The 7 Realities of Experiencing God Part 4: God Speaks by the Holy Spirit, the Bible, Circumstances, and the Church

“Experiencing God” is a book series written by Henry T. Blackaby & Claude V. King. This book covers the 7 realities of Experiencing God. The Subtitle I’ve chosen is “How to Live the Full Adventure of Knowing and Doing the Will of God.” In the first three parts, we have learned that God is not some distant figure, but works in the mundane of our lives; that He is interested in pursuing a genuine love relationship with you; and that He is always ready to invite you to join Him in His work in the world. Now we can move to the next, where and how God can communicate to you. Keep in mind that God can speak to people in different ways, but King and Blackaby have a pretty good generalization of the many ways God may speak. I pray that this post series can help you live a full adventure with Christ.

The 7 Realities

1) God is at Work around you.

2) God pursues a Continuing Love Relationship with you that is real and personal.

3) God invites you to be involved with him in his work.

4) God speaks by the Holy Spirit, the Bible, Circumstances, and the Church.

5) Invitation always leads to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.

6) You must make Major Adjustments in your life to join God in what he is doing.

7) You come to know God by experience as you obey him, and he accomplishes his work through you.

God Speaking by His Word

Today's reality is number 4: God speaks through His Holy Spirit, the Bible, Circumstances, and the Church.

God Speaks to His People

There is no question by now that God speaks; this is very evident in the historical record of the Bible. God spoke to Adam and Eve, probably in the most intimate, immediate way any human has heard/experienced. God spoke to Abraham and his sons, and to Moses from a bush. God spoke to the disciples through Christ. God spoke to the early Church through His Spirit. God spoke to John on Patmos; because God has shown that He can speak, you can expect to be spoken to by Him. The best way is to know when God is speaking. God spoke in the Old Testament in many ways: He spoke through the Angel of the Lord (this is the Son or the Word in the Old Testament; He spoke in Visions (Genesis 15) and dreams (Genesis 28); God spoke through the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28), and symbolic actions. God also spoke with quiet whispers, like when He first spoke to Jeremiah, and miraculous signs.

When God spoke, the person knew it was God speaking. This is partly because of the unique ways God reached out to these people; God spoke to Moses in a Bush, and to Balaam through a donkey, but this shouldn't be the only source of knowing. When God spoke, the person was sure it was God speaking; Abraham knew it was God revealing his own faith to him with Isaac aswell as revealing that Yahweh is not in any way similar to any pagan god Abe was previously subject to, and he then believed what God said. The person knew what God was saying; this is why Moses raised so many objections to God’s plan, he knew God’s expectations and had obvious doubts. Most importantly, when God speaks, that doesn't lead to an encounter with God; that is the encounter!

God spoke in the New Testament through Jesus (John 1:1, 14:8, 9, 10). In John 14:8-10, Jesus clearly states that the Father speaks through Him. God spoke in Acts, in chapter 2, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit upon all believers, to dwell in each of us and teach us the truth. Core Christian doctrine is that the Holy Spirit is a person of God, not a mode or agent, but a person. Thus, an encounter with the Holy Spirit is an encounter with God directly. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, we are told that we are “not our own” and that our bodies are “temples of God” for the Spirit to dwell in. God has not changed. He speaks through His Holy Spirit, to teach us all things, call to memory the things of Christ, guide truth, speak what He hears from the Father, all to glorify Christ as He reveals Christ to you.

How Can I Know God is Speaking to Me?

God will speak to you, and it may be difficult to see the starting point. Well, I can tell you that there is no “all sizes fit” method for hearing God’s voice, but here are some tips the book lists to aid us in this endeavor.

Hearing God is not a formula, meaning there is no set plan or pattern to hearing God’s voice. Knowing God’s voice is a result birthed from the Love Relationship with God. You will have to see how God uniquely communicates with you, and definitely take note of it. How do I know I will be spoken to? By the Love Relationship you have acquired with God. Some people go looking for signs or develop plans for identifying God’s voice; this is often an indication of core unbelief in God’s promises. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for asking for signs in Matthew 12.

