It is essential for us to hear what the Lord is speaking. He doesn’t speak words like us when we speak to one another. For example, Moses didn’t hear a voice in the air speaking Hebrew. The Bible says that in the Lord are “hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). We often say God is speaking to us, not meaning that we heard actual words. When the Spirit of the Lord makes contact with our spirits there is a deposit made, which is transferred from our spirit to our conscious mind. Thus, it is important for us to learn how to expose ourselves to the presence of the Lord.
Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). Many do not really understand what the Word of God is. It is more than information. He is the Word of God! In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1. The Word was God and still is. He is the Word! His life, His presence is the Word! You can talk about the information you learned from the Scriptures but that doesn’t mean you are speaking the Word. The Word is more than information. It is His life!
John 6:62-63 What and if ye
shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?
63 It is the Spirit that
quickens; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they
are spirit, and they are life.
It is the Spirit that makes alive not the information, even when it is good Scriptural information. The Word of God is Spirit and life. Therefore, it is invisible and inaudible. It is not heard with the natural ear. It is what you receive by the hearing capacity of your spirit. That is why Jesus said, after relating a parable, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:9). He is not talking about our natural ears, but the capacity to hear beyond the information. We need to learn how to hear the invisible and inaudible words of the Lord.
If you are focused only on the information, you will miss much of what God is speaking. You will miss the transference of Himself to your spirit. That often happens in religious circles where the gift of prophecy operates. They will prophesy one to another, “Yea, the Lord saith unto thee so and so.” The receiver being more interested in the information misses the Spirit of the Word. The same can be true for the one prophesying. He may give forth the information but not impart the Spirit with it. About the only thing that kind of prophecy accomplishes is puffing up the flesh.
Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you are Spirit and life.” We must learn how to tune-in to the Spirit and life of the Word, whether it is the spoken Word or the Scriptures. The information is the surface manna of the Word. It is easily obtained. However, Jesus promised the hidden manna to the overcomers (Revelation 2:17). That is where you find the life. Beyond the information is the Word of Spirit and life.
Copyright © 2004 by Henry DuBose