Absolutely!! God does speak to people today. Followers of Jesus say that they have a “personal relationship with the Lord.” What does a relationship imply? That there is communication! God desires to speak to His people, but oftentimes we are not listening, or we are listening for only what we want to hear. Jesus said that His sheep would hear His voice (John 10:3,4,16).
For the follower of Jesus, the Lord may speak in a variety of ways. He will use the Bible (His Word) to speak about general things and also specific things we need to know. He will use your pastor, or Christian teacher, or church leader to speak to you. He will oftentimes use your spouse to speak to you. He can use Christian books, situations and events in your life, music, podcasts, and other input we receive from outside of our ourselves. He will also use the “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12,13) to speak a Word to you and me.
An important and vital point to remember is that the Lord will NEVER speak a word to you or me which contradicts His Word given to us in Scripture. The Bible is our grid to filter all possible communication from God. Most of what He wants us to know is in the Bible anyway, but we can be quickly misled if we don’t know the Bible.
Lastly, it is important to point out that without the Holy Spirit, a person is trying to listen to the Lord without all the equipment. It is like trying to hear a FM radio station on an AM dial or to pick up Satellite TV on your cable system. It doesn’t work. Without the Holy Spirit a person does not have the God-given capacity to hear Him. Fortunately, God desires us to have the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).
So does God desire to speak to you and me? Absolutely! He said to the prophet Jeremiah (and this is for us as well): Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3).
Dr. Foley Beach is the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South and rector of Holy Cross Anglican Church in Loganville. His A Word from the Lord radio broadcast can be heard in Gwinnett County each Sunday morning at 8:30 on WGKA (920 AM) and 10:00 on WMOQ (92.3 FM), or anytime at www.awordfromthelord.org. You may respond to this article or send your questions to foleybeach@awordfromthelord.org.
