DIVINE COMMUNICATION II: THE SPEAKING VOICE

THE SPEAKING VOICE

Let us pray

Dear Lord, thank you for all you've taught us so far. Thank you for the light inside of your word. Thank you for revelation. Thank you for teaching us.

As we continue today, open the eyes of our hearts. We hear you even better. We understand what it is you say to us. 

In Jesus name.

Amen

In our last class, we established something very important:

When God speaks, He is making Himself known.

We saw this throughout Scripture. From the way God introduced Himself to Moses, to the way He acted in Egypt, to the instructions He gave Israel, we saw that God was not merely communicating information. He was revealing Himself.

And we saw how this revelation finds its fullest expression in Jesus Christ, the Word.

Now, I want us to take this a step further.

We have looked at how God spoke in Scripture. We have looked at the things He said and the ways He revealed Himself to humanity.

But what does this mean for us today?

Does God still speak?

Can a person know God beyond what they have read about Him in Scripture?

Can we recognise His communication in our everyday lives?

And if God speaks, how do we know when He is the One speaking?

These are some of the questions we will begin to explore in this teaching.

But before we start discussing the different ways God speaks, I want us to settle one foundational truth:

God is not a God who has to be persuaded to communicate. He is a speaking God.

God has not gone dumb since after the Bible. As He was, so He is!

GOD IS STILL A SPEAKING GOD

We'd need to believe this truly to move, because before we begin to talk about the different ways God speaks, we must first establish that He still speaks.

From the beginning, we see God speaking. He speaks, and creation responds to His voice.

“For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” [Psalms 33:9 NKJV]

And when we journey through Scripture, we see that God did not stop speaking after creation. He spoke to Abraham. He spoke to Moses. He called Samuel. He spoke through the prophets. We see Him communicating with people in different ways and at different times.

Now, I know someone may ask, “But all these examples are in the Bible. How does this translate to us today?”

That is a fair question. And that is exactly what we are trying to establish in this teaching.

We have the Scriptures, which reveal God to us. But does having the Scriptures mean that God no longer communicates with His people personally?

Let’s look at what Scripture shows us.

GOD HAS SPOKEN BY HIS SON

Hebrews 1:1–2 tells us that God spoke in times past through the prophets in different ways, but in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.

Now, we have already established what this means in our previous class. God’s revelation finds its fullest expression in Jesus Christ. We are not going to repeat that entire discussion here.

But I want us to notice something: this passage tells us about the culmination of God’s revelation in His Son. It does not mean that God has become incapable of communicating with His people.

Jesus is central to our understanding of God. Whatever we say about the speaking voice must remain connected to the God who has revealed Himself by His Son.

And this brings us to the relationship between the Word of God and the speaking voice.

THE WORD AND THE SPEAKING VOICE

We have the written Word of God. We read it, study it, and learn from it. Through Scripture, God has revealed His nature, His character, His will, and His purposes.

But our engagement with the Word is not supposed to end with gathering information. Like I shared last week, the Bible is not a storybook or just a collection of books. It is God telling a unified story about Christ and His undying love for man.

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” [John 16:13–14 NKJV]

Jesus tells His disciples that the Spirit of truth will guide them into truth and glorify Him. He will reveal Jesus as the focal point.

What the Holy Spirit does is help us understand and receive the truth God has revealed. He brings understanding, conviction, comfort, and application as we engage with Scripture.

You may read a passage you have read many times before, and on a particular occasion, its meaning becomes clearer to you. You may understand how a truth in that passage applies to a situation you are facing, or recognise something the Lord is correcting in your life through His Word.

The passage has not suddenly become God’s Word. It was already God’s Word. Rather, the Holy Spirit is helping you understand and respond to the truth that has been revealed.

But now, here is the question: Is God’s communication limited to the moments when we open our Bibles?

“Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go near and overtake this chariot.’” [Acts 8:29 NKJV]

Go near and overtake this chariot!

This right here is a specific instruction. He could not have read it in the Word.

“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” [Acts 13:2 NKJV]

The Holy Spirit, God in the third person, SAID.

These are specific directions on what to do.

These events took place after the death and resurrection of Christ. So, we can say and establish that God indeed speaks.

What we then need to marry is that the character and purposes of the speaking God are revealed in the Word.

God does not contradict Himself!

Not in any way.

Whatever He communicates to us cannot overturn what He has already revealed in Scripture or be contrary to His character as already revealed.

And this is a guide to actually streamlining what you hear.

Is it consistent with the character of God?

This rule of thumb is also how I select the preachers I listen to. There is a way a man of God will consistently tell you his adventures in hearing God, and you just know that this doesn't look like God.

I know God's character.

I know what He has revealed of Himself.

I can literally see flesh seeping through.

That it is dramatic doesn't mean it is God speaking.

Our feelings or personal impressions should not be equated with God speaking. Every claim of personal communication with God must be tested through the lens of the written Word.

We will discuss recognition of His voice and discernment in their proper place.

For now, we need to establish the foundation:

God communicates, but we must never separate His communication from who He is.

So, when we say God is a speaking God, we are not saying that every thought we have is from Him. We are establishing that God is able to communicate with His people and that we should approach this subject with our understanding anchored in His revealed Word.

Now, think about this for a moment.

One of the things Jesus told His disciples was that He was going away. But He also told them that His departure would not leave them without the help and ministry of the Spirit.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” [John 16:12–13 NKJV]

I still have many things to say to you!

My God...

See, you must tell it to your spirit man until you get it.

God still has many things to SAY to me.

God still has many things to tell me.

Per time… Per season!

God made provision for communication with YOU already!

He still has many things to say to you, and He has devised a means: The Spirit!

As we round up this teaching,  I need you to keep this in mind:

While God has written to me through Scripture, He still has many things to say to me!

I will stop here today, and we will continue with our teaching on The SPIRIT next week.

Question

Is it that God speaks to Jesus and the Holy Spirit speaks to us, or do they just know what to tell us because they are equal with God?

Answer

Thank you for this question.

I will start by saying that the Holy Spirit is God. He is not a lesser being who has to wait for God to tell Him what to say to us, or a messenger/servant in that sense.

But then, look at what Jesus said in John 16:13, which we read.

He said the Spirit will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. So, we cannot just ignore that and say, “Well, they are equal, so they automatically know everything.”

Jesus is showing us something about the relationship between the Spirit, the Father, and the Son. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. They are distinct Persons, but they are not three separate gods. They are one God.

So, does this now mean the Holy Spirit speaks to us because the Father tells Him what to say, or because He is God and knows all things?

I’d say we should be careful not to reduce the way the Godhead communicates to how we humans exchange information.

Scripture tells us that the Spirit hears and speaks, and it also tells us that He knows the things of God.

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” [I Corinthians 2:10–11 NKJV]

We also see in Genesis where God speaks to the rest of the Trinity:

Let us make man in our image.

So, the Spirit hears.

The Spirit speaks.

The Spirit knows.

All three can coexist.

What we can safely establish in Scripture is that the Holy Spirit is not communicating independently of God or in contradiction to Him. He is God, and His ministry is in perfect unity with the Father and the Son.

I hope this answers your question. To understand The Trinity better, here’s my study note on John 1. I shared on the Trinity inside of it: READ HERE.

Question 2

As Philip heard “Go near and overtake this chariot," how would he have anchored it to Scripture and how did that instruction marry with God’s character as revealed in Scripture?

Answer

I love this. Thanks for asking.

I think this is a very important question because it helps us understand the difference between anchoring an instruction in Scripture and finding a specific instruction written word for word in Scripture.

To make sense of this, we will need to read that passage in full.

“Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, ‘Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go near and overtake this chariot.’ So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’” [Acts 8:26–30 NKJV]

Philip was instructed by an angel to go towards the south, along the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Then, in verse 29, the Spirit said to him, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

Now, was Philip going to find a verse in Scripture that said, “Philip, go and overtake this particular chariot”?