Let me put it this way, because the statement about unbelief may have some people confused. You can believe Christ is God, and not be saved, you can pray and look for signs, and not encounter God. This can all be simplified into a phrase: There is a very noticeable difference between a person who believes in God and a person who believes what God has promised. You must trust that God is who He says He is. This is also not an open the Bible and pick verses that benefits the situation: anybody can do that. But it is God who enables you to learn truth from scripture, in a particular circumstance. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal what He knows of the Father. God’s voice is also not only in circumstances, God uses them to reveal His will but if we solely rely on this to know the truth, we will surely be led astray.

You must be very careful when determining God’s voice. A love relationship is the key to the chest of familiarity with His voice.

Immediately Respond

When you do hear God’s voice, you must be hasty to respond with faith and action. Seek first the kingdom. A good way to test if this voice is truly God’s is to test Eisegesis with Exegesis. This is a good “filter” for determining God’s voice from your own; this could be when reading scripture, or when praying, but all externals must be tested with God’s word. Spend time in prayer, and connect what happens next. Be sure to be very careful, and look with Kingdom eyes. Oftentimes, to get a message, we must think like a first-century Jew: We must study God's word, not just look at it.

God Speaks at the Right Time

Every time God speaks, He is up to something, and that is always His kingdom Purposes. The moment God speaks to you is the time He wants you to respond. We cannot dilly-dally and ponder on a thought; begin with diligent prayer.

God Builds Your Character: Developing Patience

How long was it until God gave Abraham his promised Child? How does 25 years sound? God used those 25 years to shape Abraham into a man of great character. The Father was interested in a great nation, not Abraham (in core interest). The father of a great nation needed to be a great man. Abraham couldn't wait until Isaac was born and then develop manhood, Isaac needed a Man to raise him right from the start. Abraham needed to respond to God’s change. Perhaps we have been so conditioned to immediate response and receiving to the point that this concept is foreign to us. Patience? We often abandon God’s voice because we don’t want to wait for Him to develop our character. If you can’t have faith in a little assignment, God will not push you into a larger one. He may want you to begin with small areas to prepare your faith for bigger ones.

When you make adjustments and obey Him, you come to know God by experiencing Him. This can start with something as simple as a swear jar, all the way to quitting a drug, getting a job, doing a daily deed, holding the door for that old man with a limp, or even waking up in the morning for some people. You still have to find out whether it is from God or not, so do not rule out an idea based on your perspective on it. Scripture is very clear that Human reasoning will not give you God’s answer (Job 26:14; Psa 145:3; 1 Cor 2:14).

When you accepted Jesus as Lord (if you haven't yet, that is okay, keep asking and searching), you also gave Him the right to help Himself to your life anytime He pleases, this seems like a selfish, bad thing, but God is only and far more interested in His kingdom than you are, so whenever He intervenes, it is always a good cause. So even if this push is small, you must respond. These small character-bettering circumstances slowly mold us to be more Christ-like, and these situations will not always be easy to get through. David had about ten years from when he was anointed to when he ruled on the throne. What was going on that whole time? God was aiding David in becoming a strong leader for His nation. Paul spent a few years preparing himself after his road to Damascus experience, until his first mission.

God Reveals Himself to Increase Faith That Leads to Action

How does faith and action increase? Well, “Experiencing God” gives a short list of this:

You will have to believe God is who He says He is.

Believe God can do what He says He can do.

Adjust your thinking in light of this.

Trust that God will demonstrate Himself.

You obey Him.

When you obey, God works through you and demonstrates Himself.

You have known God through experience.

You know He is who He says He is.

When Abraham believed God was mighty, he never truly understood it until he experienced God being Almighty when He did something only God can do. We must take an initial leap of faith and seek the kingdom. By obeying something small, we kickstart this pathway. We experience God in a small way, which leads to new understanding and change; then we obey another small command, faith is increased, and so is our understanding; This leads to an increase in action and trust; which leads to more and more until we have enough understanding to take on a larger task. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how this process works. This can be rapid at times, and slow at others, but it is always happening when the Holy Spirit is working.

What You Plan for God is Unimportant, What God Wants to do Where You Are is...

God came to Noah to reveal what He was doing, and He never asked, “Noah, you gotta cook up some ideas to deal with this wicked generation, whatcha got?”

God was preparing to build a nation, and He didn’t come to Abraham and ask what he could do for this nation.

“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 1mThe counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations (Psalm 33:10,11)."

