{"id":91524,"date":"2024-09-07T19:30:35","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T19:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91524"},"modified":"2024-09-07T19:37:11","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T19:37:11","slug":"how-will-god-speak-to-me-part-5-of-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91524","title":{"rendered":"How will God speak to me?\u00a0(Part 5 of 5)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How will God Speak to Me? (Part 5 of 5)<\/h1>\n
B<\/span>y\u00a0The Preacher’s Diary<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Luke the Researcher<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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I once asked an audience to tell me which book was more inspired, between St Luke\u2019s Gospel and St John\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 There were those who were sure that St John\u2019s Gospel was more inspired, that it was more \u2018the word of God\u2019 than St Luke\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 A few maturer folks said that both books had equal inspiration as the word of God.\u00a0 The Introduction to the Book of Revelation clearly shows that Apostle John had an encounter with the Almighty where he was instructed to write; so, the authenticity of that book cannot be questioned (Revelation 1:1, 10-11).\u00a0 The same apostle wrote the Book of John, which opens in a unique mystical way, almost like Genesis:\u00a0\u201cIn the beginning\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 But St Luke\u2019s Gospel with a different mode of inspiration is part of the same Bible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At the back of the minds of many Christians, Luke was one of the Twelve Disciples of Jesus.\u00a0 No, Luke was not even saved when Jesus was preaching.\u00a0 He got saved later.\u00a0 He was not even a Jew.\u00a0 He was a gentile.\u00a0 One of his two books is the third in the New Testament, and the other is the fifth: Acts of the Apostles.\u00a0 John could say, \u201cI was in<\/i>\u00a0the Spirit on the Lord\u2019s day\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0and that a voice had said to him, \u201cwrite<\/i>\u201d (Revelation 1:10-11).\u00a0 Luke doesn\u2019t make such claims, yet he was inspired no less.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hear Luke:<\/div>\n
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Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. 2 They used the\u00a0<\/i>eyewitness reports<\/i><\/b>\u00a0circulating among us from the early disciples. 3 Having\u00a0<\/i>carefully investigated<\/i><\/b>\u00a0everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write\u00a0<\/i>a careful account<\/i><\/b>\u00a0for you, most honorable Theophilus, 4 so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught<\/i>\u00a0(Luke 1:1-4, New Living Translation).<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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The Gospel of Luke was a product of research; it was\u00a0\u201ca careful account\u201d<\/i>\u00a0of \u201ceyewitness reports \u2026 carefully investigated.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0It is no less the word of God than Revelation or Genesis. Strange.\u00a0 Knowledge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Elisha the Investigator<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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What God does not give by revelation He might have chosen to give by investigation.\u00a0 Elisha the doubly-anointed prophet once had a case about which he confessed, \u201cthe LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>He did not say he could not see \u201cit<\/i>\u201d; he said God deliberately \u201chid<\/i>\u201d that information from him, and wouldn\u2019t tell him, despite how much he sought it by revelation.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 God knows.\u00a0 So, the prophet\u2019s limitation about that information was not because he had become blind or had backslidden.\u00a0 God Himself did not want to transmit that information by revelation.\u00a0 He had to seek it by investigation, sending his servant to\u00a0\u201cRun now\u201d<\/i>\u00a0and seek the information from the woman:\u00a0\u201cIs it well with thee?\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(2 Kings 4:26-27).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Does God sometimes hide certain matters, even from His prophets?\u00a0 Does He choose at times to reveal information by a different channel than we are used to?\u00a0 It says in Amos 3:7 that\u00a0\u201cSurely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets<\/i>,\u201d but it doesn\u2019t say how He would reveal it, and we do not know all His \u201cservants.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Many of them are not on our billboards or at our \u2018high tables.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the birth of Jesus, the wise men from the east were led to Jerusalem by the\u00a0sign<\/b>\u00a0of the star they had seen.\u00a0 Their mission was in fulfilment of prophecy of which they had not been aware.\u00a0 To be doubly sure, when they arrived Jerusalem, they sought by information what they could no more access by signs and revelation, because they had lost the star.\u00a0 They enquired to the palace of Herod.\u00a0 That was an error.\u00a0 Having begun in the spirit, they sought perfection by the flesh (Galatians 3:3).\u00a0 Discernment was important every step of the way (Matthew 2:1-12).<\/p>\n

A young woman was going to get married. \u00a0Her pastor, a very gifted man who has had remarkable encounters with angels and with Jesus, prayed about it.\u00a0 He proceeded to make investigations on the proposed husband\u2019s background.\u00a0 He shared his very worrisome findings with the woman.\u00a0 She waved them off.\u00a0 She was ready to go, maybe too much in love to care, or too much in a hurry to worry.\u00a0 Two months after, she was the victim of such severe domestic violence that she ended up in the hospital, abandoned to her parents.\u00a0 The husband had also deserted.\u00a0 The pastor received credible information, not by revelation but by investigation.\u00a0 That information was no less the voice of God than the visions or when he had prophesied.\u00a0 It was to her detriment that she had not valued the voice of knowledge and wisdom as she might have done a \u2018prophecy.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Jesus would go into Samaria, the people gave Him \u2018latest news\u2019 about the hazards along that path.\u00a0 He had to process the news and certify if God was in that information, as far as it concerned Him (John 11:7-9).\u00a0 It was probably the same safety concerns that had made Him unable to respond as urgently as it seemed when the call came from Mary and Martha about Lazarus their dead brother, His friend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Because God has not spoken by a prophet does not mean that He has not spoken at all.\u00a0 That He does not speak through popular names that we have elevated as \u2018His servants\u2019 does not mean that He has not, for \u201cThe Lord knoweth them that are his\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(2 Timothy 2:19), and not all that bear His name as His.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The more we draw nigh to the Lord, the more clearly we would hear Him.\u00a0 The more He reaches us through His many channels, so much will the enemy strive to corrupt the same channels.\u00a0 Peter had a nasty experience just after one fantastic endowment from Heaven, and Paul might have been fooled by a fine voice that sounded much like the recent prophetic commendations he had known at Antioch (Matthew 16:22-23; Acts 16:16-18).\u00a0 Try the spirits.\u00a0 I have had my little share of voices and visions and trances, even though not as much as others have.\u00a0 Still, I am my greatest critic.\u00a0 I have had my share of the privilege of dreams and illuminations and sensations, still, I do not run at the instance of one voice, being my own greatest critic.\u00a0 Yet, caution against mistakes should not keep one from the miracles of the Father\u2019s channels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

May we no more miss some of the messengers from God because they come in a fashion other than dictated by our religious sensibilities.\u00a0 While we sharpen our spirits and train our souls, may we not carry our heads in vain.\u00a0 Yet, may the heads not become our god.\u00a0 O God, guide us in Your path. Amen.<\/div>\n
From The Preacher\u2019s diary,<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
August 13, 2024.<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How will God Speak to Me? (Part 5 of 5) By\u00a0The Preacher’s Diary Luke the Researcher I once asked an audience to tell me which book was more inspired, between St Luke\u2019s Gospel and St John\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 There were those who were sure that St John\u2019s Gospel was more inspired, that it was more \u2018the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772,5782],"tags":[201,6785,6743],"class_list":["post-91524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith","category-opinion","tag-god","tag-researcher","tag-speak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}