Siblings in Christ,
You can't see or hear from the Lord if you don't read His Word.
Let me say this clearly—the words of God become alive and active by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this activity within you is what produces the fruit of the spirit in your behavior and your character and then ultimately your life.
Understanding How We Connect with Christ
To hear from the Lord, we must understand that reading, listening, and hearing are all one and the same:
Reading: to look at and comprehend written words
Listening: to give attention with the ear; to pay attention to sound
Hearing: to perceive or become aware of by the ear
These three are the same spiritual process—when you read His Word, you ARE listening to and hearing from the Lord.
To see the Lord, we must understand that seeing, understanding, and perceiving are all one and the same:
Seeing: to perceive with the eyes; to discern or detect
Understanding: to grasp the meaning, significance, or explanation of something
Perceiving: to become aware of through the senses; to recognize and interpret
These three are the same spiritual process—when you see the Lord in His Word, you ARE understanding and perceiving His presence.
Struggling to Hear from the Lord
Are you struggling to hear from the Lord? Here's why:
You haven't read His Word in a minute, or the last time you did, you didn't take the time to really think about what you just read. You didn't let the Spirit of understanding be stirred up within you to give you revelation.
Struggling to See the Lord
We struggle to see the Lord because we don't look for the performance of His Word. We don't expect it to become alive and active, which is why we can't recognize its activity in our lives.
The seeing eyes that He gives us become alive and active when we have His Word within us.
Thee Ultimate Revelation About the Bible
I'll be the first to admit—the whole "read your Bible, read your Bible, read your Bible" movement used to feel extra, unnecessary, annoying, and religious to me. But that was because I was looking at the Bible as just a regular book.
I didn't have the revelation that the Word is alive and active, that the Lord really watches over His Word waiting to perform it, that these words have an active life, that the Holy Spirit enlivens them within me and around me. I didn't understand this isn't just any regular book—that Jesus Christ really is the Word of God.
What We're Supposed to Be Doing
Here's what we're supposed to be doing:
We read the Word, then take time to listen to it.
How do we listen to the Word? We think about it.
Now here's the revelation that will change everything for you: thinking and hearing are the same spiritual process. Look at the definitions:
Thinking: to use one's mind to consider, reason about, or form thoughts; to reflect or ponder Hearing: to perceive or become aware of by the ear; to listen and comprehend; to receive communication
Both thinking and hearing are processes of active reception, mental engagement, comprehension, and response. When you read God's Word and then think about what you just read, you ARE hearing from the Lord. The thinking process IS the hearing process. God speaks to you through your thoughts about His Word.
So: Reading + Thinking = Hearing from God
When we think about the Word, we begin to tune into it. Then the voice of the Word—which is the voice of the Lord, the voice of the Holy Spirit—begins to become alive within our minds and respond to our thoughts about what we just read.
The psalmist knew this truth: "Bless the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His commandments, obeying the voice of His word!" Even the angels respond to the voice of His Word!
This is exactly what the psalmist understood: "I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways." And Jesus warned us about this very thing: "Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given."
Let those who have ears to hear, hear. Let those who have eyes to see, see.
The Performance of His Word
Children of the Lord, if we can just really grasp this, we'll be alright. If we can grasp this, we won't be worried about what the devil is doing because we'll be too busy looking out for the next performance of the Word.
I've witnessed the Word become alive and active in my life. I've had a front-row seat to many demonstrations where I've been able to see His Word perform. And let me tell you—the performances of the Word are absolutely phenomenal. They far outdo any Beyoncé or Michael Jackson performance. I said what I said, and I meant it.
You ever seen His mercy triumph over judgment? That performance will show you that we really do serve a just God who is merciful and loving.
You ever seen the relentlessness of His love in action? That'll show you that you really are His beloved.
Your Assignment
You really need to listen to the words in this post. I need you to think about what you just read. Think about it really good. Then I need you to sit back and let the voice of the Lord within this post begin to speak to your thoughts about what you've just encountered.
This is what's on my heart today.