Does God still Speak to Us Today?

The Bible records God speaking audibly to people many times.

(Exodus 3:14; Joshua 1:1; Judges 6:18; 1 Samuel 3:11; 2 Samuel 2:1; Job 40:1; Isaiah 7:3; Jeremiah 1:7; Acts 8:26; 9:15 – this is just a small sampling).

 

 

(God calling Samuel the Prophet when he was a little boy)

 

There is no biblical reason why God could not or would not speak to a person audibly today.

 

 With the hundreds of times the Bible records God speaking, we have to remember that they occur over the course of 4,000 years of human history.

 

 God speaking audibly is the exception, not the rule.

 

 

 Even in the biblically recorded instances of God speaking, it is not always clear whether it was an audible voice, an inner voice, or a mental impression.

God does speak to people today.

 

 

 First, God speaks to us through His Word.

(2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

Isaiah 55:11 tells us,

"So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

 

 The Bible records God's words, everything we need to know in order to be saved and live the Christian life.

 

Second Peter 1:3 declares,

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

Second, God speaks through impressions, events, and thoughts.

 

God helps us to discern right from wrong through our consciences.

(1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Peter 3:16).

 

God is in the process of conforming our minds to think His thoughts (Romans 12:2).

 

God allows events to occur in our lives to direct us, change us, and help us to grow spiritually (James 1:2-5; Hebrews 12:5-11). First Peter 1:6-7 reminds us, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."

(God speaking to Moses and Apostle Paul)

 

 

Finally, God may sometimes speak audibly to people.

 

It is highly doubtful, though, that this occurs as often as some people claim it does.

 

Again, even in the Bible, God speaking audibly is the exception, not the ordinary.

 

If anyone claims that God has spoken to him/her, always compare what is said with what the Bible says.

 

 If God were to speak today, His words would be in full agreement with what He has said in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

God does not contradict Himself.

 

---

A Bike Ride With God

- Anonymous

 

 

When I first met Christ

It seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride,

But it was a tandem bike,

And I noticed that Christ

Was in the back helping me pedal.

 

 

I don't know just when it was that

He suggested we change places,

But life has not been the same since.

 

 

When I had control, I knew the way,

It was rather boring, but predictable...

It was the shortest distance between two points.

 

 

 

But when He took the lead,

He knew delightful long cuts,

Up mountains, and through rocky places,

At breakneck speeds,

It was all I could do to hang on!

Even though it looked like madness,

He said,

"Pedal"

 

 

I worried and was anxious and asked,

"Where are you taking me?"

He laughed and didn't answer,

And I started to learn to trust.

 

 

I forgot my boring life

And entered into the adventure.

And when I'd say, "I'm scared,"

He'd lean back and touch my hand.

 

 

 

 

 

He took me to people with gifts that I needed.

Gifts of healing, acceptance, and joy.

He said, "Give the gifts away;

They're extra baggage, too much weight."

 

So I did, I gave them to the people we met,

And I found that in giving I received,

And still our burden was light.

 

 

I did not trust Him, at first, In control of my life.

I thought He'd wreck it;

But He knows bike secrets,

Knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners,

Knows how to jump to clear high rocks,

Knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.

 

And I am learning to shut up

and pedal in the strangest places,

And I'm beginning to enjoy the view

And the cool breeze on my face

With my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.

 

And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore,

He just smiles and says...

"Pedal."

 

---

Amazing Facts About Man

Man is the crown of God's creation.

Greater and more wonderful than the stars in the universe is the wonder of man himself.

Look at our bodies first of all and see how wonderfully God has created them.

Each of our eyes has 130 million little rods for black and white vision and 7 million cones for colour vision, and can receive 1.5 million messages simultaneously!

To duplicate the function of one eye, mechanically,  would require 250,000 television transmitters and receivers!

Consider the ear!

The auditory nerve is only ¾ inch long and has the diameter of an ordinary pencil-lead. But it had 30,000 electrical circuits within it. Whereas a piano keyboard has 88 keys, the keyboard of our inner ear has about 1100 within the same frequency range.

It is so sensitive, that it can pick up 12 different tones between any two keys on the piano!

Look at your heart.

It beats 40 million times every year within your body, without taking a vacation!

It pumps blood through 100,000 kilometers of blood-vessels from your head to your feet, every day. Your body also products more than 172 billion red blood-cells every day to replace the damaged and worn out cells.

 Isn't it a miracle that your are alive today?

Consider the glands.

The thyroid gland in your body requires only 1/5000th of a gram of iodine daily. Yet, if that microscopic amount had been lacking in you when you were a baby, you would certainly have been mentally retarded!

The pituitary gland is even more wonderful.

 Its daily output of hormones weighs only one-millionth of gram. Yet even a slight increase or decrease in this output in your growing years, would have made you physically and mentally abnormal!

 The reason you are healthy today is because the intricate working of your body-mechanism has been so perfect.

One Bible writer says,

 "I will praise you O God, for I am wonderfully made!"

the balance and the beauty that God has created in the human body is indeed amazing.

Some of these marvels found in the human body are found in the bodies of animals too.

But then, man has a soul inside his body, that enables him to think and reason. Man can put down his thinking in writing and thus pass on his knowledge to future generations something animals can never do.

Man's intellect is a part of that supreme intelligence that is found in God.

But man has something far deeper and even more wonderful than his soul a spirit. This is what really sets us above all creation. The spirit is the deepest part of our being, and it tells us that there is a God a Supreme Being to Whom we are morally accountable.