The answer is no.

The instruction was specific to a moment, but the character and purpose of God would be revealed in the aftermath of that instruction.

Sometimes, you can hear, “Stand up” or “Move,” and you won’t find God’s purpose until you stand up indeed.

Philip would only have found that God wanted to make Himself known to the eunuch (and an entire nation) by first obeying the instruction to go near.

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” [I Timothy 2:3–4 NKJV]

It is out of this desire that all men be saved that Philip was led to the eunuch.

Hope this solves your curiosity. 😃

Let us Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for another opportunity to learn and be taught Your Word. 

We pray that You help us abide in You and never lose heart as we continue this journey of the Divine Communication. 

In Jesus Name.

Amen.

DIVINE COMMUNICATION II: HOW TO EFFECTIVELY STUDY THE WORD

 Let us Pray:

Our Father and God we thank You for today.

Thank You for another opportunity to be at Your feet to learn as You teach us and in turn draw us closer to You.

May this teaching answer burning questions, may it carry help and solution inside of it, even for years to come in Jesus name.

Today, I will be teaching on "How to Effectively Study The Word."

I'll start by asking us a few questions:

1. What is the Bible to you? What does it mean to you?

2. What is your biggest challenge when studying the Bible?

Answer 1:

i. The Bible is a life manual for the believer.

ii. Sometimes I get distracted while studying.

Answer 2:

i. The Bible to me means my sword , my life manual

ii. ⁠Sometimes, understanding the context of some chapters but I noticed when it’s directed by the Holy Spirit while I’m praying, I get it .

Answer 3:

i.The bible is a reference to remind God of is word.

ii. Distraction

 Answer 4:

i. The Bible is God's word made flesh . God's testament to us

ii. After studying i can recall the book but hardly remember the chapter and verses when I want to quote it.

Answer 5:

ii. Manual for my life from God...(God's word and message).

ii. Concentration for long, over time I feel I know much as I'm reading i summarize before getting to the end, having been a Bible student.

Answer 6:

i. The Bible is the written word of God.

ii. Not fully understanding what I read, until I meditate and focus on it.

Answer 7:

i. The Bible is like a guide for me

ii. ⁠Consistency, knowing what to read at the time and sometimes understand the context of some story. I also struggle with mediating what I read during the day most times I would have forgotten what I even read.

Answer 8:

ii. God’s voice and guideline from people of faith, humans like me that can help me

ii. Proper meditation

Thank you so much for sharing everyone. I have two more questions.

I'm going somewhere with these questions, I promise.

1. How often would you say you study the Bible?

2. When was the last time you studied?

Answer 1:

I am not sure what I am doing is studying.

Answer 2:

i. I usually do when I’m praying or get a direction 🫣(not good enough)

ii. ⁠😔😔

Answer 3:

i. Daily but not consistent

ii. Today

Answer 4:

Not consistent

Answer 5:

I do more of listening with audio bible than studying

Answer 6:

i. I put my self on a program, so everyday

ii. Today in the afternoon

Answer 7:

i. No consistency

ii. Can't remember but I do daily verses

Thank you so much everyone for your honest answers. Some of the most common descriptions of the Bible I can point out from our responses are:

1. The Bible is a life manual/guide

2. The Bible is the written word of God

3. The Bible is the sword of truth (Ephesians 6)

 

I'll add mine;

The Bible is God's love letter to us.

It is a God exposition, revealing God.

From Genesis, which starts with an expository on how the world as we see it now came to be, to Revelation, revealing Christ, the summation of it all.

Everything was written with one goal in mind: that we may know God and know His love for us. Everything we will ever be or do in this life flows from this.

And this should also be the very first lens through which we use to study the Bible.

When we know the why, it helps our focus and helps us effectively study.

First, for God to reveal Himself and His love for us, then a guide for us as to how we ought to live, direction on what to do, how to pray, etc.

“All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; ” [2 Timothy 3:16 AMP]

Let's also establish this according to Scripture: ALL Scripture is "God-breathed" and inspired by the Holy Spirit. All of it!!

Including the, "Adam lived 930 years and had three sons..."

All of those long genealogies that we skim through, it was divinely inspired by the Spirit that it should be put in.

The Bible, while it contains some history, is not a history book. While it contains some stories, it's also not a storybook. Every single book, chapter, and verse is intentionally put in.

The arrangement from Genesis to Revelation is also very much intentional. It is literally full circle.

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” [Hebrews 4:12 NKJV]

AMP translation says it is "full of power."

So another thing I want to establish is that the Word of God, this famous Bible, is very much alive, active, breathing, and full of power.

 Therefore, an additional lens or approach for us to take note of when studying the Bible is that these are not mere printed words on paper or software texts on the Bible app in our phones. These words are very much alive! They speak back! Oh yes, they do!

The life of God, His breath, is upon each of them. It is why we can quote these Scriptures, hear them in teachings, and they will stir something inside of us. It's why you can hear a Scripture and feel as if someone is talking to you or mentioning your particular situation.

Until we begin to see the Bible for what it really is, as I've highlighted above, studying the Bible will continue to be a tiresome chore. It will feel more like a burden than something you must do or something you can actually enjoy. It will look boring! I've been there, so I can attest to it.

We must adjust the lens with which we look at the Bible, and then how we study it will change.

Now that we've changed our lenses small (pun intended 😂), let's see how we can then proceed to study effectively.

Our Bible study has to be effective. It must produce for us!

1. Bible Study as a Meeting Place

Your Bible Study is as much a meeting place/point between you and God as your prayer time is. You must treat it with as much levity as you treat your prayer time. And if you've not been treating your prayer time with reverence before, this is your cue to.

Bible Study is also communication with God, this time, it's Him speaking more. Treat it as an important appointment with God. You'd be surprised how seriously God takes this.

One way I always advise anyone to do this is to block out time for it. See, you cannot carry anyhowness into this. If you take a look back, you see that anyhowness hasn't really produced much. You must be intentional with it.

So many of us highlighted distraction as a major challenge. This right here is your solution. Set a time for it daily and adhere to it.

When I first became intentional with my Study, I had a 12 noon time. I don't think I had an end time, but I remember I would do 2 chapters in 20 to 30 minutes. Soon, it became longer as I stayed consistent.

What started happening was that when it was almost 12, I would sense a change in atmosphere in my room, and I would know God had come in to meet with me. At first, He would be there silently, and I would just stay on the chapters and write anything my mind could process. Later, it switched to Him actually speaking and teaching as I read.

Your Bible Study cannot be effective if you continue to treat it nonchalantly. This is also a solution for those of us that struggle with consistency. Have a time set aside for it and treat it with reverence. Have it at the back of your mind that you're coming to meet with God and not that you're coming to read a book.

2. Prayer is the Key, The Holy Spirit is the Door

“No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.” [1 Corinthians 2:11 NLT]

Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer. Pray before starting. Don't just open your Bible and start reading. Pray, sincerely. Don't rush through the prayer. Don't do "bless this food oh Lord for Christ's sake."

Actually, with the new lens that we have (Glory to God), pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding and reveal Himself through the Scriptures. Pray that He should speak to you. Make that a sincere prayer, and I tell you, He will.

If it is God's thoughts that are in the Scriptures, in between the lines, the only person that can reveal them to you in all truth is the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was going, He said the Holy Spirit will "lead you into all truth." It is what He is here for. The Holy Spirit is the door that lets you into the mind of God in the Scriptures. If He is the very inspiration behind the words of the Bible, isn't He then the best person to interpret them to you?

So pray and ask Him. Start here.

3. The 5 Ws and 1 H

Now that we've established what to do before opening the Bible, we can move to understanding the actual texts inside of it.

The 5 Ws and 1 H are:

Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.

There are two lenses with which we can look at these while studying.

Lens 1:

Who: Who is speaking, and who is being spoken to? Who are the people involved in that chapter?

