God Communicating

In the painting by Caravaggio, Jesus communicates His resurrection to Thomas through his sense of touch.

John 20:24, Thomas (also known as Didymus) was absent when Jesus appeared to the others on the evening of the resurrection day, which led to his famous doubt and subsequent confession eight days later. On the evening of the first day of the week, Jesus appeared to the disciples, but Thomas was not there. The reason for his absence is not recorded, but it resulted in him missing the initial joy and blessing of seeing the resurrected Jesus. When told by the other disciples that they had seen the Lord, Thomas refused to believe unless he could see and touch the nail marks in Jesus' hands and side. A week later, Thomas was with the disciples when Jesus appeared again, specifically addressing Thomas and inviting him to touch His wounds. Thomas touched the wounds and exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!"

When we understand God’s full range of communication methods better, we communicate better with God, and we’re able to convey what God’s communicating to others.

Let’s explore to…

• be equipped in the use of this vital range of communications.

• experience God with greater discernment.

• be able to train up others to discern God’s communications from Scripture and experience.

• have a more intimate relationship with God.

• increase effectiveness in life, ministry and fruitfulness.

God created you in His image because He yearns for a deep, full and complete relationship with you personally, Genesis 1:26-27. 

For God to enjoy complete satisfaction in communicating with you, He must be able to use every facet of His ability to communicate. 

For you to enjoy complete satisfaction in relationship with God, you must be able to use every facet of your ability to perceive His communications to you. “… He, the Spirit of truth … will lead you in all truth; He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He hears, He will speak: and He will show you things to come... He... will lead you in all truth.” John 16:13. 

In all the diversity of communication methods God uses, there are two constants: everything lines up with the Bible, and at the heart of all God’s communications, we will find the confirming ministry of the Holy Spirit. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. 

Let’s observe Paul on his second missionary journey, seeking where to go. 

Paul is thoroughly trained in scripture and doctrine and is obedient to the written word. And he’s sensitive to the directives of the Holy Spirit. He and his team were already on the journey. As they made their way, the Lord of the harvest was directing them to His work - they were “… forbidden of the Holy Spirit… And a vision appeared to Paul in the night… assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them (in Macedonia).” See Acts 15:36-16:10. 

The written word, the voice of God and the diverse communication methods of God were essential to Paul. Likewise, we too must be receptive to the Holy Spirit and perceptive to all the communications open to us today through His ministry.

A brief overview…

Creation. 

God’s message of His existence and attributes is evident through creation, Jeremiah 51:15. The constant, primary message is “THERE IS A GOD”, and the purpose of that message is to stir us to seek Him. Acts 17:24-27. From the subatomic to the cosmic, creation reveals God - “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Psalm 19:1. God stretched out the universe - an unimaginably powerful and dynamic expansion out of nothingness - planned, calculated and executed by God as a source of special communications. The organic then proclaims to a higher level, and it reaches its peak with humanity. Paul says eloquently. “…what may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has shown it to them. … His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…” Romans 1:19-20.  

Creation communicates to us these attributes of God...

 · Vast in His presence and control -constantly sustained. 

· Vast in power and ability - the creation of huge stars in countless numbers and the Earth's biosystem. 

· Attentive to minute detail - the detail of atoms, molecules, micro-organisms and cellular function. 

· Incredible in knowledge and intelligence -the living world of intricate ecosystems and astonishing functions of organisms. 

· A lover of beauty and variety - exquisite creation in all its variety. 

· Orderly, possessing a mind, emotions and will - we have been given the same. 

· God’s image revealed to us in humans “… that which may be known of God is manifest in them” (people) Romans 1:19.

The complexity of the creation requires a Creator.

God’s voice.

Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4.

What God speaks to us as individuals is life to us. We listen to God and speak to Him in response, in prayer. Counsel, wisdom and direction for our lives come from the mouth of God. When speaking to Mary about the power of God that was to be released, Gabriel declared in Luke 1:37 (translated more literally): “No spoken word of God is without power.” God watches over His word to perform it. 

