The Voice of God
By Jeremy Groves
In John 6:63, Jesus says, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” (NIV, 1973/2011)
Also, in Matthew 4:4, Jesus says, “...Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (NIV, 1973/2011)
Finally, 1 Timothy 3:16 states that, “...All Scripture is God-Breathed...,” (NIV, 1973/2011) which, when you study the Greek word translated “God-Breathed,” it comes out to mean the voice of the Spirit, the very breath of God expelled from His lungs, birthed the life-giving Scriptures we know today.
Many believers nowadays claim that God spoke to us through scripture, so they do not need Him to speak to them today. This was the same situation Jesus encountered when He walked the earth.
The “scholars” of the bible in His day were widely cessationists and did not believe God still speaks because he “spoke” already. This is because they had never personally heard the life-giving voice of God in their hearts, which is fresh manna every day to our hearts.
Adam and Eve walked with the “voice” of God in the cool of the day (see Genesis 3:8). Why? God’s voice, which issues from His Presence in our lives, is life to our very beings. You could say His voice is the fruit that we eat from the tree of His life.
We live by His consistent voice in our lives. That is why the Pharisees missed their hour of visitation.
Jesus explains it this way in John 5:39-40 when He says, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (NIV, 1973/2011)
They missed the point of the Scriptures. What God said leads us to what He is saying, and Hebrews 1 states that He is speaking “Son” to us in these last days because He is the source of our life.
Regardless of the exact way He speaks, which is varied, the purpose of His voice is communion and intimacy with us that releases His life inside of us.
Some of the ways He speaks and releases life in us is through His “still small voice” (see 1 Kings 19:12), visions (see Ezekiel 11:24), dreams (see Matthew 2:13), trances (see Acts 10:10), signs in nature (see Romans 1:20), and many other ways as endless as all He has created.
I have found patterns in his voice, but often, you can find different flavors of God in how he speaks to each person. God often speaks to me through His still small voice, impressions, strong knowing, and visions.
This captures how personal God is with His relationship with us. Sure, there are patterns of how He speaks that flow from His nature and person, but they find unique expressions in the unique people He has made.
The Scriptures or are how God invites us into the discovery of Himself, His nature, His power, and His eternal purposes. The Scriptures and the personal voice of God to you never contradict because they are both issued from the Holy Spirit, the voice of God Himself. The Scriptures and the revealed nature and will of God through them are the litmus test for what we hear.
They serve two interconnected yet distinct purposes. The Scriptures invite us into His story and the discovery of Himself, and His personal voice to us is how He draws us into realizing what He invites us into and guides us in playing our part in His eternal plan. His voice is not limited to calling; it is a source of our lives.
As I referenced earlier, we live by God’s voice (Matthew 4:4). God’s voice created everything in the universe. He does the same with us.
When He speaks to us, He is renewing us and transforming us from within to become the product and living expression of what He has said to us.
You can see this playing out in the story of Gideon when the angel of the Lord appeared and called him a mighty man of valor. He was not that by any means in the moment; in fact, he was fearful and running away.
However, God does not see us according to our failures; He sees us according to our potential. When He speaks, He brings the dead bones of our soul back to life and launches us into our divine destiny.
Cindy Jacobs shares a story in her book, “The Voice of God,” which illustrates this point well. She captures the moment where the “voice of God” invited her into His story by saying,
“One day our counselor encouraged each of us to find a quiet place to ‘talk with God.’ I remember crawling up on a huge rock outside the chapel. As I was lying back on that rough granite rock, surrounded by the visible manifestations of God’s artistry of blue sky and towering trees, I began to pray, ‘Lord, what do you want from my life?’ At first, all I heard was the sound of the wind and trees harmonizing with the birds in the woods. Then I quietly heard another sound – it was the voice of God saying, Cindy, I have something I want you to do for me. At the sound of His voice spoken so sweetly in my soul, I responded with my heart beating a staccato along with the wind and trees, ‘Here I am, Lord; send me.’” (2016, p. 24)
Do you hear the intimacy in the invitation the Lord gave to Cindy? It echoes His heart through the Scriptures as He continually invites the world into a loving partnership through His Son.
I had a similar experience on a car ride home from work one day, after a long season of seeking the Lord to the best of my ability. The medium through which He chose to speak? A song.
As I listened to the song, I heard the reverberations of His voice in my heart, inviting me into the reality the song declared, walking with Him in love and power. He had something for me to do.
As I responded in surrender to His loving Invitation, He spoke to my heart in such a way; it formed a seal of love that has never dissipated.
This was when the revelation of God in Scripture became personal revelation through the intimate invitation of His voice to know Him. His voice is full of life and love, personal and intimate.
He is still speaking to us and will continue to as long as people are willing to respond to his loving invitation to intimate partnership.
I invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and teach you how you personally hear and connect to the “voice” of God in your life.
References
Jacobs, C. (2016). The voice of god: How to hear and speak words from god (Revised and Updated ed.). Chosen Books.