84 Question of the Century
How do we know if the spirit is speaking to us?
Or the Spirit , the Holy Ghost,
or God Himself?
Or an angel?
Or our own ego?
Or is it even ever so subtly from the devil?
And why does God conceal Himself such that no-one has seen him?
Or such that WE DO NOT REALLY KNOW IF IT IS GOD SPEAKING TO US?
How do we know if what we hear is from God?
Or from the general spirit of the thing?
Or from a speakers ego?
How do we know how to discern the spirits?
How do we know if a message is of God?
How would we know if a wise saying accredited to say, Buddha, should be enlightening to us, or rejected?
What is it about our faith that that gives us confidence to accept or reject,
thoughts,
sermons,
messages,
revelations,
prophecies,
writings,
essays,
blogs,
teachings,
conventions,
culture,
beliefs,
knowledge,
sciences,
theories,
guesses,
hunches,
visions,
pictures,
books,
papers,
other churches,
dreams,
poems,
hymns,
books,
historic scrolls,
interpretations,
translations,
bible variants,
Catholicism,
Latter day saints,
various Christian denominations,
Non-denominational churches,
home fellowships,
Brethren,
JWs
preaching,
experience,
upbringing,
televangelism,
fiction,
films,
music,
songs,
friends advice,
teaching in schools,
Google searches,
Concordances,
Bible commentaries,
Bible margins,
Blue letter bible.org
answer to prayer
feelings,
scripture,
Old Testament,
New Testament,
Sayings of Jesus,
Dead Sea scrolls,
Catholic bibles,
Mormon interpretations,
extra gospels,
Paul's letters,
newspaper reports
history,
Josephus,
Greek legends,
Roman legends,
Assyrian legends,
Atlantis legends,
science fiction,
Fossil discoveries,
carbon dating,
evolution,
Darwinism,
Big Bang,
Intelligent design,
Psychology,
Freudian theory,
Jungian theory,
Quantum theory,
Stephen Hawking,
Newton,
Einstein,
Atheism,
Panentheism,
Pantheism,
Medication,
Drugs,
Prozac et al,
Alccohol,
not forgetting prayer, meditation,...
or Ross's dog?
I bring you back to faith.
But give me your reasons?
"show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works"
I know some of you, you could reduce that list by half by going "true or false"
Others could answer, rather ask, more questions?
Lady R.?
Elijah?
Geoff?
Anon?
Like , even the dog, Ross's dog , could talk about discerning the spirits, looking at the fruit of the spirits...
but what I want is where you are coming from, give some depth?
This question is important to everyone on the planet, if only they knew.
You do the post... you tell me? Please?
Jam 2:14 What [doth it] profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Jam 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Jam 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jam 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jam 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jam 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jam 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
I say, that to know and be confident, is better than to have faith and believe.This is works.
Or the Spirit , the Holy Ghost,
or God Himself?
Or an angel?
Or our own ego?
Or is it even ever so subtly from the devil?
And why does God conceal Himself such that no-one has seen him?
Or such that WE DO NOT REALLY KNOW IF IT IS GOD SPEAKING TO US?
How do we know if what we hear is from God?
Or from the general spirit of the thing?
Or from a speakers ego?
How do we know how to discern the spirits?
How do we know if a message is of God?
How would we know if a wise saying accredited to say, Buddha, should be enlightening to us, or rejected?
What is it about our faith that that gives us confidence to accept or reject,
thoughts,
sermons,
messages,
revelations,
prophecies,
writings,
essays,
blogs,
teachings,
conventions,
culture,
beliefs,
knowledge,
sciences,
theories,
guesses,
hunches,
visions,
pictures,
books,
papers,
other churches,
dreams,
poems,
hymns,
books,
historic scrolls,
interpretations,
translations,
bible variants,
Catholicism,
Latter day saints,
various Christian denominations,
Non-denominational churches,
home fellowships,
Brethren,
JWs
preaching,
experience,
upbringing,
televangelism,
fiction,
films,
music,
songs,
friends advice,
teaching in schools,
Google searches,
Concordances,
Bible commentaries,
Bible margins,
Blue letter bible.org
answer to prayer
feelings,
scripture,
Old Testament,
New Testament,
Sayings of Jesus,
Dead Sea scrolls,
Catholic bibles,
Mormon interpretations,
extra gospels,
Paul's letters,
newspaper reports
history,
Josephus,
Greek legends,
Roman legends,
Assyrian legends,
Atlantis legends,
science fiction,
Fossil discoveries,
carbon dating,
evolution,
Darwinism,
Big Bang,
Intelligent design,
Psychology,
Freudian theory,
Jungian theory,
Quantum theory,
Stephen Hawking,
Newton,
Einstein,
Atheism,
Panentheism,
Pantheism,
Medication,
Drugs,
Prozac et al,
Alccohol,
not forgetting prayer, meditation,...
or Ross's dog?
