Does God Still Speak to Ordinary People?

Spiritual Growth

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Acts 16:9-10 NIV

Growing up, I wondered if God had stopped speaking to ordinary people after Bible times. After all, I had never heard him speak.

Years went by. I matured in my faith, but I still never heard God speak to me. Honestly, it didn’t bother me, because I figured God had said all he needed to say in the Bible. What more did I personally need to hear?

Apparently, God did have something to say to me. It started when my family moved across the country, and all I saw was loss: my career, church, friends and extended family. I was heartbroken.

It was in that condition that I heard God “speak” to me. It wasn’t in an audible voice; it was just a clear voice in my spirit – one that hadn’t been there before. God brought Scriptures to mind, he spoke words of encouragement and gave me direction to do things I never would have done on my own.

I began to understand what the Bible meant about God communicating through the Holy Spirit. My life changed for the better when I started listening and obeying God’s Spirit.

Before the move, I was very independent and made most decisions without consulting God. In truth, I hadn’t needed him or his counsel very much. It wasn’t until everything I depended on was removed that I became empty and desperate for God to fill me. From my place of need, God’s Spirit became my counselor, comforter and guide.

I knew I had the potential to slip back into my independent ways, and I wanted to keep hearing his voice. So I asked God to always keep me in need of him, which he has done. It’s a hard thing to live out, but if that’s the price of hearing God, I’ll gladly pay it.

We’d love to hear about a time the Lord spoke to you, share your story with us in the comments!

Real-Life Devotional Bible

Insights for everyday life. Lysa TerKeurst and the women at Proverbs 31 Ministries offer encouragement and insights to live authentically as a woman of God. Through the good days and the hard days, you’ll find inspiration from other women who know the realities of life and who strive to live authentically as a woman of God through all of life’s ups and downs. Includes 366 daily devotions placed throughout the NIV Bible. Learn More

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Stephenia Okechukwu

2015-12-28 08:28:00

The comment of Mark Besh has thoroughly blessed my life and I find in it words and scriptures that will be useful for me in praying for my son that I’m believing God for the restoration of soundness of mind to.

Mark Besh

2015-12-07 14:49:58

In Michigan, I get to see God’s ‘creation’ from a lot of different vantage points—since we have four seasons—experiencing many new ‘creations’ all year round.

But just as spring in Michigan brings new ‘creations’ each year after the winter, God says that we humans can also become “new creations”:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” [2 Corinthians 5:17].

In doing so, God will send the Holy Spirit to ‘reside’ in you, and to be your “counselor”: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” [Ezekiel 36:26].

   In my backyard, I have a number of trees. During the autumn, the kids and I used to enjoy watching the leaves fall (and jumping in the piles), but there are certain trees that held their leaves until spring. Their leaves withered and turned brown, but they didn’t drop—not until spring did these trees lose their leaves when the new leaves ‘pushed out’ the old leaves. That’s exactly what happens to our old habits and to our old lives when we become “Christians”—the new life pushes that old life ‘out of the way’.

It is not a matter of plucking off this bad habit or knocking off that bad thought. The Christian life is not forged in that manner. Your new life replaces your old life when you become “born again,” and the Holy Spirit comes into ‘reside’ in you—to be your personal guide, mentor, and advocate,  .

The good news is that God promises that He will help us through any ‘change’ (even if that change is ‘turning away’ from our old way of life to a new one focused on Him). He also promises that He will never leave us alone—that He ‘sees’ far beyond the pain we might be experiencing during our changes, and will make our new beginning BENEFICIAL to us (and to those around us, too!), if we’ll just let Him. In Christ, God gives you the grace you will need to ‘struggle’ through the circumstances to be able to become a NEW ‘CREATION’.

That’s what the “Good News” of the Gospel is all about—God’s intervention into our lives by offering His Son as our ‘payment’ for all the wrongdoing we have committed in our lives, and the promise of a never-ending life with Him in Heaven!  

Each new day we can be filled afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit—Who will help you in becoming a new ‘creation’!   

All this to say that, if you haven’t already done so, I encourage you become a NEW CREATION and ‘change’ your eternal destiny—by overcoming the ‘estrangement’ from God by accepting His reconciliation through His Son, Jesus.

Mark Besh 
LifesDeepThoughts.com 
(Excerpt from May 2013 post)

Ephrem Hagos

2015-12-03 02:42:00

“That day” refers to Christ’s Spirit-active, perfect and diacritical death on the cross which is the fulfillment of all prophesies for his revelation as King worthy of worship by all and knowing by the same name, i.e., “I Am Who I Am”.

(Ex. 3: 1-15; Zech. 13-14; John 19: 34-37)

Tracey Lynn

2015-12-02 23:13:33

I live across the street from Lake Michigan and God’s handiwork is on display everyday, it never ceases to amaze Me
What a mighty God We serve!

Bible Connection News

2015-12-02 16:48:37

Thank you Dan! We are glad that this article contributed positively to your day. May the wonder and goodness of our God continue to be reflected on you!

Dan Haugen

2015-12-02 16:09:33

In a world with so much darkness, it is wonderful to read articles like this that remind us of our living God whose love and grace is backed by all the power of our creator.

Each day is filled with wonder and gratitude, and then that challenging call of serving God in our time and in that service to seek to be faithful even when we are so inadequate for the task.