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Let scripture speak for itself as there will you find all truths through the anointing of the indwelling Holy Spirit that is already in you if you are in Christ and He in you, John 12:44-50; John 14:26; John 15:5.

Matthew 13:
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Galatians 3:
1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

1 John 2:
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

1 John 4:
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit also have the anointing that gives us the right of understanding of all we need to know. Unlike those who teach heresies and have no truth found in them. We know we are not going to be deceived by the false teachers (antichrist) that have gone out into the word, but are none of Christ as they have no anointing of the Holy Spirit, 2 Timothy 3:1-7.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit would never replace the teachings of Christ, but as what we started in our learning from the teachers in our beginning we now know how to discern that of what is being taught to us as we study for ourself to know for a surety through the Holy Spirit confirming and giving us understanding of that which is being taught us by others. The Holy Spirit will also bring those scriptures we learned from back to our remembrance as we teach others, John 14:26.

1 John 2:26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. This is why it is said in vs. 27 let no man teach you which means do not allow those who are false teachers having not the anointing of the Holy Spirit teach you. We are to safeguard ourselves from false teachings. The Holy Spirit is all we need to correctly interpret that of what we are being taught, 2 Timothy 2:15, 16.
 
This is such an important topic, and one that needs to be discussed more. The fact is that God is spirit, but not the only spirit! So we need to seek Jesus Christ and He sends the Holy Spirit to us to speak to our spirit, and if we use the spiritual ears we have we can hear what the Holy Spirit has to say to us. We preach the Word of God meaning we should be able to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say in words that we find in our heart and sometimes on our lips. That is because those words come to our spirit not our physical ears. We should also understand that the Holy Spirit does not speak on His own, but what He hears He speaks. He takes the words of God which belong to the Son, Jesus Christ, and speaks them to us. So the Holy Spirit acts like a telephone line to Jesus Christ, the Word of God.

Still, the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit and just like your physical ears can pick up anything spoken in sound waves, you spiritual ears can pick up anything out there in the spiritual realm. It doesn't work quite the same but you can also hear from both angels and demons, and not just the Holy Spirit. So we need to test the spirits! We need to be aware of what we are picking up in our spirit! Everyone needs to be aware of this and almost nobody is.

Even Christians rarely spend much time at paying attention to what is going on around them in the spiritual/heavenly realm. I confess - I too don't spend nearly enough time paying attention to the effect the spiritual has on me. I simply get too busy working and thinking about the physical things.

I sadly have to admit that I usually only seek the Lord and thus activate my spiritual senses about a dozen times a day. All those who seek find, and so when I seek the Lord I find Him. We talk. And not just Him and I He also sends me angels to minister to me.

That doesn't mean evil spirit, demons, won't try talking to me also. They are doing their evil work also. They are doing it whether you think they are or not. They would perfect that you don't think they are doing their evil work in you. So we need to test the spirits and become aware of what is going on around us. The best way, as mentioned, is to seek our Lord Jesus Christ. They Holy Spirit can and will make you aware, but you have to listen to Him and hear the words He tells you.

He tells you the words of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is the Teacher. So the Holy Spirit brings you teachings from your Teacher, Jesus Christ. A teacher does not have to use a book, but the Teacher has a book that He does like to talk about. So if you can read and have the Bible available He is going to spend some time talking about what is written in the Bible. Note: THE BIBLE DOES NOT SPEAK THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES!

I liked the OP, but there is a mistake in it:

Let scripture speak for itself

We are not to let or think that the scriptures speak for itself, because the scriptures are not a "self"! They are sacred writings and thus are an inanimate object. We need to be saying to let the Lord teach you about the scriptures. The fact is that one of the things the devil does is to try to get you to worship idols. Idols are inanimate object that we promote to the level of being god. It's true the the Lord spoke to people in the past, they wrote as instructed, but their writings are not God. Jesus Christ is God the Son and He is your Teacher, not the Bible. He speaks to us vis His Holy Spirit, the Bible does not speak to us. Too often I find people leaning on their understanding of what they read and not actually seeking the Lord and listening to the words the Spirit brings to us. That is what the devils promote and that is shown in the Bible and OP:

Galatians 3:
1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

The Galatians had read the sacred texts and decided to lean on their own understanding instead of seeking the Lord and listening to what the Spirit had to say. The idea that the Scriptures speak for themselves is to say that we are to lean on our understanding of the scriptures instead of actually listening to the Spirit for the Lord's understanding. So who told us that the scriptures speak? Inanimate objects don't speak. We read the scriptures like any good student would read their text book, but we still have to attend class. Below are a few things the Lord told me on this subject:


WE DON’T HAVE UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE WE DON’T READ THE BIBLE WITH UNDERSTANDING, BUT OUR UNDERSTANDING…. UNDERSTAND???

THE SCRIPTURES ARE RIGHT, BUT THEY ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS. THEY HAVE NO ABILITY TO ACT. THEY ARE NOT ALIVE, BUT THE WORD OF GOD IS ALIVE AND ACTIVE.

WE DON’T USE THE LORD TO PREACH THE SCRIPTURES; WE USE THE SCRIPTURES TO PREACH THE LORD!!