I bring you back to faith.
But give me your reasons?
"show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works"
I know some of you, you could reduce that list by half by going "true or false"
Others could answer, rather ask, more questions?
Lady R.?
Elijah?
Geoff?
Anon?
Like , even the dog, Ross's dog , could talk about discerning the spirits, looking at the fruit of the spirits...
but what I want is where you are coming from, give some depth?
This question is important to everyone on the planet, if only they knew.
You do the post... you tell me? Please?
Jam 2:14 What [doth it] profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Jam 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Jam 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jam 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jam 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jam 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jam 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
I say, that to know and be confident, is better than to have faith and believe.This is works.
posted by Ross at 10:57 pm
5 Comments:
Hi Ross,
I read your latest, but I can't get back to it so I will send a reply to
your email.
Maybe I'm wrong or maybe I've created more questions. Surely there is no
end to knowing about God.
To me the beginning of us even hoping to understand God and how he
speaks is having faith. As in Hebrews this is the foundation of the way
of truth. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works
and of faith towards God Heb 6; 1. Faith will answer all questions.
Now faith is a small thing. When the disciples asked Jesus to increase
their faith Jesus gave them the picture of the mustard seed and likened
the seed to faith. Jesus was talking about a decrease not an increase.
Faith is small in this world because it doesn’t exist by intelligence,
knowledge, wisdom or human reasoning, it exists when we throw all those
out the door and all we are left with is this little seed. 1Cor 2; 5
“your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of
God, that is the foundation. So when the disciples failed to do that
miracle in Mat 17, it was because of their lack of faith. Lack of faith
is evidence of self confidence. Faith doesn’t co-exist with self
confidence. So in order to have power to do the miracle they had to
forego their own self confidence. It’s easy to imagine the disciples
saying to them selves “Wow this is great! We can do miracles” pride
takes over and they forget that it was a God given power, and so they
lost their power, thus no more miracles. We also know that without faith
it is impossible to please God and it is impossible to see God. IF WE
COULD SEE GOD NATURALLY then it may limit our faith. Our human can’t
comprehend God, it can’t understand the concept of eternal life and it
can’t understand who made God or where God came from. If people could
see God the first thing they’d do is make an idol. That would be so
limiting. When we try to comprehend him with our mind we put him in a
box and limit his endless power for ourselves. When we say he is this or
that then that is all he is to us, but when we have faith in his power
we believe in that which our human cannot possibly comprehend and so
faith allows us to enter the realm of eternity and limitless power. It
is superior because it doesn’t reason and sees beyond what can be
reasoned. It was written about the trouble Jesus’ brethren had believing
him. They didn’t believe because they limited him to just a man. If we
believe he was just a carpenter then that is all he is to us. Amazing
how they didn’t see more. The wisest and most intelligent man would
limit God if he tried to understand without faith. God would only be as
much as his intelligence and logic would allow. Doubt agrees with our
human nature, faith agrees with his Spirit. So Thomas had that trouble
too and Jesus said blessed is the man who has not seen yet believed.
Jesus appeared to the disciples and his natural man was hidden from
their eyes, but they knew him by his spirit. This seemed to be a natural
progression to turn their eye away from the man and turn their faith to
the Son of God and oh how their faith in God would have grown when Jesus
left but they still had the presence of his Spirit. Their faith in him
and absolutely no natural vision of him and so they were beginning to
understand the power of God and the marvel of faith that wouldn’t be
limited by men. I like to think about Thomas’ reaction when he with
faith put his hand in Jesus side. He said” My Lord and my God” he saw
God in Jesus. He saw through and beyond the man and his flesh….faith.
“If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the father” So was Jesus God? He was a
man, but go beyond his flesh as Thomas did and we see God, faith. IF GOD
SHOWED HIMSELF TO US HOW WOULD HE DO IT AND APPEAR TO US AS GOD? If he
showed himself in flesh we’d see a man. If he showed himself as an
angel, we’d see an angel. If he appeared as a spirit we’d see a spirit.
But all these things are ministers of God and if like Thomas we have
faith we will see God in all. We’re glad that we know God as one who is
unlimited and omni-present, far exceeding our comprehension, who is all
and in all. Who we can pray to anywhere anytime a thousand people at
once. AS FOR WHO IS SPEAKING. God uses men, angels, and spirits to speak
but when it comes down to it there are only two voices, that of God and
that of every other thing. Maybe I’m wrong but if I’m not 100% sure that
what I’m doing is of God I don’t want to do it and as for WHAT TO REJECT
OR NOT REJECT, if I do what is right then I don’t have to worry about
what is wrong. Michael the archangel dared not even bring accusation
against the devil himself Jude v9 but when we accept the right thing we
are letting go of the wrong. We don’t want to judge what is wrong. We do
what we do know and don’t do what we don’t know. Lack of peace is the
greatest sign that we are not listening to God’s voice. Doubt is the
friend of anything that isn’t of God. As far as worldly wisdom and other
doctrine Jesus said himself to listen to the pharicees but not do their
works.