A big issue is that we dream and dream about what we can do for God, and then plan based on our initiative. We cannot know the where, when, or how of God’s will at any point and time on our own. God created us for an eternal love relationship with Him, and our time in this life is our time to experience Him at work. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:6)." This verse digs deep into the sin problem, to its core. We want to do it Our way, even if it is faulty. We place our understanding above the Lord’s, but He offers the only way to do it, His way.

God Reveals Himself Through the Bible

How does God speak to me? Is this even real and personal? How can I know when He is speaking? Henry Blackaby puts it this way:

“God uses prayer and the bible together. Often, circumstances and the Church or believers will help confirm what God is saying to you.”

The Bible is God’s Word, His complete revelation of Himself to humanity, and a record of His dealings with man. The Holy Spirit is called “The Spirit of Truth” in John 14:7. When you come to a brand new understanding of scripture, you have just had a direct experience with God, His Spirit at work. This does not lead to an encounter with God; it was the encounter! When God is speaking through His Word, He is interacting in a Real and Personal way.

The Sequence is this:

You read the Bible; The Spirit of Truth takes the word of God and reveals Spiritual Truth; You adjust your life to the truth of God; You obey him; God works and through you accomplishes His work; Unaided by the Spirit, we cannot understand any spiritual truth (1 Cor 2:14); Aided, we can (1 Cor 2:15); Understanding Spiritual truth does not lead to God, that is the encounter with Him.

Responding to Truth ~ Henry T. Blackaby

“Spirit of God knows the mind of God. He knows what God is ready to do in my life. The Spirit of God then begins to open my understanding of God and His purposes and His ways. I write down the passage, then meditate on it. I agree with God and take any actions necessary to allow God to work in the Way He has revealed: Then I alert myself to watch for ways God may use that truth in my life during the day." ~ Henry T. Blackaby, Experiencing God

When God leads you to a fresh understanding of a verse. You should: Write it down; Meditate on the verse (prayer); and Study it to immerse yourself in the meaning, with honest exegesis; Identify adjustments you need to make so God can work that way with you; Write a prayer response, or psalm (I have found myself writing psalms, either in a modern poetic style, or Hebrew poetry style); Make the adjustments; Watch and see how God works throughout the day(s). When you agree with God’s truth, this is a confession of sin. This means you agree with Him about your sin and adjust to Him. This response must be in truth and obedience.

God Speaking in Prayer, by the Holy Spirit

To keep track of what God tells you in prayer, you must keep a journal or some way of storing the information. Write it down immediately when God speaks to you in prayer, and record your prayer response. Also, write down any scripture He uses and what He reveals about Himself through it. Write down what you need to adjust in your life to match the Will of God.

Prayer is a Personal Relationship!

The Holy Spirit reveals the truth, but the truth is not just an idea. Truth is a person. Jesus never said He came to teach us the truth, He said: “I am the Truth” (John 14:6). So when the Spirit reveals the truth to you, it is not a ploy to lead you to an idea to ponder about, He is leading you to a relationship with Himself.

The Spirit will:

Create the desire to participate in His work and pray about it, and enable you to respond by coming to seek the Will of God in Prayer. When God reveals truth, you can know He is trying to tell you about His work in your life. When the Spirit reveals, you are in the presence of a living Person. The Only Necessary Person. And the Spirit knows the mind of God and searches it endlessly.

He will make the truth known to you through His Word. Prayer is not a One-Way conversation. Many of us pray that way, just us talking to God, asking of Him. But Prayer includes listening as well; what God says in prayer is so much more important than what you are about to say. Prayer is not an activity done here and there either; it is designed for you, to adjust your life to God. God doesn’t need your prayers, but He wants you to pray. "Ha, Contradiction!" Slow down there, God wants us to pray not for His sake, but for our sake. You need to pray because of what God has to apply to your life, and that may be the only way He will reveal a specific something to you.

Here is what happens when you seek God’s Will in prayer. God causes the desire to pray. The Holy Spirit reveals the Will of God through God’s Word. In the Spirit, you pray in agreement with God’s Will. You adjust your life to God’s Will. You search for the connection through the Bible, the Church, and circumstances. You Obey and God works His Will through you. You experience God's work and increase your faith.