I MADE THE MOUNTAIN AND THE MOUNTAIN IS GOOD, BUT WOE TO THOSE WHO WORSHIP THE MOUNTAIN. WOE TO THOSE WHO WORSHIP THE CREATED AND NOT THE CREATOR.

I AM THE WORD OF GOD! THAT IS WHAT THEY CALL ME. FOR WHAT PROPHET EVER SAID ‘THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME SAYING’ AND DIDN’T MEAN THAT I CAME CLOSE? SHOULD I SHARE MY NAME WITH MY CREATION?

WILL YOU HANG ON EVERY WORD THAT GOD SAYS? … I DID!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PICK UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME?

WHAT TEACHER DOESN’T PUT A BOOK IN FRONT OF HIS STUDENTS TODAY; YET NOT JUST A BOOK BUT OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCIES, VISUALS, AND OTHER MATERIAL? FOR I TELL YOU TRULY, IF THEY ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME THEY ARE NOT MY PUPIL, THEY ARE NOT MY STUDENT; I TELL YOU TRULY, THEY ARE NOT MY DISCIPLE UNLESS THEY ARE HEARING FROM ME. SO DON’T TELL THEM TO READ THE BOOK, THEM TO TAKE THE CLASS!”

So the first thing we need to understand is that the Lord speaks! He does that though the Holy Spirit, not the Bible. He does use your Bible to teach you, but that like a Teacher uses a text book. So where it is written: 2 Tim 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;" we understand that God inspired the Scriptures so that He could use them for teaching, reproof, correction, and for training us in righteousness, right? We are the students, He is the Teacher. Too often we present ourselves as the Teacher, or we present the Bible as the Teachers. That is not of God. He is the Teacher, we point people to Him and do what he asks. He might ask you to bring a teaching from Him, but He is still the Teacher. The Bible does not speak!
 
we need to understand is that the Lord speaks! He does that though the Holy Spirit, not the Bible.
The Bible does not speak!

So what you are saying is that the Bible is only the word of God when the Spirit is working in us, at other times it is merely a collection of words.

That is not a view I hold to. The bible is God's words as recorded by men.
We are able to work out what God wants of us by reading his words.
For Christians the Spirit living in them will help them to understand it.
 
Even Christians rarely spend much time at paying attention to what is going on around them in the spiritual/heavenly realm. I confess - I too don't spend nearly enough time paying attention to the effect the spiritual has on me. I simply get too busy working and thinking about the physical things.
There is one thing the Lord taught me is to be aware of what is going on around us in the physical environment as well. A lot of things happening in the spiritual realm places out into the physical. The enemy manifests in the physical. I try, sometimes forget, to tune into what is going on around me in a Church. You will be surprised how the enemy can operate. You find someone falling asleep. You find someone fidgeting and restless. There are things that Christians must deal with so that the Spirit of God can move freely within the congregation. Not everyone is sensitive to this. We get carried away with chatting to friends, listening attentively to the preacher, and focus on singing. Sometimes, the enemy tries to sneak in.

We also have to be sensitive to our physical environment wherever we are.
 
This is such an important topic, and one that needs to be discussed more. The fact is that God is spirit, but not the only spirit! So we need to seek Jesus Christ and He sends the Holy Spirit to us to speak to our spirit, and if we use the spiritual ears we have we can hear what the Holy Spirit has to say to us. We preach the Word of God meaning we should be able to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say in words that we find in our heart and sometimes on our lips. That is because those words come to our spirit not our physical ears. We should also understand that the Holy Spirit does not speak on His own, but what He hears He speaks. He takes the words of God which belong to the Son, Jesus Christ, and speaks them to us. So the Holy Spirit acts like a telephone line to Jesus Christ, the Word of God.

Still, the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit and just like your physical ears can pick up anything spoken in sound waves, you spiritual ears can pick up anything out there in the spiritual realm. It doesn't work quite the same but you can also hear from both angels and demons, and not just the Holy Spirit. So we need to test the spirits! We need to be aware of what we are picking up in our spirit! Everyone needs to be aware of this and almost nobody is.

Even Christians rarely spend much time at paying attention to what is going on around them in the spiritual/heavenly realm. I confess - I too don't spend nearly enough time paying attention to the effect the spiritual has on me. I simply get too busy working and thinking about the physical things.

I sadly have to admit that I usually only seek the Lord and thus activate my spiritual senses about a dozen times a day. All those who seek find, and so when I seek the Lord I find Him. We talk. And not just Him and I He also sends me angels to minister to me.

That doesn't mean evil spirit, demons, won't try talking to me also. They are doing their evil work also. They are doing it whether you think they are or not. They would perfect that you don't think they are doing their evil work in you. So we need to test the spirits and become aware of what is going on around us. The best way, as mentioned, is to seek our Lord Jesus Christ. They Holy Spirit can and will make you aware, but you have to listen to Him and hear the words He tells you.