About faith, some things come to our mind to do but they seem unnatural
or not common sense. This thing will take faith to do. But why did it
come to our mind in the first place if it’s something we wouldn’t do by
nature. Wouldn’t that mean it wasn’t our thought but THAT GOD IS
SPEAKING? One cannot judge what God has in mind for another as Jesus
pointed out to Peter when Peter said ”what of that man” but we can obey
God’s voice for our own life. If we did want to know if ones
denomination was of God or not we could ask why are they doing it? I
wonder how many do it because they love God. We just want to be ones who
do what we do know and do it in love for truly there is no end to
finding out about God.
Hope you can get something from this.....Warren
.
Hi Ross.
Interesting what you have noted there but I don't really feel that I can get involved. I am a lamb in his fold and I value what he reveals to me though his word but I feel I do not have the understanding or insight into these things to the point of which I would like share my thoughts with others
Dear Ross,
Now you ask what is beyond words!!! The answer in one word is “Faith” In two it is “faith and Love”
So… you will have to put up with some inadequate answers I expect! The more words, the less adequate the answers perhaps?!
Anyway, I will try! Love, r
How do we know if the spirit is speaking to us
or the Spirit , the Holy Ghost
or God Himself?
Or an angel?
Or our ego?
God speaks to us by His Spirit, which is the Holy Ghost …. It is God Himself, of Him and from Himself. An angel is also of God and from God, and maybe comes through the power of God’s Holy Spirit also? Perhaps it is not important to distinguish the difference ….. either way, the message is from God.
How do we know the message is from God and not from another source? By faith. But there is much evidence:
By the perfect, clear, peace-giving truth of the message, and for the peace, and perfect rightness of the result/the fruit of heeding the message. The message from God is the most noble, and the most practical prompt/answer. It may not always please our own will, it will be beneficial in every aspect or direction, but may not appeal to us at first!
How do we know? It is a matter of faith …. The knowing that comes through faith. A knowing of the heart more than the mind ….Faith is Trusting in God’s promises to the extent that one relies on them and then proves them to be reliable….(in the sense of jumping out of a ‘plane and relying on a parachute) A leap of faith. The theory of the parachute is neat, sensible, adds up ….. but you have to use it to prove it. (Faith in a faulty parachute is like faith in a faulty understanding of God’s message ….. we must not assume, we need to check) Pray.
God has promised His spirit to those that love Him and His Son (John 14) …” you know Him (the Holy Spirit) because He dwells within you” (Romans 5:3-5 Acts 9:31 Galations 5)
…. “ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you”
“Whatsoever you ask in my Father’s name, shall be given to you”
Isaiah 30:21 Jeremiah 31:31-34 are just two of the places in the old testament that promises the Holy Spirit as the messenger who will teach us the Truth.
When we act on those promises we prove they are sure. That adds to our faith in them and gives us boldness to proceed further.
And why does God conceal Himself such that no-one has seen him?
Or such that WE DO NOT REALLY KNOW IF IT IS GOD SPEAKING TO US?
The people of Israel knew, and Moses was told, that if they saw God’s Person they could not survive it. I understand it by comparing my ability to withstand some other very powerful Force …… a lightning bolt, a huge wave, a tornado or bush fire. It is not even safe for us to look directly at the sun.
God is too wonderful, powerful and majestic for us on earth. At this stage we are “terrestrial bodies” not “celestial bodies”, but we are promised a transformation at our resurrection.
By the same token we only have him speak to us in ways we are able to receive and understand. We recognize the message is from Him and can receive it according to our level of faith, love, courage and willingness. (he who hath ears to hear, let him hear)
God…. His Person, His Voice, His Understanding and His total Message …is outside the scope of our human hearts and minds. He gives us what we need and can accept as we are able to receive it. Mother’s milk and baby food is especially designed for babies … they are unable to digest what an older, more developed human can. Baby’s food is quite nutritious for older humans, but not adequate as the total diet. We add new foods to our diet as we are able to receive them. We learn to recognize God’s voice/God’s message in various ways …… through convictions that come to our own hearts, thoughts and insights that come to us from prayer, reading God’s work, remembering spiritual songs and psalms, talking with others in fellowship, lessons from life and nature, dreams, visions, miracles etc. We recognize God’s message more readily when we are praying for it. It would seem that the more advanced our faith the more we will receive answers through visions and dreams ….. but it might not be true …..consider: “there are yet greater gifts than these” “desire earnestly the best gifts” “all these shall pass away, but faith hope and charity will abide” …..and (to Thomas) “you have seen and believed ….blessed are those who have believed and yet not seen”
How do we know if what we hear is from God?