What: What is being said? What is the overall summary of that chapter? What is the context of that chapter (this could cover the previous chapters and the chapter after the current one)? What exactly is happening in that chapter?

Why: Why is the person speaking, and why is that particular person being spoken to? Why is the person saying what they are saying? Why is that event happening?

When: When is the event taking place? (This is with respect to both time and context. I.e., what happened before this time? E.g., Jesus was tempted when? After He had just finished fasting.)

Where: Where is the event taking place?

How: How is the event happening? How is the person speaking (it could be the tone or manner of speaking)?

Lens 2:

Who: Who in your life does the Scripture remind you of? (It could be you too.)

What: What does the Scripture reveal to you about God? What did God say about you? What does it say about how you should treat others? What instruction or warning is embedded in it?

Where: Where in your life's journey does that Scripture meet you?

When: When did you study it? (Is there a coincidence between the timing of your study and what is currently happening, something that already happened, or something that may happen?)

Why: Why do you think that Scripture is in the Bible? Why do you think you are studying that Scripture at that particular time? (This applies even if you are following a study plan. Again, treat your study as intentional, and the Holy Spirit will meet you right where you are.)

How: How does the Scripture possibly relate to you? How does this help you see God or situations differently?

4. Take Some Time and Research:

Don't skim through; actually study. I think a couple of us mentioned that they had been reading and not studying. First, I would say that points one and two should help us with this. You know when you have been reading and not studying. Pause, take your time, allow the words to sink in, and meditate on them.

I'm a Theatre student, so let me tell you what we used to do with scripts.

Before we start to memorise our lines, we would usually first read through at least twice. From the third read, we would start to pay particular attention to our own lines. Not memorising yet o, just focusing on the 5 Ws and 1 H of our lines and our character in each scene. We typically wouldn't memorise the lines until we had already established those principles which basically means at least 2 additional reads and actual study before we started learning lines.

First, it makes it easier to memorise the lines when you understand all of the context. Second, it helps you design and then act out your character with precision.

This is what leads to accurate improvisation, actually. I have been in a play where none of us knew our actual lines because we had less than a week to prepare, but we knew the story, we knew our characters, and we knew what was happening in each scene. When we performed, we got a standing ovation. Not a soul knew that we were just improvising all the lines.

All of this is to say that actual studying is what produces results, not skimming through. Studying is what enforces understanding.

So, how do you research in study?

Pay attention to verses or words that almost seem out of place.

Now, you can use study materials like a Bible concordance. The Bible written in English went through some modifications, but nothing takes away from the main point. The closest translation to the original is KJV, which is why most Bible concordances maintain it.

What the concordance can help you do is give each word a specific contextual meaning in the original Hebrew/Greek translation.

For instance, if a verse mentions "give your life", it may not literally mean that you should die. Check the concordance to see what that term specifically means or refers to. It will usually also show you other Scriptures that use that exact term and how it's applied there.

Another thing you can do is read in different translations and identify the common/similar expressions. Some translations provide an easier read so you can flow better.

Also, in research, you can see a phrase or word that Jesus used in a parable, and you'll wonder why Jesus used that particular word or metaphor. You can Google it and check the historical relevance of that thing. For instance, Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches."

What is the regular or historical relevance? Why did He use them particularly to describe our relationship with Him?

5. Be Sensitive and Pay Attention

Pay attention when something tugs at you, almost like you feel it has a deeper meaning, but you can't comprehend it at the time.

Sometimes, go back and stay on it. Meditate on it, pray, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if there is something in particular He wants you to discover about it.

6. Focus on The Goal, not Your Goal

Don't be in a hurry to run through. We've established the importance of taking your time, but I wanted to point out something here too. Sometimes, we let our "study plans" get in the way. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, most of them are called "Reading Plans", not "Study Plans".

We established different lenses when we started, and those should be our focus.

Not, "I have to complete the Bible in one year." Our goal cannot be bragging rights that we completed the 66 books of the Bible in one year.

The goal is that God is revealed to us.

I'd rather, if we wanted to have bragging rights, that it would be because we opened our Bibles and studied daily.

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night..." [Joshua 1:8 NLT]

Study continually, day and night. Not finish reading everything within a particular time frame.

Again, the major focus is that we see God, we know Him better, we walk with Him better, we know His will, and that will operates as a guide for us.

Does this mean that we shouldn't follow plans?

By all means, please do.

They keep you accountable and give you structure for when you're not sure what to study or where to start.

But if you find yourself more concerned with completing the plan than allowing the Word to produce in and for you, then it has become a problem, if not an idol.

7. Don't Read in Isolation

We already established that the Bible is intentionally and divinely curated and arranged.

There's usually a correlation between Scriptures in the OT and the NT. In fact, the NT is in fulfillment of what took place in the OT.

By OT and NT , I mean Old Testament and New Testament please 🙈

Both of them are telling the same story. One is foretelling and prophecies, the other is fulfilment.

For instance, the relevance and context of the temple curtain splitting in two after the death of Jesus can be found when you study the significance of the curtain when the temple was initially built by King Solomon.

You'll also find Jesus and His disciples quoting lots of scriptures from the OT as reference.

8. See Yourself in It

Don't remove yourself from what you are reading. Sit with it and think of how this relates to you and your society, in this day and age.

The Bible, especially the OT, speaks a lot of idolatry. You may not have carved images in your house today, but what about in your heart?

Even in Ezekiel, God spoke of idols of the heart.

The Bible is very relatable and relevant to us till today. If it weren't, we wouldn't be holding it in such high regard. Like we established already, it is our life's manual till this very day.

9. Avoid Familiarity

The Bible is evergreen, ever fresh.

There is an old song I love so much that says:

"And the pages of The Book are turned with trembling awe,

As we witness wonders that the only faithful saw

We go as deep as we can go

Look as hard as we can look

But we've only scratched the surface of the meaning of The Book"

If you study The Bible with intentionality, you will always see something new.

I cannot overemphasize this enough.

John3:16 that we've known since primary school, if you read it intentionally everyday, you will see something new.

I always make this a prayer whenever I'm studying a chapter that I'm somewhat familiar with: "Holy Spirit show me something new."

Sometimes it's even an expansion of what you already know.

If I check my notes from last year to this year, same Scriptures o, I will either find an expansion of something or something entirely new.

First, you must approach your study with an open heart and mind.

If you already look at it and in your heart say, "ah I know what is in John 3 nau, John 3:16," you've created a mental block already.

Make it a prayer too before every study. Throw out every familiarity and ask the Lord to help you study with a blank slate in your mind and heart.

Let Him now be the one to decide if He wants to reference what you already know and expand on it or show you something entirely new.

The Word must be new to you everyday. It is possible; it is what it is.

If we've not finished knowing about God and we can never, how then can we finish knowing all there is in His word?

Lastly, ever wonder why five pastors can come and teach on one scripture and they will have different interpretation/teachings?

Note that the teaching won't be contradictory o, but they will draw different things from it.

The Word is evergreen and ever fresh!

10. Get a Physical Bible and Study Note

It's not a by-law, but I very strongly advise you to get a physical Bible and study note, especially if you struggle with distraction, and even if you don't.

While phones are great, mobile, etc., they are more often than not a major source of distraction.

We are in the notification era. Even if your data is turned off, something will find a way.

Especially if you're just restarting your journey, start with a physical Bible, book, and pen.

This is also how I started.

There's just something about having the actual physical Bible in your hands and reading from it. (If you read books, you'd probably understand.)

Also, I find that writing with a pen on paper helps you detail and process what you're thinking or writing much better.

Personally, when I'm praying, my phone is always away, and every time God drops a Scripture in my spirit while praying, He will ensure I use my physical Bible. My Bible translation is GNT (Good News Translation), and 100% of the time, it will express the verse exactly the way God wants me to see it.

(Sometimes, I used to think God secretly changes the words for me in those moments because it's always too precise, and I'm like, "This does not sound like GNT translation!" 😂😂)

11. Consistency Breeds Understanding

I will first tie us back to point one. Setting aside a time helps us build consistency.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing.