Neither civilization nor education teaches us that there is a God. Nor does religion.

 If you visited uncivilized people in the jungles of this world, you would find even among those barbarians sense of God. They worship some object or the other, because the sprit within them tells them that there is a Supreme Being to whom they are accountable.

Only man feels moral guilt because he alone has a conscience. You will never see a religious monkey or a spiritually-minded dog!

Man was created for something beyond his life's span on earth.

 Man is a creature of eternity.

 Evolutionists may say that there is no difference between men and animals. Yet in every country, the law recognizes that killing a baby is a far greater crime than killing an elephant. An elephant may be huge, but a small baby is far more precious because it is made in the image of God.

Man is the crown of God's creation. He was created to have fellowship with God.

---

How did the Bible Get it's Name?

The word Bible comes from the Greek word "Biblos," which is translated "book."

 

The original manuscripts of the Bible were kept in the synagogues. Those who had custody of the manuscripts first used the Greek word to describe the collection, which later became known as "the Book."

The Bible is comprised of 66 books with two major divisions:

the Old Testament (39 books) and the New Testament (27 books).

The Old Testament has four major divisions:

(1) the Law - 5 books; (2) History - 12 books; (3) Poetry - 5 books; and, (4) Prophecy - 17 books.

Similarly, the New Testament has four major divisions:

(1) the Gospels - 4 books; (2) the Acts of the Apostles - 1 book; (3) the Epistles - 21 books; and, (4) the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ - 1 book.

The Bible is far more than a compilation of books; it is the inspired word of God.

(2 Timothy 3:16)

 

 

It is read and understood to be God's instructions and revelations to the individual members of Christ's church and to the Body of Christ, as a whole.

 

The Bible not only instructs Christians on how to relate to one another and those outside the church, but reveals how we are to relate to our Heavenly Father.

 

More importantly, it paints a clear portrait of God's love for us and how He longs to relate to us. Clearly, since the beginning of time we have spurned His love. . .yet He continues to reach out to us.

An individual can only relate to God the Father by believing and confessing that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind.

 

The result of believing that Jesus Christ died to save you from your sins and confessing your belief publicly is known as "salvation."

So where did the word "Bible" come from?

 

It came from the heart of God, the author of our lives, who has written the definitive book on us all.

---

St George Church at Edappally, Kerala, India

Sunset at the St George Church, Edappally

The Meaning Of The Blood Of Christ..

Do read the post titled "Is Venus the Star of Bethlehem?"

The phrase "blood of Christ" is used several times in the New Testament and is the expression of the sacrificial death and full atoning work of Jesus on our behalf.

 References to the Saviour's blood include the reality that He literally bled on the cross, but more significantly that He bled and died for sinners.

The blood of Christ has the power to atone for an infinite number of sins committed by an infinite number of people throughout the ages, and all whose faith rests in that blood will be saved.

The reality of the blood of Christ as the means of atonement for sin has its origin in the Mosaic Law.

Once a year, the priest was to make an offering of the blood of animals on the altar of the temple for the sins of the people.

 "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness".

(Hebrews 9:22).

 But this was a blood offering that was limited in its effectiveness, which is why it had to be offered again and again.

This was a foreshadowing of the "once for all" sacrifice which Jesus offered on the cross (Hebrews 7:27).

Once that sacrifice was made, there was no longer a need for the blood of bulls and goats.

The blood of Christ is the basis of the New Covenant.

On the night before He went to the cross, Jesus offered the cup of wine to His disciples and said,

"This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:20).

The pouring of the wine in the cup symbolized the blood of Christ which would be poured out for all who would ever believe in Him.

When He shed His blood on the cross, He did away with the Old Covenant requirement for the continual sacrifices of animals.

 Their blood was not sufficient to cover the sins of the people, except on a temporary basis, because sin against a holy and infinite God requires a holy and infinite sacrifice.

 "But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins".

 (Hebrews 10:3).

 While the blood of bulls and goats were a "reminder" of sin, "the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect" (1 Peter 1:19) paid in full the debt of sin we owe to God, and we need no further sacrifices for sin.

Jesus said,

 "It is finished"

as He was dying, and He meant just that - the entire work of redemption was completed forever, "having obtained eternal redemption" for us.

(Hebrews 9:12)

Not only does the blood of Christ redeem believers from sin and eternal punishment, but

"His blood will make our consciences pure from useless acts so we may serve the living God".

 (Hebrews 9:14 NCV).

This means that not only are we now free from having to offer sacrifices which are "useless" to obtain salvation, but we are free from having to rely on worthless and unproductive works of the flesh to please God.

Because the blood of Christ has redeemed us, we are now new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and by His blood we are freed from sin to serve the living God, to glorify Him, and to enjoy Him forever.

---

Face to Face with Jesus...

 

 

A woman arrived at heaven's gate and met Jesus face to face.

 

As he reviewed her life with her, she could see every event just as clearly as if it were happening right then and there.

 

Looking at a time in her life filled with sorrow, she asked him a question that had long been on her heart:

"Lord, look at my time of greatest trouble.

 

 I prayed and prayed but I heard no word from you.

 

 I would have despaired had it not been for all the people who helped me:

the friends who listened and consoled, who brought me food and understanding, who cried with me and stood by me, and my family who gave me a reason to go on living.

 

 But why did you abandon me? Why didn't you help me?" 

 

"My child," Jesus answered, "Why didn't you recognize me?"

---