He tells you the words of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is the Teacher. So the Holy Spirit brings you teachings from your Teacher, Jesus Christ. A teacher does not have to use a book, but the Teacher has a book that He does like to talk about. So if you can read and have the Bible available He is going to spend some time talking about what is written in the Bible. Note: THE BIBLE DOES NOT SPEAK THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES!

I liked the OP, but there is a mistake in it:



We are not to let or think that the scriptures speak for itself, because the scriptures are not a "self"! They are sacred writings and thus are an inanimate object. We need to be saying to let the Lord teach you about the scriptures. The fact is that one of the things the devil does is to try to get you to worship idols. Idols are inanimate object that we promote to the level of being god. It's true the the Lord spoke to people in the past, they wrote as instructed, but their writings are not God. Jesus Christ is God the Son and He is your Teacher, not the Bible. He speaks to us vis His Holy Spirit, the Bible does not speak to us. Too often I find people leaning on their understanding of what they read and not actually seeking the Lord and listening to the words the Spirit brings to us. That is what the devils promote and that is shown in the Bible and OP:



The Galatians had read the sacred texts and decided to lean on their own understanding instead of seeking the Lord and listening to what the Spirit had to say. The idea that the Scriptures speak for themselves is to say that we are to lean on our understanding of the scriptures instead of actually listening to the Spirit for the Lord's understanding. So who told us that the scriptures speak? Inanimate objects don't speak. We read the scriptures like any good student would read their text book, but we still have to attend class. Below are a few things the Lord told me on this subject:


WE DON’T HAVE UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE WE DON’T READ THE BIBLE WITH UNDERSTANDING, BUT OUR UNDERSTANDING…. UNDERSTAND???

THE SCRIPTURES ARE RIGHT, BUT THEY ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS. THEY HAVE NO ABILITY TO ACT. THEY ARE NOT ALIVE, BUT THE WORD OF GOD IS ALIVE AND ACTIVE.

WE DON’T USE THE LORD TO PREACH THE SCRIPTURES; WE USE THE SCRIPTURES TO PREACH THE LORD!!

I MADE THE MOUNTAIN AND THE MOUNTAIN IS GOOD, BUT WOE TO THOSE WHO WORSHIP THE MOUNTAIN. WOE TO THOSE WHO WORSHIP THE CREATED AND NOT THE CREATOR.

I AM THE WORD OF GOD! THAT IS WHAT THEY CALL ME. FOR WHAT PROPHET EVER SAID ‘THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME SAYING’ AND DIDN’T MEAN THAT I CAME CLOSE? SHOULD I SHARE MY NAME WITH MY CREATION?

WILL YOU HANG ON EVERY WORD THAT GOD SAYS? … I DID!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PICK UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME?

WHAT TEACHER DOESN’T PUT A BOOK IN FRONT OF HIS STUDENTS TODAY; YET NOT JUST A BOOK BUT OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCIES, VISUALS, AND OTHER MATERIAL? FOR I TELL YOU TRULY, IF THEY ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME THEY ARE NOT MY PUPIL, THEY ARE NOT MY STUDENT; I TELL YOU TRULY, THEY ARE NOT MY DISCIPLE UNLESS THEY ARE HEARING FROM ME. SO DON’T TELL THEM TO READ THE BOOK, THEM TO TAKE THE CLASS!”

So the first thing we need to understand is that the Lord speaks! He does that though the Holy Spirit, not the Bible. He does use your Bible to teach you, but that like a Teacher uses a text book. So where it is written: 2 Tim 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;" we understand that God inspired the Scriptures so that He could use them for teaching, reproof, correction, and for training us in righteousness, right? We are the students, He is the Teacher. Too often we present ourselves as the Teacher, or we present the Bible as the Teachers. That is not of God. He is the Teacher, we point people to Him and do what he asks. He might ask you to bring a teaching from Him, but He is still the Teacher. The Bible does not speak!
Maybe I should have said it differently as read the scriptures as they are written and do not lean on your own understanding, especially trying to read into something that is not there. Pray before you read and seek the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and understanding of what you are reading.
 
So what you are saying is that the Bible is only the word of God when the Spirit is working in us, at other times it is merely a collection of words.

That is not a view I hold to. The bible is God's words as recorded by men.
We are able to work out what God wants of us by reading his words.
For Christians the Spirit living in them will help them to understand it.
What he is saying and I agree is that the Bible is our text book for us to read and study out of, but being just a text book, like the books we used in school, it takes a teacher to teach us that of what has been written. This is why before we read we need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit who is our teacher to open our spiritual ears to hear what the Holy Spirit, being our teacher, wants to teach us.
 
We are not to let or think that the scriptures speak for itself, because the scriptures are not a "self"! They are sacred writings and thus are an inanimate object.