The still small voice of God is quiet and is our normal, perceived communication of God. Romans 8:16 and 1 Kings 19:11 & 12, but God may also reveal Himself loudly, as in Exodus 20:1, 18 & 19 and Acts 9:3-4, 7 

Jesus knew every Scripture and yet He… 

· listened to the voice of God. 

· intensified His attentiveness by prayer and fasting. 

Hearing and obeying the voice of His Father was essential to Him and His ministry. By relying on the voice of God, we can achieve fully because the voice of God guiding us will cause our efforts to be successful, save us from wasted effort and even save our lives. 

God’s written word. 

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” 2 Timothy 3:16. God set out thousands of statements of what He planned to do and which He fulfilled. Consider reading the bible aloud - that’s the way set out in the Bible (Acts 8:30), it affects our hearing as well as sight and writing, so you remember more. Scripture opens another entry point to our minds. “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law ... teach me Your statutes, make me to understand the way of Your precepts: so shall I talk of Your wondrous works.” Psalm 119:18, 26-27.

God’s visual communications. 

“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory... the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.

God communicates through images visible in the material world around us and via spiritually perceived means; visions, dreams and the observation of the spirit dimension. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, born-again believers have a great level of direct revelation. The most touching of visual communications are the acts we see Jesus doing: He demonstrates godly leadership by stooping to wash the feet of His disciples, He agonises in the garden of Gethsemane and willingly suffers and dies for our sakes.

God’s tactile communications.

“Our hands have handled of the Word of life.” 1 John 1:1. We touch to comprehend better. Jesus used this as a confirmation of His resurrection to Thomas. John 20:24-28 “... ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ Thomas answered ... ’My Lord and my God!’ ” In Thomas touching, he believed.

God’s signs, wonders and miracles.

A sign is a form of communication. Signs from God may be natural or miraculous, subtle or spectacular. A sign from God that is astonishing is called a wonder. When God overrules the natural order to give a sign, that wonder may be called a miracle and these are an integral part of God's communication methods to us. Hebrews 2:4 “God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.”

"To know the Bible is good. To know the Author is better."

God’s Tangible Presence as a Form of Communication. 

There are many times when God's presence or glory is so manifested that it’s beyond any physical doubt that He’s with us, as in 1 Kings 8:10 & 11. The tangible presence of God is a personal promise to every believer, John 14:21. Those who don’t know God can also sense God's presence through the convincing work of the Holy Spirit. The band which came to arrest Jesus felt the presence of God, John 18:6. At Paul’s conversion, he fell to the earth, Acts 9:4. What is happening in these cases? The manifested presence of God is falling onto people, Acts 10:44. There is a weightiness that the bible calls the ‘kabod’ or heaviness of God when God manifests in such a way that those present fall to the ground.

God’s messengers.

God does speak audibly. He communicates through His creatures using animals, people and angels as messengers. He even uses those who oppose Him, such as Balaam's prophesying, where his donkey spoke in a human voice in Numbers 23 and 24, and Caiaphas in prophesying that Christ must die, John 11:49-55, are two examples.

The ultimate messenger - Jesus who still speaks. 

· Hebrews 1:2. Jesus, God incarnate, gave the precise message of God the Father, and so Christ is the perfect messenger of God. His communications and ministry have not ceased - He continuously intercedes on our behalf.

· Jesus communicated His approval of Stephen by appearing to him, standing to receive him into glory, Acts 7:56.

· Jesus communicated His disapproval of the hostility of Saul of Tarsus visibly, tactily and verbally Acts 9: 3-8.

Believers. And then God created a never-before-existing messenger; the born-again, Holy Spirit indwelt and Holy Spirit-gifted believer 2 Corinthians 5:17-18.

Animals. God shows His provision when He communicated to the ravens to feed Elijah 1 Kings 17:6.

Holy Angels. Hebrews 2:2. When verbal messages were to be absolutely accurate, God sent an angel.

· Angels can carry their message corporeally - the messengers to Lot, Genesis 19, or appear in a vision or dream, as with Mary's husband Joseph, Matthew 1:20. 

· The angel which appeared to Cornelius in Acts 10:3 had a message to direct him to Peter. Angels don't preach the salvation message now, but they provide an integral part of God's assistance to the believer, Hebrews 1:14.

