"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, oh God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I come and appear before God" (Psalm 42:1-2).
This post is not about how to know when God speaks. There are many books and articles on that that can help people learn to know when and how God is speaking to them. This post is about recognizing which Member of the Godhead is speaking or relating to you.
There are different beliefs everywhere. Some people believe God is just 'one person'; some believe it's just Jesus and the Father; and some believe there is a Trinity. This post isn't written to invite arguments and disagreements. It's written for people whose hearts yearn for God and who want to know Him more. As Jesus said:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).
God doesn't give more of Himself to people because of their sex, status, or station in life; He gives according to a person's hunger or desire to know Him. This alone explains why Jesus knew and understood God more at the age of 12 than men who were theological scholars, normally would've known more than He did, and were far older than He was. That's because God's giving is based on hunger, not on merit.
When I had my first encounter with God, I decided I wanted to know God in a personal way. While the people around me were saying, "I want to know [God]," I was saying, "I want to know [God] and who He is." God is no respecter of persons and respected my desire, so He gave me the ability to distinguish which Member of the Godhead is relating to or talking to me at any given moment: the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. I only realized I was able to do this because most people weren't. I began to notice myself saying things like, "God told me" and immediately after, "The Lord (Jesus) said..." and then shortly after, "The Holy Spirit spoke..."
I began to realize that the 3 Members of the Godhead relate to me slightly differently and talk to me about slightly different things:
1.) The Father. When God talks to me, what He says centers around protection, purpose, and provision. That means if I need God's protection, the Father will take the lead; He leads in talking to me about my purpose and identity; and He leads in talking to me about provision. One day in 2013 when I asked why I constantly came out unscathed from bad situations, He gave me Psalm 34:7. He's the One who told me to cast off my false identity and to walk in my real one. And if I was to ask for a job, car, career, anything centered around provision, He's the One to take the lead. He's the One who protects and speaks to me about everything that concerns my future wife. His voice or tone is like that of a loving and gracious father, but He often gets right to the point and often targets the very foundation of anything He speaks about. I'm sure He's the One who was doing the "Let there be" at Creation and that everything sprang up right as He called them into existence. He doesn't seem like He 'wastes time'.
2.) Jesus. When Jesus talks to me, what He says centers around what the Father has already told me. Jesus is the One who will 'walk it out' with me. If God tells me He wants me to be in this fellowship or to have this career or whatever it is, Jesus is the One who will walk me into or through it. He is also the One who takes the identity from God and puts a 'name' on it as regards ministry. Eg. if God gave me a purpose to win souls, then Jesus will put the name 'evangelist' on it. He gives life or action to the purpose. He's the One whose feet touch earth so to speak. One day I met a man who said he was an apostle, but he didn't strike me as one, so I asked God (ie. Godhead) if he was indeed an apostle. Jesus answered this one, and rather than telling me plainly that the man wasn't an apostle, He told me a few qualities by which I would know if I met a genuine apostle. The man had none of these qualities. (If the Father had responded, He most of the time would've been direct and told me the man wasn't a true apostle rather than saying it in a round-about way.) Jesus takes from what God says and repeats it but in a different way. His voice or tone is like that of a considerate ten-year-old brother when he's talking to a two-year-old little sister. He's very patient and gentle. No wonder God will eternally reject anyone who rejects Him.
3.) The Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit talks to me, what He says centers around what Jesus has told me. So, it's hard to explain how this works. The Father 'gives the command' or 'states His will'; Jesus then takes what He said and 'molds it' so I can receive it (so to speak); then the Holy Spirit takes what Jesus has 'molded' and breathes life into it. Hard to explain. So, the Father gave me a calling; Jesus spoke it to me; and the Holy Spirit unfolds it to me. When I ask God a question, one of the Three will usually take responsibility for responding. Several years ago, the Father was the One who explained to me why I kissed my then-pastor's spiritual daughter (provision: intimacy) and showed me my dad's calling on two different occasions (purpose). Not long after, Jesus explained twice (two weeks apart) why He wants me to be connected to sincere believers (ie. God's will for me). The Holy Spirit, however, is the One who talks to me about ministry (the Father never talks to me about this though Jesus sometimes does) and is usually explaining how Jesus's will is to be worked out in my life (the Holy Spirit doesn't really explain things that don't pertain to ministry like kissing girls or discovering a cure for some frustrating disease; that's usually the Father). The Holy Spirit's voice or tone is like that of a caring mother. He often gets right to the point like the Father and sounds like the Father more than He sounds like Jesus, but His voice is noticeably more tender.
I shared this for anyone who wants a deeper and living relationship with God. You can ask Him to give you discernment (really, the gift of 'distinguishing between spirits') to help you recognize His voice or/and to help you distinguish which Member of the Godhead is relating to or speaking to you. They never contradict. It's a perfect union. It can be fascinating, but it also creates even more reverence and awe for God. I believe the generation that desires to know God more intimately will benefit from truths like these.