Hebrews 4:12

King James Version

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. the word is spirit also .it cuts the flesh away .we can discern by the spirit 1. we have a unction ( indwelling presence of the spirit.}

1 John 2:20​


“But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”
2. light that exposes darkness

Isaiah 8:20​


“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

sometimes discernment can be heart breaking . i been showed a few things before and watched it happen
 
What he is saying and I agree is that the Bible is our text book for us to read and study out of, but being just a text book, like the books we used in school, it takes a teacher to teach us that of what has been written. This is why before we read we need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit who is our teacher to open our spiritual ears to hear what the Holy Spirit, being our teacher, wants to teach us.
%100 agreement on discernment sometimes man has his own .it creates friction
 

Hebrews 4:12​

King James Version​

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. the word is spirit also .it cuts the flesh away .we can discern by the spirit 1. we have a unction ( indwelling presence of the spirit.}

1 John 2:20​


“But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”
2. light that exposes darkness

Isaiah 8:20​


“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

sometimes discernment can be heart breaking . i been showed a few things before and watched it happen
I like the above post ---- but I have heard things like the above which is meant to be calling the Scriptures the Word of God and not Jesus.

For example - some people have told me the Bible is the Word of God and that the Bible is alive and active and have quoted me Heb 4:12

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

They read the above and because they have called the Bible the Word of God so much, and because they don't actually listen to Him our Lord Jesus Christ they don't realize that Heb 4:12 is referring to Jesus Christ and not the Bible. It should be clear to them if they also quoted the following verse Heb 4:13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

The Bible is not a Him and so can not be called "His" and thus does not have sight. The Bible can not speak nor and it see, because it is not a person. So Heb 4:12 is explaining that Jesus Christ is living and active and sharper than any tow-edge sword, and He is piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and He is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Certainly writings can not make a judgment - a person has to make judgements, and Jesus Christ is that person.

Again - I liked the post - thought it is a bit unclear to me what point is being made in it. I only wrote because too often I have come across people thinking the Bible is alive. It is Jesus Christ who is alive. He lives. His name is called the Word of God.

Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

So in Hebrews, like in Revelation, Word of God means Him - that is His name. Maybe that is what is being said, but I want to make that clear to any who does not understand that.
 
Maybe I should have said it differently as read the scriptures as they are written and do not lean on your own understanding, especially trying to read into something that is not there. Pray before you read and seek the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and understanding of what you are reading.

I may have come across a bit harsh, not meaning to.

The point I was making is that we all get influenced by evil spirits and we often don't even realize it. That doesn't mean we are going to follow them, but they still mess us up. I know from what you have written in the past that you understand that Jesus is alive and the Bible is the text book He uses to teach us from.

Still what happens, and we miss it, is that evil spirits throw out an idea, like the Bible speaks and other little things that imply that the Bible is alive. The reason for doing that is to get us seeking the Bible and lean on our own understanding as opposed to seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and listening to His understanding which comes to our spirit via the Holy Spirit.

It is a tricky little twist and we miss it. You of course are not going to get thrown off because you know the Lord. But if others read what you wrote about the Bible speaking and about the Scriptures being a "self" as in "itself", then they are likely to make it about seeking the Scriptures thinking the Scriptures are alive and active as opposed to Jesus Christ being alive and active and the One who speaks to us via His Holy Scriptures. That can be really bad for them.

Jesus told the Jews Jn 5:39,40 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

We have an obligation to preach Jesus Christ! If we let the wrong spirits confuse us so that we preach the Scriptures instead then they are going to be searching the Scriptures for eternal life instead of coming to Him so that they my have life! That little mistake, almost certainly promoted by the wrong spirit could mean the difference between eternal life and death to others. That is how tricky those evil spirits can be, and shows again the importance of the topic you are writing about!

A great topic!!
 
WE DON’T HAVE UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE WE DON’T READ THE BIBLE WITH UNDERSTANDING, BUT OUR UNDERSTANDING…. UNDERSTAND???
Still, the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit and just like your physical ears can pick up anything spoken in sound waves, you spiritual ears can pick up anything out there in the spiritual realm. It doesn't work quite the same but you can also hear from both angels and demons, and not just the Holy Spirit. So we need to test the spirits! We need to be aware of what we are picking up in our spirit! Everyone needs to be aware of this and almost nobody is.

This IS a good topic. We have a few different voices in our head. So I had to pay attention quite a bit before I learned to tell them apart. The Holy Spirit speaks in His own way, and always seems to say just the right thing. He will never contradict scripture either.

When I prayed for the Lord to speak to me and to teach me how to learn to be able to hear His still small voice, His answer was very clear and I had no problem knowing that..that was Him! And He said you want to learn to discern my voice and truth? Try to discern my voice as you read the Word.

Good idea! His Word is the primary way that He speaks to us. So it has to be read prayerfully to me. (What's that mean Lord?) and I also had begun inviting the Lord to come with me to work, and you know He did. And I would talk to Him. When I ask Him a question (whether reading or driving around praying) I will then pause and listen inside of me. And something will come to mind. A thought or sometimes a scripture. And at first I thought it was just me thinking. But it says become as a little child, so I pretended it was God answering me (in faith) and considered what was said.

Then maybe ask another question and wait, and He'll speak again. And whatever thought or scripture pops into my head, actually does answer what I had asked. Or at least pointed me in the right direction. and after a little while, I kid you not. We're driving around having a full blown conversation.

I also found out that, when you neglect reading His Word...it starts getting harder & harder to hear Him.