Faith comes by studying and studying.

Understanding comes by studying and studying.

I know the vast difference in my understanding and revelations between when I first started studying intentionally in 2020 and now. I still have that 2020 Bible study book. I went back to read it some months ago, and I was just in awe.

You want your study to have an effect? Be consistent. You will grow. In fact, this is the fastest way to grow. It is not even prayer. The Word!

The Word would lead you to prayer, and prayer would lead you back to the Word (the Written, the Spoken, and the Living Word).

The more you show up in study, the better your understanding and revelations.

The same way, when you practise something more and more, you get better at it.

Nature honours consistency, and so does God.

God wants nothing more than for us to know Him, and in knowing Him, we can recognise His voice.

The Bible is more or less His autobiography/biography.

We cannot do anything without it. We cannot hear or discern Him without it.

This brings me to the end of this teaching, and I hope that we've picked one or two things from here. I know I personally did.

Let us pray:

Dear Father, we thank You for today.

Thank You for teaching us Yourself, for revealing Your will, and for being our ever-present help.

We ask that as we proceed with our study tomorrow, You bring to remembrance the things we have learnt today, and You help us apply them where necessary.

Every word we study going forward will produce Your desired fruit in us, in Jesus' name.

Thank You, Heavenly Father.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

DIVINE COMMUNICATION II: THE WORD AND THE SPOKEN WORD

 THE WORD AND THE SPOKEN WORD

Let us Pray

Father, we say thank You for this week so far and this series. 

Thank You for teaching us about being Your friend. Thank You because You help us pay the price of friendship with our time. 

Thank You for the kind of shift happening through all of this.

As we take the next class today, open up our hearts once again. 

We hear you.

Teach us Your truth and help us to walk in it.

Amen.

In our last class, we talked about being friends with God. We established that God does not desire to remain a stranger to us. He wants us to know Him, to walk with Him, and to grow in our relationship with Him.

But this brings us to a very important question: If God wants us to know Him, how then does He communicate with us? How does this God who desires to be known make Himself known to us?

We have established that God is a speaking God. We have also established that we are not meant to live our entire Christian lives depending on other people to tell us what God is saying. So today, I want us to examine something important.

It is one thing to believe that God spoke. It is another thing to believe that God still speaks. And it is yet another thing to believe that God can speak to us, as He did of old and that we will hear Him.

Many of us have no difficulty believing the accounts in Scripture. We believe God spoke to Abraham. We believe He spoke to Moses. We believe He spoke to Samuel, David, and the prophets. We believe He spoke through Jesus.

But when the conversation shifts to God speaking to us today, something changes. Even for those of us who hear God, some of us still put limitations on how we hear God.

I know people who say:

"The only way I hear God is through dreams."

So many limitations that we have drawn up.

My dear siblings in Christ, Adam heard God walking in the garden, Ezekiel was awake in his visions. There are no limitations to how God speaks to us. He will do so in different ways (I will get to this properly as we move forward).

There are also people who believe that everything God wants to say has already been said in Scripture, and that He no longer communicates beyond what has been written or speaks to people personally.

There are also others who believe God still speaks, but they are convinced that they cannot hear Him for themselves. They need a pastor, prophet, or another spiritually mature person to tell them what God is saying.

And some believe God speaks today but have no idea how to distinguish His voice from their own thoughts, feelings, or desires.

I will be laying some foundations for us as we consider three connected dimensions:

The Word: Christ Himself, the eternal Word of God.

The Spoken Word: What God utters, declares and has spoken, including what He has preserved for us in Scripture.

The Speaking Voice: God’s personal, living communication with us by His Spirit.

Please note that these are not three competing things. We are looking at the Word who reveals God, what God has spoken, and the God who continues to communicate with His people.

THE WORD

I need us to pay really close attention as we walk through this, for it is where every other thing in this course will flow from. If we miss it here, we've missed the entire course. So please, stay with me closely.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

[John 1:1 NKJV]

I need us to pay attention to this.

In the beginning was the Word.

John doesn't begin by telling us that the Word was created. He says, “In the beginning was the Word.”

John was going to write his account of the Good News of Jesus, and this is where he starts. Remember that the book of Genesis (the Bible, more like) literally begins with this same opening: "IN THE BEGINNING."

But the beginning John speaks of here is quite different from the beginning in Genesis. Genesis spoke of the creation of the world. This was the beginning it introduced.

But John was pulling the curtain back further.

When the beginning began, the Word already was. He takes us to the beginning and shows us something that was already there:

“In the beginning was the Word.”

When the beginning began, the Word already was.

Before the heavens and the earth came into being, the Word was.

Before there was light, the Word was.

Before anything that was made came into existence, the Word already existed.

The Greek word used for "was" here is "ēn," which implies continuous and ongoing existence in the past.

He didn’t say the Word was made in the beginning. He said the Word was.

This carries Jesus beyond the starting point of man’s understanding of God.

So it means that if I want to understand God, I will not merely look at the accounts from Adam. I will go back to the beginning, the one that has The Word.

Please pay attention to this because it changes how we understand the Word of God.

When we hear the expression the Word of God, our minds can immediately go to the Bible we hold in our hands. And rightly so, because the Scriptures reveal God’s Word to us. But John takes us beyond the idea of words written on a page. He reveals the Word as a person.

The Word is not merely something God said. The Word is someone John identifies as God, who was with God and who became flesh.

Jesus is God's revelation of Himself.

The Passion Translation in John 1:1 calls this "Word", "The living expression of God Himself."

The Word : God revealed in human form.

The Word: God expressing Himself to mankind.

The Word: God’s way of telling the world about Himself.

God wanted to tell man about Himself, and the only way He could do it was through Himself.

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, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; [Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV]

At various times and in various ways spoke to the fathers by the prophets in time past.

First, if your expectations for God speaking to you mean He has to do so through a prophet, you are still living in time past.

You are stuck in an era that doesn't exist.

Again, this doesn't mean God will not speak through pastors or prophets. This is  just not the restricted means of communication.

In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.

If you have a NIV Bible and you open it, you will see this chapter titled:

"God's Final Word: His Son."

The TPT records that beginning as "Jesus, the language of God."

Do you know what it means to say something is final? Like after Christ, nothing else o. There is nothing else God wants to speak that He has not spoken, and what He has spoken is Christ!

My God!

There is only one language God speaks, and that is Christ.

God's Final Word!

When we say something is final, we are saying it brings something to its intended conclusion. It is the decisive word. There is no further word needed to complete what has been said. And this is the language Hebrews uses to introduce Jesus.

Look at that scripture well, and you will see the writer is showing us a movement in the way God has revealed Himself. The prophets spoke, but the Son is the culmination of God's revelation. The prophets brought messages from God, but in the Son, God has made Himself known.

I need us to sit with what this means.

God's final Word is not a sentence. God's final Word is a person. His Son!

God's final Word is Christ.

Now, does this mean God has nothing else to say to us since He has spoken IN His Son?

Nooooooooo. Far from it!

It means that God has revealed Himself decisively in His Son. Nothing we believe we hear today can improve on Christ, replace Him, or introduce a different revelation of who God is.

There is no revelation of God beyond God Himself revealed in Christ.

God has spoken, and what He has given us is His Son.

Christ is the language in which God has made Himself known.

Jesus said in John 14:9:

“Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

He was not saying that He was the Father. He was declaring that the Father was being revealed through Him. The invisible God was making Himself known.

So, we cannot claim to have received a revelation of God that contradicts the God revealed in Jesus.

Everything we 'hear' from God must be held against Christ as a mirror.

Let me explain what I mean.

If somebody says, “God showed me something,” or “I had a vision,” or “God told me to do this,” the first question cannot simply be, Did you hear a voice? Did you see something? Did you have an experience?

We must also ask: Does this reveal the God we see in Jesus?

