The following is a
rewritten chapter from Bittersweet Refinements.
If you would like to read the entire book, from start to finish and in
the proper order, please go [here].
Chapter XII
Revelations
For God {does reveal His will; He} speaks not only once, but more than once, even though men do not regard it {including you, Job}. {One may hear God’s voice} in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while slumbering upon the bed; then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction {terrifying them with warnings} that He may withdraw man from his purpose, and cut off pride from him {disgusting him with his own disappointing self-sufficiency}. [Job 33:14-17 AMP]
From the contents of the last chapter, it would be easy to naturally think that I am attempting to diminish the significance of our Heavenly Father’s Holy Bible. MAY IT NEVER BE! For it is a very special gift from Him that should not be ignored [2 Timothy 3:16-17].
In fact, it would do us all well to become as familiar with our Heavenly Father’s Holy Scriptures as He will allow and enable us to be. For it serves as written confirmation of what He wants to personally reveal to each and every one of us, on an individual basis and without exception [Romans 15:4].
In other words, the more familiar He will allow and enable us to become with what is contained in His Holy Bible, the easier it should become to recognize when our Heavenly Father is speaking to us. A good example of this occurred soon after He started making Himself real unto me while I was reading about Him forbidding Moses from entering into the promised land with the children of Israel because of Moses striking the rock twice, when he had been instructed to only speak to it once [Exodus 17:1-7], in order to bring forth a flow of water in the wilderness [Numbers 20:2-12].
As I was reading, a great wave of terror overwhelmed me. For I thought that there was surely no hope for me to ever be pleasing in His sight if He could be that harsh with Moses after he had been such a faithful servant for as many years as he had.
Almost immediately after being gripped with terror, another thought entered my mind about it being all part of our Heavenly Father’s plan to place Joshua in charge before they crossed over the Jordan. For He was not angry with Moses, but He did not want the children of Israel to take His commandments lightly [Deuteronomy 9:6].
So, He humiliated Moses for their benefit [Numbers 12:3], and then exalted Joshua for the same reason. For it is written: And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.” [Joshua 3:7 NIV]
Be assured that all of that was confirmed by the Bible verses provided as reference, along with many, many more [1 Corinthians 10:1-14], within just a few days, and the only reason why it took that long is because of how new it all was to me. For I am now aware of being given Bible verses to back up what He is telling me at the very same time as He is doing so when I am having some trouble accepting what He wants me to understand [James 1:5-8].
No, it is not that our Heavenly Father had never spoken to me before that it was all so very new to me back then. For He had been doing so all of the previous 35 and a half years of my life in this world, but since I did not realize it, hearing His voice in 1993 was as new to me as if I had never experienced it before [Isaiah 65:1-2].
Oh yes, our Heavenly Father still speaks—just like He has been since the very beginning of this world [James 1:16-19]! For He truly is the same today as He always has been and will be forever and ever [Hebrews 13:8]. AMEN!!!
The devil and his demons are also allowed to whisper sweet nothings into our ears at times [1 John 4:1], and this is another reason why it would do us all well to become as familiar with our Heavenly Father’s Holy Scriptures as He will allow and enable us to be [Acts 17:11]. For the witness of our Heavenly Father’s Holy Spirit will not contradict what was written for our benefit [John 16:13-15]. Whereas the devil and his demons will twist things out of context [John 10:10].
Alas, therein lies the crux of the argument against faith coming from hearing the Bible being preached [Romans 10:17]—does it not? For what does it matter if we memorize every verse in our Heavenly Father’s Holy Bible if we have no idea what they are really saying, and how could we without the witness of His Holy Spirit [John 14:26]? After all, are not our Heavenly Father’s ways much, much higher than our own [Isaiah 55:6-9]?
Perhaps it would be helpful to look at it in more worldly terms. For to some, love is best expressed by giving their loved ones a good beating on a regular basis, and how can we know sure that this is not what our Heavenly Father considers to be love without Him telling us so directly? For without that, all we would have would be our own opinions—even with His Holy Scriptures to go by [1 Corinthians 13:4-13].
Speaking of how we perceive love, what is the deal with the King James 1611 Authorized Version of our Heavenly Father’s Holy Bible having “charity” instead of “love” in [1 Corinthians 13:13]? Could it be that charity meant something quite different back then in comparison to what it means now, or is it that our Heavenly Father’s love has been considered to be as impersonal as charitable giving naturally is unto most of us for far too long?
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