I think our heart speaks to us too. But heart thinking isn't really thinking like in words. It's more like a knowing or perceiving.

A few times He has, turned up the volume for so to speak. Like when the Lord let me hide from 3 sets of police cars looking for me in the neighborhood to arrest me. I prayed Hard. He was clear. Inside of me, but very easy to hear, turn left here....sit down here and rest a few. Get up now, go up the alley to the right...and so forth. I seen the cops maybe 1/2 dozen times, always a couple blocks away crossing one way or the other. But that was critical and very time sensitive so He turned up the volume for me. Most times it is a still small voice and you have to believe that it is Him, in you, and Talking! Felt funny at first but it gets easier because you learn His voice and how He speaks.

Belief is different than faith! He will talk to you all day long if you stay with Him!
 
There is one thing the Lord taught me is to be aware of what is going on around us in the physical environment as well. A lot of things happening in the spiritual realm places out into the physical. The enemy manifests in the physical. I try, sometimes forget, to tune into what is going on around me in a Church. You will be surprised how the enemy can operate. You find someone falling asleep. You find someone fidgeting and restless. There are things that Christians must deal with so that the Spirit of God can move freely within the congregation. Not everyone is sensitive to this. We get carried away with chatting to friends, listening attentively to the preacher, and focus on singing. Sometimes, the enemy tries to sneak in.

We also have to be sensitive to our physical environment wherever we are.

Ok - what you have is not entirely wrong, but the focus and battle maybe getting lost. WE battle with the dark forces and not with flesh and blood. If we are looking at the people, like the pastor, the congregation, and all the things going on in other people then are we focused on the Lord Jesus Christ?

So it doesn't matter to me if other people are "fidgeting and restless" it matters to me if I personally am focused on the Lord. It doesn't even matter to me what the pastor is preaching, it matter to me what the Lord has to say about what the pastor is preaching.

The Lord usually has a purpose in the sermon for me personally. So I need to know from Him what purpose He has, and what points He is trying to get across to me. So Him and I talk back and forth while the pastor is preaching!!!

It get really interesting that way. And while He usually has something in the sermon for us to talk about there have been plenty of times that He did not have something in the sermon He gave to the pastor for me. Sometimes He has just had me talking to Him about others things. There have been times He has had me praying and interceding for other people in the church. There are times that He has had me ask the Father for a greater presence of the Spirit, or for wisdom for the pastor. There have been times when He had me looking at the angels ministering in the church and has even had them ministering to me in the church also. The point is that if we are not focused on Jesus Christ our Lord and listening to Him, then we don't know what He wants to talk about or what instructions He has for us.

You know what I like about going to church? I like that it seems to be easier there to hear from Him than other places! When all His people start gathering together in His name, and singing songs to Him and talking about Him, then His presence seems to grow and it just become a lot easier to hear from Him!! So my favorite part of the service is not the singing (but I like talking to Him at that time too), or the sermons, but that is a good time to talk to Him, but rather it is just that He comes through a lot clearer at that time.

People - you just have to know Him! You have to get it - that you and Him can talk! And what better time is there to talk to Him than while at church?
 
This IS a good topic. We have a few different voices in our head. So I had to pay attention quite a bit before I learned to tell them apart. The Holy Spirit speaks in His own way, and always seems to say just the right thing. He will never contradict scripture either.

When I prayed for the Lord to speak to me and to teach me how to learn to be able to hear His still small voice, His answer was very clear and I had no problem knowing that..that was Him! And He said you want to learn to discern my voice and truth? Try to discern my voice as you read the Word.

Good idea! His Word is the primary way that He speaks to us. So it has to be read prayerfully to me. (What's that mean Lord?) and I also had begun inviting the Lord to come with me to work, and you know He did. And I would talk to Him. When I ask Him a question (whether reading or driving around praying) I will then pause and listen inside of me. And something will come to mind. A thought or sometimes a scripture. And at first I thought it was just me thinking. But it says become as a little child, so I pretended it was God answering me (in faith) and considered what was said.

Then maybe ask another question and wait, and He'll speak again. And whatever thought or scripture pops into my head, actually does answer what I had asked. Or at least pointed me in the right direction. and after a little while, I kid you not. We're driving around having a full blown conversation.

I also found out that, when you neglect reading His Word...it starts getting harder & harder to hear Him.

I think our heart speaks to us too. But heart thinking isn't really thinking like in words. It's more like a knowing or perceiving.

A few times He has, turned up the volume for so to speak. Like when the Lord let me hide from 3 sets of police cars looking for me in the neighborhood to arrest me. I prayed Hard. He was clear. Inside of me, but very easy to hear, turn left here....sit down here and rest a few. Get up now, go up the alley to the right...and so forth. I seen the cops maybe 1/2 dozen times, always a couple blocks away crossing one way or the other. But that was critical and very time sensitive so He turned up the volume for me. Most times it is a still small voice and you have to believe that it is Him, in you, and Talking! Felt funny at first but it gets easier because you learn His voice and how He speaks.

Belief is different than faith! He will talk to you all day long if you stay with Him!

I always have liked what you right Edward!