Does it agree with what God has revealed about Himself?

Does it reflect His character?

Does it stand in the light of Christ?

If this stands against the character of Christ,

if it negates what God revealed Himself as through Jesus,

then we need to bin it.

I've seen pastors say they had a revelation/vision, and all of it is filled with self.

That's not Christ.

This is our first prerequisite for everything we see or hear.

If it cannot come from Christ, then it didn't come from God.

We cannot say, “God told me,” and then use that supposed communication to justify hatred, pride, manipulation, or something that contradicts His revealed character.

And this is very important because we are not trying to discover a different God through divine communication. We are learning to know the God who has revealed Himself in Christ.

Your experience, dreams or visions are not bigger than the program.

Your experience does not validate itself.

The first means of validation is Christ.

It doesn't matter how long you have been a pastor or how long you've been seeing accurate visions. I am saying your experience is not the validation.

Again, this is a prerequisite for hearing God.

If you don't start here, one day you will hear demons, and before you know it, you will do babaláwo work.

I am not even joking. I have seen people start and fall off.

The problem is in this very first part: THE WORD

People don't know Jesus, they just get familiar with Jesus.

There was a time the reigning thing was that if you are a new believer, we would advise you to start reading the Bible from the book of Romans. Me too, I was part of the people teaching this 🙈🙈🙈

About 10 years ago, the Holy Spirit corrected me.

He told me to go back to the Gospels.

Go and read about Jesus.

Till today, I read the Gospels up to twice every year.

And He added something to it for me:

Pay attention to the words of the man in red ink.

In certain translations, you will see that the words of Jesus are written in red ink.

How many of us have noticed this in our Bible?

When you read the Gospels very well, you will understand the character of Jesus.

You will know the things He can say and the things He can't say.

Oh! You will know.

My siblings, I tell you that this rule of thumb is also how I select my pastors.

If I see you in the spirit that I am following you, I will still listen to you and use The Word to validate you.

Nobody is above the program.

You owe it to yourself to learn and get this part right.

Starting next week, we will be studying together one of the Gospels.

I will give full details at our meeting tomorrow.

Again, it is a prerequisite.

I beg you, if you are not interested in studying the Word, this is the part you drop out of this school. Everything else will be a waste.

This is not a school of divination, we will get it right.

As we go further in this class and begin to talk about the spoken word and the speaking voice, keep this in front of you.

Now that we have established this:

God has revealed Himself in Christ. His final Word is His Son.

We cannot claim to know God in a way that contradicts the God revealed in Jesus.

Let's take this further.

THE SPOKEN WORD

Now, if Christ is God’s final Word, what does this mean for the words God has spoken: the ones inside the Bible?

Please stay with me for a moment. Don't worry, I'm not trying to confuse you.

We have established that the Word is not merely something God said. The Word is someone. Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, the revelation of God Himself.

But we read through Scripture and also encounter God speaking.

We see His words, His declarations, His instructions, His promises. We see Him revealing His mind and making His will known.

Do we then discard all of these because the writer in Hebrews says it was in time past?

We'll be breaking this down so we understand how these things come together.

When God speaks, He is making Himself known.

He is sharing with us His mind. And He does so from the fullness of who He is.

When we journey through Scripture, we will see God speaking to different people in different ways, at different times, and for different purposes. But in all of these, we see that His communication is not detached from making Himself known to humanity.

Every instruction, every promise, and every miracle had a deeper agenda. When God healed the sick or conquered an army, the physical act was never the end goal. The miracle was a signpost pointing to the identity and heart of the One performing it. God has always desired intimacy with humanity.

In fact, if we look at all of the Old Testament carefully, we will see this hidden in every part. God always signs Himself inside every miracle or sign. There was a knowing of God differently in all that He did.

And this is why we cannot afford to read the Bible as a storybook filled with different stories.

It is indeed a tale of ONE STORY: the story of God's love for man and His ultimate sacrifice to redeem him back to Himself.

And Scripture buttresses this.

Every single time God acts, He ties His voice and His actions directly to His identity. Even when He is healing or doing a miracle, the goal has always been to make Himself known.

I will walk us through a few Scriptures briefly.

“And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.’” [Exodus 6:2-3 NKJV]

Seeeeee!

God doesn't just go to Moses and issue a directive.

He starts by introducing Himself and lets Moses know that you will now know me in a different way than your fathers before you.

“And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” [Exodus 7:5 NKJV]

When the Lord plagued Egypt, the goal was for both Egypt and His children, Israel, to know.

When the Lord appointed Israel as His chosen people, it was so they would know Him and make Him known to the nations.

Even when God told Israel what to do and gave them commandments, God was not merely giving Israel instructions for living. He was revealing Himself to a people He had brought into covenant with Himself. He was letting them know the way of life that IS here.

And this is important because God did not choose Israel simply so they could enjoy the privilege of being chosen. They were also to be a people through whom His name and His ways would be made known among the nations.

They had to know it first, even though it came to them as instructions and commandments.

God’s desire to make Himself known was never limited to one person or one generation. We see this thread continue throughout the Old Testament.

Again and again, we encounter this expression: that they may know that I am the LORD.

The day we begin to see this, the Scriptures stop being a collection of isolated accounts and begin to unfold as one story.

A story that leads us to Jesus.

Now, I need us to remember where we started.

Hebrews 1:1–2 tells us that God spoke in times past to the fathers through the prophets, and that in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son.

The writer in Hebrews is not telling us that everything God said before Christ has become useless. He is showing us that God’s revelation has reached its decisive culmination in His Son.

What God revealed in different ways and at different times finds its fulfilment and fullest expression in Christ!

The Spoken Word (The Bible) finds its fulfilment and fullest expression in The Word (Jesus).

So if you will look at the Spoken Word, you have to look at it from the lens of THE WORD too. That is the only time it makes sense.

We will pause here for today and take questions to make sure we understand all we have learnt today.

Questions

Question 1: How can we look at the Spoken Word through the lens of THE WORD (Jesus)? Give examples.

Answer: 

Let me break it down for us.

When we say we should read the Spoken Word (the Bible) through the lens of the Word (Jesus), we mean that we read the Scriptures and pay attention to how they find their fulfilment and fuller meaning in Christ.

For example, in Exodus 12, God instructed the Israelites to kill a lamb and put its blood on their doorposts so that their households would be spared when judgment came upon Egypt.

“Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped.” [Exodus 12:21-27 NKJV]

I will jump ahead of myself and tell you that the reason God asked them to keep it as an ordinance for their children was so it would make sense when Christ came.

Let me come back a bit.

“For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” [I Corinthians 5:7 NKJV]

Christ, our Passover.

What was being shown in the book of Exodus was how God delivered His people from judgment through the blood of a lamb.

Would it have been sustainable to consistently kill a lamb and put its blood on doorposts?

The lamb was killed, and the Israelites were spared that night. But that was not the end of the story.

The Lamb of God had always been in the picture, even though Jesus had not yet come in the flesh to accomplish the redemption we now have in Him.

The Passover in Exodus was pointing us towards something greater. And when Christ came, He became the fulfilment of what that lamb represented: man exempted from destruction, but now eternally.

Let's look at another example.

In Exodus 16, God provided manna for the Israelites to eat in the wilderness. They were hungry, and God gave them bread from heaven to sustain them.

But when we get to John 6, Jesus refers to this same event.

He tells the people that it was not Moses who gave them the true bread from heaven, and then He says:

"For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” [John 6:33 NKJV]

Then He goes ahead to make this statement:

"And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” [John 6:35 NKJV]

I am the bread of life. He who believes in Me shall never hunger.

Remember, the Israelites were instructed not to save manna for the next day. They had to gather fresh manna each day, trusting God to provide for them.

While the manna was real food from heaven that sustained them in the wilderness, through the lens of Christ, we see something greater.

We see the eternal sustenance God has made available to us in Christ, those of us who believe. The manna sustained their physical lives for a time, but Jesus, the Bread of Life, gives us life that goes beyond physical sustenance.