· Angels give messages of assistance, as in Acts 8:26, 29, where the angel gave Philip the evangelist the message of where to go, and then the Holy Spirit takes over. 

Expect the assistance of angels in your endeavours. We may not be aware when one speaks to us. Hebrews 13:2 shows the messengers to Lot were like men. Angels will resemble the ethnic group they are sent to. Angels now assist us in our efforts to preach, but we need to guard against the deception of fallen angels, 2 Corinthians 11:14.

Prophets. Hebrews 1:1. God continues the ministry of prophets and the prophetic now. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, prophecy has increased, Acts 2:17 & 18. We see different levels of prophetic operation amongst believers in the New Testament: the distinct ministry of the prophet, Ephesians 4:11; there are others used by God to prophesy, Acts 21:9. Prophecy can be translated loosely as preach but we see here that secrets of the heart are revealed, which is prophetic ministry. There is also the prophetic in a sense in preaching. It is the fiery-hot, Spirit-empowered utterance that is full of intelligent, living power and vibrancy. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God ...” 1 Peter 4:11. 

Treat carefully evaluated, prophetic utterances like treasure. It’s God speaking directly to you - speaking into your life His plans to give you faith, His wisdom, His guidance, His love to you, one-to-one. Keep a file of God's communications to you and those that pertain to you and your family. He spoke into your heart Scriptures, He said were particularly relevant to your life, visions and impressions, word-for-word prophecies going back to the first communication you know. Communications from God will confirm each other, dovetail and collectively gain synergy. Read the file, consider it and pray around what God is saying. This enriches your life. 

In the same family as the prophetic utterance is the public utterance in tongues. They are real languages of men, 1 Corinthians 13:1 may be given publicly by the Holy Spirit's prompting to be interpreted by someone whom the Spirit has given understanding of what was said, 1 Corinthians 12:10. This in itself is a form of God communicating. Whether interpreted or understood naturally by the hearer, God still uses tongues today to communicate.

Messengers to all the world. 

God communicates His awesome mercy, grace and love through the cross. We’re forgiven forever and adopted into God’s family as dearly beloved children. The image of the crucified Christ is not where God leaves us. He shows us the tomb, in which Christ’s corpse is placed and sealed in by men. We see it torn open by God’s command. Our risen, living Saviour is revealed to eyewitnesses! “...He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, after that He was seen of about five hundred brethren at once”, 1 Corinthians 15:3-6.

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself... and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19.

God’s ultimate communication: Jesus walked among people for all to see, was crucified openly, sealed in a tomb, rose from the dead and was seen by some 500 witnesses, ascended on a cloud to heaven before the eyes of His disciples, and this same Jesus will return bodily for all to see, descending on a cloud in awesome glory. 

God has entrusted His most precious communication to us who are born again of His Holy Spirit. There is no purpose on earth of more importance than for every believer to convey the message of His love to those who don’t know Him. God wants us to wait on the Holy Spirit and receive His messages, presented in His way and given with the power of God, which confirms we are speaking as His messengers. 1 Peter 1:12. Peter instructed, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God...” 1 Peter 4:11. When this happens, the power of God is released. Jesus spent hours praying, seeking the words of His Father to say only what the Father revealed. “…the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself but the Father that dwells in Me, He does the works.” John 14:10. 

The apostles recognised the importance of being in God's presence and getting His messages: “… we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:4. The presence of the Holy Spirit, prayer and faithfulness to God's message cause an astonishing release of power. He wants us to be receptive to all His communications for ourselves to be transformed into the beauty of God, live our life fully and be able to encourage and assist others to effectively reach out to those who don’t know the beauty of their destiny or the magnificent One who communicated it. 

Share in the Adventure with God! This book reveals the powerful communications of God in many miraculous ways. Tap into heaven for miracles and transformation as you build your relationship with God.  Be inspired anew! 'Prayer Power Manual.' Click the button below to go deep into God's communicating and be transformed. Please also use my free resources by subscribing for monthly content that will enhance your walk with God.

Image: ‘The Incredulity of Saint Thomas’ by Caravaggio.

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