I did want to comment on the following though:

The Holy Spirit speaks in His own way, and always seems to say just the right thing. He will never contradict scripture either.

You are correct in saying that He will never contradict the scripture, however - His thoughts are not our thoughts!!!!

So while He will never contradict the scriptures He might just show you something that we had all wrong!!!

In fact, because His thoughts are not our thoughts, our thinking of what the scriptures mean is probably not what His thinking of what the scriptures mean!!!

It amazes me how often I read a scripture and get some meaning out of it, then He comes along, we talk, and I get a whole new and deeper understanding of what the scriptures mean.

A good example of that is Heb 4:12 - which someone brought up earlier on this thread. I too first read it thinking that the Bible was the two edge sword. - the word of God. He later started telling me that He was the Word of God!! That was His name. Then as part of that He brought me back to that verse and pointed out the very next verse where it is written "And there is no creature hidden from His sight" so He is the word of God that divides things and who is able to judge. So now when I get people telling me that the Bible is the living and active Word of God, I know that they have not sought Him about that verse. Clearly the Bible is not a "He" so as to be able to have sight, like in "His sight".

Honestly, more times that not, when I find people boldly stating that the Lord does not contradict the Bible it is because they are leaning on their own understanding of the Bible. They are often saying that their understanding of the Bible is correct, and that means they don't think they need to seek Him and His voice. It might also mean that if He starts to tell them something that does not match up with their thinking, they refuse to listen to Him! They forget that their thoughts are not His thoughts, so they should assume that if He tells them something that doesn't match up with their thoughts it is not Him. Indeed, quite the opposite is probably true!!

My recommendation is that when ever you start picking up a voice then test the spirits like instructed!

1 Jn 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist

That test is not about whether He matches up with your understanding of the Bible but rather about applying a certain test!! Does the spirit tell you Jesus Christ came in the flesh or not!! That is the test!!
 
Ok - what you have is not entirely wrong, but the focus and battle maybe getting lost. WE battle with the dark forces and not with flesh and blood. If we are looking at the people, like the pastor, the congregation, and all the things going on in other people then are we focused on the Lord Jesus Christ?

So it doesn't matter to me if other people are "fidgeting and restless" it matters to me if I personally am focused on the Lord. It doesn't even matter to me what the pastor is preaching, it matter to me what the Lord has to say about what the pastor is preaching.

The Lord usually has a purpose in the sermon for me personally. So I need to know from Him what purpose He has, and what points He is trying to get across to me. So Him and I talk back and forth while the pastor is preaching!!!

It get really interesting that way. And while He usually has something in the sermon for us to talk about there have been plenty of times that He did not have something in the sermon He gave to the pastor for me. Sometimes He has just had me talking to Him about others things. There have been times He has had me praying and interceding for other people in the church. There are times that He has had me ask the Father for a greater presence of the Spirit, or for wisdom for the pastor. There have been times when He had me looking at the angels ministering in the church and has even had them ministering to me in the church also. The point is that if we are not focused on Jesus Christ our Lord and listening to Him, then we don't know what He wants to talk about or what instructions He has for us.

You know what I like about going to church? I like that it seems to be easier there to hear from Him than other places! When all His people start gathering together in His name, and singing songs to Him and talking about Him, then His presence seems to grow and it just become a lot easier to hear from Him!! So my favorite part of the service is not the singing (but I like talking to Him at that time too), or the sermons, but that is a good time to talk to Him, but rather it is just that He comes through a lot clearer at that time.

People - you just have to know Him! You have to get it - that you and Him can talk! And what better time is there to talk to Him than while at church?
I am talking of being sensitive in the spirit to what the devil is doing. It is spiritual discernment. Jesus looked at Peter but he saw the devil operating within him. You look beyond what is happening to see the enemy at play. Someone fidgeting may just be doing that, but someone else could be purposely distracting. It is all about discernment. Of course you have to be in tune with God for the Spirit to open your eyes or prompt your spirit to pick up what he wants you to know.

I agree it is only when you listen to God but you must be alert to discern it. I have entered a Church once. I could see spiritually that the anointing of the Spirit was being obstructed at the pulpit, and it was not flowing to the congregation. I did not understand why until later. I think being spiritually alert within your environment depends on what God is using someone for in a Church.
 
I always have liked what you right Edward!

I did want to comment on the following though:



You are correct in saying that He will never contradict the scripture, however - His thoughts are not our thoughts!!!!

So while He will never contradict the scriptures He might just show you something that we had all wrong!!!

In fact, because His thoughts are not our thoughts, our thinking of what the scriptures mean is probably not what His thinking of what the scriptures mean!!!

It amazes me how often I read a scripture and get some meaning out of it, then He comes along, we talk, and I get a whole new and deeper understanding of what the scriptures mean.

A good example of that is Heb 4:12 - which someone brought up earlier on this thread. I too first read it thinking that the Bible was the two edge sword. - the word of God. He later started telling me that He was the Word of God!! That was His name. Then as part of that He brought me back to that verse and pointed out the very next verse where it is written "And there is no creature hidden from His sight" so He is the word of God that divides things and who is able to judge. So now when I get people telling me that the Bible is the living and active Word of God, I know that they have not sought Him about that verse. Clearly the Bible is not a "He" so as to be able to have sight, like in "His sight".