So, when Jesus says, “He who comes to Me shall never hunger,” He is revealing something far greater than having food to eat. He is showing us that in Him, we have the life and sustenance our souls need.

Question 2: Oftentimes, I have scriptures drop into my mind, or when studying a particular verse, it is highlighted.

I usually jot it down, meditate on it, and pray to find out why, but sometimes nothing happens afterwards. In times like that:

1. Do I have to dwell on it till I get something more?

2. Just read and meditate on it?

3. If I do 2 and don't get anything more out of it, should it be a point of concern?

Answer: 

So, when the Lord reveals a Scripture to us, sometimes there are no hidden revelations of mystery to it. Just the richness of the Word itself.

Allow yourself to meditate on it until it comes alive in you.

Sometimes it will give you hope on the spot or an answer. And sometimes it may just be a Scripture that needs to be stored inside of you for an appointed time.

Your job is to stay on the Word. What comes out of it belongs to God.

1. Do you have to dwell on it till you get something more?

If you feel led to, then yes. If not, return to it as Scripture, pray for the Spirit to breathe life into it, and leave it at that.

2. Yes, you should absolutely read and meditate on it, with a fresh and open mind, even. Read the passage in its context, consider what it means, and reflect on how it applies to your life. Then pray for understanding to know why you got the Scripture.

3. No, you should not be concerned if you don't get any extra word. Sometimes understanding comes over time; sometimes the Scripture simply nourishes, teaches, corrects, or reminds you of what is already true.

I will bring our class to a close here today.

Let us Pray

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your Word.

Thank You for THE Word.

Thank You! We are grateful 

Help us take in all that You have taught us. Help us know how to apply them.

As we go back to meditate on the teachings so far, let Your light shine upon our hearts and expand these words. 

We look forward to all You are set to do in our lives through this.

In Jesus name.

Amen.

DIVINE COMMUNICATION II: FRIENDS OF GOD

 FRIENDS OF GOD

For our first class last week, our topic was 'IN THE BEGINNING.'

I would like five people to share what stood out for them from that class that they haven't forgotten (without checking your notes).

Responses:

1. God is a SPEAKING God. The hearing God is also the speaking God. He spoke first in Genesis.

2. God is a speaking God

3. I had never thought about the faith that was involved in believing that God hears me. It enabled me to consciously apply faith that He would speak as well.

4. The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord made them both. They were designed to hear God.

5. My existence came from God speaking, he has always been a speaking God and will forever be.

6. God speaks even while we are still in sin.

7. God made us in His image, hence, He is very interested in speaking to us and listening to us.

8. My character in real life will most likely be reflected in my relationship with God.

9. From the beginning God was a speaking God, particularly in Genesis 1. He spoke throughout, so He speaks. Also, God created us in His image and in His likeness, which means, He created my ears to hear and eyes to see both physically and spiritually. He created them so we could hear Him.

Alright, thank you everyone for sharing.

In our class last week, we went back to 'The Beginning'. This was to help us see what was so that we can make sense of what now is or should be.

We will be starting our class today from where we stopped last week, because what we are doing in this course is not learning disconnected principles about hearing God, we are building a picture.

In our first class, we went all the way back to Genesis and we saw from our study something very simple:

"And God said"

The first picture scripture gives us of God is not that of a silent or mute God, and I’m glad from our responses that this stuck with everyone.

We established something, that "God is a speaking God." He is a communicating God and today we will be taking this picture a little further. Because it is one thing to unanimously agree that God spoke in the Old Testament or that He is a speaking God, it is another thing entirely to believe that the God who spoke in the beginning is still speaking in the same way to us now.

“So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.” [Exodus 33:11 NKJV]

God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

How do you speak to your friends? 

Note that face to face as used here is an idiomatic expression denoting open, direct and unhindered communication. Moses did not see God’s face directly (Exodus 33:20 explains this to us), but yes they did have a very open and intimate conversation multiple times; as a man speaks to his friend. 

“But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” [Exodus 33:20 NKJV]

“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” [Genesis 5:24 NKJV]

It is documented for us that Enoch walked with God. 

In the ancient Hebrew context, to "walk" (halak) with someone is a metaphor for a lifestyle. 

You can imagine how much God enjoyed walking with Enoch that He took him. You can imagine the kind of conversations they had. I sometimes wonder.

I know these scriptures excite us, I know we believe these words as written. But if I were to ask you this and I need you to answer honestly: 

Do you believe God can speak to YOU face to face as He spoke to Moses? 

I'm not asking if God can speak to man. I mean you, YOU!

Do you truly believe this?

Answer 1: Yes I do

Answer 2: Yes I believe He does.

Answer 3: I do. I struggle with this belief sometimes, but I do

Answer 4: Yes I believe so

Answer 5: Yes, I do

Thanks to everyone who answered. 

If we do believe this as Christians, the question that we are now left with is this: 

How do we believe yet don't experience it? 

My position on this matter is that so many of us cannot reach this type of relationship or divine communication because we are not FRIENDS OF GOD.

That scripture says:

“as a man speaks to his friend.”

We have not cultivated friendship with God, and this is where it all starts from. There is no master plan or formula to hearing God outside of this.

We cannot keep trying to decode every dream or looking for signs here and there.

Go on the internet and you will see thousand variations of: 

"What does it mean if I saw myself wearing a red gown in my dream?"

"What does it mean if in my dream I ate rice and turkey? I've not even had turkey in real life for a while. Helppppp" 😭😭😭

All of these boils down to one thing:

"Friendship with God"

One of my closest friends lives in France and speaks French (teaches it also). Imagine that I heard a French phrase and I start crying over the internet or looking for a prophet to interpret it to me. Will you not think me foolish? Will you not wonder if I am really friends with her? 

This is what we look like when we patronize supposed men of God for certain things that can be found right inside our friendship with God. Of course, there are times that you may need to speak to more mature Christians, Pastors or even your friends about what God has shown you. There are times you don't understand on the spot too. But see if your first response every time is to call somebody to be interpreting things for you, the problem is friendship with God.

I am telling you, I have seen believers who visit Muslim clerics and native doctors to interpret what they saw in a dream or vision supposedly from God.

Howwww? 

Your first response cannot always be external. It should tell you something is wrong.

If your best friend calls you from an unknown number that you don't have saved and says just two words, chances are that you might know who it is. 

Why? Because of familiarity. You have spent time together. You know their expressions. You know their mannerisms. You know when they are joking and when they are serious. You know when something is wrong even when they haven’t said, “Something is wrong.”

That is relationship.

It is the same thing with our relationship with God. 

You see this course we are having? God is not trying to turn us into spiritual detectives. 

He is ultimately inviting every single one of us into a relationship with Him.

If we get this part wrong, every other thing I teach here is useless.

FRIENDS OF GOD

“And he was called the friend of God.” [James 2:23b NKJV]

Friend of God! 

What an extraordinary description. 

If we look at the old testament, not everyone heard God speak.

This is how God describes the people He had consistent conversations with in scripture, He called them His friends. 

“And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,” [Genesis 18:17 NKJV]

See how God treats His friends! He keeps nothing from them.

I am repeating this very loudly, if you've been struggling to hear God, check your friendship with Him.

One of the keymark of friendship is trading secrets. That we share things with each other that ordinarily other people are not aware of.

Look at how Jesus puts it:

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” [John 15:15 NKJV]

The mark of friendship is communication. I tell you things, this is proof that we are friends.

Again, if you are not being told, if you are not hearing, the problem is with friendship!

When people come to me seeking for answers, it feels like I am being mean when I tell them to go back to their fellowship with God. I would be a bad person if I want to stand between you and God every time, interpreting things to you or hearing God so I can tell you. 

Avoid any man of God who wants you to always go through them. This is not the desire of God for your life.

I want to challenge something in us today.

Sometimes we approach God like a customer approaching customer service.