Praying in the Spirit

“Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:26–28)"

On our own, we cannot know how to pray. But there is a promise God has made, and He never breaks His promises. God promises that He will send His Spirit to help us in this weakness. The Holy Spirit already knows God’s Will, so why try to find it on your own (like you can do that anyhow!)? We must pray in agreement with God’s Will, and this means not letting our own will get involved. When you pray, the Holy Spirit already knows what God has in store. The Holy Spirit’s job is to get you to want to ask for it. When you ask for what is already ready for giving, you receive it.

I want to focus on “but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” If you are lost in where to start with God’s Will. This verse is a big game-changer; it was for me. When I first began praying and determining God’s voice, reading this in Romans changed my approach. I began by just going along with the small, random, good deed desires that were biblical that I would bury deep because I’m a “Man”. Right then and there, I obeyed God’s commands for the first time, and this led to a deeper understanding of God’s Will.

Denying Self

How can I know what God’s Will is compared to my own? Well, Henry T. Blackaby quotes George Mueller, who said he “tried to reach the state where he has no will of his own.”

The first thing you’ll want to do is deny yourself, that is, those pesky desires that are contrary to God's will. Come to God in toto honesty, and come to a point where you only desire to know God’s Will alone. Then search to see other ways the Spirit may seek. Ask questions like: What is He saying in His Word? What is He saying in prayer? Is He confirming through circumstances? Is He confirming through the counsel of others? God may work in the folks that you surround yourself with.

Know that God will never lead you to opposition to His Word. If what you see in prayer is the opposite of Scripture, it’s not a word from God. That’s a reality I believe a lot of people need to accept. God will never lead you to adultery, to tell a white lie, "borrow" that 20 that was in your dad's wallet, or worship a god other than HIm; He is Always Opposed to that. Keep an eye on what God uses in His Word to confirm what you hear in prayer. And DO NOT look for scripture that fits what benefits your own will. This is a logical fallacy in itself and contradicts honest analysis. This is very dangerous!

When What You Asked For is Not What You See

When you pray on something, as you begin to connect what happens next, and you observe a different direction, always respond to what is happening. God often has far more to give than we have asked for. You can’t even think of a prayer that could match what God wants to give to you. So let God give what He wills.

“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (1 Cor 2:11–12)"

In Mark 2, four men brought their crippled friend to Jesus, just to have the crowd of people block their access to Him. So they broke a hole in the roof where Jesus was to let him down. To their surprise, Jesus says that the man's sins are forgiven (v5). The men asked for one thing and got another. Jesus didn't just want this man to be healed; He wanted him to become a child of God! Jesus didn't just claim to be able to forgive sins, He offered physical, eyewitness evidence of His deity by healing the man. God sometimes has more to give us than we request. And that is powerful. When you encounter a situation like this, go before God and clarify what He is doing. If God is working in a different direction, confirmed by your exegesis, circumstances, and people, you should often adjust your life to it. God may not have revealed the life adjustment in prayer, but in what happens next.

Spiritual Concentration and the Silence of God

Sometimes we pray and do not connect what happens next. When you pray, the most important thing you MUST do is activate some spiritual concentration, so keep your mind on Christ. What happens when you fail to connect? Things happen in your day, and you brush them off as distractions and never pursue them? Then you miss God’s actions that should have revealed His work to you. At other times, we will seem to get no response from God. We experience silence on what to do next or where to start. This discourages most, and they walk away from the assignment. But this is biblical, God’s timing is not ours, and His timing does not always operate under our understanding. In John 11, Jesus said He loved Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. When Lazarus was dying, the two women reached out to Jesus, just for Him to delay His travel. Jesus had no response to those He so-called “Loved”. Lazarus dies, and the funeral passes, has been dead for four days; and then Jesus finally leaves for Lazarus.

When Jesus arrived, Mary complained that if the Lord had not been there, her brother would not have died (v32). All of this just to have Jesus not only heal a sick person but revive a person whose body has been rotting! Jesus’ “delay” turned into a multiplied amount of glory, and best yet, Lazarus doesn’t get to die. Just like Mary and Martha first asked. His silence was not rejection, but an opportunity for Him to show more of himself than what had been known previously. The silence of God means that He is ready to bring into your life a greater revelation of Himself than you have ever known, and this time is to be spent seeking the LORD more than ever before. When you pray and there is silence, maybe rule out some sin first. Unconfessed sin can cause some separation, so confess all of your sins to begin, and ask for forgiveness, and believe in God's promise to forgive those who cry out to Him (John 1:9). If there is still silence from God, get ready for a new experience with Him. He is silent as He prepares. Whenever silence comes, continue doing the last thing you received from God and watch and wait for a new encounter with Him. You can respond to silence with Shame and Guilt. Or you can anticipate a greater revelation of God and a closer love relationship with Him. Quit feeling like you are no use to God and that He won’t hear you. The moment you drop your shame and doubt, God begins to show you how you can respond in a way that leads to a closer relationship.