Honestly, more times that not, when I find people boldly stating that the Lord does not contradict the Bible it is because they are leaning on their own understanding of the Bible. They are often saying that their understanding of the Bible is correct, and that means they don't think they need to seek Him and His voice. It might also mean that if He starts to tell them something that does not match up with their thinking, they refuse to listen to Him! They forget that their thoughts are not His thoughts, so they should assume that if He tells them something that doesn't match up with their thoughts it is not Him. Indeed, quite the opposite is probably true!!

My recommendation is that when ever you start picking up a voice then test the spirits like instructed!

1 Jn 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist

That test is not about whether He matches up with your understanding of the Bible but rather about applying a certain test!! Does the spirit tell you Jesus Christ came in the flesh or not!! That is the test!!

We have to try to remember that, when we read His word, to read it from the spirit and not from our flesh. I'm getting better at it.

I don't think I've ever tested a spirit that I can recall. When the police were after me, I was praying to God. Well He answered me and I didn't hesitate to obey. And I didn't get arrested either. So I think its safe to praise God for that one, lol.

Then one time the Lord spoke to me audibly, and that was very weird because not only did I not test the Spirit but I also did not immediately obey, AND, I recognized His voice. The first thing that happened was His presence came into the room. The strongest presence of the Lord that I've felt before that, or since! And I already knew who walked into the room even before He spoke. When Jesus walks into the room...you know it. IHe spoke and said I want you to pray for Brother Michael, he needs help. And very stupidly, I questioned Him and said, why? what happened? Is he ok? ...and He did not rebuke me for not immediately obeying with words, but He spoke again but in that fatherly parental tone which kids can recognize as the tone of doom which requires immediate compliance! (Terror struck my heart at that tone and He repeated the instruction, pray for Michael right now he needs help...so I said, yes Lord and went into prayer and prayed for help for the Brother. And he got help too. I said Amen and then the presence of the Lord went away.

And I did think about it later, that I did not test that Spirit, but I knew that it was Jesus and I did recognize His voice. Now I have no "recollection" of ever having heard the voice of the Lord before, and yet I did recognize it. There was no mistake. So that made me feel good, cuz I knew who it was. My sheep know my voice is what scripture says. And I know that is true. Besides, evil spirits do not go around asking people to pray to God to help people, lol!

Yet you do make an excellent point. We should test the Spirits. I've heard a couple testimonies where Jesus manifested to people and they tested Him. It was said that Jesus looked a little amused and held out His hands so they could see the nail prints and smiles at them!

I still praise God for allowing me to have the privilege of participating in a meaningful way which helped and especially for not striking me dumb or something like was done to Zacharias for questioning the Angel! The correct response is...Yes Lord.

That tone of voice scared me big time. Wow.
 
We have to try to remember that, when we read His word, to read it from the spirit and not from our flesh. I'm getting better at it.

I don't think I've ever tested a spirit that I can recall. When the police were after me, I was praying to God. Well He answered me and I didn't hesitate to obey. And I didn't get arrested either. So I think its safe to praise God for that one, lol.

Then one time the Lord spoke to me audibly, and that was very weird because not only did I not test the Spirit but I also did not immediately obey, AND, I recognized His voice
We need to test the spirits like the Bible says - see 1 John 4:1-3

We need to read the Bible with the Holy Spirit, and thereby listening to what He has to say to us!

If we don't practice listening to Him and what He has to say to us, then we start calling the lines of text in the Bible 'the word' instead of calling him 'the Word'!!

Isaiah explained this:

Is 28:12,13 He who said to them, "Here is rest, give rest to the weary," And, "Here is repose," but they would not listen. So the word of the Lord to them will be, "Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there" That they may go stumbling backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.
:

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
 
I feel like I need to address the topic of discernment of spirit, instead of trying to address each issue.

First, discernment of spirit means that we have a spiritual/heavenly realm around us all the time. There are beings in that realm and they are indeed influencing you regularly. C. S. Lewis wrote a nice little book called "The Screwtape Letters" and while it is a fictional book it gives you a rough idea of the kind of things going on around you all the time. To write the book he obviously had some awareness, as a Christian, that many Christians don't seem to be aware of.

Second, God is spirit! So we don't hear an audible voice from the Lord. He can come across with enough power that it might sound audible to you, but the Lord is not walking in the flesh at this moment unless you mean He can use people like you or me, so He does not speak in sound waves. So we have to be seeking His voice. Paul said He took all thoughts captive to Jesus Christ.

Third, God said He put before us good and evil, so choose good - therefore you already have some ability to choose. To have that ability you already have some ability to discern between good spirits and bad spirits, and only God is good! Still to discern and choose you have to be listening with your spiritual ears!! Sadly it is written that with their ears they don't hear. So the first thing we need to do for discernment is to start hearing!!