“Father, I need this.”

“Father, what should I do?”

“Father, bless this.”

“Father, open that door.”

“Father, give me this.”

In fact, if I probed everyone privately, most of us will find that our reason for being here is because we want to hear God on that particular matter.

You know what I'm talking about. You know.

GOD WANTS TO BE KNOWN

This is all over Scripture.

God wants to be known by YOU!

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” [John 17:3 NKJV]

This is what all of our journey towards eternity looks like: that we KNOW God.

John doesn't define it by merely going to Heaven.

To know God.

That is the invitation.

And if God wants to be known, then it shouldn’t surprise us that He communicates.

In fact, it shouldn't be so difficult to hear a God who "desperately" wants to be known by man so much that He sent His son who is also God to become man and die to bridge the gap.

I cannot in one breath say that I want you to know me and still say that you can only speak to me through third parties (Pastors and prophets), it simply means I was lying about you knowing me. I do not want to be known.

God may speak through pastors, God may speak through prophets, God may speak through people. But none of those people are supposed to become the replacement for knowing God Himself. The messenger cannot become the relationship.

If God desires to be known by you, then God Himself must be accessible to you.

There is Yoruba Proverb that says when the "alárinà" (middleman) is done introducing the bride to the groom, he exits. 

The job of a Shepherd is to guide you into knowing God.

We cannot become the primary means for your relationship with God.

A lot of us believers are heavily reliant on the friendships our Pastors have built with God. 

You too have been called Friend.

You too!

Knowing someone requires access to the person, and God has done the utmost already; He literally died to give you that access. To have God inaccessible to us is to damn the sacrifice on the cross 😭😭😭

Think about human relationships. If I tell you, “I really want you to know me,” but every time you want to know something about me, I send you to somebody else:

“Go and ask my friend.”

“Go and ask my brother.”

“Go and ask my pastor.”

“Go and ask my prophet.”

At some point, you will ask me, “But do you actually want me to know you?”

A lot of us know how to ask people “What is God saying?”

But we don’t know how to sit before God and say,

“Father, what are You saying to me?”

We are comfortable receiving a word from someone else, but uncomfortable with the possibility that God Himself could speak to us. How? Why?

Again, this doesn't mean that God doesn't use people or Pastors. No, that's not my point. 

I am telling you that the Lord Almighty wants to be YOUR Friend.

"No longer do I call you servants, but I call you FRIENDS"

My God! 

So perhaps the question we need to ask ourselves tonight is not only, “Does God speak?"

We have already answered that.

The question is:

“Do I know the God who speaks?”

Because there is a difference between knowing that God speaks and knowing the One who is speaking. There is a difference between knowing what God has said and knowing God. And there is a difference between having someone tell you what God is saying and having a relationship with God yourself.

God has never wanted to merely be a voice in the distance, He wants to be known.

He called Moses His friend.

He called Abraham His friend.

Jesus said to His disciples, “I have called you friends.”

And if friendship with God is possible, then divine communication cannot simply be about getting information from God. Nooooooooo!

It is about knowing the Person who is speaking.

So as we continue this journey, I want you to carry this with you:

God is not trying to keep Himself hidden from you.

He is not playing a game where you have to find the right prophet or pastor before you can find Him.

He is not saying, “You can know about Me, but you cannot know Me.”

He has revealed Himself.

He has made Himself known.

And He has invited us into a relationship with Him.

So our posture in this course cannot simply be, “God, tell me ABC or xyz.”

It has to become:

God, I want to know You.

In fact, I need you to completely discard whatever reason made you join this course and change to the above. I need you to.

I will be stopping here for now. 

I was supposed to teach on something else entirely but I did sense a pull to stay right here on this topic. This was supposed to be a subtopic in an upcoming class.

I hope we've all been blessed and took something from today's teaching

Questions & Answers

Question 1: So God wants to talk to us like He did with Moses? Sometimes I find it really hard to believe. I mean I get the nudge and all. Or I have just been operating from a slave mindset?  This topic has kind of shaken a lot and for someone who has had issues relationally, being consistent with relationships feels hard. The word friend feels really big to me. Like God wants me to be a friend.

Answer: 

Yes, God wants to talk to us as He did with Moses. 

It feels so hard to believe but it is true. 

A song came to mind as I read through your question:

'Who you say I am' by Hillsong.

It says: "Who am I that the highest King would welcome me?"

And of a truth, I feel this way sometimes.

Even the psalmist in Psalms 8:4 was asking the same question: "What is man that you are mindful of him?"

We must come to the place of understanding just how much we mean to God.

Yes, the word friend is indeed BIG but it is what God has called us!

Son! Friend! Bride! 

And I need us to come to the place where we indeed believe. Where our response is as what Hillsong wrote:

I am who you say I am!

If He says friend? Then friend I am

Question 2: 

I) How can I be friend with God and be consistent? 

II) Is it possible to experience pain in the ear when He speaks or when He has spoken to someone?

Answer:
I think consistency begins with removing the pressure to perform.

Friendship grows through spending time together. You don’t become friends with someone by having one intense conversation once a month. You become familiar with them through regular interaction.

So start as simple as you can. Talk to God every day. It could be for just 5 minutes but make sure to show up everyday. If you want to help yourself do this, choose a place and a time, then stick to it. Don't miss it for anything.

Read His Word. Tell Him what is happening in your life. Ask Him questions. Listen. Be honest with Him. And when you miss a day, don’t turn that into a reason to stay away for another week. Come back, immediately. 

You like someone in real life and you want to become friends with them? You spend time with them.

Spend time with God.

And be intentional about it, it won't happen by chance.

The best marriages I've seen are those who build routines to keep themselves in love. 

I know an executive (a former minister) who has a movie time with her family every week. It doesn't matter what the meeting we have is about, she'd leave at that time to meet with them. Nothing is more important.

I know another who plays a particular instrument with his grandchild every Wednesday, your meeting will wait. 

Nothing must be more important to you.

For question 2, I wouldn’t use ear pain as a biblical test for whether God has spoken.

God can certainly communicate with us in ways that we perceive very deeply, and Scripture uses language around hearing, seeing, sensing and perceiving God. But a physical sensation, including pain in the ear, does not automatically mean God is speaking.

The same way me shaking and shouting doesn't necessarily mean God is speaking but I can indeed react this way sometimes when God speaks to me.

So yes, it can happen but it is not an absolute sign for every believer.

When we are learning to hear God, we need to be careful not to turn every sensation into a spiritual sign. We don’t establish that God has spoken simply because we felt something. Because on the day we don't feel it, we can easily say God did not really speak.

And this is actually part of what we will be learning as we continue: hearing, discerning and responding.

We want to become sensitive to God, but we also want to become discerning.

Question 3: My question would be that in as much as we should not just seek God for the bread that He gives, there are seasons in one's life that it may seem like we desperately need His guidance, His leading, His word. How would one navigate such season, especially if the person struggles to discern God's voice?

Answer: 

That’s a very important question.

There will be seasons when you genuinely need God’s direction, and I don’t think we should feel guilty about that. Why are we children of God if we cannot ask Him?

The issue is not that you need an answer. The question is whether, in needing the answer, you are still seeking God Himself, or we are here only for the answer. 

Many believers want God ONLY for the answers. We run away after we get it then come back when we need the next answer. This is not how to build a relationship. 

So yes, if you are in need of answers, ASK GOD.

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…”

Sometimes God’s guidance will come through Scripture, sometimes through wisdom, counsel, circumstances, an inward conviction, or specific communication from the Spirit.

And if you are struggling to discern His voice, don’t panic. Go back to what you already know He has said in Scripture, pray for wisdom, and give yourself room to discern rather than forcing an answer because you desperately need one or even getting tired.

ASSIGNMENT 

1. Sit with this prayer for the next couple of weeks:

"God, I want to know you"

Pray it truthfully and with all sincerity. Beyond what He can do for you. 