God Speaking in Circumstances

Big pill here, but as Christians, every experience must be controlled and understood by Scripture. You will want to react and plan based on your own wisdom and perspective, but that can change; the God of scripture never changes. We must always go back to the Bible for truth, or to the Holy Spirit to reveal it. Take some time to look and see how God has been working in the historical record of the Bible. Do not rely on one case, but rely on a holistic understanding. Your experience is valid if confirmed by scripture, so always give it the right to interpret your situation. This takes time, especially for the newly saved. The time you have now is time to get to know God by experience which prepares you for eternity.

The Bible is Your Guide

As a Christian, you cannot abandon the guidance found in the Bible; it is your guide and practice. To refuse to use the Bible on your walk with God is to refuse God himself. A sad thing is a tree will be seen as valid by its fruits. If you're not seeing any fruits over time (meaning you are at a better point than in past times, even small, sometimes attitude changes), then most likely you have an issue with the love relationship with God. But do not let conviction drive you away, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin:

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:8-11)"

Jesus’ Example

Jesus listened to the Father alone. Let us use an example from John 5. Jesus says the Father takes the initiative to reveal His will to the Son (v:19). Jesus also says the Father has been working all up until now and will continue to in the future (v:17). He then tells us the Father lets the Son know (v:20). The circumstances that Jesus saw and sought were the things Jesus saw the Father doing (things only God can do). Jesus never planned or thought about the Father's will, He saw it and put Himself in the middle of it. What we see God doing, we adjust our lives to. This can be difficult, but the Holy Spirit is present to guide us

.

Job’s Example

Now let's look at Job. Job did not understand why everything he owned was destroyed and taken, why his kids were killed, and why he had sores all over his body (Job 1; 2). Job tackled his understanding of the circumstances; he had no clue what God saw. Job also has no clue God was going to restore all he had (Job 1; 2; 42), and that Satan was the agent behind the destruction (Job 1:6-12). Job luckily had God come down directly and tell him what was going on, and revealed His Glory. Without God’s perspective, you would think God is being cruel to Job for some evil reason. If you find yourself in a tough situation, where it seems like God has cursed you, go to God and ask Him to show you His perspective. Ask to see from His eyes. The Spirit of Truth will take the Word and reveal its truth to you from God’s perspective. Now you can adjust your life in light of this revelation of God and His work.

How Can I Respond?

Realize that God has displayed His absolute love on the cross, this love never changes and will always chase you; Do not try to analyze God's will in the middle of your trouble, you may mess up; Go to God and ask for aid in seeing from His perspective; Wait on the Holy Spirit, the Word of God may be revealed to you; Adjust your life to God's revelation; Do all He tells you; and Experience God working through you to accomplish His Will. God is sovereign, so when you face trouble, rely on God's absolute love and sovereignty just like Job. This may not always be direct physical deliverance, tough times shape our character.

You Cannot Know the Truth of a Circumstance Until You Hear From God

When Moses first went to Pharaoh to tell him to let his people go, Pharaoh didn't respond according to Moses’ plan. Pharaoh declined his request and increased the hardship on the Israelites. The result, the Israelites turned on Moses. Moses, having failed his plan, comes to God and blames Him for sending him to failure (Exodus 5:22, 23). Moses was so discouraged that he was about ready to give up (6:12).

Unlike us, God is Patient with us. He explained to Moses that He wanted Pharaoh to decline so that the Israelites could have the opportunity to see God’s delivering hand at work. God wanted the Israelites to know Him by Experience. So when you face hard circumstances, do not give up on following God. Go to Him and ask Him to reveal the truth of your circumstance. Ask for God’s perspective, then wait on Him to answer in prayer, the Bible, or in further circumstances.

For this, we must have a lifestyle that is God-centered, and this can be difficult. When Jesus became Lord of your life, He has the right to be the focus of your life, the initiator in your life, and the director of your life.

Good, and Bad… Wait No… Good, and Best!