Fourth, The Lord is the Word of God, the I AM, the Wonderful Counselor, the Teacher, and most importantly He is supposed to be our Lord!! Therefore you need to be seeking Him as God who is always with you, give you wonderful counsel, teachings, and most importantly He gives you instructions. You are not too good at discernment of spirits because you mostly operate with your flesh, but He is God and is spirit so He knows all about discernment of spirit because He knows what is going on around you. So talk to Him and listen.

Fifth, We have instructions in the Bible which came from Him. So we should read our Bible and talk to Him about it. In the Bible we find tests to help us discern spirits. 1 Jn 4:1-3 has a specific test that we are instructed to use!! Most Christians I have meet do not use that test at all. They tell me they read and study the Bible but do they apply it? Also you will find a test in 1 Cor 12:3. I have meet more Christians that use that test, but note that it is not specifically design to test spirits like 1 Jn 4:1-3. Still, I have found it useful also so I personally use both. Also we read that that practice using our spiritual sense makes us good at discernment of spirits (Heb 5:4) This makes sense. The more you practice playing a piano the better you get at it. So the more you actually practice listening with your spiritual ears the better you are going to be at discerning what comes from God, angels that serve Him, and what comes from Satan and those dark evil forces that serve Him!

Sixth, We don't battle with flesh and blood but we battle with the dark evil spiritual forces of this world. Note: We battle means we are looking at us, not others. Yes, they have there battles too, but we need to focus on the battle "We" have with the evil spirits! Too often people are not looking at the log in their eye! And indeed if you think the battle is with other people who have demons instead of it taking place in you, then do indeed have a big log in your eye and you are not seeing right.

Seventh, Our help comes from above. Paul knew about the principle that evil was in us. He also knew to at least try and take every though captive to Jesus Christ. That just means that you need to be talking to Jesus Christ about what you are thinking through out the day. Pray unceasingly! Oh - but that is much easier said than done. I usually only hear from Him about a dozen different times a day. Maybe I talk to Him when I get up, in the shower, during my time in my chair with Him, perhaps on a walk with Him, then I get busy with my work and other things. Perhaps I pick Him up again at lunch while eating, or when having an issue at work. Maybe after work when I am driving back. Often a certain thing comes up that causes me to seek Him. And I often seek Him as I get into bed. That is not taking all thoughts captive to Him. It is my Christian walk and it should be better. Still Him and I are friends. He also sends me angels, and with all that I also find out that evil spirit are about trying to mess me up also. So I do test the spirits and I do take some thoughts that catch my attention captive to Him, to hear what He has to say.
 
I may have come across a bit harsh, not meaning to.

The point I was making is that we all get influenced by evil spirits and we often don't even realize it. That doesn't mean we are going to follow them, but they still mess us up. I know from what you have written in the past that you understand that Jesus is alive and the Bible is the text book He uses to teach us from.

Still what happens, and we miss it, is that evil spirits throw out an idea, like the Bible speaks and other little things that imply that the Bible is alive. The reason for doing that is to get us seeking the Bible and lean on our own understanding as opposed to seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and listening to His understanding which comes to our spirit via the Holy Spirit.

It is a tricky little twist and we miss it. You of course are not going to get thrown off because you know the Lord. But if others read what you wrote about the Bible speaking and about the Scriptures being a "self" as in "itself", then they are likely to make it about seeking the Scriptures thinking the Scriptures are alive and active as opposed to Jesus Christ being alive and active and the One who speaks to us via His Holy Scriptures. That can be really bad for them.

Jesus told the Jews Jn 5:39,40 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

We have an obligation to preach Jesus Christ! If we let the wrong spirits confuse us so that we preach the Scriptures instead then they are going to be searching the Scriptures for eternal life instead of coming to Him so that they my have life! That little mistake, almost certainly promoted by the wrong spirit could mean the difference between eternal life and death to others. That is how tricky those evil spirits can be, and shows again the importance of the topic you are writing about!

A great topic!!
You haven't been harsh as you have brought out a great point as many hold the Bible up like it's an idol they worship, but yet it's our school book as the Holy Spirit is our teacher.

When I was serving in the prison ministry I actually made a point about the Bible being our text book and how many saw it as an idol to worship and keep on a shelf. I picked up my Bible and dropped it on the floor and stood on it. I got a few gasp and "you can't do that as it's blasphemy" from some of the men, but the others understood why I did that. I wish you could have seen their faces. It was a good lesson that day as they learned to allow the Holy Spirit and not man/woman teach them.
 
He might just show you something that we had all wrong!!!
God's Holy Spirit has corrected me many a time either by using others or directly speaking to me. It's good to be opened for correction when it comes by the Spirit of God. It's very humbling.
 
What he is saying and I agree is that the Bible is our text book for us to read and study out of, but being just a text book, like the books we used in school, it takes a teacher to teach us that of what has been written. This is why before we read we need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit who is our teacher to open our spiritual ears to hear what the Holy Spirit, being our teacher, wants to teach us.

Yes the truth in the Bible has to be spiritually discerned. But the spirit cannot teach what people have not read and we are not to wait for the spirit to prompt us to read the bible.
As it is it is the word of God, it doesn't contain the word of God or become the word of God under the influence of the spirit.
 
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