2. Add this song to your Playlist: "To Know you by Minister Dunsin Oyekan." 

3. Start a 'God and I journal'

Get a new book to journal your new relationship with God. Remember, it is not a prayer request journal. It is a relationship/love journal. Document your thoughts about God each day inside of it (This means you have to actually think about God BTW). Document the things you notice, the things on your mind, the things you want to tell Him. The things that made you laugh. 

Just allow yourself with God.

Everyone is to get the journal between tomorrow and Friday. I will be joining us too. In fact, I am titling mine: 'Olúrẹ̀mí and Her God.'

This brings me to the end of this class, I believe we've been blessed.

Let us Pray

Our dear Father, we say thank You for sonship and friendship.

Thank You for calling us Your own. Thank You for this great privilege to be called friends of God.

For as many of us still struggling in our relationship with You, HELP US.

Help us to be friends, help us to know You. We want to know You; Help us, Lord. 

And as we run through these assignments, meet us where we are. We find You.

In Jesus name.

Amen

DIVINE COMMUNICATION II: IS GOD EVER SILENT?

So today, we will be taking the questions that came up from our last class.

Question 1: 

Is God ever silent or do we just fail to hear Him at that time? I mean you hear stories of Pastors saying “God was silent regarding this.”

Answer:

Is God silent?

I will rephrase the question a bit to this:

Can God be silent on a matter?

The answer is Yes. 

Is God Silent? Like has He generally gone quiet and stopped speaking with His audible voice? 

The answer is No. 

A statement I love to use is this:

Silence is an answer. Silence is a complete answer, and your interpretation of it as a believer matters. 

Silence does not mean Yes

Silence does not mean No

Silence is simply silence

I think what we struggle with as believers is activity; we cannot stop doing. 

We must be comfortable with the silence of God. We must learn to sit with it.

God has not said anything yet is as simple as exactly that.

We must not feel inadequate because of this.

We must not be forced to interpret His silence.

Saul is a good example of this:

“And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.” [I Samuel‬ ‭28‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬]

God did not answer him.

And for some of us, silence can be an indication that we are in disobedience to a previous word. 

Saul here had failed to do the last thing God asked him to do, yet out of fear he is back asking for a new word.

There is a danger in wanting a fresh word when we have not obeyed the previous word.

So for this set of people, the question is not "God why are you not speaking?" But "What have you already said Lord?”

My advice to us will be this:

When you are met with the Silence of God on a matter, do not fill in the gaps. Do not make assumptions for Him.

Pray in the spirit if you must. Check if you are not hearing because He already spoke or because your heart is hardened or bent on a particular answer. 

When you've done your checks and you are sure, then simply wait.

“I don't have a word concerning this YET,” is a complete statement. 

For every time you are agitated or restless about this statement above, it is a pointer to earthly pressure. It is a pointer that you are running with the timing of man, because why are you in a hurry? 

It is certain that He hears us. If He has not said anything, simply means there is nothing to be said yet.

And again, thank you for this lovely question. It is a very important one because I have seen even Pastors fall to this. You see people asking for your counsel on a matter, you have prayed but God has not spoken. But because the people want an answer and are in a hurry, you have to say something. 

Ehnehn. You don't! 

Be comfortable saying: I don't have a word from God on this yet. 

It doesn't make you less child or less anointed. 

Your own job is to keep praying.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.” [Exodus‬ ‭24‬:‭12‬-‭13‬, ‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬]

I love this scripture. 

Moses was on his own o, then God called him to come. They climbed the mountain and for 6 days, he stood there with Joshua just waiting.

It was only on the 7th day God spoke. 

Imagine that after Day 3, Moses had said to himself:

“Maybe God is silent because He doesn't want to speak again or because something is wrong.”

Imagine that he had misinterpreted the silence.

Silence in this scripture in Exodus was simply the space between the last time God spoke and the next time God spoke.

Simple!

Your job is not to interpret God’s silence. Your job is to remain in the place of obedience until He speaks.

Stay where the last instruction left you.

There is this statement I love from the popular hymn, God moves in mysterious ways by William Cowper. It says:

God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain!

Question 2:

Prayer is communication with God? So what if on a normal day, you have a terrible communication pattern, won’t this affect your communication with God? Like myself, I’ll rather sit and listen to whatever anyone has to say than talk(I’m working on this ) . So doesn’t it affect it?

Answer:

Let me tell you something I learnt from one of my Pastors, your general behavior and attitude in life is an indication of what is going on Spiritually.

Yes.

If you are a very defensive person naturally, I can put a penny on it that you do the same to your Lord and personal savior. If you are a stubborn person according to people around you, if we check the Spirit ehn, we will find that it do usually take the Holy Spirit ages to convince you to do anything. I have proper research done on this, so I know what I'm saying.

If you talk too much in real life, you most likely talk too much to God too. And I dare say that all of our real life excesses are even more excessive in the spirit. 

Multiply that your stubbornness by five, that is what you are doing in the Spirit.

We all have different personalities and they shape how we communicate but we must be careful that this doesn't affect our relationship with God. 

Imagine that you are married to someone that talks too much and never listens. Is this not a problem? Marriages have ended because of this. 

Now imagine that you are in a relationship with somebody that doesn’t like talking.

You send long paragraphs and they respond with “Okay” or “Thanks” 🌚🌚🌚

One word answers.

This can kill the vibe of a relationship before it even starts.

I have a friend that stopped talking to someone because they are not good conversationalists. 

“She can’t hold a conversation”

“She is boring 😭”

Nothing my ear didn’t hear 😭

Our personality can influence how we communicate with God, but we must not allow our personality to become an excuse for poor communication with Him. 

If I naturally talk too much, I must learn to listen.

If I naturally don’t talk much, I must learn to express myself.

If I am easily distracted, I must learn attentiveness.

If I process slowly, I must learn to create room for response.

I absolutely love the concept of love. 

If you've been in love before, you can attest to this; love changes you.

You will see yourself doing things that you thought you never could do. 

Love compels you to do. It makes you want to do things you’d not ordinarily do.

What we’ve been called to is a love relationship.

You are literally called the bride of Christ.

What is expected of people joined together? 

And I tell you that this class is not just about Hearing God. 

I know that’s why we applied, but at the end of it, you’d have learnt what it means to build a relationship with God. What it means to call God friend and Father.

So yes, the answer to this is:

Come as you are. But as you continue in your relationship with God, allow love.

God doesn’t want you to be like me with Him. He wants you to be You, growing everyday and loving even more everyday.

One day you wake up and you just realize that this relationship has changed me completely. 

Be open minded with this your love relationship with God.

Do ALL to make it thrive, one step at a time.

Again, God knows you. 

He goes out of His way to meet us where we are at because He wants it.We too must meet Him somewhere as we continue to walk with Him. 

There is a hymn that puts me in reflection a lot (PS you’ll find that I have a strong love for hymns as we continue this class. You may learn one or two while we are at it too 😃)

The title of the hymn is:

"I Gave Myself for Thee"

Here is stanza 1:

I gave My life for thee,

My precious blood I shed,

That thou mightst ransomed be,

And quickened from the dead;

I gave, I gave My life for thee,

What hast thou done for Me?

I gave, I gave My life for thee,

What hast thou done for Me?

"What hast thou done for Me?"

This is Jesus asking 

Permit me to rephrase, what can you do for God?

It should be anything and everything. 

The apostle Paul puts it clearly:

“and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” [‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV]

Put in place structures that help. Go on dates with God (we will touch this in one of the classes)

Journal if it works better for you

Be expressive, God is willing to walk with you.

Finally, I’d say take it one day at a time. There will never come a time when there is nothing to grow in love. There is always something that can be improved. 

Allow yourself to be immersed in this journey of love. 

So for someone like you who naturally listens more than they speak, the question isn’t necessarily, How do I become more talkative with God?

It may be:

Can I become increasingly honest, expressive, attentive, and responsive with God?