The biggest difficulty in a situation is choosing between good and best. You may have many options that all seem Good. The place to start is to say in your heart, “Whatever is God's will, I must do, regardless of the cost or adjustment, I commit myself to follow his will.” You must begin here before you start seeking God’s will. Do not proceed until you can say “Whatever you want of me, LORD, I will do it.”

Spiritual Markers

Oftentimes, men in the Old Testament made stone markers or altars as reminders of encounters with God. The stones were to be a reminder of a mighty act of God on behalf of his people or significant encounters with Him that demand record. These altars became physical markers for future generations to use to teach about God and His work. Remembering God’s past work is the key to receiving His assurance.

You, too, must have a Spiritual Inventory, that is: Each time you encounter God’s call or directions, record it in a notebook, phone app, computer document, a piece of toilet paper, or a mental note. Over time, you can look back at these markers and see how God has faithfully directed your life from past to present. When markers are reviewed, you can see more clearly the directions in which God has been moving your life, and where you should go from here.

Do not take the next step out of the context of the full activity of God in your life. Have a sound, holistic understanding of God’s activity in your life, which entails a sound understanding of His Word, then decide what is consistent with what God has been doing. If no options seem consistent, continue to pray and wait on the Spirit for Guidance. When circumstances do not align, your timing may be off, wait for God to reveal His timing

God Speaking Through His Church

The Word for Church comes from the Greek word kuriakon (κυριακός), the word expresses dedication or ownership of the Lord. The church can refer to any gathering of Believers: A small group of friends, a large ministry, or anybody saved by Jesus Christ. Any group of believers that meets regularly in worship of the LORD.

Parable of the Train Tracks ~ Henry T. Blackaby

I am paraphrasing a section of the Book in the following quoted paragraphs.

“Suppose the Eyes say to the Body ‘We should walk on these train tracks since they look clear of any trains’, So the Body follows. Then the Ear says he hears a whistle from behind, but the Eyes argue that his path is clear, so the Body follows. Now the Feet say they feel rumbling. What would you do in this situation? You would get off the tracks? Of course you would! God gave our bodies many different senses and parts, when each part is working and does its job, the Body functions as it should. We do not take votes of senses, or ignore one in favor of the other.”

The Church is the Body of Christ, and like a body, it works best when all its parts are working together. When all members of the Church share what they sense the Holy Spirit telling them the Church should be and do, the Church can move confidently in its way.

The Body of Christ

Some Christians, now, and in the past have lost their sense of corporate identity. Many of us think we stand alone before God and are responsible for only what we do. Perhaps these people are somewhat aware that they are not alone, but they are living like they are alone. God created the Church as His redemptive work of Salvation on Earth. He places every member accordingly, no one is brought into the Church by accident, and all are of use:

A. “Now you are the body of Christ and individual members of it. (1 Co 12:27)”

a. The Church is the Body of Christ.

B. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Eph 4:15–16)”

b. Jesus Christ is the Ultimate Head of the Church; He is the Leader of All.

C. “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Co 12:18–20)”

c. Every Member of the Body is placed by God.

D. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Co 12:7)”

d. The Holy Spirit Manifests Himself to Believers for the Common Will of God.

The Body is kept together by the Father, and the Holy Spirit enables the Church to Function where the Father has placed them in the Body all the way to “mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Eph 4:13)”. God made us all mutually interdependent, meaning what one member lacks, the other one has to give freely. Like a piano (personal example): You are tuning a piano, and it isn’t completely out of tune, but maybe ⅔ of the notes are out of tune, this would be time-consuming; but what if you had 2 pianos, and the other one also is ⅔ out of tune but they are different keys, now this becomes faster; now say you have 3 pianos, all ⅔ out of tune, all different keys. This means each Piano is ⅓ tuned (I can't believe this writing software can use fractions but not superscript). Now this becomes very fast and easy to perfectly tune all three, instead of the time-consuming one piano earlier. What God is doing in and through the Body of Christ is essential to knowing how to respond to God; this piano analogy supports that idea. So wherever you see God working in the Church, move yourself there and adjust to His will. Paul was constantly requesting believers to be involved in the Ministry of Christ, and whatever local Church they attended or were part of (Col 1:28, 4:3; Thess 3:1; Eph 6:19).