This post is not about how to know when God speaks. There are many books and articles on that that can help people learn to know when and how God is speaking to them. This post is about recognizing which Member of the Godhead is speaking or relating to you.
There are different beliefs everywhere. Some people believe God is just 'one person'; some believe it's just Jesus and the Father; and some believe there is a Trinity. This post isn't written to invite arguments and disagreements. It's written for people whose hearts yearn for God and who want to know Him more. As Jesus said:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).
God doesn't give more of Himself to people because of their sex, status, or station in life; He gives according to a person's hunger or desire to know Him. This alone explains why Jesus knew and understood God more at the age of 12 than men who were theological scholars, normally would've known more than He did, and were far older than He was. That's because God's giving is based on hunger, not on merit.
When I had my first encounter with God, I decided I wanted to know God in a personal way. While the people around me were saying, "I want to know [God]," I was saying, "I want to know [God] and who He is." God is no respecter of persons and respected my desire, so He gave me the ability to distinguish which Member of the Godhead is relating to or talking to me at any given moment: the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. I only realized I was able to do this because most people weren't. I began to notice myself saying things like, "God told me" and immediately after, "The Lord (Jesus) said..." and then shortly after, "The Holy Spirit spoke..."
I began to realize that the 3 Members of the Godhead relate to me slightly differently and talk to me about slightly different things:
1.) The Father. When God talks to me, what He says centers around protection, purpose, and provision. That means if I need God's protection, the Father will take the lead; He leads in talking to me about my purpose and identity; and He leads in talking to me about provision. One day in 2013 when I asked why I constantly came out unscathed from bad situations, He gave me Psalm 34:7. He's the One who told me to cast off my false identity and to walk in my real one. And if I was to ask for a job, car, career, anything centered around provision, He's the One to take the lead. He's the One who protects and speaks to me about everything that concerns my future wife. His voice or tone is like that of a loving and gracious father, but He often gets right to the point and often targets the very foundation of anything He speaks about. I'm sure He's the One who was doing the "Let there be" at Creation and that everything sprang up right as He called them into existence. He doesn't seem like He 'wastes time'.
2.) Jesus. When Jesus talks to me, what He says centers around what the Father has already told me. Jesus is the One who will 'walk it out' with me. If God tells me He wants me to be in this fellowship or to have this career or whatever it is, Jesus is the One who will walk me into or through it. He is also the One who takes the identity from God and puts a 'name' on it as regards ministry. Eg. if God gave me a purpose to win souls, then Jesus will put the name 'evangelist' on it. He gives life or action to the purpose. He's the One whose feet touch earth so to speak. One day I met a man who said he was an apostle, but he didn't strike me as one, so I asked God (ie. Godhead) if he was indeed an apostle. Jesus answered this one, and rather than telling me plainly that the man wasn't an apostle, He told me a few qualities by which I would know if I met a genuine apostle. The man had none of these qualities. (If the Father had responded, He most of the time would've been direct and told me the man wasn't a true apostle rather than saying it in a round-about way.) Jesus takes from what God says and repeats it but in a different way. His voice or tone is like that of a considerate ten-year-old brother when he's talking to a two-year-old little sister. He's very patient and gentle. No wonder God will eternally reject anyone who rejects Him.
3.) The Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit talks to me, what He says centers around what Jesus has told me. So, it's hard to explain how this works. The Father 'gives the command' or 'states His will'; Jesus then takes what He said and 'molds it' so I can receive it (so to speak); then the Holy Spirit takes what Jesus has 'molded' and breathes life into it. Hard to explain. So, the Father gave me a calling; Jesus spoke it to me; and the Holy Spirit unfolds it to me. When I ask God a question, one of the Three will usually take responsibility for responding. Several years ago, the Father was the One who explained to me why I kissed my then-pastor's spiritual daughter (provision: intimacy) and showed me my dad's calling on two different occasions (purpose). Not long after, Jesus explained twice (two weeks apart) why He wants me to be connected to sincere believers (ie. God's will for me). The Holy Spirit, however, is the One who talks to me about ministry (the Father never talks to me about this though Jesus sometimes does) and is usually explaining how Jesus's will is to be worked out in my life (the Holy Spirit doesn't really explain things that don't pertain to ministry like kissing girls or discovering a cure for some frustrating disease; that's usually the Father). The Holy Spirit's voice or tone is like that of a caring mother. He often gets right to the point like the Father and sounds like the Father more than He sounds like Jesus, but His voice is noticeably more tender.
I shared this for anyone who wants a deeper and living relationship with God. You can ask Him to give you discernment (really, the gift of 'distinguishing between spirits') to help you recognize His voice or/and to help you distinguish which Member of the Godhead is relating to or speaking to you. They never contradict. It's a perfect union. It can be fascinating, but it also creates even more reverence and awe for God. I believe the generation that desires to know God more intimately will benefit from truths like these.
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