Or from the general spirit of the thing?
God’s Spirit influences the “general spirit of the thing” …. We will know by what is produced from that.
Or from a speakers ego?
Anything that is from the speaker’s ego will be like “sounding brass” or a “tinkling cymbal” …. It will not have the ring of truth about it and will even perhaps create a physical feeling ….. e.g. a cold feeling inside, or a feeling of embarrassment or doubt,
How do we know how to discern the spirits?
How do we know if a message is of God?
Some time may have to elapse for the true fruit to be seen. If we are unsure it is best to keep an open mind, to proceed cautiously and to keep praying and asking for guidance. We perhaps need to ask for very specific signs …… e.g … a hymn or verse to be mentioned in the meeting, or the answer to come from the next person we meet …. This takes considerable faith (still only as a grain of mustard seed!) We are assured these answers are from God then because they are outside our control and if we have not relied on any other power.
How would we know if a wise saying accredited to say, Buddha, should be enlightening to us, or rejected?
The religions of the world work as well as they do because they all contain grains of Truth and wisdom. They are like the sand on the seashore ……. Little grains of the Rock of Truth ….. but Jesus warned us most clearly about building on the sand versus building on the Rock ….. (the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth) So we can accept the truth of a wise saying no matter where it comes from, (and we can usually find its equivalent in the bible anyway!) but we must not accept anyone as our Master and Saviour but Jesus. His is the only Way, He is The Truth, The Life,….God’s word states very clearly that there is no-one else but Him.
What is it about our faith that that gives us confidence to accept or reject, It’s the Spirit of Truth in us … so that we can do as Jesus did and “know how to refuse the evil and choose the good” … the Power that comes from His spirit that enables us to resist what is false and follow what is true. The Sprit of God is portioned out to us according to the largeness of our faith and our love …. The more we are extended and developed by our experiences the more we are enlarged to contain more of His Spirit, to have deeper faith, love and discernment and power.
thoughts,
sermons,
messages,
revelations,
prophecies,
writings,
essays,
blogs,
teachings,
conventions,
culture,
beliefs,
knowledge,
sciences,
theories,
guesses,
hunches,
visions,
pictures,
books,
papers,
other churches,
dreams,
poems,
hymns,
books,
historic scrolls,
interpretations,
translations,
bible variants,
Catholicism,
Latter day saints,
various Christian denominations,
Non-denominational churches,
home fellowships,
Brethren,
JWs
preaching,
experience,
upbringing,
televangelism,
fiction,
films,
music,
songs,
friends advice,
teaching in schools,
Google searches,
Concordances,
Bible commentaries,
Bible margins,
Blue letter bible.org
answer to prayer
feelings,
scripture,
Old Testament,
New Testament,
Sayings of Jesus,
Dead Sea scrolls,
Catholic bibles,
Mormon interpretations,
extra gospels,
Paul's letters,
newspaper reports
history,
Josephus,
Greek legends,
Roman legends,
Assyrian legends,
Atlantis legends,
science fiction,
Fossil discoveries,
carbon dating,
evolution,
Darwinism,
Big Bang,
Intelligent design,
Psychology,
Freudian theory,
Jungian theory,
Quantum theory,
Stephen Hawking,
Newton,
Einstein,
Atheism,
Panentheism,
Pantheism,
not forgetting prayer, meditation,...
or Ross's dog?
I bring you back to faith.
But give me your reasons?
The reasons I have given for my faith have come from earnest listening, studying, praying, trusting, living and proving … man lives “by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” ….. I have a long way to go, and a lot to yet learn and prove. My love, faith, and insight needs to be continually enlarged and deepened. I need to be willing for whatever it costs be emptied of my own spirit, and the spirits of this world, so that I can be more filled with Jesus’ Spirit.
"show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works"
yes, our faith, our conviction, our perception, activates us. We prove what our faith and conviction is by our manner of living. Our friend Elijah once remarked that when it comes to a choice we will follow what we love, rather than what we believe. So our faith and our hope has no power without love …. The Spirit of God is what supplied the Faith, Hope and Love. They are all powerful Energies, “and the greatest of these is Love” Love makes Faith powerful, not a neatly constructed doctrine……………lady r
I have just read the entry from Warren ….. I like it that we have the same answer …….even a similar approach….but worded so differently. See, that is a sign of us walking together, in step, if you like and confirms that we have been taught by the same Spirit.
I think this is most quotable ………. “We do what we know, and don’t do what we don’t know.” That is a very trusty “rule of thumb” ….. so if I’m not sure whether something is right or wrong ,….. I don’t do it, or follow it, or quote it.
Then, about losing self-confidence to gain faith …… I like that.
Hope you get some more good answers ……lady r
I really enjoyed looking at your site, I found it very helpful indeed, keep up the good work.
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