Depending on God to Speak Through the Church

Every member of the Body needs to listen to what the other members are saying, if Members aren’t talking, the Church is in trouble. What if I do not need to work for others, but Need others to Work for Me? This is not selfish, if you feel that you need help from the Church to know God's will, Never be afraid to let the Body of Christ assist you in knowing God’s Will. Sometimes God may speak to you through a person, and the Holy Spirit tells you their message was from God. This can happen in and outside of a local Church, but knowing this, keep in mind that one person is not the entire Church. You must take the entire counsel of the ministry into account and then analyze it in prayer with God. When you do this several things begin to line up. What you hear in prayer, from the Church, and see in the Bible or in Circumstances will all begin to agree and point towards God’s Will. Then, you proceed with Confidence.

“You may say to me, ‘Henry, you don't know my church. I can't depend on them to help me know God's will.’ Be careful When you say that, you have said more about what you believe about God than what you believe about your church. You are saying, ‘Henry, not even God can work through these people. He is just not powerful enough.’ You don't believe that in your mind, I don't think. But what you do says more about what you believe about God than what you say.” (Henry T. Blackaby, "Experiencing God”, Pg 208)

Trust that God will give you good counsel from your fellow believers. Listen to what others are saying and sharing about what God is doing in their lives. Then Let God confirm what His message is to you through the Bible, Prayer, Circumstances, and His Church.

Sharing Within the Body

When I was first saved, around September 2023, the Holy Spirit made me aware of the Multiple Gifts I had and used them: I was always a good reader but wasn’t patient enough to read large amounts of literature. The Holy Spirit awoke an interest and patience to read literature and enjoy it. I loved binging shows and YouTube videos, but now the Holy Spirit has shifted my interest from shows and memes, to documentaries, debates, street preaching, evangelism channels, guidance videos, and educational content about the Bible (and other topics). I also had a deep love for learning Sciences but never that deep because of a lack of application and appriation in my life, but now I have the Gospel Message. Most importantly, God gave me a love for teaching and explaining things I am passionate about, but I was always too prideful in a different lifestyle to realize it on my own. Now, humbled in the Spirit, I was able to submit to where I was walking towards.

In all of this early Salvation, I was unsure where to apply my gifts and how to fit them into my current life. In my confusion, I attended a Church. Every sermon answered a different question about where to go and what to do. I thought my path was to write a book, and that was it, but God had other plans. I had people asking me things about the Bible, and I was learning the Answers. I had a fire burning to clear up people's misplaced confusion about Jesus. And the sad truth is, the majority of people today are Biblically illiterate. I saw my place in the Body of Christ. To offer a defense, and reinforce other people's faith. Talk to people, and by answering their concerns, can kickstart the planting. God wanted me to be a Sower of Men. Here I am, with these articles as my basket of seeds.

Oftentimes when we share what God is doing in our lives, hearing that may help others encounter God in a meaningful way. There are examples and testimonies of this everywhere, here is one of mine. One of My longest-known friends, who, by hearing about what God is doing in my life, was saved. He has now worked through trade school, gotten a job, and seeking the truth of Christ. A Young Man who once had No idea where to go has now completely turned around and has a path ahead of him. God is preparing Him for something. What is that, I do not know. But God planted a small seed from hear-say, and now there is a Tree of Life growing with healthy fruits.

Conclusion

As you learn more about the truth of the Bible and the resuurection of Jesus, and the implications those have on your life, remember that God is always in the mundane searching for an opportunity to invite you to His work. God may reveal this in many different ways: He may speak through those around you, like a friends, coworker, or family memnber; He might nudge you with a small spiritual grudge that encourages a Chrsitlike action out of you, and some of these situations may require faith and action on your behalf; He may also reveal a specific truth while you study the vastness of His word, requesting that you dive deeper into His message and how it affects your life; and the Church you attend may be providing the very answers you need, and when you surround yourself with fellow believers with an equal, or deeper burn for Christ, you can be confident in what you observe.

Fianally, I pray that you will open yiu heart, mind, eyes, and soul to recieve the revelation that Jesus ressurection was a spacetime event that radically changed the course of mankinds future. When God came down in the man Jesus, to interpret the torah, to heal the sick, to fill new wine skins, establish the kingdom, gather the right people for it, and prove that He was God Almighty in the flesh. All of this, to perform the most loving act any person can achieve:

"Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:8-11)"

"If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)"