. Shame and guilt hold us aloof from the very One who loves us. Our own consciousness of sin can tell us that we are rejected. And no one willingly goes to someone they believe will reject them.
This is the strategy of the evil one—the father of all lies, Satan.
Spiritual growth is the process of learning to cooperate with the Spirit of Truth as He reveals to us the will of the Father. Our prayer for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done, along with our dependence upon Him for the necessary provision of each day, can only be lived out as we are willing to hear what the Spirit is saying.
It is that still, small voice speaking to the renewed spirit of the human heart, continually aligning us with the will of God.
It is the daily alignment, the continual tweaking of the heart, and the renewing of the mind as we read the Scriptures and hear what He is saying.
Lord, give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying as we feed upon our daily bread.